one five four

are we not men?

2009-12-13T22:31:00.003-05:00

this is our new cat.

her name is DEVO.

drawing on a sunday

2009-09-27T17:17:00.002-04:00

This coming Saturday my friends and I are holding an art exhibit. It's going to be so great. The opening party is going to have live music. A Horse and his Boy are playing as well as the improvisational jazz no wave band consisting of viola, electric saxophone, guitar, and glockenspiel called S H R I M P S. I am in shrimps, so are my friends who are doing the art show with me. Aaron joined it too. We are going to rock the party.

Above is some of the stuff I've been working on to ready for the show. I've got a few large paintings and I am going to have some textile work as well.

154 photoshoot

2009-09-21T19:25:00.003-04:00

These are some 'behind the scenes' shots from our photoshoot in the beautiful forest outside of London! It was such a hot day. We biked all the way out there and were exhausted when we got back home. Aaron took all of the photos because he is great.

for more photos:
154 flickr

Textiles: wristcuffs

2009-09-21T14:44:00.002-04:00

My first assignment in textiles was to make a wristcuff. It was pretty basic and we could do whatever we wanted for the design. I was lazy and made a really easy wristcuff, but I think it's still cute. It took 45 minutes to make. All of the fabric was thrifted, as well as the buttons and yarn. I'm hoping to make all of my textiles projects out of vintage and thrifted material. When I get time I'll make a few more of these for friends and lovers.

PiL

2009-09-14T01:41:00.003-04:00

forests

2009-09-13T23:51:00.003-04:00

plaid poncho, 154 vintage

Today was such a beautiful day. Magdalena, Aaron, and myself went for a long bike ride to a wonderful forest just outside the city. We brought a few clothes and did a little photoshoot. Once it is a bit more like fall we are going to go back there and do another photoshoot. These are a couple of the many photos we took, expect more soon. All of this stuff will be in the store soon enough.

60s ethnic dress, 154 vintage
leather shoes, 154 vintage
90s green floral babydoll, 154 vintage

AHAHB

2009-09-13T23:18:00.002-04:00

A couple pictures from the CD release party have surface so I thought I should share them. It was in an art gallery so the lighting is really odd and not very 'concert like'. There was really nice art displayed though! Aaron is playing the melophone in the top picture and singing/playing synth in the second. The cute shirt he's wearing was thrifted for one dollar, woo.

a horse & his boy:
www.myspace.com/ahahb

music

2009-09-12T21:49:00.003-04:00

We made a little playlist of music we are currently into. Listen to this while you browse the web or clean your dishes or anything! We very much hope you enjoy.

the day after the craziest party of our lives

2009-09-12T16:21:00.005-04:00

The A Horse & His Boy CD release party was amazing! FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY people showed up throughout the night. They sold 53 CDs and 9 t-shirts! I am so proud of Aaron and his boys. We didn't get back home until 1:30am, but that didn't stop us from getting up early this morning and biking to the market. We got coffee at our favourite place and ate a spinach & cheese burek for breakfast/lunch. We then proceeded to go on our usual thrifting excursion. We found some really nice clothing for the chilly weather to come as well as some other goodies. I'll be posting pictures of last night's show later (as soon as other people upload them, I was far too busy dancing to take any pictures) and our latest thrift scores.

OH! We also sat in the library for a couple hours reading expensive art magazine & drinking orange soda. There are some very nice paintings coming out of young artists these days. My favourite new artist (new to me at least) is Allison Schulnik. She is inspired by a lot of my favourites, so sense this makes.

love her like I do:

ALLISON SCHULNIK

museum london

2009-09-11T16:19:00.003-04:00

Tonight is Aaron's album release party! It's going to be so great. They are having the show/party at Museum London which is a pretty big venue, plus the show is free so I'm sure there will be a pretty big crowd. The albums look stunning.

have a listen:

www.myspace.com/ahahb

August 1968

2009-09-11T15:38:00.006-04:00

I have a large collection of vintage porn, because I love it. People are shocked when I tell them or they see it all on my bookshelf! It's just so fascinating, it's not even racy (at least not the Playboys...Penthouse on the other hand...). There are a lot of fashion spreads and the clothes the ladies wear is so inspiring. The ladies are also pretty curvy which is great, they are so beautiful nude. I guess since I have drawn so many nude people I am slightly desensitized to nudey mags. If you are faint at heart (or just don't appreciate exploitation of the female body) then look away! This is one of my magazines. August 1968, I'll post more issues along the way.

