!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

those exclamation marks are there to display my excitement.

So when you think fashion capital of Canada what do you think?

I would hope it would be Montreal because that is certainly my inclination.

So why this talk of Montreal?  Wellllll.....

SOTE is making it's first appearance there!  That is right Sunsets on the Eastside has been invited to show at the Festival of Mode and Design in Montreal!  

We received the call that we were one of four designers from the maritimes chosen to show in Montreal a few days ago.  I was at work at the time so admittedly did a very poor job of selling clothing, I pretty much day dreamed the entire time.  Kirstin has to go do an interview for us for The Guardian  so I can only imagine how hard it was to concentrate on answering questions.  Katryna was in Ottawa so found out a day later then us which sucked but when she called me and told me about her reaction it got me even more excited. So needless to say this is one of THE most exciting things that has happened to us yet.  

I really hope we can all make it down to see the show in Mtrl because it would be a real shame to miss our first show there. But the simple fact that our  pieces of clothing will be there is incredible. I'm sure Montreal will show them a good time!

So for more information on the event go to:

http://www.festivalmodedesign.com/events.php?language=en&date_id=20

From here you can see a little of everything including the other designers we are showing with.

p.s it's on St. Catherine street!!!  a.k.a best shopping street in Canada, in my opinion. With exception to University Ave., Water Street, and Birmingham Street( Where our shops are located).

because I am just so darn excited I've included another shot of our upcoming collection to be shown at Fringe next week GET YOU TICKETS NOW PLEASE!  we want to see people in the audience!  ( Shot by Patrick Callbeck, Make up by Ellen Connaughton, and model Kirstin Sweet designer)

Shhhhhh don't tell!

Hey there Folks!

Because you have all been such good little fans here is a sneak preview of our Spring Collection 2009 .  The make up was by Ellen Connaughton and the great pic by Patrick Callbeck.  

This gorgeous model is Allison Kelly who did fantastic for her first time.  Kirstin Sweet, yes that's right, our very own designer also modeled for this shoot and did fab as well.  

Hope you come to the Fringe to check out our stuff.  We show may 15th at 6 30 and may 17th at 2.  It would make us SO happy to see you all there!

Enjoy!

so the theme of this week has been photoshoots!

On sunday we did one for Panache for our column on DIY.  Myself and my roommate modeled in it.  And may I just say... modeling is SO not as easy as it looks.

People! I think we all need to gather round and listen to this...

modeling is not just being stuck in front of a camera.  well.. that does happen, but many other factors are at play.

You have to think of the garment you're wearing, your job is to make it look good.

You have to think of your face and how it looks to the photog.

You have to make sure your face is catching the light and you aren't in the shadows.

In my case, you have to watch that your feet don't look like they are clown feet in those gladiator sandals. 

Lots of the time it takes forever to get the right shots and round after round and clothing changes make it hard to keep smiling.  

You have to interact with your co model in this case, which was shockingly difficult.

The most difficult for us was having the same face.  If one of you looks happy and the other serious it just looks ridiculous, as I've witnessed in my pictures :( I liked serious she liked happy

WORST OF ALL is the scrutinizing faces watching you and you can read  "this is just not working.. sigh.." on their faces and have no clue how to fix it.  

Growing up being super tall from high school on I always got the "you should be a model"  line.  Which, sure, is flattering. I secretly thought, well that wouldn't be hard!.. surprise IT IS!

Not that I didn't have respect for my models before ( I adore and am grateful for our models I hope they know that!)  but now I can sympathize and this will hopefully make me a better director for shoots.  I guess we will find out tonight at our shoot for our spring line.

This shoots is going to be outside at sunset( ha ha) into the night.  Should be fun and I'm certainly looking forward to it.

Speaking of looking forward to things FRINGE is coming up quick and it is certainly going to be the bomb.. and not just because we're in it he he.

Get your tickets super quick.  This show is certainly something to catch if you're feeling the need for a surge of that urban talent.. and I mean really,who isn't!

Check out http://WWW.FRINGEURBAN.CA

for the details.

