Liana Schmidt is a photographer whose work you may recognize from WORN’s “This Shit Ain’t Free” make-up column in every issue. Liana is also one half of Arianna, an art-duo, and she published an ever-charming book called Paper Dolls in 2007. Liana is a member of Toronto’s Mercer Union, and is helping organize this year’s OMG SWAP, a clothing swap where you can pay a $5 entrance fee and walk away with all you can carry. Watch out for expert hoarders - they may be violent.

You’re a part of Mercer Union, which promotes the production of art of all kinds. How does fashion fit in?

In a sense, fashion fits into Mercer’s culture because a lot of artists in and around the gallery can get especially creative with their clothing. On a more general level, fashion and art seem to influence each other and tend to be visual references from which we can look back on to define a particular time.

Can you tell us about the OMG SWAP? Why do you think it’s important to share and recycle clothing?

The OMG SWAP, conceived by Xenia Anemia of the Mercer Union board, is a fund-raising opportunity for the gallery and a community initiative; it’s also a great opportunity to socialize, cleanse your closet and find new pieces for spring. For a $5 entrance fee you can pillage a great deal of clothing and all leftover clothing will be donated to Sistering, a woman’s agency serving homeless, marginalized and low-income women in Toronto. Recycling clothing is an obvious inclination if you have ever seen the warehouses that vintage buyers pick from. There is a lot of excess clothing kicking around out there.

Many of your photographs are surreal and disturbing. What inspires this connection between fashion and the supernatural or dream-like?

Fashion is often otherworldly. Gareth Pugh and Alexander McQueen (R.I.P.), for example, have produced garments that err on the side of Science Fiction. he majority of the imagery I have done for WORN has come from Arianna, my collaboration with Erin Fraser. Our work comes from short attention spans, an interest in film and a bad sense of humour.

Do you think there is a difference is between “fashion photography” and photographs of people with nice clothing?

There is a difference. Fashion photography mainly serves to promote, whereas the latter encompasses a lot and suggests a more candid and documentary style - if you are referring to sites like Facehunter.

Where did you get the idea for your Paper Dolls book? How did you decide on what characters and outfits to include?

I wanted to put together a book project with the creative people around me and paper dolls seemed like a way to pay homage to my friends in a manner that perhaps only famous people are treated to. I asked subjects to bring a few outfits of their choice to my studio, where we sometimes improvised with materials lying around. I liked the idea that a stranger could have a lot of my friends cut out and lined up on their shelf. It’s weirdly intimate.

- Stephanie Fereiro

Nightwood is a stylish musical trio from Montreal, whose newest album, Carte Marina, is heavily inspired by all things nautical and dreamy. Amber, Jeremy, and Erin will be playing a free show at Toronto’s legendary Horseshoe Tavern on January 19, 2010. Here we talk to the girls of Nightwood about the importance of shopping local, band uniforms, and the best-dressed musicians of all time.

You’ve done some interesting alterations to garments in some of your videos. How do you feel these works fit in with your music?

Amber: The videos were fairly simple to make. We’d set up my laptop in a corner with a time-lapse application to record us while we were making stuff. It’s a bit magical to watch them afterward - we’re still pretty new to tailoring and sewing and so it’s like an extra high-five at the end of a project! We enjoy the creative control that comes with almost every aspect of being an independent band: designing album cover artwork, promoting ourselves - the whole bit. So same goes with our clothes! I must admit that a lot of why we ended up tailoring our clothes is that we can’t always afford to buy new ones- we really put almost all of our disposable income into the band and so tailoring, making, or thrifting our wardrobes is practical.

Erin: It would appear we’re somewhat obsessed with process! I tend to keep little NW mementos (set lists, scraps of paper with lyrics or song ideas, recordings of early versions of songs, etc.) and we even time-lapsed the entire making of our record, which Amber set to the song Bright Girls of Summer for the album’s first music video. I’ve found the process of making art to be artful in itself and am grateful for all the documentation!

What role, if any, does feminism play in your wardrobe choices?

