This is for the ladies (and all you metro men) in Vancouver. As a girl on a modest salary, I understand how difficult it is to keep up while not emptying your pockets. When it comes to hair, I am no stranger to the bathroom sink salon, better known as the cheapest place to get your hair done in town.

The funny thing with the bathroom sink salon is that the results are approximately 30% of what you wanted, 50% of the time. If you're dyeing, it can involve multiple trips to the drug store, or even worse, a trip to the actual salon for colour correction. Your attempt at colouring your hair on the cheap can suddenly go from $12 to $150, depending on the magnitude of your mistakes.

Ever been under the fluorescent lights in the dye section of Shopper's Drug Mart at midnight with piss-yellow hair looking for something to cover it up, knowing deep down it's just going to turn greyish green? I've been there many times. But the older I get, the more I feel obligated to appear wiser and slightly more put together, and having quirky, fucked up hair is getting less and less charming as the years go by.

"Funny that a pair of really nice shoes makes us feel good in our heads, at the extreme opposite end of our bodies." -- Levende Waters.

When I first laid eyes on a pair of Cocopunkz shoes, I was immediately captivated by their whimsical, unique designs. Each pair of shoes in this line is laboriously hand painted, and no two pairs are alike. These works of art feature designs inspired by nature, cityscapes, films, animals and everyday objects. I was intrigued about the creators of designs this interesting, and decided to do some research.

"Only great minds can afford a simple style." -- Stendhal

"Hair style is the final tip-off whether or not a woman really knows herself." -- Hubert de Givenchy, Vogue, July 1985

Madeleine Scrutton is the first installment of mini-interviews that I did with VCC Fashion Arts students. I had the pleasure of helping Madeleine write a bio that was posted in this month's edition of Vancouver Fashion eZine. I thought it would be best used here to describe the line she made for her grad show:

"Madeleine Scrutton's strong interest in textiles is evident through her clever style of fabric juxtaposition. With a favor for minimalism, she finds herself drawn to a more conceptual design style, complete with minimal silhouettes and clean structured lines. Instead of feeding to trends, she is rather drawn to modernizing mundane styles by lifting them out of context and updating them with current details. Her inspiration is drawn from elements and feelings exuded through various forms of media -- music, film and photographs, and she translates these elements into a cohesive concept for her collection. Her line entitled 'Dry & Dusty' is aptly inspired by landscapes of desert and mountain ranges alongside Fever Ray's self-entitled album that features a chilly, spooky sound. 'Dry & Dusty' is a contemporary women's line that features strong design contrasted with the use of delicate fabrics. The collection is spirited and striking, yet somehow maintains an ethereal feel."

"Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn." -- Gore Vidal