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Dress by hugme (Sew Dandee). Purple suede shoes (Urban Boutique). Navy tights (Joe Fresh). Leather jacket (Vintage Glory).
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SO HANDY, SEW DANDEE OSBORNE BOUTIQUE SEW DANDEE MAY BE QUAINT, BUT THE HIDDEN GEM SHOWS SANDBOX THE CITY’S BEST IN ECO-FRIENDLY FASHION. Words by SUZY BODIROGA Photography by BRITTANY ALYSE Styled by SUZY BODIROGA Hair by HALEY GOLIN Makeup by CHELSEA NEUFELD Shot on location at the Park Theatre.
An antique sewing machine hums in the background. Countless spools of thread cover a distressed sewing table. The stucco walls are painted a salmon pink, and the air is perfumed with incense. Andee Penner, owner of Sew Dandee, is toiling away at another alteration. “I think I wanted to have a business right off the hop. I’d give them to my friends, and have them be my guinea pigs,” says Penner, of her earliest pieces. She began by designing macramé and crochet jewelry, as well as handcrafted gift cards. But the self-taught handywoman gives credit where credit is due. Her mother, a seamstress now living in B.C., has been immensely helpful over the years. “We’ve had to turn the webcam on a few times,” she admits, of receiving her mother’s insights. It was about five years ago that Penner got involved with the business, co-owning another Osborne boutique, Stulka. Her partner eventually decided to call it quits in the retail industry, at which point Penner took over. The gig lasted only two years before Sew Dandee opened up shop. Dandee, Penner’s own line, boasts a variety of organic pieces for both men and women, including silk screened shirts, re-worked vintage, precious pins, and greeting cards. She also spends a great deal of her time in the shop altering and tailoring fashions for her clientele. Sew Dandee carries merchandise from a number of local, as well as global designers. An adorable, cobalt blue, leather utility belt, decorated with beads, feathers and fringe, courtesy of Spirocreations is just one of the eye
catching pieces. About 25 per cent of the shop is dedicated to consignment clothing, offering retro dresses, jackets and belts. Penner, who uses a great deal of pre-loved pieces in her own line, believes the whole market is changing. “I still feel like I have to convert people,” she says, referring to the importance of eco-friendly design. Penner draws inspiration for her designs from just about everywhere, whether it be a stranger on the bus, a group of girls out shopping, or a particularly stimulating colour scheme. Dandee’s designs are refreshingly unique, marching to the beat of their own drum. She says she rarely designs pieces for herself, and when she does, it often ends up on the racks. She describes her own style as one depending on her mood, and the day of the week. “I’m excited to start wearing dresses and skirts again,” she reveals, now that spring is in the air. As for Sew Dandee’s Osborne location, Penner couldn’t be more pleased—her only complaint is the high cost of rent. “The Village is a great place to be. All the businesses are very supportive of one another,” she says. She also attributes her success to friends and family, claiming she’s very lucky in that respect. Although born and raised in Brandon, Penner is extremely fond of Winnipeg, and believes it to be an excellent market for her business. “There’s no shortage of really creative and unique people in this city. This city is brimming with so many talented people,” she says. Talented people like Penner.
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Maiden Manitoba dress by Dumb Chauffeur (Sew Dandee). Striped body suit (American Apparel). Black knee socks (Joe Fresh). Brown strappy shoes (model’s own). Fur stoll (Vintage Glory). Pins by Dandee (Sew Dandee).
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Striped skirt (American Apparel). Puffy sleeved top by Experimental Creations (Sew Dandee). Red patent shoes (Spring).
Gingham, tied around the neck shirt by Lennard Taylor (Sew Dandee). Brown loafers (model’s own). Navy disco pants (American Apparel). Paisley head scarf (model’s own).
