One of a Kind

So I spent Sunday afternoon at the One of a Kind craft show. As always it was full of stuff I wanted but did not need, and stuff I needed but for various reasons did not want (various reasons including too epensive, not the right colours, etc.)

I am pretty sure that this is not the first year they have had it divided into "villages" where there was an entire section for lothing, another for food, another for visual art, etc, but I can say that this is the first year I have actually noticed that these divisions worked fairly well.

Of the many lothing vendors there were 2 who carried clothing in larger sizes. A 3rd claimed to have "plus" sizes but those stopped at a size 12. Since when is size 12 a "plus? In any case.

The two who did have plus sizes had exquisite stuff.

Babs billed themselves as "Real sizes for real women" and I have to say they were pretty on the mark with their claim. Carrying from size 2 through 26 they had a large and varied selection of unique items. I *believe that all items are available in all sizes, but do not quote me on that. Bonus points for using some plus sized models on their website.

They did not have a huge selection but what they did have looked to be well made and reasonable priced for high end handmade clothing.

My personal favourite (if I had money to burn) is this gorgeous Wild Silk Opera Jacket. The silk was just amazing to touch and the colour is to die for! Every detail is perfect right down to the back pleat for ease of movement.

If anyone wants to buy me a holiday gift this just might be it!

Olga Saras Knit Gallery (no website, but the phone number provided is 647.436.6967) was another fantasti surprise. With prices about what I would expect for handmade custom knits (yes, we are talking some major money here) I was quite sorry to have not recently won the lottery. They had a knitted skirt that FLARED at the knee into a spiderweb sort of pattern that I just adored!

From what I could tell their standard sizeing went up to a 2X, but as knits are stretchy that was the equivilant of at least a 4-5X. I hung on to the skirt for a long time before willing myself ot leave the shop. On the way out the woman added that if I was unsure about size ANY of their patterns could be custom made to size at the same price.

I jumped for joy and took a card. If I ever win the lottery I will certainly go back!

Now, on to the other clothing vendors.

There were a few that had some, what I would consider, "one size" items. There were some lush, hand painted silk scarves that would have made a fantastic gift for my grandmother. I went over to take a look at the booth selling handpainted silk, and the woman gave me half a look and then ignored me completely. I even had one saleswoman say "I do not think I have anything you are looking for."

Excuse me? Even if that is true, how do you know who I am shopping for? Maybe I saw something I liked as a gift? In any case, I ertainly did not give any of them a second look.

Granted, this did not only happen at clothing booths (I actually found the vendors this year to be incredibly rude! If you do not acknowledge my presence chances are you are not going to make a sale... I would rather give it to someone who looks up from their book once in a while).