I want that bathing suit, and straw hat. I want to be that girl. Without the smoking part though.

see yahhhhh.

gates of steel

2009-09-09T22:48:00.001-04:00

on a devo kick. enjoy.

- aaron

new in store: COLOURFUL DRESSES

2009-09-08T18:46:00.005-04:00

We've got some super bright dresses in the store. From the 70s to 90s. A colourful piece of clothing is the perfect way to make you have a great day. I always love to see girls in cute bright dresses coming my way. My favourite dress is the striped one! It's too big for me though, so I haven't ever been able to wear it. The fabric is so soft and nice though, wah.

the store:
154vintage

first day of school

2009-09-08T18:03:00.004-04:00

thrifted dress & shoes

Today was the first day of school! It is my last year and I am so very excited. I am specializing in painting and textiles. All of my good friends are in painting with me so we set up a corner that we can all sit at together and paint at and gossip and have a ball. Seeing all of the new students is so odd! I used to be one of them so I do not intend to be rude in any way. When I first started the specials were incredibly mean to us and I promised myself I would never be like them.

These pictures were taken at the side of my house! It is completely encased in vines, we can barely see out our windows. Squirrels and robins live in the vines so sometimes we can watch them when we look out the window.

I've been pining for a different hair style for awhile so I finally decided to take action last night. I shaved both side of my head a little bit. Just around the ears. It's pretty subtle so I am going to do a bit more tweaking tonight. You can't see it when my hair is down so I can hide it from people! I think it's pretty great.

second chances: FLORALS

2009-09-07T11:13:00.006-04:00

Auctions ended yesterday and I am shocked that these gems didn't go! We've put them back in our store to give everybody a second chance. They're goin' for cheap and they are in the store inventory!

the store:

154vintage

ubu

2009-09-06T21:44:00.000-04:00

Moscow Circus on Ice, 1970

2009-09-06T11:54:00.006-04:00

In 1970 the Moscow Circus on Ice did it's first Canadian tour. Aaron and I were lucky enough to find a brochure from that tour at a thrift store! It's in perfect condition too. It seems to have been quite the show. The most depressing part is the bears, when I first looked through the magazine I started to cry a little when the bear section came up. They made bears wear SKATES and play HOCKEY. I really hope this doesn't happen in the world any longer. I also can't believe that pepsi had an ad with one of the tortured animals.

Even with the bears there are still tons of neat things to read about and see in the magazine.

But there are still the bears,

new in store: LEATHER & LACE

2009-09-05T22:53:00.001-04:00

The combination of white lace and chocolate brown leather is so elegant and feminine. This fall I am going to look for as much lace as possible and wear it all the time. I tend to find lighter shades of leather oxfords so finding these ones was so great. Unfortunately these are a tiny bit tight on me, so I am giving them up. They need to go to a better home (a home where they will be worn and not just shoved in a closet).

I will live in mens trousers from the 60s come fall

the store:
154vintage

of the spirits

2009-09-05T19:22:00.000-04:00

all thrifted

Today we went to the farmers market and bought some sweet corn, eggs, peaches and the most delicious sausages ever. Then we had a giant breakfast and biked around the city. It's been a lazy Saturday, which is always nice. Right now we are eating sausages, drinking cream soda, and watching Frederico Fellini's 'Juliet of the Spirits'. It is the MOST 60s movie ever. Everybody is wearing the most ridiulous and impractical hats.

messy kitchen

Library books: Shiele & Avant-Guard

2009-09-05T14:30:00.000-04:00

I'm completely obsessed with the library. I can spend way too much time looking through all of the art books they have. It's a good thing there is a limit to how many books you can take out, or I'd lose track. Libraries are amazing. The one right by my house is the biggest in London. It has all the foreign films I has always longed to see. I've decided to share some of the books I've recently taken out. It's also nice for me to have these pictures somewhere since they inspire me greatly in my art. My favourite book that I have at the moment is about Egon Shiele (pronounced Shiel-uh). It's got great colour prints of his drawings. They are so beautiful, a lot of them are very pornographic but the ones I am sharing are pretty tamed. Life drawing is a passion of mine so I connect with drawings of the human figure. Shiele manages to bring out the grotesque beauty of the ladies he draws. They are presented as vulnerable and so elegant. I could stare at his work forever.

