Twist Collective Blog

Peking Contest Reprise!

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Published on Thursday, 16 May 2013 11:27

Hey folks! Carly here.

I went to go play on Polyvore yesterday to work on my styling post for this week, and found that a bunch more people had made sets using Peking! These weren't shared on Ravelry, Twitter, or Facebook, so they didn't make it into yesterday's draw. We are sharing these additional entries today, and giving away another free pattern to the winner! If you want to play along next time, make sure you share your set with us!

Yesterday's winner, Mizkathychin also made this sweet colorblocked set.

Siidegarte used black and gold to fancy things up a bit.

Sarahmontie wanted to take Peking to a day of reading on the beach.

Mobarger went with pretty pastels.

Sjc96003 made this sweet monochromatic outfit.

Thanks for playing everyone, this contest was so fun!!  Mobarger is today's winner; email us to claim your prize!

The contest in now closed, but we still want to know: how would you wear Peking?

Peking Contest Results

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Published on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 10:44

Last week, Carly styled Peking her way, I (Kate) thought about what my way would be and we turned it into a contest! Keep your eyes peeled on Style Fridays moving forwards, we might just do something like this again.  Today, we're sharing some of the amazing entries with you all, and announcing the winner!

First up, Redribbonfox was jonesing for some floral jeans and came up with this:

Traceyalice changed the sweater to gray and put together an outfit that I'm now dying to own:

Mizkathychin thought about a dressy evening and proved that you can do volume on top and volume on the bottom at the same time:

Marnie (who is not allowed to win the contest) wants a picnic on the beach in palazzo pants:

And Gidgettm went for casual with lovely accessories:

I thought this was super fun and I hope you all enjoyed it too. It was really great to see everyone's individual sense of style! The random number generator made Mizkathychin the winner of a free pattern. Yayyyyyy! Thank you all for playing!

Make Peking Yours - A contest!

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Published on Friday, 10 May 2013 15:53

Kate here! Every week, Carly brings her sartorial skills to our Style Friday posts and this week she really made Peking her own. One of the things we love about Style Fridays and FOs is seeing garments in a new light. 

As a Work At Home Mom [WAHM] I'd wear Peking in a totally different way and I bet some of you have some great ideas too. We use Polyvore to make our Style Friday sets. It's totally free if you'd like to try it. Just use this link to grab the garment and style it any way you like. 

We want to see how you would wear Peking. Put together a set of your own with Polyvore or with photo editing software and share it on Facebook, ravelry or tweet it with the hashtag #twiststyle and we'll draw one name for a free pattern of your choosing.  In the mean time, I've put together my own outfit to get you thinking. Yes, it's just jeans but I'm all about colors and accessories right now so that I somehow look different every day at school pickup.

Do you share Carly's retro style? My color-loving aesthetic? Something else altogether? We want to see.

Please finalize your entry by the end of day Tuesday and we'll draw a name on Wednesday.

Twist Style Friday: Peking

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Published on Friday, 10 May 2013 09:25

Every Friday we feature one of the garments from the magazine in a post about styling. We suggest different ways to wear the garment in question using mock-ups from Polyvore. We encourage readers to tell us what they think about these outfits via our Facebook page or Twitter, and if folks want to make their own outfits, please tweet them at us with the hashtag #twiststyle. You can find all of the Style Friday posts here. 

Something you should know about me, readers, is that I have a silly haircut. I have had a series of silly haircuts probably since the seventh grade, when I got most of my long wavy hair lopped off because I really, really didn't like brushing it. I still don't like brushing my hair, or using styling products, or tools, or accessories. I want my hair to look super awesome every single day, and with little to no effort. I've been sporting a style called a chelsea for about a year now, and it is by far the lowest maintenance, highest reliability of greatness haircut I've ever had. Also I can cut it myself, so it is free. Here is a photo of it. The location of this picture, by the way, is the High Line, and if you can, you should go there. Bring sunscreen and water.

The inspiration for this haircut came from a funny place. One of my many jobs (aside from student and blogger) is that I teach religious school to Jewish seventh graders for a liberal, unaffiliated Jewish community in east Toronto. My first year in the job was really tough. My students didn't really want to be there, they were 12-14 which means that in a room of seven students, there are as many developmental levels. Also being that age is really hard; you start to feel like you know things, but people around you still treat you like a little kid. So much is changing, and the world around you makes both more and less sense every day. It is a tough social time too! It was a long time ago that I was thirteen, and I had trouble relating to my students. So I started watching Degrassi Junion High, the original, Canadian series from the early 90s. And you know what? It kind of worked. It helped me remember and understand what my students were experiencing (well, plus the internet). Plus it inspired my haircut. See Liz, below, with the iconic Joey Jeremiah.

I'm just giving you this preamble so that you know that I have an ongoing love affair with the late 80s and early 90s, which I indulged full force this week for Style Friday. You definitely don't have to wear Peking with faded denim, black lace, and neon (though I encourage it).

It's an easy, airy shape for those days when you want to look put together, but you don't actually want to be wearing clothes. It's a bit sexy too, but in that oops-I-woke-up-looking-fabulous kind of way. Check out that dipped hem, eyelet detail on the sleeves, and peekaboo lace on the front panel. That gorgeous lace is echoed on the back too. See?

You ready for a retro onslaught? Here it comes.

How would you wear Peking?