Nadine LaRoche
CITY: Halifax
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About Nadine
A writer by trade and a style-lover by heart, I have the fashion magazine industry permanently locked in my crosshairs. After tucking a journalism degree under my arm, I worked for an online women's magazine, followed by starting up my own professional writing company. Now working in communications, I freelance on the side, dipping my pen in fashion and beauty articles, and honing my stylist skills with local clothing companies and publications. My love for fashion extends beyond the page, spilling into my over-stuffed closet and folded high on my shelves: from my nod-worthy boot collection to my army of dresses — to my black and white check scooter parked out back — style consumes me.
Who is your style icon and why?
Rather than turning to a particular figure for style inspiration, I consider the phenomenon of street fashion as my style icon. Relishing the heyday of blogs and mainstreamed subculture, street fashion is bubbling from thousands of websites and publications. From international street style sites such as Finland’s Hel Looks and revered and influential blogs like The Sartorialist, to print publications both tame and insane, the focus on style as it’s seen on the streets puts a new face on capital “F” fashion. These sites and books provide inspiration for the style-lovers of the masses, like me, but also for the fashion world’s designers. With such sites locked into my daily roster of to-check-out pages, I use the looks pictured as jumping off points, as the catalyst for what I’ll cook up from what’s hanging in my closet, or for what I just have to add to my wardrobe. The excitement lies in seeing how everyday people are engaging with fashion and playing with looks in their own unique ways. It all becomes so approachable and attainable and sparks the challenge of creating something just as (or more) stylishly unique.
What’s your favourite item in your closet?
Although my silk scarf collection is fighting for the top spot, my vintage, white leather knee-high boots are my favourite item. These gorgeous flat boots are a strangely successful extension of a moccasin that comes to a loose, riding-cut finish just below the knee, and find their beauty in cut-out and weave detailing at the side and toe. I picked them up a few summers ago at a local thrift shop, which has since closed, and have been wearing them raw ever since. Stuffed with dark denim or paired with a short shift dress, these boots always look effortlessly adorable.
What was your favourite childhood outfit?
I spent most of my childhood attempting to fit in with my two older brothers, but as a lover of pink and ruffles, I wasn’t always successful. My favourite childhood outfit comes in as a bit of a faded memory: a particular outfit paired with a particular pastime. For a relative’s wedding, my mother bought my preschool self a pink multi-layered dress bursting with girlishness that I absolutely adored. The dressing ceremony for this garment required my standing on counters, limbs stretched out, as layers were pulled up, slipped on, and tied around. My feet were stuffed into white roll-down lace socks and black patent shoes, and there, standing on top of the kitchen centre island with rosy cheeks and too-short hair, I felt utterly magnificent. This same outfit, of course, would then take me to the empty lot across the street for an excavation adventure with my brothers in the dirt as Indiana Jones’s little sister.
What’s your worst outfit ever?
In high school, my girl friends and I used the monthly dances as a forum for parading around in what we considered our finest garb. One of said outfits involved both fringe and animal print—and I rocked it. On bottom, I wore a pair of red, zebra-print Guess flared pants over sky-high heels, and topped it off with a black cropped tank with suede fringe down the front. The pièce de résistance for this particular ensemble was the nature of those zebra stripes: printed with some magical reflective dye, the pattern caught the light like a runner’s jacket in headlights. It was nothing short of a jazz competition outfit and I danced to techno tunes all night in this little number. And although I haven’t worn those pants since high school, I just gave them up last year. It’s difficult, it seems, to part ways with your ugly past.
Name a current celeb whose style you admire and tell us why.
Actress Zooey Deschanel has a style—and personality to match—that I admire. Beyond our similar bangs and a shared love for liquid liner, Zooey has caught my eye since I spied her on the big screen a few years back. She mixes vintage looks with today’s indie style and pulls it together in silhouettes that fit her figure. She plays up her doll-like looks and zany personality with girly pieces and funky choices, but always keeps the final product flattering and fresh. I admire her style because she embodies what I admire in my own: the ability to steer from the mainstream and take risks, while still staying true to personality, form, and the classiness of fashion.
What’s a trend you hate?
Found at the heart of the leggings-as-pants craze, the trend I despise is that of blind adaptation. Not every trend is for every person, and it pains me when diehard fashion-followers mindlessly dive into looks without considering their own silhouette and what may or may not be flattering. The cotton effect, which flooded all those just waiting for an excuse to dress “fashionably” in layers of stretchy cotton without a waistband or structured shape in sight, provides the perfect example. As do the high-waisted look and the drain-pipe leg. Each trend (except the first, I’ll argue) is stunning when worn correctly, and to find such success, must be approached intelligently with the condition of a flattering look in mind.
Why do you love the shopping/fashion scene in your town?
My coastal hometown is anything but a shopping mecca—but I don’t mind. Halifax requires a hunter’s eye to dig out the thrift store gems, to select the boutique-bought items that you won’t find on everyone else, to pick out the basics amidst the chain store hum drum, and, honestly, to scan the racks at Winners for fashionable finds. Keeping my wardrobe packed with originality is a challenge, but one that I welcome wholeheartedly. The other stylites that dot this city possess a similar approach, resulting in truly unique looks that you know took a love for fashion to conjure up.
