Didn't Have a Vase for my Valentine Flowers

Used a bong instead! This is the closest object to a vase that I even own! 


Thanks for the lovely gift! Happy Valentines Day!


Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy

Band of Outsiders Stoner Inspired Fall 2011 Collection

Yesterday in New York, Band of Outsiders designer, Sternberg described the latest ready-to-wear collection's inspiration as The Stonemasters, that "invited a more general contemplation of bygone California, land of stoner princesses and hippie communes, and then those influences pinballed around a little more, dinging Yoko Ono and Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Clubalong the way."

While looking specifically for the latest runway shows which would appeal to a psychedelic crowd, Band of Outsiders totally fits that category. Not only does the designer openly admit to using a "land of stoner princesses" as inspiration, but the royal colour schemes, uniform boot, and fishtail braids make looking this good really effortless. Now bow to your Highness! 


Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy

Pot Culture: The Dude

Although The Dude may have been caught in a case of mistaken identity with another Lebowski, there is no mix-up when it comes to The Dude’s style.

By wearing lounge and sleepwear as clothing, he has created a signature style, based entirely on his own comfort level. Perfectly matching monochromatic patterned pajama pants, robes and an old thick knit cardigan somehow makes his inappropriate clothing choices acceptable in public. Anyone chilling with The Dude will want to immediately change into something a little more comfortable.

Take a clue from The Dude and adopt a 

signature style to spend your time 

bowling with the gang and smoking 

joints instead.

Friendly Stranger At Value Village

Yesterday, while trying to find the best deal at Value Village 50% off sale, a complete stranger starts talking to me. He holds up a t-shirt with a weed leaf that reads, “Plant Manager”, and explains that he thinks I could rock the t-shirt better than him, and he wanted me to have it.

These glasses remind me of Hunter S. Thompson,
making them a necessary purchase along with my t-shirt.

What a kind friendly stranger to pass along such a gift! Immediately before our chat, I was getting bratty and impatient with the traffic in VV. Oddly enough, I joked to myself that it was my wish that someone could just show me anything pro-pot being sold so I didn’t have to actually look for it. 

Look to the bright side of the sun, 

Puffy

February 6th is Bob Marley Day

Friends at Toronto Hash Mob posted a recent event on their site, February 6^th is Bob Marley Day. Rob Ford, the Toronto Mayor was quoted explaining that Bob Marley’s courage to lyrically speak out against issues for oppression, poverty, slavery, and apartheid, and for this he deserves a celebration. 

In the summer I purchased another stoner's vinyl collection, including Bob Marley and The Wailers album, Kaya, at Value Village. The Jamaican word for weed is kaya, and my first name is only one letter away from spelling kaya. Thanks and Happy Bob Marley Day to the generous mystery stoner for giving away their collection, and allowing me to realize that awesome name coincidence! 

Be sure to celebrate just how Bob Marley would want you to, tons of kaya!

Always look to the bright side of the sun, 

Puffy 

Get Conscious

The majority of the most fashionable hemp pieces are hemp blends. It’s truly a magic fabric, because it’s easy to manipulate the material’s appearance, yet all the benefits are still guaranteed. Fed up with only finding garments of burlap-sack looking hemp, I was very excited to find Get Conscious. 

As an eco-friendly company focusing on hemp bridal wear, they offer a variety of unexpected hemp blends in their fabric including: hemp/silk blend, a hemp/silk floral jacquard, hemp/silk satin, and a hemp/tencel blend are all available. 

Get Conscious women's and men's formal apparel.

Even if you personally wouldn't wear any of these particular styles, you must admit that you never would have guess what the fabric actually is. Hemp fashion is definitely growing through it's innovations, by allowing sustainable fashion to become more than a fad, and eventually leading us to a promising pot-filled future. 

Always look to the bright side of the sun,

Puffy

Stoner Style

Talking with someone about their own personal fashion could very well be the next best high to actually smoking weed. Everyday that I am at The Lounge, I see someone with true unique style. Just because their outer-appearance intrigued me enough to ask them about it, they definitely deserve a Stoner Style profile.

To get the ball rolling, and display some of my own fashion, I decided I would be my very first Stoner Style profile.

Vapor hits and crafts: Sun-Maid Raisins
are Christopher Robin's favourite snack.

Puffy Pash:

What’s your favourite strain? To date, Jack Herer

How would you describe your style? 1970’s wet dream, or a glamorous Kurt Cobain.

What are you wearing? Neon hot shorts, eggplant thick knit tights, polka-dot sequined hat, and black basics to balance it out.

What’s your best piece of fashion advice to share? Have fun and don’t forget to experiment.

Always look to the bright side of the sun, 

Puffy

Pot Culture: Style HIGHcon

There are many trends throughout history that inevitably repeat themselves, because fashion is ultimately a cycle. When an iconic decade like the 1960’s happens, imaginative artists and designers are bound to invent groundbreaking unique looks. Simple sophisticated mod shapes, body conscious silhouettes, black opaque tights and mini skirts, exaggerated chandelier earrings, and psychedelic drugs are all memorable elements of the time, made famous by the “youth quake”.

Experimenting with many highs, including pot and fashion, style HIGHcon Edie Sedgwick did a flawless job at being unforgettable in fashion history. Her bravery in comparison to others was noted, for she was no one but herself. 

As Andy Warhol's muse, Edie was always having
a blast, and forever will be remembered for it.

Gerard Malanga and Edie smoke up together in October 1966,”I’ve never seen her more beautiful. She puts on a pair of red leotards and a red tight cotton top. I weed out the seeds and twigs from the pot and fill one-eighth full Camel with the Acapulco Gold. We get extremely high. She tells me how she wanted to run away from the mad publicity for an entire year, how it all frightened her, how transparent it all was…” he describes in a trip report.