Finally, the last thing I'm going to need you to click on ( I know, so much work, I have to apologize) is the latest write up on us from AFW.  I have to admit, the bloggers mention a russian designer who is only 15 (who I believe was features on Americas Next Top Model) and I am seriously jealous of her.   I mean we aren't even 1/8th as successful as her and she's just 15 but I think an important point as to this reason is raised in the blog.  We have to thank the great ladies who wrote this, I had a really great time reading it and it's so nice to see that our neighbors in Hali have such cool writing talent (and such good taste! ha ha).  Not that this is any kind of a shocker.

http://fashionablepeople.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/sunsets-on-the-eastside/

Alright folks, I'm off to bask in spring sun ( in my new Seven For All Mankind capris I bought at Value Village for $6.. sorry kirstin and Kat I had to brag just one more time about that!)

Lots of Love

Jackie

Heres another review of the show.. unfortunately some of their facts are wrong, such as we are no longer in high school, but still a nice review.

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2009/04/atlantic-fashion-week-fall-2009-eco-ethical-fashion-is-just-so-damn-cool-danica-olders-orphanage-deux-fm-laura-chenowith-and-more/

Also feel I should mention again the we will be participating in the most exciting event this spring... what's that you might ask?

The Fringe Urban Festival!

We had a meeting with some of the people in charge and we are so excited to be a part of this.  I'm sure you've seen the ads around so you have no excuse not to know about this. For more info visit www.fringeurban.com Tickets are on sale now!

And we promise to rock the house all you fashiony (a word we have decided IS in fact a word while we were in Halifax)  people.

Did we jinx spring? Perhaps I got a bit too enthusiastic when a few sunbeams appeared. All I could picture were spring frocks. To my dismay those dresses will have to remain in the closest, until this last wave of reality melts away. All 25cm of it.
At least this new blanket of snow reflects more sunshine then mud?

Even if the weather does not permitt us to leave our legs bare I will continue to stitch up some summer attire, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. You can prepare too by stoping by Love Me Boutique (Birmingham st. Halifax N.S.), where pieces of our latest collection are already in store.
However, if you find yourself stranded you could always check out our etsy site.

Sunsets on the Eastside is now available nationwide (and parts of the US)! We have a few select pieces up on our online store with many more to come in the near future. Check it out and let us know what you think.

http://www.sunsetsontheeastside.etsy.com

Love,
Kirstin

So I recognize that I just posted pretty recently but I have a little more to say ( for those of you know me, I know you wont find that shocking) .

So here are some shots of the show and the pieces that are in the Love, Me store. ( there is one more piece in Love, Me then shown here that I will post when I get a pic of it)

This shots are taken by Ian Smith a friendly photog who we met the first night of AFW at the media night.

I'm going to post a pic of us at media night too also taken by Ian.

There is also a review of Friday night AFW by the coast with a mention of us that i'll post here.  If you didn't get to see the event they did an excellent job of giving you a sneak peak of us and the other designers. 

http://www.thecoast.ca/ArtAttack/archives/2009/03/28/atlantic-fashion-week-friday-night-recap

So us designers have decided to rewind ourselves back to high school a little.

 Once upon a time we all started out by designing our own clothing to wear the next day at school just for the fun of it. It was all about what we would want to wear.  But since the company has started we haven't had the chance to make clothing for ourselves. This is something I have really missed.  When someone asks me if I made the article of clothing I am wearing, I would love to not have to say " No, sorry it's not". 

Not to worry though folks, we will keep designing for you but we have to start flaunting our clothing too, and this is something I cannot wait to do.

When you have to take other peoples ideas of what is pretty into account when designing, it becomes much much harder then you'd think.  This has often caused me a lot of stress.  So when I started to think about what I would want to wear... ideas came in droves and droves. I forgot how easy it was to think up fantastic ideas when I stopped thinking about others opinions of the designs and started designing for me.  So for the next little while you will be seeing us three designers hopefully flaunting our own stuff just for ourselves.  Maybe if the reception on the clothing is good enough we'll make more so you can enjoy it too! 

 So feel free to ask " Did you design this?"  So I can say  proudly ...."Yes!"

-Jackie