Sometimes when you are not sure of the outcome, but you have most of the elements in place, something magical happens. This is why we call this photoshoot our Lacedup guerrilla shoot, much like amateur rebels, we seized locations and made them our own. Within two days, the team, Paula Erskine, muse Lydia Pranaitis and I pulled together some looks from way way back in Lydia’s closet, frocks that had sweet memories of a single (simpler) life for this mother of three but not much application for her present duties. After a makeup test run, to determine what colours and tones would work best on Lydia , we went scouting for locations and found a striking, architecturally interesting cafe in the west end of Toronto, avenue cafe + bistro, right across Christie’s factory (soon to be condos). We worked off the stark black and white in the building to compliment her black dress and then as the day came to an end and the sky turned magenta she changed into her fabulous fuschia frock that perfectly suited the warmth of the magic hour. The bridge reminded the two flight attendants of their layovers in Amsterdam. The setting, the gold dress, Lydia nearly 6’6 in her heels, we were all transported to a glam location.
I wanted to thank Alexis for her beautiful, romantic and artistic eye for capturing Lydia’s inner-model. It was a pleasure to create beautiful makeup looks as the outfits changed to the ultimate in sparkly magenta and gold! Her outfits were handpicked to showcase her figure, her beauty, and eclectic, artistic roots. Lydia is a humble artist and cake decorator, mother of three, and flying the friendly skies as a flight attendant.
Lydia bought this incredible, magenta-purple dress when she was fifteen, and as a last minute edition to our wardrobe choices for Lydia’s day, it pleasantly surprised us the most! The “feeling” of the model shoot was very exciting, dodging Café management and meter maids, but we worked so well together! It is hard to fathom that
when she was 15, still at 6’3″ and 40 pounds lighter, a prominent modelling agency asked her to lose 10 more pounds! Lydia and her father walked away with dignity, and they have never looked back. Until now. Lydia, you did it your way!
Alexis, you are truly gifted, an artist yourself, that is content to make others shine through the magic of your lense.