The Story Is Not True

The True Cost is a documentary film by Andrew Morgan exploring the impact of the global clothing industry on people and the planet. Help get if off the ground by contributing to their kick-starter!

Fast Fashion- huh yeah- what is it good for?

What is fast fashion? Fast fashion can be though of like fast food: cheaply produced and priced, easily consumed, most people like it, and definitely not good for us if we have it more then once a month. Bellow is a great video from Online MBA that breaks down what it is, what it does, and what to do. Thank you to Zoe Grey for emailing this to us!

Pip Pip and a top of the hat to the UK government for taking a stand and crating the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, and to Swinburne University of Technical for putting on the Fashion Police Expo, exploring the real fashion crimes. Follow #fashioncrimes and #thefashioncrimes_101 on Instagram and Facebook to learn more!


Created by OnlineMBA.com

Here are some non-fast fashion brands the Deadly Nightshades run/work for!

• Pigeons and Thread- Toronto Based Manufacturing Company
• The Make Den- Toronto's favorite Sewing Studio
• YNOT Cycle- Quality crafted bags and cycling accessories
• Paper People Clothing- eco fashion to make you feel warm and pretty

DNS MIDNIGHT MADNESS CLOTHING SWAP!

The best clothing swaps in Toronto are curated by the Deadly Nightshades. We may all be biased in thinking this, but what other Toronto clothing swaps get featured in Blog TO, have major Toronto fashion scene characters come out and throw down walk-offs, and land you with rad items that will get you in the Huffington Post? We do!

Check out the Facebook event HERE! 

It's the greenest, funnest, most affordable way to purge your closet, get great new stuff, hang out/ have fun with your friends, and make new ones! For the first time, we are hosting the event at the still sparkling brand-new Make Den location!  (1244 Bloor Street West, two blocks east of Landsdown on the North Side. Look for an amazing Queen of Hearts window display and a Seafoam interior.) It's convenient as you can sign up to learn how to alter those amazing swap finds or rent a sewing machine if you don't have one yourself.


swap and alter all in one place , photo from the Make Den, 

The event is NOT at midnight- this swap starts at 8pm, Saturday February 23rd, and goes t'ill midnight. What a great way to avoid the bar scene! Or, since the Make Den is conveniently located in the up-and coming trendy Bloordale area, you can pop over to places like Three Speed, Bar Neon, or the Whippoorwill before or after swapping.

This time we are also going to have a fabric sale in the back! If you have left-over fabric, trims, notions or thingamabobs, for $10 you can sell your goods to a really awesome crowd. Contact us to book a table.

A reminder on swapping etiquette; All clothes, accessories and fabrics to be swapped should be in good condition, freshly washed if have been worn, with no stains. Minor tears and fixable things are okay.

See you then!

P.S. This year, left over clothes will be donated to the EHM clothing bank, one of Toronto oldest homeless shelters. So feel free to bring more then you plan on taking away. 

SISTER SESSION- OMG- girls in BMX

This amazing documentary on rising girls in the pro BMX circuit is one of the best things I have seen so far. Women cyclists seem to be breaking into in the bike scenes in all regards, from sports to infrastructure.

Sister Session – ONLINE PREMIERE! from Simple Session on Vimeo.

Directed by: Brett Astrid Võmma, Helen Habakuk, Doris Tääker
Produced by: Brett Astrid Võmma, Risto Kalmre
Girls riding: Katherine Diaz VEN, Chiara Felder GER, Rebecca Berg GER, Angie Marino USA, Zandile Mkwanazi GER, Allison López ARG, Saki Sawada JPN, Sam Moodie GBR, Camila Harambour CHI, Kayley Ashworth GBR

Thank you so much to GIRL BIKE LOVE for pointing me to this supper rad video about Female BMXers at Simple Session 2011.

This amazing looking documentary on sustainable textile design in India also popped up online. I would love to see the full thing!

Unravel Trailer from Soul Rebel Films on Vimeo.

Soul Rebel Films, Unravel Trailer

Free Toronto Sustainable Economy Events!

