WHO WHAT WEAR
“I think the weaving, especially, works back into how I like to dress, in that I’m not really into patterns so much, but I love colour combinations that are unexpected and I love playing with textures,” says Shelagh Moore who wears a mustard tank with “Semi-embellished Skinny Jeans with Frayed Hems” from Suzy Shier, beige suede mules and accessorizes with a silver chain bib necklace.
Shelagh Moore had just moved into her first apartment all on her own, decorating it just so — a mustard club chair in that corner, a grey upholstered bench against that wall. But when it came time to decorate her walls, she got stuck. So, she looked around at the work of local artists and artisans for ideas and found herself drawn to macramé and textile art.
“And I thought, oh that’s cool, I can buy that,” says Moore, 30, a textile artist, model and former visual merchandiser. “And then, wait a minute. I can make that. I know I can do that. Let’s try and do that.”
So, she took a weaving lesson at Handknit Yarn Studio on James North and loved it so much, soon her apartment walls would become testaments to her devotion to her new craft. Mountain scenes crafted from yarn, loom art in a multitude of textures like the piece Tectonics seen here, which Moore describes as looking like a slice of Earth “and it has all the different layers and the molten bits and the core and the centre and the movement of everything around it.”
But Moore’s love of creating rich scenes by combining unconventional colour pairings with unexpected materials and fibres extends to her wardrobe as well as her art, she says.
“The No. 1 thing that I see when I go into a store is a sweater – I can spot a sweater from 1,000 miles away if it has a cool knit or a cool texture,” says Moore, who wears sweaters yearround, even in the heat of summer. “I love the different textures that they have and the different weaves that they have. And then you could put (them) with anything … a T-shirt, you can put (them) over a dress, and it just creates a totally different feeling and a totally new shape and texture.”
Moore says she is currently going through a rustic-colour phase, where she is drawn to earth tones like oranges, deep purples and mustards like the tank she wears here with “Semi-embellished Skinny Jeans with Frayed Hems” from Suzy Shier, beige suede mules and accessorizes with a silver chain bib necklace.
“At one point, (my wardrobe) was almost entirely pink, green and cream,” says Moore, who sells her textile art under the name Wodwo, or @wodwo.wild on Instagram. “I had pink pants, green pants … I throw them all together in any combination. I have all of them in every piece of clothing … they are almost neutrals for me — I can add just about anything to them.”
Most eye catching piece:
My velvet quilted, gold bomber jacket from Rachael Warner … she’s actually (a designer) from Caledonia. It’s a bomber jacket, kind of a coppery-gold colour, kind of puffy texture, velvet, and it has sleeves that are slightly belled but not quite — they’re just a little puffier toward the wrist of the black cuff.
Quirkiest wardrobe item:
My Rubix Cube purse (from YesStyle.com) or my jeans with koi fish embroidery (from Sirens).
Wardrobe must have:
A versatile and comfortable pair of jeans and a perfume that makes you happy. I usually go for skinny (jeans). It just works for me. But I love when I see different cuts on other people and then I’ll be like, ‘oh I’ve got to find a pair and try them on. Ah, they looked so much better on her.’
I love scents, I love fragrance and they can help you through the day sometimes. I’ve had some perfumes that I’m just like, I need to feel strong today ... I had one many years ago that I bought with that intention — I need to feel feminine and strong and confident and I need to get my (stuff) done. And that scent that I found that just evoked all of those things, really helped me deal with a very difficult work situation for a while — Manifesto by Yves St. Laurent.
Best purchase:
My Danier leather jacket or my vintage fringe leather jacket from The Edit. (The Danier jacket) is black, sort of a bomber style, but a little more fitted. It has a huge hood, which is really cool because the hood’s actually like, it has a fold on the top so you can fold it so it blends down into the lapel which becomes the front and it has studs and it has nice big thick cuffs. It’s super comfy, it’s incredibly warm and just looks really bad-ass.
(My vintage fringe jacket) is also black — even though I don’t really own much black at all. It is absolutely covered head to toe in fringe. Some of them have little beads on it, all the way up and down the arms and it’s pretty short, but it works really nicely with a high-waisted jean.
Regrets buying:
Not too much. I don’t really have anything that I regret. I’m pretty meticulous when I’m looking for something. And I tend to know for certain when I want to buy something. But I do have one pair of jeans that I don’t even know where they came from. And they’re a little low on me and it’s just not nice.
Loves to shop at:
There’s tons of great stuff up and down James Street. White Elephant is always cute ... Love and I – it’s just a new place and I feel like I’m going to be in there a lot. La Bichette is really cute, Hawk and Sparrow’s nice and I do like Urban Planet, too.
Ridding her closet of:
Anything that’s too serious … sometimes people tell me that I’m kind of an intimidating person and I don’t feel like that. I feel like I’m pretty relaxed and I’m just kind of wanting everybody to have a good time. And project that a little bit more.
I find black very serious. But maybe things that are too structured, too rigid looking. Things that were you to see it, you might think that that person is inflexible. Like a very structured blazer … some things, I put them on and I’m like, I feel like I need to go to the office wearing this. And that’s not how I feel. I’ve got some blouses and things that are kind of like that, where the only use for them is a business situation.
Splurges on:
Perfume.
Beauty product she can’t live without:
Definitely perfume, I’d say. I mean, I could, but I love it. A good sunscreen – Neutrogena Dry Touch. And I’m very much about skin care. I don’t wear a ton of makeup, so I have this whole Lush routine of skincare that has been working for me for a very long time.