"I Don't Think I'm in Kansas!"

Can't seem to enlarge it enough to give photographer credit

My last 5 days can only be described as worlds colliding.  Usually I am either involved in the fashion scene or away from it visiting family, etc.  These last 5 days the gears were definitely grinding as I moved from one function to the next. Flipping between the SMOC's (Society For the Museum of Original Costume) historical cocktail fashion show, the Danier launch in a DT Vancouver club, a burlesque style fashion show at Scout Boutique by Misty Greer of Trunk Show and 3 days at the Fraser Valley Bead Show out in Langley have all left me feeling a bit like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz - "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto....." 

The Fraser Valley Bead Show in particular was an eye opener as it threw me back into an environment I remember from when the kids were small.  Lack of funds and time for shopping meant that fashion was simple, comfortable and usually not too varied.  It was strange to look around me and see an ocean of sensible shoes (tennis shoes, walking flats and Uggs), sensible coats (lots of hoodies and MEC style jackets) and comfortable pants (jeans and sweats).  I remember first thinking how weird it was everyone was dressed that way and then realizing that in my mum-at-home past that used to be my uniform, too.  I didn't realize how much I had changed over the last few years.

Deep down the disturbing question simmered - have I become a fashion snob?  While I don't spend the kind of money serious fashionistas do on high end designer labels, and I wouldn't recognize a specific designer's handbag across a crowded room, there definitely is a growing side that appreciates a great fashion statement. I have been slowly learning over the last three years how to put an outfit together and my crowning moment recently was when a doorman at a high end hotel asked if I was involved in the fashion scene - a definite first for me.  (See Shannon - I am starting to get it!!!)

As I continue down this incredible journey trying to shine a light on our amazing Vancouver fashion talent, I will not only try to continue to grow in knowledge, but to develop a fashion statement that is uniquely mine - a strong point of view.  I also hope I remember it's okay for others to choose a different path and live outside this bubble.  Each to his own.