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pack
A systematic approach to packing a cooler will
preserve food and drinks longer on an outing. z Two coolers — one for beverages, the other for food —will keep items fresher. z Chill drinks and foods cold before they go into a cooler; this helps ice last longer. You can also pre-chill a cooler by throwing in a few ice cubes an hour or so before loading it. z Load cans and bottles first, and then add ice as a cover layer. z Go with crushed or block ice. Crushed ice cools food
national post, Saturday, June 7, 2008
and drinks fast; block ice lasts longer. z Pack foods that will be consumed last closest to the bottom and work upward. z Perishables, such as meat and dairy products, should go directly on ice. Seal foods in plastic containers or zip-closure plastic bags to keep it dry. z Don’t put coolers in the sun. Limit open-lid time to reduce the interior from exposure to the outside heat. z Don’t drain cold water. It helps keep the contents cold. McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
style
Meet a few older women who never drop the style gauntlet nor give a fig for being ‘age appropriate’
By Karen Burshtein
A
funny thing happened on the way to Indigo to buy (that is, absentmindedly leaf through) Charla Krupp’s bestselling opus How Not To Look Old: I noticed a lot of very snappily dressed cronies striding down Yorkville. I mean really old dames, like 80-something old. There was a great Brooke Astor type wearing a lean skirt suit, great hat and gloves, another woman in a navy kneelength cashmere V-neck sweater with a thick fuchsia belt slinking around her hips. They reminded me of the vieilles dames in my old Paris neighbourhood of Saint Germain-des-Prés who never let down the style gauntlet or gave a damn about what was “age appropriate.” My octogenarian neighbour would go to the boulangerie dressed in plaid knickers and a jaunty newsboy cap. Not to sound all Dove ad, but I say we make these grand old dames the new fashion muses for 2008 — not least of all because the chic golden ager has been overlooked in fashion, possibly because there’s that sense that after a certain age you shouldn’t care about clothes. Better to disappear into a netherland of mumsiness and elastic waistbands (the exception being the nutty-aunt-in-the-attic style). Yet 70-somethings were fashion inspiration — to any age — in the days before we started worshipping the flipflopped Hollywood junior bimbo. Brooke Astor is one example. The amazing octogenarian Joan Burstein of Brown’s department store in London is another. When you find a woman gifted with innate style, and combine it with knowledge that comes from years of trial and error in dressing, plus the confidence and self-knowledge that comes with age, well why wouldn’t we want to take note. I asked several stylish Canadian grans what experience has taught them over the years about dressing — though I suspect these women were just as stylish when they were younger, testaments to the fact that you’re either born with it or you’re not. Still, even if you can’t learn style, you can learn not to make mistakes. That comes
from years of trial and error. I think I started thinking about this demographic recently because lately one of my bigger style crushes has been the 70-plus mother of a friend. Belle doesn’t live in a castle, as her name might suggest, but in the north end of Winnipeg. Part of her style appeal, I suppose, is that along with making chicken soup for her grandchildren she has been known to attend garage rock concerts. Belle used to model coats at Eaton’s years ago, and is still whippet thin, with killer posture. At the recent bat mitzvah of a friend, which I attended several days before heading off to Paris for Fashion Week, she wore a fine grey wool dress with white cuffs and a high white collar and a bit of detailing on the skirt. It was pure Belle de Jour chic. A lot of its appeal had to do with the fact that she has kept her model’s lean body. Nothing I saw in Paris stuck in my mind as much as that dress. There was something revelatory in that person wearing that dress and looking so inspirational. Trying to get style secrets from a vieille dame is like asking a grandmother for a recipe. She’ll make excuses not to give it to you, most probably because she doesn’t have one. After years of experimentation she just knows what’s right, without a formula. When I phoned Belle to ask her about her lessons in fashion, she laughed: “What makes you think I am chic, dear?” I tell her that she fulfills my criteria of innate chic by making a pair of pants and a sweater seem like the coolest outfit without being able to explain why. “Remember those blue flared cords and blue turtleneck you wore to that party? It made me want to go out and buy a pair of blue cords and blue turtleneck. “I don’t know. I never went for what somebody else was wearing. I always did what I thought suited me,” she said. “Of course, you’ve got to have something to hang it on, but to flaunt is awful. There’s got to be a limit, and I think smart women know it. They don’t dress to show their equipment. The grey dress you like had sleeves. My boobs weren’t showing. The cardigan you like had three-quarter sleeves. There is something nice about focusing on the wrists at my age. At any age, actually.” I ask her to sum up her style.
