Gift Ideas

These alpaca scarves are handmade by local brand Danae. The wool comes from an organic alpaca farm in Alberta and each scarf has a photo of the actual alpaca that the wool came from. Wool from an alpaca is as warm as sheep wool, but much more soft and less itchy. These scarves can be worn by men and women. Although they are handmade and the wool is super high quality they wont break your bank.




Bertoni made some gread card cases. They hold regular sized business cards and credit cards can also fit if you would like to use them as a money clip.



Cuff links are sexy there are no two ways about it.




What all women need whether they know it or not is a a proper silk camisole that is actually worn as underwear not outerwear. Under a sweater or a button down shirt it adds a soft warmth. These camisoles come from Parisian brand Terre Et Mer...seriously, who doesn't love something French and something silk?




We wish you all luck in finding beautiful things for the people you love!

Happy Holidays,
XO
Lark

Shoes!

I had to share these pictures with you.



I wasn't totally convinced of this shoe colour until Dane put them on today with his Grey Coated Slim Jim's. The colour combination is so subtle, yet totally vibrant and confident. These Zeha oxfords look so sharp, and the vegetable tanning process has allowed the texture and personality of the leather to really show.




We are so excited about where fashion is headed these days! There is an honesty in materials and a real love of craftsmanship that is making a strong come back.

See you all on Sunday for our tea party!

3 Things

1)
Dry Grey Coated Jim's have arrived a whole season early! We weren't supposed to get these until the spring, but the denim gods are pleased with us and have bestowed upon us a reward.




The leather patch on the back is black so it looks really subtle and sharp with the grey.



Our mannequin is pictured here wearing the pants with the horse hide Zeha oxfords. The shirt is a Bertoni classic dress shirt.

2)


If you Google "Tannis Hegan" the photo above will come up on several blogs and sites devoted to great design. It is originally a Lark photo taken by Natsumi to show off these amazing recycled coyote fur earmuffs. We took it a step further and had Joe, the manager of Soma, wear them whilst giving us his best angry bear face. They look great on everyone!!



3)
Speaking of Soma, this Sunday September 16th from noon until 6:30 we will be having a tea party at Lark with tea and coffee provided by Soma. If we ask nice I'm hoping that Joe will come wearing the earmuffs to add to the festivity. There will be some sweets, something to warm up your tea and coffee with and a whole lot of Holiday cheer. Thank you to everyone that has grown with us, recently discovered us, and helped spread style throughout Vancouver!

pictures

Yesterday the light turned into gold and I had to take a photo looking out of our window.



Look here, the community centre is getting closer to completion. Hip hip hurrah City of Vancouver!

Video

Hey friends!

I made this video for fun.





Cheers!

Po-Zu Slippers

As you can see from the image above you can flip the heel of the slipper up or down. I find that flipped up they are super extra warm and down they are easier to get in and out of.


We have them in 3 different fabrics. From the left: Wool (not itchy at all), unbleached felt, and sheep skin with fur on the inside. The wool and the sheep are $153 and the felt is $130.50. They run from size XXS to XXL which is about size 4-13 (American sizing). I found that the fit is somewhat generous and I went down a size so I think an XXL would fit up to size 14 even
.

The packaging is really interesting. They come in boxes made of coconut and natural latex which is also used for the cushion inside the sole.





With the box comes a packet of seeds which can be planted in the winter in your home and then in the summer you can take the whole box and plant it in your garden and it will biodegrade.










The process used to make the latex is much like making cheese and it takes about a week to do. With conventional latex a drying agent that is highly toxic is added in order to speed the process up to about two days. It is more costly to use an Eco friendly latex, but well worth it considering that there are no long term effects which burden the environment. The soles of the slippers have the Po-Zu butterfly logo imprinted into them which looks really nice.


This is a very close up of the woolen slipper so that you can see the lovely texture.

This is an extreme close up of the felt slipper. As you can see it is unbleached. The colour is off white, a little creamy and soft I'd say.


This is a close up of the sheep skin. It has a warm hue to it and the inside is SO soft. There is no chromium used in Po-Zu slippers and the dyes that they do use are vegetable dyes.





As well as the biodegradable box and the seeds they also come with a shoe bag that is made of organic cotton. Click on Po-Zu to go to their website and learn more about the product and things about the environment. Things that even Oprah doesn't know.

Lark Logo Show

I've taken photos of thumbnail images I have. The actual work is so much more amazing, but I wanted to give you all a preview of the show. A special thank you goes out to Nick Tay and Nathaniel Johnson for putting the show together using the Lark logo as inspiration. We Lark people are very lucky to have such talented friends.


There will be a party to celebrate sometime in December, I'll be sure to send an invite out to our e-mail list when the plans are made. Rumour has it that it will also be a christmas party with Santa Klaus in attendance. I say Santa Klaus as we are attempting to bribe our favourite German to play the part.
