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A P R I L 2010 | ABOUT TOWN
SHARING NEEDLES
PUTTING THE “YA!” BACK IN YARN: THE WHEN, WHAT AND WEAR OF KNITTING. Words by JILLIAN COUBROUGH Photography by MEGANELIZABETH DIAMOND Sharing needles is a surprising trend that Winnipeg 20-somethings are going public about. I sat down with one university student who wants to be clear that she, “didn’t lead the revival, is not the best, and there are many more doing it that we just don’t hear about.” She confesses that she’s often spotted downtown, her needles poking out of her purse, and that on the bus she’s even drawn blood. Her needle of choice? The knitting needle. Gray hair and a late husband aren’t prerequisites for this spool society. So, who’s fit to knit? Andrée Forest, a 20-year-old UofW student, fluent in both French and English, as well as crocheting and knitting, started up her very own knitting circle early this January. She explains that anyone with a curiosity for creating, a palette for wine, and time on Wednesdays from seven to nine, is eligible. How does one learn to knit? From their grandmothers, it’s safe to assume, and that’s just what Forest tells me. “My grandmother taught me when I was around ten. I was into it for a while, but eventually put it away.” It wasn’t until two years ago that she revisited her passed-over patterns and just recently that she really started putting them to use. “My friends all wanted me to teach them, so we met up one night, and the rest is history. I call us the smitten knittens (instead of smitten kittens),” she laughs. When wing-night seems like the only Wednesday retreat in Winnipeg, Forest explains that her knit circle is actually less about knitting and more about socializing. “There are four girls, and two guys. The guys picked it up quick. We rotate houses, bring wine and cookies, make stuff, teach each other and, best of all, catch up. If I have to reschedule the night, I just update the Facebook event,” she explains. After confessing I know nothing about knitting, Forest reassures me. “That’s the great part, it’s not as complicated as people think.” Her cute berry-coloured beret (which I would swear she bought from Urban Outfitters) is testimony. “It only took 50 minutes to make,” she says. 6
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She explains that knitting involves two basic manoeuvres, and transferring stitches back and forth from one needle to the other. “Crocheting is even easier, it’s just a series of knots,” she says. Apparently once you master them, different combinations of the two stitches will make you anything you want “and you can have conversation while you’re at it,” says Forest. So far, the group has crafted trendy arm warmers, leg warmers, hats and scarves, but she confesses, “nobody’s gone for the sweater yet.” Where do they get their ideas? “Ravelry.com!” she raves. Ravelry.com is Facebook for craft junkies. An online social networking site, if you will, devoted to—you guessed it— knitting. On Ravelry, you can search for patterns, share pictures of your projects, talk about new techniques, meet other knitters and even buy, sell and trade yarn. “The site is wonderful, and is definite proof that knitting is seeing a revival,” says Forest. Luckily, for generations to come, if you don’t have a grandmother to teach you, there is always YouTube. “Whenever I have a problem, there’s a YouTube tutorial to help me,” says Forest. If you can’t find it on YouTube, you can in one of the countless blogs, like creativeyarn.blogspot.com, or fashion inspired knitting magazines like Knitting Vogue, which are previewing spring and summer 2010 trends and techniques. High fashion designer, and former Winnipegger to boot, Mark Fast is also putting knitting on the map. His spring 2010 previews are showcasing hosiery-inspired knit dresses. Style writer Sarah Mower put his work into words in her fashion preview on Style.com. “Waterfall scarf trails and flippy skirts in viscose knits recurred here and there, but mostly he keeps to his tried and tested device of matte, elastic open-stitch cobwebby knits, engineered to cling to everything you’ve got,” she writes, awed by the collection. Be it the basket weave, broken rib, mock cable, open honeycomb, or roman stripe, Fast, Forest and her friends are testimony that yarn is no yawn in 2010.