gorgeous,
Simon Hayter for National Post; Francis Vachon for National Post; Lyle Stafford For National Post
Clockwise: Krystyne Griffin pairs bold accessories with a dramatic face; Muffy Price favours a striking all-black look most days; Patricia Wakefield notes that as you get older “you have to accommodate your style”.
Her answer: “Thank God, I can wear a pair of jeans.” “Style has no age,” insists Milli Gould, Toronto’s patron saint of disciplined 70-plus chic. She’s the Milli of Milli’s boutique in Hamilton and its newer outpost on Bloor Street’s luxe retail strip. In conversation, this woman fairly bristles with purpose and character. “In fact, as you get older, you should care more about fashion, not less. I think there’s something very appealing about women in their 70s and 80s who invest a lot of money in expensive clothes — its a kind of optimism that is very appealing,” Gould believes the confidence to wear what you like is a benefit of old age. She de-
scribes her own style as “very minimalist. Something understated with a fabulously cut trouser. I dress it up or dress it down with a great piece of jewellery, a fabulous belt. ” I ask her if after a certain age the goal is to look young. “I would not wear a miniskirt. You have to have perfect legs.” But that doesn’t mean you have to crawl into the fashion woodwork. In fact the older you get, the less classic you can afford to be, Gould thinks. “Our 20s are when we are supposed to experiment, but those are often the years we lack confidence. I love the idea of women in their 70s or 80s who experiment within the bounds of what they know, who look as if they have minds of their own.” Gould says her style evolves as she does: “I learn every day. I’m exposed to a lot of things. I travel the world. When I stop thinking of fashion, I might as well die.” In Toronto, too, I think of another woman whose joy in fashion is evident but which seems more alluring because it is coupled with an interest in other things: Krystyne Griffin, jewellery designer and gal about town. I gather she is not yet 70 but it’s clear she isn’t advertising desperation about being younger than she is: Her dramatically lined face and bold accessories with lowcut shirts more than suggests
comfort in her own skin. In Vancouver, 88-year-old fashionista Pat Wakefield was preparing to go on an art tour last week when I contacted her. She’s done such tours of Venice and San Francisco. This time it’s Calgary, and just before leaving she’d been on a shopping spree. Wakefield likes a store called On the Go in Vancouver and lists what she bought to wear on visits to galleries, corporate collections and private homes: “A black and white chiffon skirt from Spanner, with a black jacket that has big white buttons.” She also bought a pair of black jersey pants by Canadian designer Joseph Ribkoff. “I like them because they have a simple line, and are classic and elegant.” She will pair them with a tunic that has a very long cowl neck “down to the belly” or a fuchsia suede jacket. For dinner at the Cattleman’s Club, “if the weather is decent,” she’ll wear a chiffon skirt with coin dots in different shades of pink, with a black Ribkoff black shell and “a lovely pashmina.” Wakefield says she has always been interested in fashion. As a young mother, she took a sewing class, and a course in design and drafting. “It was the best thing I ever did, I learned so much about line and proportion.” “You have to accommodate your style,” says Wakefield of
being over 80. “I don’t mean that I think you should dress as an old lady. I think anyone, of any age, should accent their good features. As people get older they have things go wrong with their bodies. Some people get that terrible rounding. Some people have bad hips. Often the line of your clothes becomes off. In your 60s or 70s you might not wear high heels, you have to change the proportion of the skirt, for example. Maybe it becomes more about accessories at that point. I wear a lot of black, but I’ve learned to keep black away from my face. I add a colourful scarf or a nice piece of jewelry, usually costume. “My goal is elegance. I can’t say I always achieve it, but that is my goal.” In Quebec City I recently met two modern style deities, Muffy Price and Monique Amyot. The 70-something BFFs are partners in an interior design firm, Décor Price Amyot Price (the other Price is Muffy’s daughter, Lucy). They did the interiors of the Auberge Saint Antoine, a gorgeous design hotel in Vieux Québec, owned by the Prices, one of Quebec City’s old families. Unlike many other design hotels that claim the moniker, the Auberge shows taste, individuality and wit. I see that same mix-it-up approach in their style sensibilities as we have tea in the hotel lobby. Muffy Price was wearing