Are you familiar with the amazing Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series? If not, let me make the introductions.

"The Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series (TSSS) was launched in 2008 to dispel the myth that sustainability is a cost to business and to share the experiences of companies that have found economic advantages by integrating sustainability into their corporate strategy."

This Thursday, February 7th, 2013 there will be a free live webcast & twitterchat (#tssschat) from 5:00 – 6:30 PM EST. Author of The New Sustainability Advantage and sustainability change agent Dr. Bob Willard explores cutting edge research on an emerging “Gold Standard” to recognize a truly sustainable enterprise – an enterprise that will lead us to Capitalism 2.0. During this interactive discussion Bob will highlight:

• The global effort to define new standards, principles, indicators, and metrics for a sustainable enterprise
• Why the current rankings of the most sustainable companies are not helpful
• Why important stakeholders are anxiously awaiting a better model to assess companies
• Why companies that have already started to set Gold Standard-like goals have achieved greater profitability, resilience and cultures of innovation
• Bob’s own suggested environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria for a Gold Standard

On a personal note, I saw Bob Willard speak at the Leading Change forrum at the past GLOBE 2012. He comes from the corporate world and has navigated working with very traditional corporations and industries. Coming from the opposite spectrum of sustainable business, I learned a lot about how larger companies think, how to work with them, and what to learn from what worked and what didn't work in creating long-lasting change in large organizations. Definitely worth checking out!

Next up!

 

Sustainable Fashion - Book Launch and Paper People Clothing Giveaway

"Thursday, February 21st, join Sarah Portway (fashion academic, educator and sustainability nerd) at Fresh Collective Queen Street for the official Toronto launch of her now published Master's thesis entitled Regenerative Abundance: Fast and Sustainable Apparel Production in Toronto... Added Bonus! We'll be giving away one of the Paper People Clothing Penny Dress!"

I'm going- I hope to see you lovely sustainable Toronto fashion people there! xo

Blog TO - The Make Den is nominated for Best DIY Workspace in Toronto!

It's nice to get noticed!   Laura Adams from Blog TO wrote a great article about us recently and I'm happy to report that I don't sound like a complete tool in it.

Even more recently, Blog TO nominated us for "Best DIY workspace in Toronto", which we are SO honoured to even be mentioned on!!  You can vote here until Saturday.   Go vote because obviously we're buying everyone beer if we win!!

Some of the interview is below, along with a few photos.

The Make Den Sewing Studio recently relocated from within 69 Vintage Collective to a new location at 1244 Bloor Street West, providing a bright and crafty addition to Bloordale's streetscape. With its robin's egg blue walls and ruffled party dress in the window, I couldn't resist popping in one dark winter evening to learn more about what this sewing and design school has to offer.

Founded in 2010, The Make Den offers sewing and design classes, workshops, and camps for all levels: from absolute beginners (like yours truly), to intermediate students looking to sharpen their skills, to aspiring designers applying to competitive fashion programs at institutions like Ryerson University, Parsons in New York City, and Central Saint Martins in London.  The Make Den's owner, Irene Stickney, has a passion for teaching students of all levels that is infectious and heartfelt. For those pursuing sewing as a hobby--about 75% of her students--The Make Den provides an outlet to explore their creative side, which is often not fulfilled in their day jobs. Irene loves helping these students create new things, have fun, and acquire a life-long skill.

For the 25% of her students pursuing a career in fashion design, Irene aims to offer top-notch instruction on technical skills and a supportive community. "Toronto has amazing designers and they need more resources. I want to be able to support designers. I want to be able to say I've made a difference for designers." The Make Den provides these students with classes, camps, studio space, endless encouragement, and even photo shoots (by Irene) to build their portfolio. Talking about her advanced students and their creations, Irene beams with pride. "Don't forget me when you're famous!" she jokes with them...

