Category Archives: Personal Style

The Dancing Paintings

Posted on January 17, 2019February 7, 2020 by Melissa Harrison

My grandmother was an avid painter. When she passed, my mom asked if I wanted any of her painting. I had vivid memories of these ballerina paintings hanging in a dark hallway in her home, so I asked for them to remember her by. I hung them up in a bright space above the stairs of the home we had just moved into and enjoyed seeing them again.

We were very careful to hang them straight and level, so I started getting annoyed by always finding them askew. I told my husband, after we had some people over, that I knew they didn’t look like much, but they were very special to me and I really wished people would stop touching them and bumping into them. I carefully straightened them again. A few weeks pass and they continue to move. I start to suspect it’s him brushing his broad shoulders against them. I ask him to be more careful and show him that it’s not me because I’m not tall enough to nudge them with anything but my head, and I’d notice that. He’s fairly confident it’s not him, but the painting continue to move….

This is an old house and a high traffic area, I’m sure there are a handful of ways they could logically be shifting on their own but as far as I’m concerned, my grandmother’s ballerina paintings are dancing.

Jumper Mod Dolly
Cardigan H&M
Nylons Pretty Polly
Slippers White Noise Maker
Glasses Warby Parker
Earrings ModCloth

Black & White

Posted on January 15, 2019January 15, 2019 by Melissa Harrison

As a way to push myself creatively, and really learn the ins and outs of light and shadow, I’m challenging myself to only take photos in black and white this month.

I learned the basics of photography on high saturation 90’s colour film and then graduated to bright and clear digital, completely missing any opportunity to practice without the easy allure of colour. I’ve spent most of my time focusing on the interplay of colours in my images, using them to draw attention or conceal. For the most part, I’ve striven for scenes that are well and evenly illuminated. I’ve played with light here and there, but why use light to create drama and intrigue when I’m surrounded by all these dazzling colours?

When switching into black and white, the first thing I noted was that I needed to change the way I look at anything I want to photograph. No longer am I looking for complementary colours and brightly lit spaces, now I need to see the world in light and dark, geometric shapes, and shadows.

I decided to take my first honest stab at black and white in the comfort and control of my little home studio. I set up and found right away that taking pictures the way I do in colour, results in flat, boring and dull images. (What do you mean this black sweater and these dark blue jeans are reading as the same colour!?) Instead of trying to mimic the natural light coming in through the window and basically bumping up the total light in the room, I found I had to light my backdrop indirectly. I had to bounce light off the walls and ceiling while lighting myself with one light higher than usual and off to the side, thus making the window light the only true, direct illumination. I had fun stepping in and out of the shadows and seeing how things changed in my photos. I’m quite looking forward to how much I have to learn this month.

Top ModCloth
Jeans Angry Rabbit
Socks ModCloth
Shoes ModCloth
Glasses Warby Parker
Brooch found item

All photos by me.

New Year’s Eve Time Traveller

Posted on December 28, 2018December 28, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

I’m deep in a 70’s and 80’s obsession. After my 80’s Christmas party look, I’m donning this 70’s inspired New Year’s Eve affair. I bought this Urban Outfitters dress for my 80’s themed birthday party last year, hoping it would also work well as festive wear in the years to come. It hasn’t been right for any of the Christmas parties I’ve attended this year, but, paired with this surprisingly quick Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle up-do, something tells me it’s going to be just the ticket for slipping into the new year.

Dress Urban Outfitters
Nylons Joe Fresh
Jewellery gift
Coat ModCloth
Shoes ModCloth

All photos by me.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Posted on December 24, 2018December 24, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

I’ve found myself becoming more and more inspired by 1970’s and 80’s fashion this past year. I don’t know what it is. As a child of the late 80’s and 90’s, I used to shudder at the old pictures and clothes my mother would show me. She would pull out a little black dress with way too my colours and ruffles from the back of her closet and we would giggle at it together. My brother and I would loiter around the bathroom while my mom was doing her makeup, waiting for her to take her giant, very thick prescription glasses off so we could snatch them and try them on. Later, we would watch That 70’s Show and my dad would show us pictures of himself dressed just like them when he was in high school. I thought the cuts of the 70’s and colours of the 80’s were tacky and awful and wondered why anyone would ever leave the perfect style of the 60’s behind.

I spent my childhood memorizing the looks from 50’s and 60’s movies and dreaming about having the figure to wear them when I grew up and became a woman. And I did, for a long time, always leaning towards clothing with a touch of mid-century to it. Then, slowly at first, I started to drift into the late 60’s and 70’s. I started buying things with my favourite flower, the daisy, on them. I designed a print using a ubiquitous 70’s font and put it on a ringer tee. I grew out my fringe and started wearing my hair long. Then I committed; I did what I though I would never do and entered the 80’s. I pulled out the costume jewellery I’d had since I was a child, some inherited from my mother, but never worn, and started wearing it. I got some blue eye shadow. I had my hair bleached over several sessions at the salon. I bought this dress. When my optometrist told me one eye had gotten worse, and gave me a new prescription, I ordered these glasses from Warby Parker and was told I look “like the one villain from Orange is the New Black, no offence”. I did not take offence, I love her look.

I can’t believe how much my new hair and glasses make me look like my memories of my mother, and I can’t believe how much it suits me.

Dress H&M
Tights Joe Fresh
Shoes ModCloth
Earrings Magnolia & Scout
Glasses Warby Parker

Photos by me and Matt.