weekend post
label national post, Saturday, June 7, 2008
There are few things more frustrating than buying flats of annuals, perennials or vegetables, planting them and then forgetting what, exactly, all that greenery is. Garden tags are a tremendous way to identify all those leafy lovelies you bought at the nursery. You will need scissors, a felt
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tip pen, self-laminating sheets and garden twine. Then turn to hgtv.ca. There is a PDF that can be printed off. The plant names can be written in on the coloured labels. And, with the lamination on the front, they will be protected from the weather. All you need is a hole punch to do the job. Weekend Post
style
glorious grans
Glenn Lowson for National Post; Francis Vachon for National Post
“Style has no age,” insists Milli Gould; Monique Amyot describes her style as “serious fun.”
“leftovers” from her daughter’s closet, a repository for the allblack look she favours: a black suede below-the-knee skirt and a long black cardigan. Monique Amyot likes mixing vintage with such designers as Issey Miyake, and calls her
style “serious fun.” On this day she is wearing black distressed corduroys, a “cheap old” crystal Puma belt she got ages ago and a black T-shirt from Holt Renfrew. “I always wear black and white. You can leave in the morning, wear it all day, and in the
evening, put on a pair of heels.” Both Price and Amyot grew up in houses where design was considered avant-garde, “You know, green wallpaper with big white flowers,” says Amyot. “We thought that was normal.”
The best style advice they can give is the same they would offer for decor. “Put it all together, then take one thing off. It will almost always look chicer,” says Amyot. Despite characterizing her style as being “on the con-
servative side,” 78-year old Pat Moore of Calgary is a big fan of Versace. “He was a genius in terms of how he structured his clothes.” she says. Since retiring from teaching in 1993, Moore has been a volunteer at the University of Calgary, the Alberta Ballet and Calgary’s Women’s Emergency Centre, among other institutions. “I was at a lunch and a tea on Wednesday. The biggest problem I could see in showing people’s age was not how they dressed but how they stood. Gravity pulls you down. That’s where I’ve been fortunate. I’ve been able to stay fit. I have good posture. I tap dance. My legs are still OK, but there’s a limit. I might wear a short skirt but with thick tights.” Experience has taught her to cherrypick clothes that are right for her. “You look ridiculous if you are always in the latest fashion. You can be stylish without having your belly button showing.” Her husband, Sherrold Moore, who worked in the oil industry, presumably helps finance her Versace habit. “I like investment dressing. Buy something good that feels good on you. And you can wear
it season after season. The best thing to have is a good tailor who can let things in and take them out, change the shoulder pads take in the sleeves. You’re recycling good clothes. That will always look good.” She was recently honoured for her volunteer work by the Alberta Ballet. “I ended up wearing a dress that was 36 years old. It was a gold knit. I had the lining taken in at the top to have more shape and I had the neck changed.” Today, Moore is getting ready for a safari in Africa. And she is not, she states emphatically, packing a Tilley hat. “I have shorts, and different lengths of pants. For evening I have a pair of Versace sweatpant-style trousers in shark skin. I’ve had them for a long time and I wear them with a black singlet. A lifetime of tweaking and experimenting with fashion and Moore’s best style tip is absurdly simple and still pretty profound: “It’s a courtesy to other people to feel comfortable with what you are wearing. You can concentrate on other people, listen to conversation. You’re not all wound up in how you look.” Weekend Post