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A P R I L 2010 | THE STAGE
THE STAGE
HOT THESPIANS: SANDBOX LEARNS JUST HOW HOT THE ACTION GETS Words by TERI STEVENS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. Photography by MARK REIMER
Spend an afternoon with sketch comedy group Hot Thespian Action and you never know what might happen. Conversations about bidet etiquette and the perils of pickle ball addiction, interpretive dance and spontaneous sing-a-longs, even a riveting debate about the politics of flatulence. On a mild winter day, the troupe—consisting of Garth Merkeley, Jane Testar, Ryan Miller, Jacqueline Loewen and Shannon Guile—has gathered to brainstorm ideas for their 2010 Winnipeg Fringe Festival show and plan radio sketches, commissioned by the CBC, for the comedy show Laugh Out Loud. They’ve had a successful year, performing at the 2009 CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival, selling out the entire run of their 2009 Fringe show Hands Down, producing a CBC Radio Thanksgiving day special that played across the country, and taking a trip to the Toronto SketchFest to expand their fan base. They’re already a household name in Winnipeg, and they credit their success, in part, to a unique take on sketch comedy. “We don’t rely on stock characters or funny little gimmicks,” says Merkeley. “People see so much of that, they get sort of tired of it and I think we offer something a little bit new in terms of sketch comedy. We try to make 8
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people think while making them laugh.” As they begin their brainstorming session, it’s clear that this group works well together. They riff off each other’s ideas, expanding on them and offering alternative perspectives, while easily slipping into various characters and inventing lines of dialogue on the spot. At times, they even finish each other’s sentences. “I think another reason we’ve had some success is that we are not only colleagues, but we are best friends,” Miller says. “We have a high level of trust with each other, not
only on stage but off stage. Our friendship base has created this wonderful, flourishing company.” Their writing process is completely collaborative. They brainstorm together, then each member chooses an idea that they will develop into a sketch on their own before bringing it back to the group for further revision. The writing process leads to the workshopping stage, where they work on the physicality and blocking of a sketch and continue to revise and re-write. Right before a show, they perform all the sketches for a test audience made up of peers and mentors they trust. “The test audience really helps us decide in the end if our ideas are broad enough for a larger audience,” Merkeley says. “A lot of the time the five of us can find something funny, but we’re not quite sure if it will translate to people who weren’t there when we first thought of the idea.” They’ve come up with some pretty crazy ideas, like torturing an English professor with bad grammar, depicting a bird of paradise trying to get a mate and
recreating the miracle of life. Inspiration sometimes comes from odd places. “A lot of the time, we write about what annoys us,” Loewen says. “It’s never really steered us wrong.” Testar elaborates. “Something happens during your day or you have a pet peeve and you get an idea from that. Then you take the idea and you make it a little more general. It has to be something that everyone can relate to. You want people to come up to you and say, I totally know that guy.” One of their better known sketches, “Good Time Girls,” came about quite like that. The sketch, which can be viewed on their official website, is about those obnoxious women that seem to always sit next to you at a restaurant, who constantly call each other bitches and talk loudly about inappropriate subject matter. Of course, in this particular sketch, the group of women are robots, taking the hilarity to a whole new level. “I like something that’s recognizable and based in reality, but weird enough that it’s of another world while still describing this world,” Testar says. “It’s making your point about something without just hitting people over the head
with it, like using poetry instead of just saying what you mean. It’s a more artistic way of getting your idea across.” Guile, on the other hand, is a fan of sketches that examine the things that make us all human, and how the things we all have in common are often the things we try to hide. “I like sketches that shock people because that is more my type of humour,” Guile says. “It’s great when nobody expects the punch line but everyone gets it.” She draws on the example of a sketch they did several years ago, about all the questions a girl wants to ask a guy about his penis but is afraid to ask. The sketch is shocking, hilarious, and brings up an important issue: why are we afraid to ask? Through humour, Hot Thespian Action readily tackles a variety of subjects, providing clever commentary about contemporary society, exposing double standards and examining the reasons behind political correctness. “Sketch comedy is a great format because it’s easy for us to take our idea and get it out there the best way possible without having to worry about a continued story, with elaborate fleshed out characters,” Merkeley says. “It’s a bite sized form of comedy where you don’t have to be Dostoevsky, planning out these massive plots,” Testar says. “You can just show an idea in a way that tickles people and then call it a day. It’s about connecting with other people, and everybody just sharing a laugh.” You can see Hot Thespian in action at the CBC Winnipeg Comedy Festival on April 9 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $17.95 and available through Ticketmaster. For more on Hot Thespian Action, visit the official website.
