Category Archives: Personal Style

Basic Black

Posted on September 23, 2016September 22, 2016 by Melissa Harrison

Basic Black | Sophster-Toaster Blog

I once wore this outfit out to a birthday dinner. I sat down across the table from my best friend and he immediate declared, “You look nice. You look how I imagine adults look.”

Basic Black | Sophster-Toaster Blog

I’ve never been able to decide if I love or hate this dress. The fit and quality aren’t anything special – I actually had to exchange the first one I brought home because it was sewn so poorly, and this one has its flaws, too – but I absolutely love the cut of the neckline. The basic black colour and high neckline offer a perfect blank slate for adding a detail or pop of colour when worn with a necklace or over a blouse with an interesting collar. Throwing on this dress with one good accessory makes it easy to look like a put together adult with minimal effort.

Basic Black | Sophster-Toaster Blog

Dress Gap
Shoes ModCloth
Necklace ModCloth

The pockets are pretty great, too.

All photos by me.

Fall/ Winter Lookbook

Posted on September 15, 2016October 25, 2016 by Melissa Harrison

I’ve been doing a few markets a year for almost four years now and this is the first time I’ve ever felt organized, prepared and confident earlier than the night before. I’ve got my stock, signage, and display ready to go. All that’s left to do is print a few extra shirts, rest up and get ready to spend two days outdoors at the beautiful 13th Street Winery for the Fall HandMade Market!

Here’s a little taste of what I’ll have at this year’s Fall HandMade Market.

For all the details about the upcoming market, see www.handmademarket.ca.

Can’t make it to the market? You can find every dress, skirt and t-shirt from the lookbook online at www.sophstertoaster.etsy.com.

Waiting for Fall

Posted on September 13, 2016September 12, 2016 by Melissa Harrison

Waiting for Fall | Sophster-Toaster Blog

Like a lot of people our age, my husband Matt and I had to wait a long time to save up enough money, and pay back enough student debt, to break into the housing market. We spent many years in apartments, watching the seasons change through a window because we had zero or very little access to quite, calm or secluded outdoor spaces. Private outdoor space was one of the things we were longing for most while spending weekends stuck inside. Now that we’re finally here, we’ve been spending as much time as possible out on the front porch or back deck. When we have to go inside, we keep the doors open to the screens so we can keep the outdoors close.

Waiting for Fall | Sophster-Toaster Blog

We found our house in late spring and had to wait all summer to close and move in. I think it was the first whole summer I ever spent dreaming of fall and winter. I’m so excited for my favourite season to start that these last hot days of summer have been agony. I want so badly to put my summer clothes away and pull out my sweaters, jeans and wool socks. I’m trying to enjoy the moment and appreciate the end of summer – I don’t want to be bored with my fall clothes before the leaves have finished falling – but I’m itching to begin the seasonal transition.

Waiting for Fall | Sophster-Toaster Blog

After enduring a nearly week long heat wave without air conditioning, I can finally deviate from the breezy top and shorts summer uniform and start wearing nice tops, sleeves and longer skirts again. It’s still a little too hot in the afternoon to break out the flannel but this chambray summer top gives me some of the September texture I’ve been craving and the bright red skirt brings in some fall colour. My favourite white sandals get their last hurrah while the sun is still high and the leaves are green.

Waiting for Fall | Sophster-Toaster Blog

Top H&M
Skirt old & altered
Shoes ModCloth
Earrings ModCloth
Ring Blue Ridge Notions

All photos by me.

Goodbye Summer

Posted on August 23, 2016October 25, 2016 by Melissa Harrison

It’s been a strange summer for me. The weather has been very hot and humid with many violent thunderstorms yet very little rain after about a decade of cooler, wetter summers. We bought our first house at the very end of May and had to wait until today(!) for closing so we’ve been counting the days while trying to enjoy summer and not wish away. At the same time, we’ve been mourning the loss of our incredible and much beloved cat, Tori, who passed away in early June at an estimated age of 16. All these things together have made for quite an unusual summer. I’m not sure if it is destined to become a memorable moment of my youth or get swallowed up by my grief.

It’s been a summer of firsts, a summer of change and a summer of learning. My husband and I bought our first home together just after our fifth wedding anniversary. I did my first summer market. I changed my business priorities and focus a little bit. I learned how to talk to important adults as an adult. I learned how to make shorts. I’m learning how to say goodbye to someone who meant a lot to me.

Shirt Sophster-Toaster
Shorts Homemade
Shoes Keds
Earrings Craft Arts Market/ Nicole Gagnon
Bracelet Panama Market Vendor

We’re getting ready to move this Saturday and it feels like I’m saying goodbye to a lot of things. Goodbye to apartment living (woo!) and all its benefits and inconveniences. Goodbye to that notion that I’m not tied down to any place and can make a home anywhere in the world at any time. Goodbye to an apartment filled with memories. Goodbye to all that money I used to have. Goodbye to a pet I rescued on my 16th birthday and who was with me, by my side and in my lap, through so many life changes. Goodbye to summer.

Help me out and grab a t-shirt so I don’t have to move it!

Get $5 off any tee in the shop (excluding seconds, which are already only $5, by the way) with coupon code TEETIME5. Expires on moving day (8/27)!

Want a pair of my shorts in your size?

Grab a Mystery Item from the shop for one of my learning experiments! Warning, these pairs aren’t for regular sale because I’m not super satisfied with the fit. They run a little large in the waist and small in the thigh, if that sounds like you, or the way you like your clothes to fit, go grab one now for less than wholesale!

All photos by me.