Amber: Choosing what to wear so that I can do the things I want to do in my life can be considered feminist, I think. I really appreciate when independent designers add pockets to their creations in case I need carry stuff in them to pull a MacGyver move to get out of a tricky spot. In the past I used to confuse the reasons why I would dress up for a performance, for example, thinking I had to dress myself up to be more easy on the eyes of others. It’s exciting to think of stage clothes as being separate from my regular wardrobe and somehow an extension of the songs we play. I think that when I own that, I’m asserting myself as a human being and artist, and that’s pretty feminist.

Erin: Yep. Good one, Ambs! Except I find pockets in my purse to be more useful…!

Tell us a little about the process of your wardrobe selections.

Amber: I’ve recently purged a whole bunch of clothes from my closet and kept only the garments that I wear regularly, have sentimental value or are just awesome! This makes getting dressed way more fun and collage-like with all my materials spread out in front of me. Most of my stuff was thrifted sometime in the past ten years or was handed down to me from my mom or step-mother or claimed at one of the many clothing exchanges my buds have hosted. I got my sewing machine a few years ago and that’s been pretty revolutionary for me!

Erin: It’s gotta feel right. An outfit can feel right last Friday, but today it’s totally wrong. That’s why we must tour with a little variety, and why it’s totally acceptable to shake out yesterday’s outfit, disregard the smell and pull it back on.

How do outfit changes affect your live performances?

Amber: Outfit changes definitely help me mentally prepare for the stage. After sitting in the back of the vehicle for hours, schlepping gear into the venue and then soundchecking, it’s a lovely way to transition into a performance. I like to wear dark tights, little black leather boots and short vintage or vintage-inspired dresses on stage with red lipstick and my hair pinned to the side…sort of a Jane Austen-meets-riot grrrl-meets-”Gothic Lolita” thing. I like looking ultra feminine and playing up my (somewhat) small stature which makes it so much more fun to make heavy guitar sounds and belt out weirdo mystical lyrics! I definitely think that playing music with other people is profoundly human and it’s a privilege to share that with others - so dressing up for a performance (for me) is also a sign of respect for those who show up to a rock venue late at night in the middle of January.

Erin: Sometimes I leave the outfit I’ve planned in the car and don’t change from soundcheck to performance and on nights like these that’s just how I’m most at ease. But other times there is definitely something freeing in changing before a show and allowing yourself to shed a bit of your everyday identity.

On your current tour, are you doing anything interesting with clothing to match the themes of your new album, Carta Marina?

Amber: We’re not sure! We’re considering dressing up as sailors to go with our watery, ocean-y, stormy record and I am harboring not-so-secret fantasies of shouting out “swab the decks,” “beer! starboard!” and the like. But we’ll see. A lot of the lyrics on Carta Marina are dream-inspired as well so I also kind of want to dress up in this crazy, lizard-y sequin dress with lots of black eye-liner to play the part of a scaly mystic! Ha!

Erin: I’m not trying to match the album’s theme so much as I am trying to match Amber’s enthusiasm! We usually call each other before shows to make sure our outfits make sense together, like we all used to in fifth grade. We dress differently and our tastes differ, but I think our looks compliment each other somehow. I like when Amber shops for me- she can get me to try on stuff I wouldn’t dream of pulling off the rack but that winds up looking pretty fabulous on!

Bands used to frequently dress in coordinating outfits, but the practice is much less common now. What do you think about uniforms vs. street clothes in performance?

Amber: I think that it’s such a different world in pop music nowadays - a performer’s wardrobe can signal so many different things: who is backing them financially, which demographic they’re trying to target, whether they want to appear styled or unstyled. Street clothes and street style is so easily coopted by different industries including the music industry that I sometimes think of that kind of thing as a type of uniform, for example, “singer song-writer garb.” So it’s complicated. However, I do appreciate when performers make an effort with their appearance, especially folks whose music and performance is about spectacle, for example Lady Gaga, Gwar and M.I.A. It’s just fun! On the indie level (touring bands in Canada), I also appreciate it when folks have fun with their appearance and make an effort to entertain, for example folks like Gobble Gobble or tUnE-yArDs.

Erin: I wouldn’t oppose a uniform!