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A P R I L 2010 | BEAUTIFUL MAN
BEAUTIFUL MAN
WE GET UP CLOSE AND UNDER THE COVERS WITH THIS MONTH’S BEAUTIFUL MAN. Words by JEFFREY VALLIS Photography by RYAN WIBAWA Matt Moore is a rare breed. He’s got a smokin’ hot bod, chiseled jaw, unbeatable personality, and a girlfriend of nearly six years. Yes, ladies, he’s taken (we were pissed when we found out, too). But when this 21-year-old agreed to strip down and get into bed with us, suddenly, nothing else mattered. Want Moore? Read on. ALRIGHT, WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO TO GET YOUR GIRLFRIEND OUT OF THE PICTURE?
Easy… a long weekend, a case of beer and a good time (laughs). Just kidding! Seriously, though. After six years, we’ve come across every bump in the road together. It’s going to be tough. Good luck with that. OK. YOU’RE IN A HAPPILY COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP. WE GET IT. YOU DON’T HAVE TO RUB IT IN. SO WHO’S THE LUCKY GIRL?
Her name is Brette. We met in grade nine in high school. We had classes together, started talking and hanging out with the same crowd. Almost six years later, here we are. YOU’RE SURE SHE’S THE ONE, HEY?
We’re so comfortable with each other. We just mesh well. There’s no conflict and it doesn’t seem like work. When it comes to the point where you’re working and draining everything good out of the relationship, then it’s over. I GUESS WE’LL JUST HAVE TO ACCEPT DEFEAT (SIGH). SO WHAT’S THE SWEETEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE FOR YOUR GIRL?
The sweetest thing I’ve ever done? Let me think. There are just too many sweet things that I’ve done for her (laughs). I don’t know. I probably sound like the worst boyfriend right now. Can I ask her that question? I’ll get back to you on that. SURE, LET’S GET TOGETHER AND DISCUSS THIS FURTHER. OVER WINE, PERHAPS? SPEAKING OF… WHAT’S YOUR IDEA OF THE PERFECT DATE?
I would say on a realistic scale, a day in the life of Winnipeg—dinner and drinks. I don’t think its what you’re doing; it’s who you’re with. But the absolute perfect date? I always thought it’d be cool to do a hot air balloon ride. Get 10
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that once in a lifetime experience you both won’t forget. But, that’s like, The Bachelor style, right? THAT MAY BE, BUT WE DEFINITELY WOULDN’T BE MAD ABOUT IT. SO AFTER SIX YEARS YOU MUST KNOW, WHAT IS THE SECRET TO A SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIP?
You’ve got to have your time apart, you can’t always be together. I think that’s why we’ve been together so long, because we’re both pretty good about that. We can go out on the weekend and just do our own thing. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, there are no hard feelings or jealousy involved, which is key. That’s the kind of stuff that picks away at relationships and tears you apart. YOU’VE JUST GOT IT ALL FIGURED OUT DON’T YOU, MR. MOORE?
I’m definitely not saying I’m the perfect boyfriend. I’m far from that. Sometimes there’s just so much going on, and life is moving so fast that I don’t have the time that I would like to put attention and effort into the relationship. WELL YOU’RE PERFECT IN OUR EYES, REGARDLESS. WHEN YOU GO OUT WITH THE GUYS, DO GIRLS TRY TO PUT THE MOVES ON YOU?
I’ve had some interesting encounters. Girls will come up to me and make small talk. I just let them know I’m taken in the nicest way possible. YOU ALSO HAVE THAT PRETTY BOY LOOK THAT MAKES YOU PRIME PICKING FOR THE GAYS. EVER HAD ANY RUN INS WITH A DUDE?
At work once, this guy was buying me drinks after I finished my shift. Great guy, but not my team. A-LA-LA-LA! DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! SO HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOUR SIX FOOT, BRONZED BOD IS GOING TO BE OUT THERE FOR THE WORLD TO SEE? WHAT WOULD YOUR MOTHER SAY?
I have absolutely no problem with that. I think it’s kind of a cool experience; I knew that right from the start. My mom was wondering, “What’s the magazine about?” But I was 110 per cent down right from the start. I was pumped. AND EVIDENTLY, SO WERE YOUR BICEPS.