Beyond the Wild

MegO here. I recently moved back to Toronto from Vancouver. I love Vancouver, but with Niamh relocated to NYC I just couldn't stand being the only Nightshade in a city, and I am a Toronto girl at heart. So the Vancouver chapter of DNS is closed for a while. We loved Vancouver, for its mountains and beaches, bike lanes and bike raves... but now we say thank you, and ta-ta for now. xo

The Skeena River

Before I left BC, I had the opportunity to go up to beautiful Prince Rupert to visit my friend Cody Brown. I met him through the awesome young East Van bike scene; I helped out his collective house make a memorial to dead bikes for the Parade of Lost Souls. He's rad. He was willing to help me learn the tricks of riding fixed and we share a love for the colour purple so naturally we became besties. Cody is also Nisga'a, and last year moved back home for some of the more lucrative electrician jobs he could get up north, and also to learn more about himself and his people's way of life. I missed Cody and wanted to see the wilds of Northern BC before I left for the Big Dirty, so I went.

Sea Lion Tacos

I loved my visit. Prince Rupert is a very beautiful and tranquil place. The mountains are giant, the rivers long and wide, the sky large and awe inspiring. The air is nothing like what I am breathing here in Toronto. Everyday we ate salmon Cody and his Grandfather caught and even turned smoked sea lion into gourmet tacos. How hipster, right? Fishing in the area makes up a huge part of the economy, but is also a way for people to have nutritious food inexpensively. The community lives off the rivers in many ways.


The Nass River

My trip really hit it home- if Canadian rivers are poisoned by oil, mining or construction, not only is the Nisga'a way of life compromised, but so are the lives the lives of the 120,000 Canadians fishery workers who bring in $5 Billion dollars a year. If the fish are gone or inedible, then what will the cost be to society, forced to pay much more for non-local food?



Backyard deer, Prince Rupert

More importantly, the majority of the community doesn't want the proposed "Northern Gateway" pipeline and mining development, not just first nation communities or hippies. Ottawa, Calgary and China should not have ultimate say in how BC coastal communities run themselves, it doesn't seem very fair to me. I met a man in Prince Rupert who had been working in oil, gas and mining for 20 years. (The area does sustain itself in natural resource extraction already.) He said about the pipeline: "The proposal is the stupidest, worst planned proposal I have ever seen with my own two eyes." The proposals put natural gas refineries where the fish spawn, and there is no contingency plan for Tsunamis or Earthquakes- in a geographically active area. The same week as Hurricane Sandy in NYC, northern Haida Gawaii had an earth quake of 7.7 magnitude. Imagine the next big one does create a Tsunami. Imagine there are dozens of oil tankers in the area, along with pipelines that can burst. This is more of a proposed Northern Gateway to Hell.

Then I met a group of guys at a bar in neighbouring Terrace who worked in mining and bragged about their drinking and cocaine habits... like, while ON the job. Great. Glad they make so much money polluting rivers. Glad we're putting all this federal monetary effort into basically helping the drug cartels. This is great for the health of the Canadian Economy I'm sure.


Trumpet Swans, Nisga'a Territory

Forcing any community to accept the proposed pipeline plans is just simply jerky thing to do. It's not right. When will our governments stand up and do the right thing?

Here is a beautiful video by Above on the Sacred Headwaters featuring Summer Rayne Oakes, model and entrepreneur. For any fashion designers out there, her company Source4Style is one of the most progressive ways to source fabric on the internet.



We're winning, by the way.  Shell has pulled out of the Sacred Headwaters, the proposed pipelines are being blocked on all three levels of Govenrments, and #IdleNoMore is creating an international solidarity movement. So lets keep it going.  I'm going to keep riding my bike, buying local and independent, avoiding plastics and reducing my consumption. Why? I like democracy, human rights, water, food and oxygen, I use all that stuff like everyday.

love, love, love,
MegO!


Cody Brown, Gitwinksihlkw, Nisga'a Territory

Want to know?

Are you a writer or journalist? Are you an entrepreneur or a social media maverick? Do you like the best design has to offer in cycling and fashion? Do you enjoy MegO's point of view? Do you like bikes and babes, good times and great graphic design? You should sign up for DEUXDEER's mailing list:

Sign up!

