People tell me I’ve hit the big time when I receive hate mail.

I write as the men’s entrepreneurial image expert in the Toronto Star‘s Small Business section, and one day, I got a 4 am email from an intelligent but angry reader who couldn’t believe that I would waste his time talking about something as unimportant as socks.

He got…

Part of my training as a costume designer was studying costume history, including some military history. I found uniforms particularly fascinating because of the beautiful lines and cuts, and the brilliant and logical practicality of military gear.

I was privileged to inspect the military-like uniforms of the…

When I was in university, part of my training as a costume designer was studying costume history, including military costume/uniforms. My original plan in life was to be a men’s clothing designer, so naturally I was drawn to the lines, durability, and practicality of military uniforms. Uniforms worn by emergency services…

Clothing is a wonderful thing.  Clothing is a wonderful palette with many options to play with like colour, garment cut, and fabric texture. One of my favourite things to do is get dressed and express myself through my clothing. For me, clothing and dressing is a joy.

Clothing…