On Sunday we went to The Factory Theatre to see a matinee showing of a play called Oil and Water. We both loved it. Ahem … I did not shed a tear inside that theatre. Oh ok, maybe I did. The story was so interesting, depicting the true event of a 1942 shipwreck of an American vessel, the USS Truxton, off the coast of Newfoundland, and how the people of Newfoundland came to help. The play particularly focused on the experience of Lanier Philips, the only African American sailor to survive (in all 46 men lived of the 156 who were on-board), and his warm interaction with these isolated people who had never before seen a black person.
Mr. Philips was later quoted as saying he had never heard a kind word in his life from a white person until then. Lanier Philips recently died in March 2012 at the age of 88, just weeks after he had returned to Newfoundland to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the accident.
Following the play, the audience was invited to see a slide show of the actual photographs of the event and the aftermath, taken by an amateur photographer. I’m sorry I didn’t write down her name and can’t seem to find it online, but the pictures she took were very striking, and as one can imagine quite a feat to capture back in ’42.
There is a lot on the internet about this whole story, if you’re interested in learning more. An interesting side-note to this is that back when this event occurred Newfoundland was not yet part of Canada, only joining in March of 1949.
The play was so well done and we were happy to be there, having won the tickets as part of our big raffle win at a Toronto Fashion Week event back in March, Dare to Wear Love. Unfortunately for Toronto audiences, Sunday was the last day it was being staged here, however it is touring to Calgary and Newfoundland & Labrador later in the summer.
The weather was quite lovely so we popped out to the beautiful courtyard during intermission.
I finally altered this skirt that has literally been sitting in my closet for years, having only ever been worn once. I loved the print and the colours, but I just didn’t love the way it fit. It had this sewn in slip that caused the skirt to hang in a weird way. I’ve been in the process of going through every item in my closet and deciding what stays and what gets donated. So I pulled this skirt out and after trying it on (again) I decided I would fix it. It was a relatively easy alteration because all I had to do was, basically, cut the slip out. The fabric is quite sheer, so now I’ll wear it with a separate slip underneath.
I paired it with a cranberry coloured cardigan that I bought at a sample sale. The purse is one I’ve had for exactly 13 years, and 5 months .. I know these details because I bought it for my first date with Nick! Well actually it was for our second date, as our first one was a blind date in a coffee shop. I’ve had the shoes for a long time, too. And since nothing in my outfit is still available for sale, except my tank top (Jockey), I won’t bother listing out the brands!
Thank you kindly for visiting.
xo loulou