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A P R I L 2010 | TALENT & TITS
TALENT & TITS STEPHANIE OKABE: SHAKING UP THE STEREOTYPES OF A TYPICAL CHEERLEADER. Words by FAYE ARMSTRONG Photography by MATTHEW KRISTJAN Hair by JASMIN PICHLYK Makeup by STEPHANIE OKABE Stephanie Okabe knows what she wants. As she sips her Starbucks Green Tea Lemonade—shaken, half sweet, with a side of water—and maps out the game plan for her life, it’s easy to forget that she’s just 22 years old. A Blue Lightning cheerleader for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with 18 years of dance experience, this girl has much more on the horizon than football and form. “I don’t brand myself. I’m not just a Bombers cheerleader,” says Okabe. “That is a part of me, but that’s just one aspect of me. I have a lot more to offer.” As for any stigmas surrounding cheerleading, she shrugs them off. “People can judge all they want, but, like anything, there are two sides to every story. You can’t let them bother you.” Rather than stressing over empty stereotypes, Okabe focuses on showcasing all of the positive things the girls have to offer. In her second year on the team, Okabe banked over 100 volunteer hours in promotional activities. How she managed to find 100 spare hours becomes a bit of a mystery when you check out the rest of her resume. In addition to being a full time University of Winnipeg student in the Faculty of Education, she works part time as a server at Moxie’s, tutors English and teaches Zumba—a cardio-based fitness class infused with international music. But there is a method to her madness. “I just believe that you can grow so much from different experiences, but if you never put yourself out there, you’re never going to grow,” she says. Okabe plans to finish her Education degree and eventually start an in-school dance program, as well as
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starting her own private Zumba classes. While her goals are many, she adds, “I’m in no rush to settle down in a full time job. I’m only 22, there’s lots of time to get into grownup mode. I don’t need to plan and micromanage every aspect of my life, but I do need to know what’s going on.” With a schedule like hers, it’s hard to imagine that she has much of a social life, let alone time for dating, but Okabe isn’t ruling anything out. “You make time for the people you want in your life,“ she says, adding, “I like to have fun and relax, but I also enjoy living a busy schedule.” After seeing the end of a four-year relationship, Okabe was ready to do something different with her life. “I would never be the girl in bed for a week, watching sad movies and eating ice cream,” she says, of the recent breakup. While she’s still friends with her ex, Okabe says, “If it’s not there, you can’t change a person. So you have to either accept them for who they are, or, say, ‘you’re a great person, but you’re just not that person for me.’ I’ve finally just gained back my independence.” That new-found sense of freedom seemed to be just the push Okabe needed to prepare for her upcoming adventure: teaching overseas. “You get to a point where you’re like, ‘OK, I need something new. I need something to spice up my life.’ This sounded like the perfect opportunity,” she says, of the ten-month program, which will send Okabe to Thailand. While overseas, she will teach early-years English, science and math during the day, and take her university classes in the evening. Okabe also hopes to squeeze in some Zumba teaching while she’s there, and plans to stay a few extra months to travel around Asia before returning home, where she hopes to be a part of the Blue Lightning 2011 team. “I want to do everything,” she says, adding, “but you can’t have it all, all the time.”