Early century Russian art has been on my mind lately. It's been inspiring my drawings and approaches to paintings. There is a large Russian art section at the library. These are the two in which I enjoyed the most.

lolalola

2009-09-04T17:15:00.000-04:00

It's chilly tonight! Meaning I can wear my favourite sweater. I tend to be drawn to vintage Nike, not sure why since as a kid my mother never let me have it due to it being sweatshop made. Maybe that is the reason for it. I apologize if you are offended by ripped tights, I can't keep a pair for more then a day without them being destroyed.

Tonight Aaron is having a band practice. They are practicing every night this weekend because they are playing LOLA Fest is Victoria park. After they are done practice we are all going to package their new album (as in fold and glue all the sleeves together, put the CD sticker on the CD, and cut out stickers).

LOLA FESTIVAL:

http://www.lolafest.com

Thrifting: whimsy lace & deer face

2009-09-04T13:03:00.000-04:00

Aaron and I are so incredibly in love with thrifted and pre-loved things. We love to find wonderful vintage pieces but are probably even more obsessed with thrifting objects! (my mac keeps telling me that 'thrifting' is not a word but I use it almost everyday, so in my world it is as much of a word as LIFE). Our entire house is littered with vintage furniture, pictures, dishes, etc. In fact the only non-thrifted things I can think of are our computers, digital camera, and some of Aaron's musical equipment. Our food, toothpaste, and shampoo aren't thrifted but that it to be expected I suppose.

my new favourite picture for our walls, $2

little bird, $1

brown bear, $0.25

Since it is nearing the end of summer it is time to wear all of your cute white summery things like mad (I don't believe in the silly labour day rule, but it is still nicest to wear white in the blazing sun). Here are some cute white summery things I have acquired this summer.

this dress has buttons going all the way down the back

I found this shirt yesterday and it's exactly what I was looking for

I'm going to layer it under everything this fall

this top is unfortunately too small for me

meaning you will quickly find it over here

(back)

my perfect party dress

I partied a bit too much in this dress actually,

and paid the price by spilling red wine on it!

it's okay now though

Oh! My art supplies aren't thrifted either. I just want to be thorough with my claim of having mostly thrifted things, I don't want anybody to call me out on whether or not my toilet paper is thrifted! (which it isn't).

happy thrifting you all

new in store: FALL FLANNELS

2009-09-04T12:41:00.001-04:00

FALL. It's almost here. Everybody better stock up on over-sized plaid flannel shirts to layer with everything. This is just the beginning of our massive pile of fall shirts so keep checking back to find the perfect comfy plaid. Trust us, it's hard to find really great plaid these days. So snap them up as soon as you can! (Also, I swear it, Aaron keeps over half of the shirts he finds for himself. So consider yourself lucky that he let these beauties go!)

the store:

154vintage

see yah!

A Horse and His Boy

2009-09-04T09:51:00.000-04:00

Aaron's badass band, A Horse & His Boy, are releasing their first album next week! It is incredibly exciting. The album artwork is being kept a secret but I'll post it as soon as the album is released, it's really great! AHAHB have been getting a lot of press here in London and great things are predicted for them. They certainatly haven't made it yet though, considering nobody outside of London has ever heard of them!

have a listen:
www.myspace.com/ahahb

also, here is our side project:
www.myspace.com/missmarykingsley

unfashionable

2009-09-03T18:51:00.000-04:00

julia in her dress from goodwill.

aaron on his bicycle from goodwill.

introducing

2009-09-01T12:06:00.000-04:00

this blog is going to be about our lives and what we do with them.

we certainly paint our faces as often as possible.

the name 154 is from the album titled 154 by wire.

see yah around, julia & aaron