Do you think shopping locally is important?

Amber: Montreal is such an amazingly creative place - a bustling island city! - with so much local talent that I don’t feel like I need to look elsewhere for shopping. Also, we’re all a bunch of artists so supporting one another across disciplines just makes sense - it’s about creative solidarity.

Erin: We love shopping at Lustre for show outfits & accessories. The designer Yasmine Wasfy is really friendly and is always open to altering stuff for us on short notice! Angie Johnson’s Norwegian Wood designs are staples on our blog and I even got to wear one of Angie’s Elastic Harnesses in some of our recent press photos! Good friend and neighbour Lara Kaluza is a professional thrifter and has started selling her own designs as well. We’ve been thrift shopping with this lady and we envy her skills! We’re also big fans of complexgeometries!

Top ten best-dressed musicians, from past or present?

Marianne Faithfull
Natasha Kahn (Bat For Lashes)
David Bowie
Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead)
M.I.A.
Betty Davis
Shirley Manson
PJ Harvey
Jimi Hendrix
Stevie Nicks

- Interview by Stephanie Fereiro
- Photography by Mike Rollo and Marilis Cardinal

Kirsty McKenzie designs imaginative clothing, which has been shown at Toronto’s Alternative Fashion week and can be found on her etsy. She also creates one of a kind costumes, favored by many creative musicians and performance artists.

What did you dress like in high school?
High school was kind of a confused time…started out in vintage tees, baggy pants with boxers and life jacket belts… then took a weird preppy/ but raver-ish style blend… then kinda 70s ghetto fab in my last year, with Fawcet hair, fur coats and distressed bell bottoms.

What are the biggest differences when you design costumes as opposed to a regular collection?
When I design costumes I try to reflect the artist(s), or band’s character/ persona, and have a very specific individual in mind. Costumes can stand alone, and aren’t always harmonizing with a group of designs. Costumes are usually more free and fun, and although my collections are somewhat cheeky at times, I usually go for a more luxurious evening feel, but often with a dark twist.

Who do you imagine to be the typical person who wears your designs?
The customer can be a musician, an eccentric, or simply someone who wants some special pieces. I have seen/dealt with customers of all ages almost - from early 20s to 60! My biggest customer of the moment is 48 and lives in Florida, and I recently made my mom’s dress and jacket for my sister’s wedding. I can totally do some more “toned down” designs, but I personally don’t believe in “dressing one’s age”.

What were some of the major influences behind your most recent collection?
Grace Jones and Siouxsie Sioux… Japan, flowers, Gothic punk, romance…it was aptly named PARADISE POISON - dripping with flowers and gems, and licked with a poisoned tongue. Music was a huge influence, and I mixed the music for my show combining Grace Jones vocals from her new album, layered over an 80s Ministry industrial beat.

What was your last Halloween costume?
Psycho Clown Nurse (nurse costume with crazy clown makeup, bloody gloves and needles!)

Kirsty’s Top Ten Fashion Designers
Issey Miyake
Zandra Rhodes
Vivienne Westwood
ThreeASFOUR
Christian Lacroix
Christian Dior
Jean Paul Gaultier
Alexander McQueen
Comme des Garcons
Yohji Yamamoto

On her website, A Fluffy Blog, style blogger Eline describes herself as “a 21-year-old colour-obsessed illustration student” who worships “cats and meaningless fluff.” Her daily outfit posts, usually consisting of lots of vintage and DIY, are an explosion of all that is colorful, fuzzy, and upbeat, interspersed with her own intelligent musings on clothing (and the occasional requisite cat pictures).

What did you dress like as a girl? Were you always so into bright colours?
As a little girl my mother used to dress me up in an abundance of all sorts of brands and designers because we had the money and my parents loved living the good life in every aspect, I guess. They were very close to what I wear now, actually! Bright coloured dresses with poofy skirts and all sorts of quirky prints and stuff attached. I especially remembered this one Prussian blue dress with tiny mirrors attached! I also still have a hat that has a complete country scene on it, with trees with apples and fields with carrots all 3D sewed into the scene. It’s amazing!