Thank you to all of the artists that did such an amazing job of interpreting our logo, which was designed by Claudia Davila.

Technology makes us better!

This blog thing is amazing. Here is a quick little video clip of Zeha's sport shoes from the Olympics during the cold war. I will post as many videos and pictures as I possibly can now that blogger has made it so easy!

Zeha Tea Party

I was so busy enjoying the party that I didn't take very many photos!



Here we have our table laden with treats, coffee, tea and booze.



Here we have Stephanie, the winner of a pair of Zeha boots. I think she went home and cuddled them...I did when I bought mine!

Thanks again to Cascade, Aurora Bistro and Soma for contributing Gift certificates for out Draw. A special Thanks to Joe and Soma for providing us with tea, biscotti, and chocolate for the party. Also not to be forgotten in Axel for baking cookies, and mostly for importing these amazing shoes into North America for us!

Lark+Zeha=BFF

So sorry for the long delay between updates It has been so busy for us all here at Lark. We finally installed our new front area walls and light boxes. The theme for the fall winter season here at Lark is a German Hunting lodge.

Why German you ask? ZEHA!


From the former Soviet block Zeha rose from the ashes of communism and they have recreated all of thier classic shoes from the '60's through to the '80's. The company was established in 1897 which means that it has weathered the storms of both world wars, and has seen Berlin as one city, divided in two and then reunited. The history of the brand alone for me is so fascinating.

The shoes themselves are made from leathers that come from Italy, each pair is handmade in Slovakia. What makes Zeha so special is that each shoe is made from the same hide, as a pair. Most shoes are mass produced and the leather is stacked and the patterns cut for the left and another stack for the right shoe. They are then made individualy and at the end the left and the right are reunited (an analogy for Berlin perhaps?). With Zeha the left and the right never part (as Berliner should never have been parted perhaps?) and this makes each pair unique as each hide differs slightly in colour and texture.

These shoes with proper care can last a lifetime. I personally have an affinity for this brand because of my love of handmade things, my love for Berlin, and being born in Eastern Europe. It's a recipe for happy feet for me, and I hope that you feel the same way.





The light boxes have photos by Angela Fama that will be up through to Christmas. It's worth coming by just to see Angela's photographs.

On Sunday Oct 21st we will be having a Berlin Style tea party from 3pm to 7pm. Aside from the wonderful german desserts, lovely tea and coffee there will be hourly give aways. Really nice prizes like a pair of shoes, a Gift certificate from Cascade, Aurora Bistro and Soma.

Veronika's favourite things this week

I've been in a super investigative mood lately and have been trying to get to the root of pretty much everything. I just discovered a really lovely soap, and spent some time learning about it's history. Yardley London it turns out is a really old company that originated in London in 1770. They used English Lavender to scent their apothecary. My guess is that they are the root of why grannies and lavender have become synonymous. You can get it at Shoppers Drugmart.


Next on my list of things that make me feel nostalgic for an era I'm too young to have experienced, is silk. By that I mean a proper silk camisoles. I'm finding myself wearing my Terre et Mer silk camisoles a lot now that it's sweater weather. Good quality silk it's pretty easy to care for, it doesn't collect fuzzy bits from your sweaters like cotton does, and it feels so nice. Also, wearing silk makes me feel a little more grown up in the same way heels do.



One of the most genuine items in our store at the moment are handbags made by Tannis Hegan. She's a local woman who hand makes everything herself. There is something so refreshing about being able to buy something so beautiful and so well made by someone who cares. There is love stitched into everything she makes, and that is something that never goes out of style.



Each bag is lined with velveteen (which reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit) and has a zipper pocket for your wallet or keys...or whatever.

I think part of why we do what we do here at the store is to create a space where everything is special and everything has a story. Stuff is easy to find, but treasures are more interesting.

September

Lark 8th Avenue is baaaaaack! SInce moving the shop to Main st we decided to keep the name of our house brand as Lark 8th Ave. This way we will never forget where we started with just 700 sq feet off of Main st next to the Nice cafe.



You can see the shirt in more detail in our New Arrivals section. Here we've paired it with a drykorn vest.



We found some really funny plants at the Flower Factory and brought them into the shop. They are now part of our tie display. I couldn't resist uploading a photo.









New Stockings! Ridiculous and awsome all at the same time.




Lately we've been burning this scented candle by Malene Birger and it's really lovely. It's soft, not too strong, not sweet or too flowery.






I know what you're thinking. You're like: 'Noooh! that's too good to be true!' and like: ' are the five spiced apple donuts on the menu?' and also like: 'everyday!?' YES! it's all true, Christmas has come early my friends.





A discovery I made today is this place:



I got two Montreal smoked meat sandwiches for $10 ( I swear I only ate one and the other was for Natsumi) and they each came with a delicious pickle, really good mustard and no funny business. It's a really cute place and worth turning off of Mains st for.