Category Archives: Personal Style

Modern Day Version of my Grandmother

Posted on July 3, 2015July 3, 2015 by Melissa Harrison

I had a moment while making the sample for my newest top. I was almost done, carefully hand-sewing the vintage buttons in place, when a strange emotion came over me: I felt connected, for the very first time, to my maternal grandmother.

We were never close when I was young. She lived nearby and I spent a lot of time near her but we never really bonded over anything. There were a lot of us grandchildren growing up and I happened to be number six out of ten, quiet, skittish and “the weird one”. I remember being surrounded by older cousins who were doing more interesting things and younger cousins doing more adorable things while I was just sitting there, in a dress made by my mother, hanging out with the photographer and asking him questions about cameras, birds and the human tongue while he tries to shoo me away long enough to photograph my family. I remember my grandma coming over to make quilts with my mother and aunts. I remember them draping a new quilt between the dining table, the kitchen island and two chairs so they could do the finishing details. I remember getting yelled at for trying too many times to start my new life under the quilt. I don’t remember really spending time with her… only passing time near her.

$Head in the Clouds Top \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$

I was surprised and extremely grateful when my mother and aunt told me I could keep all of my grandma’s sewing supplies that they didn’t want – namely a box of buttons, threads and ribbons – while I was helping them clean her house and get it ready to sell after moving her to a nursing home. I’ve been holding on to these things for a couple of years, trying to find a way to make use of them.

$Vintage Buttons \\ Sopshter-Toaster Blog$

A few weeks ago I had an idea to put them on a top I was thinking up. I thought it would be mighty green of me to re-use these old buttons my grandmother had saved, collected and cut off of her children’s clothes when they were no longer suitable. I was sewing them on by hand, using a needle, thimble and my arm length to measure thread, when I looked down and realized that I had recreated a scene, that I was doing exactly what my grandmother had done 20… 40… 60 years before me. For the first time, I felt connected to this woman that I never really knew. I felt that if she could see me, she would be proud of me – something I didn’t even know I cared about.

$Head in the Clouds Top \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$ $Head in the Clouds Top \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$

Top Sophster-Toaster
Jeans ModCloth
Shoes ModCloth
Necklace gift from my thoughtful brother
Headband handmade

$Head in the Clouds Top \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$ $Head in the Clouds Top \\ Sophster-Toaster Blog$

Plain Jane

Posted on May 20, 2015May 20, 2015 by Melissa Harrison

I’ve never really been into jewellery – costume or real. When new friends see my collection for the first time they are bewildered by the modesty of it. My grandfather made a large wooden jewellery box for me when I was very young. I don’t know if it was meant to house the collection of an adult woman but I haven’t outgrown it in the quarter-century that I’ve owned it. It sits proudly on a shelf in the walk-in closet I share with my husband, a small, up-side-down wooden ‘W’ carefully nailed to the front, not yet half-filled. Most of the pieces it contains are roughly the same age as the box itself.

I was a tom-boy growing up and inherited a nickle (and stainless steel) allergy that has snaked its way through the female line of my family for as long as anyone can remember so I’ve only purchased two or three pieces for myself over the course of my life, the rest were gifts. I can wear gold jewellery, but only have a few pieces – family heirlooms and gifts from my husband mostly – to my name. It seems overpriced anyway, at least in the on-brand, mall chain-stores, and I’ve always worried about the ethics of how it is produced. Etsy has some truly beautiful fine jewellery, but at this point, I kind of like my uncommonly accessory-light style.

$Plain Jane \\ Sophster-Toaster$ $Plain Jane \\ Sophster-Toaster$ $Plain Jane \\ Sophster-Toaster$

It sure makes travelling easier. I’ve never lost an earring in a hotel bathroom or scratched a ring while stacking wood. I don’t have a travel jewellery case, I don’t worry about wear to hide my valuables when I take them off and I’ve never used a hotel safe – is there a fee for using one? I don’t even know.

$Plain Jane \\ Sophster-Toaster$ $Plain Jane \\ Sophster-Toaster$

My simple white gold wedding band is the only jewellery I wear most days.

Top ModCloth (old)
Skirt Sophster-Toaster
Shoes Payless
Bag Bently (similar)
Binoculars family heirloom

$Plain Jane \\ Sophster-Toaster$

I look at a woman perfectly pulling off a statement necklace with envy and intrigue, but every time I try to wear an adult amount of accessories, I just think it looks weird and wrong on me. My mom says my tastes are simple and boring but I love the look of bare skin.

Playing Tourist in Niagara Falls

Posted on May 12, 2015May 12, 2015 by Melissa Harrison

I didn’t grow up where I live now and all of my family is still back home. To them, where I live now is lively and glamorous; it’s a place they used to save up for and go on vacation to when I was a kid. To me, however, the tourist stuff is hectic, overpriced and should be avoided. To them, it’s a destination but to me, it’s just the jumping off point.

It’s always weird to see your life through the eyes of an excited tourist, but that’s what you do when relatives are in town.

My mom booked two rooms at a hilariously out-of-date hotel for me, my husband, my brother, his girlfriend and herself. We found our balconies offered little privacy…

“As a connoisseur of air conditioning units, I find the view quite exhilarating.” – my brother

… and not much more in the way of a view.

They arrived late, so after learning that most of the drawers in the room were fake – I pulled out the top drawer to see why the bottom ones didn’t open and I called my brother in through the adjoining door to see my discovery, he rushed in holding the same drawer from his room – we went out to dinner. My mom said she wanted to “go where the locals go” but turned down every suggestion because they didn’t have kitschy themes, celebrity endorsements or mechanical bulls….

The next morning, we walked down to see the whole reason people travel to this place. I showed her how to be a strange woman who takes pictures of her outfit at the inconvenience of everyone around her (i.e. my job), then helped her do the same.

$Playing Tourist \\ Sophster-Toaster$ $Playing Tourist \\ Sophster-Toaster$

Dress Modcloth
Shoes Keds
Bag Modcloth
Earrings Craft Arts Market/ nicolegagnon

Photo credit Matt Harrison

$Mom's Turn \\ Sophster-Toaster$

The details, according to my mom:
Dress “Shopping with [a young family friend]”
Shoes “The Internet”

Then we made our way back to the local world and to Rise Above for an amazing vegan brunch (and free past-their-prime flowers!) while the other tourists had their brand-name pancake breakfast with fanning and dust tea at the hotel.

Garden Party

Posted on April 15, 2015April 15, 2015 by Melissa Harrison

Last Saturday happened to be my husband’s birthday and the local college’s annual craft beer festival held to honour the teaching brewery’s graduation class. We spent the first day that was both warm and sunny outdoors sampling the students’ final assignment recipes, as well as some seasonal craft beer from local breweries.

Garden Brewers quickly became my new favourite. Their PiperAles, a smoked, black pepper amber ale, and Green-Thumb, an IPA with ginger, were unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before. My friends weren’t as into the ginger as I was – I think it was a bit too strong tasting for them – but I loved it; it tasted like an entire garden and filled me with nostalgia, the same way smelling tomato stalks and basil bushes together always reminds me of summers past.

I wore a new dress that I picked up at a spring sale back when it was still winter, layered with some stay-warm pieces.

$Early Spring Garden Party \\ Sophster-Toaster$

Dress: Gap // Top: H&M (old) // Tights: Target // Shoes: ModCloth // Hair Clip: so old, I think it’s vintage now

We came home and grilled some steaks that were gifted by a friend. My husband said he would “do mushrooms and onions” and we all had a good laugh. All-in-all, a very good day.