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A P R I L 2010 | LIFE STORIES
REBEL WITH A CAUSE MEET VERONICA HALL, THE BRAINS AND BEAUTY BEHIND THE RED RIVER REBELS DANCE TEAM. Words by DUNJA KOVACEVIC Photography by JAMES VANDAL Hair & Makeup by BERNS & BLACK SALON Crazy, sexy, cool—the red boxes scream at Mystique Nightclub as the newly formed Red River Rebels dance team take the stage. It’s the eve of the SANDBOX launch party and the group—led by the leggy Veronica Hall—turn up the sex, all limbs and lace from the very first note. Now, several weeks after, those same legs, dressed in thigh-high grey suede boots, are the single—albeit unmistakeable—indicator that the girl across from me really is Veronica Hall. Donning pearls, a black pullover sweater and a signature, heartbreak-worthy, megawatt smile, this girl seems more American sweetheart than smouldering temptress. She’s irritatingly beautiful; one of those girls blessed with, as Tyra says, a ‘wind- in-the-hair’ walk and a textbook Type A personality. The kind of presence that intimidates and unsettles every female in the room—that is, until she flashes a Julia Roberts smile that instantly wins you over. Hall is proof that you really can have the best of both worlds: assets and ambition. And, at 23, she’s already 14
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got an enviable list of accomplishments—and a hectic schedule. The girl serves part-time, is a student of Red River’s prestigious Creative Communications (CreComm) program, writes radio scripts for the CBC, and boasts a busy social calendar. Oh yeah, and she’s the founder of the first ever college dance team in Manitoba. The latter of which began with the acronym that strikes fear into the heart of any CreComm student: IPP (Independent Professional Project). The equivalent of a university thesis, the Rebels dance team counted as Hall’s major final project. Dancing since she was four, possessing a self-professed love of “tutus, and terrible coloured scrunchies,” Hall decided this would be the perfect project for her. “I’ve danced my whole life, and it’s always been a really big part of my life,” she explains. “My dance team in high school practiced everyday and did a lot of events. As soon as I started post secondary, it just stopped. I missed that irreplaceable rush of performing, so when the opportunity to do this huge project came up, I thought this was the perfect chance to get back into it.” After approaching Rebels athletics director, Ryan
Ratushniak, Hall found out the school had been looking to add a fifth team to the roster. “I thought it was a great idea,” says Ratushniak. “It was something I had been thinking about as a way of increasing the different things we do at our athletic events.” Hall shares his enthusiasm about the partnership: “[The] Athletics Department was behind me right away,” she explains. “They created the studio, paid for the uniforms, helped organize tryouts, and really made it the fifth team at Red River, which was crucial.” She makes it sound easy. But, in a minute, I’m assured that the road was lined with obstacles. “There are always a lot of challenges when you’re doing something that you’re so emotionally attached to. Especially when you have to depend on other people who obviously don’t feel as attached to the project as you do.” The challenges ranged from construction setbacks and poor audition turnout, to uniform woes. Grimacing, she recalls how she essentially lured a little old woman out of retirement to fashion some last-minute costumes, knowing that she was the exclusive dealer of a particular kind of stretch fabric. I’m fascinated—not by the story itself, (it’s of the ‘you-had-to-be-there’ variety), but at her relentless ambition. What Hall wants, Hall gets. Almost hoping for a point of weakness—if nothing else, than to alleviate my own creeping sense of inadequacy—I ask if she’s had to make any sacrifices. She’s pensive for a moment. “Money, I guess. I could have gone through the year more comfortably financially, but it was so worth it.” She’s quick to credit her five teammates to that end, assuring me that not one among them is a diva, thankfully. Given that they practice twice a week, and perform three times during each basketball event, it’s no surprise that they’ve grown close. “The girls on my team are just gems. They’re the nicest girls and I love them all to pieces,” says Hall. “Spending so much time with each other, I don’t know if we’d be able to do it if we didn’t all like each other, and we do. It’s so much fun.” The dancers work with different choreographers for each routine, meaning they’re always experimenting in different styles. Each one takes about a week and a half to perfect,
leaving little room for error. As for the sultry launch party performance, “that was choreographed by the very talented, very intense, Davin Furtado. It took a full month to learn,” she explains. The sexy dance required them to trade in their tennis shoes for high heels, something she readily admits having the hardest time with. Looking down at her thigh highs, she explains that once she mastered it, they became her most comfortable shoes. She breaks out that infectious smile again and I’m reminded of Ratushniak’s earlier assessment, “She’s got a really positive energy about her.” Hall’s story is a different and increasingly rare type of story. There are no wicked stepsisters or princesses trapped in bell towers. Instead, it’s a realistic portrayal of a girl with a lot of grit and guts. It’s a story about determination, and the payouts of hard work and discipline. When she gets up to go, she shakes my hand politely and thanks me for the interview— every bit a lady. But as I watch her sashay away, hair bouncing in the invisible wind, there’s something else. Something in her confident stride or the sway of her hips. Something that recalls for a moment—and only a moment—a glimpse of the temptress that simmers beneath the polished veneer. SANDBOX MAGAZINE
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