Exotic International Weekend Getaway

Last weekend I went to Vancouver! I rolled into town via my favorite transportation method (train) and was shown around by my awesome friend Danielle. Highlights included taking advantage of the nearly equal exchange rate to buy things I didn't need, visiting the Asian "night market" where we ate fried bananas and visited a booth that was selling bouquets made of stuffed animal heads, and watching Canadian coverage of the Olympics. We also saw an outdoor movie showing of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which I had never seen before. It was...sort of bad. I thought the three other than Crystal Skull were the good ones but it was pretty racist and had a terrible love interest who squealed "I broke a nail" at least twice. Can I get some validation here? Am I speaking Indiana Jones blasphemy?

I also saw the single coolest piece of NW Coast Native art ever:

Really highlights the terrifying "I have eight legs and a beak" quality of the octopus

But the big reason I was there was to take in a fashion exhibition at the Museum of Vancouver.

Jazz Hands!

It was called "Art Deco Chic" and was about clothing in the 1920s and 1930s. Besides the fantastic dresses, what really excited me about it was that the exhibition was within reach of what could be done at MOHAI. It was beautiful and engaging, but it wasn't on the level of the MET or the Museum at FIT where all the mannequins match and each room has some elaborate set. This was an impressive show at a local history museum.

You bitches are just jealous because I have real hair

The mannequins were really interesting because they didn't all match. They were clearly cobbled together from a few different sources and the curators had to do a lot of work trying to put the right dress with the right form. 

"Don't lose your heads over it! Ha Ha!" [elbow jab]

Mostly, it worked. I can't remember any being particularly creepy or strange.  

Oh wait, now I remember. Aunt Mavis there on the right seemed like she had wandered into the wrong show.

They also had some really cool accessories, particularly this purse shaped like a VW bug.

Pay no attention to the decapitated green bear in the foreground

I left brimming with ideas and dreaming of the day when I would get to put on my own fashion exhibition. And wondering if I would ever be fabulous enough to pull off a hoodie dress.