DEUXDEER is MegO's entrepreneurial venture with Monika Koch; together they ride their track bikes to the beach and talk about good design and moral standing. They are also both half-polish. Naturally, they had to start a creative agency that combined their passions for their passions [good design and bikes]. DEUXDEER was then conceptualized over many, many cups of coffee. 

Oh Yeah...

I forgot to tell y'all, but I was in the Canadian Huffington Post for their Citizen Style Contest Thing! My photographer friend Jesse Winter snapped this shot down by the water at the Vancouver Athlete's Village.




I put together an outfit that met three criteria: Made/Designed in Canada, bike friendly, and some shade of green. (Take note, my tip and my tail were DNS. xo)

Hat, Salvation Army,$0.99. Infinity scarf and hair wrap- DIY from The Make Den. Made in Canada bamboo viscose Thieves top. preloved jacket from repurposed vintage sweaters and pants. Modrobes recycled poly riding jacket. Made in Canada Second Denim organic cotton high waisted jeans. Designed in Canada, vegan, single injection molding, non-toxic Paddintong boots by Native Shoes. Made in Canada Mari Cla Ro bag out repurposed car parts, swaped at the Clothing Swap Detox. Canadian trapped silver fox tail, Chatton Rouge.



Her is my my full "rationale" behind my style choices and view of the Canadian Fashion industry and urban cycling:

I would like to highlight the best of Canadian forward-thinking fashion.

In Canada, we have a lot of weather. I am from the city of Toronto, where the temperature goes from -20 degrees Celsius to above 30. it snows a lot. This differentiates us from comparably weatherless fashion cities of Paris, London or LA. Personally, I live in the world class city of Vancouver, which is situated in a temperate rainforest climate. Instead of fighting against these factors, or wishing I lived somewhere else, I embrace the weather. Snow? Sure! Rain? Bring it on. A stylish Canadian is not a fair weather fashion lover. Successful fashion companies out of Canada embrace rather then reject the weather.

The Deadly Nightshades is my crew, a bi-coastal design collective by day, mischievous bicycle gang by night. Our style is rocking up to Fashion Week and art parties on our bikes, hence a slogan "High Heels on Wheels". Therefor our style must be forward thinking, beautiful but a tad practical. Bicycles also make it easier to wear high heels, as there is little pressure put on the front foot, and heels can act as cleats to hold onto your pedals. We are part of a growing movement that embraces European style of everyday cycling. (We also have a OUT OF THIS WORLD style sense garnished from decades of awesomness.) Successful fashion companies out of Canada cater too rather then reject the active lifestyles.

The Nightshades met at fashion school, and in part bonded over working on fashion shows, art shows and eco-fashion events and the subsequent good times after. Sustainable design is the next progression in design for us, and producing fashions that are conscious of the planet is our passion. In Canada we have amazing natural beauty, that inspires design and art. Vancouver hosts Eco Fashion Week to great success. Successful fashion companies out of Canada preserve rather then destroy the Canadian environment.

I am trying to exemplify authentic Canadian style embraces the weather, progressive design, my choice of transportation, supports those I love, and protects the beauty of the country I live in.

xo

~MegO!

Happy Birthday David Susuki!!!!

David Susuki celebrates his 75th birthday today!!!

I love David. He's my hero. In 2007, I was honoured to "open" for David Susuki when we produced Flourish, the Ryerson's Eco-Fashion show that ran at the first Green Living Show in Toronto. This was the first show where Feirce Bambi, Cannibal vixen and I all worked together. Our presentation on Saturday was just before David's speech. It was amazing. Not only did Irene and I get to meet David Susuki, I got to help David by helping him find his coat backstage. I gave back to him after he has given so much! I wish I could do more.


Jonathan Laba (DJ), Meaghan Orlinski (Producer), David Freaking Susuki, Irene Stickney (Designer), Lauren Barless (Graphic Designer).

I also had to kick him out of our backstage area- I know you are David Susuki Mr. Susuki- but you can't go back there- our models may be changing!

And now... a David Susuki Cowichan Sweater. I know! You're welcome.