I wasn’t always this into bright colours but I’ve always been extremely interested in the effect of colours and most of all contrast colours (red-green, orange-blue, yellow-purple). I remember suddenly realizing I could easily implement this in my wardrobe and got so excited about the red vs green combo I wore it for over a year. In the end I got sick of that and started experimenting with other contrast colours as well as other kinds of colours vs colour. And now I’ve ended up as this jumbled up rainbow mix of colours.

Do you find people tend to be more creative with their outfits at an arts school? Does what you wear stand out?
I think people in an arts school are very focused on aesthetics and so it’s unsurprising that most end up outing this in their wardrobe as well. Strangely back in my arts high school when you did this you were kind of seen as a traitor because people were still under the delusion that an artist doesn’t care for material possessions, and especially not such a commercially influenced thing as fashion! Teenagers! Now, pretty much everyone cares for it, whether they’re dressed in rags or not, most of them are making a fashion statement in my mind.

Not everyone gets equally creative but there are certainly a lot more people than in other schools. There are probably only a handful that really stand out though and yeah, I guess I’m one of them seeing as I often get recognized outside of school when people are drunk and come up to me asking me to touch my hair, haha.

Your ensembles are so [awesomely] bright and eye catching; how do you deal with people who stare or make comments?
Well, most of the time I’m very oblivious towards what’s happening around me as I’m always in this self-absorbed bubble. Though I do notice it when people go out of their way to let me know they find the way I dress ludicrous, such as actually jumping in front of me and laughing out loud. I just can’t believe people like that, I can’t wrap my head around the fact that someone actually minds that I dress differently. They make me feel as if it’s a very offensive act to not follow the majority and I find that just completely ludicrous. I believe that the only way to achieve happiness is to completely be yourself and dressing in full on colour is a part of who I am right now so a couple of silly teens or closed-minded people are not going to change that.

Do you think fashion and style can be used to make a feminist statement? How so?
I think fashion definitely could. YSL definitely did, though I wonder if something that is so inspired on men’s clothes should have made such an impact and should have empowered women? Why is it that someone dressed up in frilly things for instance can’t be seen as someone strong? Fashion could play with this in shows and editorials but fact of the matter is that these notions are strongly implemented in (most) people’s minds so though fashion can make a statement it can’t change the way people think.

I think no matter how you face it appearance will always say something about someone before they can speak themselves. And you could definitely play with that, if you wanted to be perceived as a strong woman you could wear bold colour(s) in perfectly shaped clothing. Michelle Obama is obviously doing that, as well as Hilary Clinton and people have been consciously doing this for centuries. But I don’t agree with certain clothes always saying certain things. Why am I seen as exuberant and sweet when I am so obviously not when you get to know me? Fashion should start playing with those aspects… or maybe rather, people should start realising the difference between appearance and personality.

How many different colours has your hair been, and which shade was your favourite?
I honestly can’t remember! That’s pretty bad, isn’t it? I’ve started dying my hair just a while before my 18th birthday (I’m 21 now) and since then my hair has been all kinds of shades of natural colours (from blonde to red to black in all tones), though mostly red. Pink is my first unnatural colour if you don’t count that one time I accidentally ended up with orange hair… and then that time I purposely dyed it orange because I decided orange hair is AWESOME. I think pink is probably my favourite ever because it’s just so silly! Whenever I look in the mirror now I can’t help but smile at myself.

What are your favourite types of places to shop at?
I really love that type of shops chock full of indie designers dedicated towards the cutely and brightly coloured style with a vintage twist that I’m into, but sadly I can’t ever afford them so I just stick to all kinds of flee markets and second hand shops/charity shops. Also, I don’t ever mean to because I think their quality’s lacking but I always get sucked into H&M buys. Sometimes they just have great stuff and sometimes they brainwash me.

Eline’s Top Ten Style Icons (in no particular order)
Yuki from Judy and Mary (an awesome upbeat Japanese band from the 90s)
Cher from Clueless
Chuck Bass
Frida Kahlo
Bubbles from Ab Fab
tinytoadstool
Prince
Patrick Wolf
Bjork
Tilda Swinton

-Anna Fitz