Pack that pipe with some Acapulco Gold
and channel your inner Edie!

Unfortunately, Edie lived a little too fast and died of a speed overdose. From a fashion perspective, I believe that drugs, the very thing that killed her, is also what kept her spirit alive.

Forty years after choosing Edie as her first model,
Betsey Johnson is still incredibly successful for
funky ready-to-wear collections.

Without her experimenting with drugs, would these fashion styles even exist for the sober world to wear? Betsey Johnson answers that question while describing Edie in this video:

Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy

Surprises From a Nug Pornographer

For my last post, I wanted an image of a scarf with weed leaves on it. Searching google images of a “puff puff pashimna” wasn’t successful, yet I stumbled upon something even better. On his Cannabis Culture blog, Matt Mernagh mentioned my fashion participation on The Mernahuana Show. http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/node/25747 

This is fantastic!

Although I have been falling behind on sharing my fashion information on the show, I continue to brainstorm. A pro-weed t-shirt contest and a live-from-the-lounge stoner style interview are among my top ideas.

Nug porn + visual merchandising
accessories is my dream.

Matt is definitely one of the most productive potheads I know, check out his awesome nug porn at http://www.mernagh.ca/ and his blog http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/node/25779

Hemperette

When I was introduced to how wild fashion could be with the aid of drugs in the film Party Monster, immediately I dug the designers Heatherette. Eventually, their ready-to-wear club kid collections fell back into the loop like every other fad. It’s been years since I have heard much about the design duo Richie Rich and Traver Rains, just about when they backed out of Fashion Week for financial reasons.  Daily, I find positive connections between cannabis and fashion, and Richie Rich is my most recent discovery.

Incredibly fucked up costumes from Party Monster.

Reading The Emperor Wears No Clothes has really opened up my eyes to the fabric innovations that were possible before prohibition and DuPont stunted the growth and value of hemp. Desperate to find at least a few designers who appreciate the benefits of working with hemp as a textile, I find myself continually searching until I find a line that I am impressed with.

At the beginning of the month, plenty of eco and style conscious celebrities attended the Global Green 11^th Annual USA Sustainable Design Awards. Held in New York, this event highlights individuals who have demonstrated a bold and courageous approach to creating an innovation to improve the environment, and social awareness on a variety of topics.

Richie Rich attended the event and told media that, “I love fabrics that are made out of hemp. I mean, I don’t smoke them but I love making things out of them.” Finally, a neon-hued clothing company that recognizes hemp as a valuable textile has mainstream exposure.

Richie Rich of Heatherette

Unfortunately, there is nothing else connecting Heatherette’s clothing to cannabis, yet. Events like the Global Green awards encourage designers to think outside of the box, carrying the message’s influence, thus creating necessary change.

Frequently, I will be checking in with Heatherette’s commitment to hemp fabrics to see if they held up their end of the relationship.

http://news.style.com/view/1173622/

Puff Puff Pashmina

When marijuana is represented in any media form as a positive substance, it becomes a gradual advancement for the movement against prohibition. This is what I realized immediately after taking my first bong toke of the week. Horror stories about harsh penalties for marijuana from American friendly strangers forced me to take a long smoking break while I visited New York City with my family.

Both Broadway shows I saw had different cast members at various times discuss their love of marijuana while smoking up. To be honest, I found about 10 roaches in my purse, which I accidentally passed through customs with. Hesitant to bring them back to Canada with me, I did what any loyal weed smoker would do: pull the roaches apart, roll them into a doobie and smoke it on a side street before seeing the show. When the main character told the audience to never let good weed go to waste, I knew I made the right decision to smoke my New York City joint by not wasting that kush.

I couldn’t be happier to understand how a positive representation is actually changing the audience’s perception. Marijuana in a Broadway show is something I least expected; yet it proves that optimistic views on ending prohibition are in unusual places frequently.

When I know that the benefits of marijuana out weigh the negatives, it’s bullshit to hear reasons against it like, “Don’t smoke marijuana, it’s illegal.” In comparison, examples of legal substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and inhalants prove to be much more harmful to a user’s health, and could even lead to death.  It is impossible for any amount of marijuana to actual kill someone.  Even if enjoying weed is considered “bad”, which people already think, it is about our freedom to choose. When smoking cigarettes is like paying the government to slowly kill you, I would much rather pay a friend to ensure I have a relaxed, fun time. Even when the facts defend themselves, our choice is still controlled by the government.

First hand, I can tell you that studying fashion in college and being a stoner was the shit. My grades proved that when you are baked for assignments, you ignore the doubt and distractions, which leads to more ideas and creativity. Unique style always is my aesthetic, and enjoying marijuana while playing with fashion allows you to appreciate and notice patterns, colours, textures, and silhouettes. Visual merchandising, my favourite area of the fashion industry, needs to be original, innovative, and even strange for it to create more sale opportunities, thus making the retailer successful. Any window display I have created, I would make a point to smoke up before brainstorming. Marijuana didn’t give me the brilliant ideas, it only quickened the process and gave me the freedom to explore potential window displays.  If smoking pot doesn’t actually give you good ideas, then it cannot give you bad ones either. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own choices.   

When your moral compass swings in a certain direction, you know that you have no choice but to do the right thing. Watching two Broadway shows that were both pro-pot only reinforces that many of these examples probably exist in my unexpected world of fashion. Puff Puff Pashmina is the only source of media that I have access to. Using a blog as a collective of anything I learn involving marijuana and finding positive representations will be my little contribution to the movement. This is for anyone who thought their dreams weren’t possible just because they just wanted to Puff Puff Pass. 

Always look to the bright side of the sun, 
Puffy