designed by tiff | cait +tiff

May 26, 2016
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T / getting in front of the lens (aka. <3 thy body)

I hate having pictures taken of me. I am usually beyond pleasantly surprised when they turn out well. The list of my insecurities are, as usual, completely irrational. But when you are thrusting (haha, thrusting) yourself into a career based on aesthetics, your eye gets on the nitpicks: my monolid-ed tiny eyes that aren’t great at communicating beyond a squint, that belly I haven’t been able to get rid of since I was like eight years old, my flat-ass feet. Don’t even get me started on the comparison trap.I like my parts, but I am terrified of full-body shots – unfortunately human physiognomy isn’t a colour-by-number thing.

But lately, I’ve been trying to feel better about this in between things body that has been shaped by genetics, and my simultaneous love for fitness and food. I’ve gotten obsessed with Ashley Graham (see here, here and here). And have you read Mindy Kaling wax poetic about Salvador Perez? And our favourite Joy just launched this amazing series on dressing her diversely bodied team.

I was one of the last to be shot for Cait’s KIT look book (those pictures later) and let’s just say it wasn’t because of scheduling issues. But that shoot did have to happen. I had coincidentally picked up a couple of newly tailored outfits and I was feeling confident about. And that’s when I sent that alert to Cait: SHOOT ME! NOW! Even if’ it’s raining! Pew pew pew.

These new outfits show a little more skin in the mid section that I’m used too. But they also are so comfortable and perfect for both a casual night out, or hanging out on the weekend. I’ve fallen in love with the concept of the pull on short, and I wanted to add in a little bit of the athletic jogging short that I dig so much. I’m also starting to figure out what silhouettes I’m most comfortable with and exploring what’s possible. Cait and Mindy also push the importance of good tailoring. We have a bunch of cool projects coming up, so I need to get as comfortable in front of the camera as I am behind it.

Also, we had lunch. Our pal Erich (who also makes the best beer) has done such a great job at Botanico Wine and Beer Garden, He let us invade the space for a little shoot when the clouds decided to part yesterday. Stuffed grilled cheese? Bulgogi quesadillas? Kampot Pepper Pate (which you should have with french fries, á la Cait)? Yes please. They are having their grand opening tomorrow and you should absolutely go.

All photos by Caitlin Decker. Please request permission for use. We are not liable for calo

April 21, 2016
by caitandtiff 1 Comment

T / postcards from nepal

I’m still adjusting to civilian life after our little big week in Nepal. And it’s not just the unrelenting heat in Phnom Penh that drives me to go back to Kathmandu in a heartbeat. With a friend’s wedding in full swing, we barely had any time to get to know the place. I didn’t reach my critical mass of momo consumption. Nor truly get my textiles on. So when I sat down today to finally go through 28 gigabytes of raw images, I knew what I had to do. Postcards. Enjoy!

On our way, overland, from Pokhara to Kathmandu. To those who haven’t yet graced cliffside, un-fenced, Asian roads (and their drivers), this might be a little death defying. But once you get over that, the views are amazing.

From the top of Swayambhunath, aka the Monkey Temple, in Kathmandu.

We spent the tiniest bit of time wandering through Patan Durbar Square. I could easily come back here for a cuppa masala tea. Stat.

On our last day, we got to visit Bhaktapur, the ancient Newari capital of the Kathmandu Valley and its royal palace. Just in time for Nepali New Year celebrations. Which, when you’re getting over a night of wedding festivities, is the best wake me up a girl could ask for. And this is when we really confronted the damage caused by 2014’s earthquake. Five hundred year old temples rendered into rubble, not to mention the lives lost. But the city was in full swing for new year festivities and the celebrations were just infectious. After a pot of masala tea, of course.

All photos by Tiffany Tsang. Please request permission for use. And you should definitely go to Nepal.

November 5, 2015
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T / final draft / the story of an ampersand

One of the funnest, more challenging and just plain cool design projects landed in my lap this summer. Design an ampersand. And with John’s impending departure, and the re-branding that’s happening on his site, I wanted to tell the story about how this little dudette came to be.

Our resident mixologist, John (you’ve met him right?), asked me to help him design a new logo for his blog, Alchemy & a Twist. I was delighted and excited in the way that happens when I’ve had too much caffeine (Cait knows this Tiff well). If there’s one thing I know, it’s typography. So very quickly, I got through the selection of a typeface (Connie) paired with a worn out and crumpled background. John and his stateside co-blogger, David, approved.

Now about that ampersand; John and David were pretty clear: it should look like a cocktail glass, with a lemon twist wrapped around it. It should also have a bit of a 1920s speakeasy feel to it. There was a Pinterest board to make sure we all knew what was being talked about over oceans and continents.

We played around with actually wrapping a lemon twist around a martini glass. And this is what turned out:

The little shrimp wasn’t quite what John and David were looking for. We scrapped the lemon twist. It didn’t quite go well with that vintage Prohibition-era feel they were going for. And John came back with a great description of what he wanted: clean and soft. Something like this:

Ampersand Credit

I sat on it for a while. I was stuck. Like really stuck. This involved staring really hard at all of these guys. Because, of course there’s an entire tumblr devoted to ampersands.

But after some scribbles, some tries, some re-tries. It all happened. And it looked a little Edward Gorey.

And I started calling it a she. And she got cleaned up. John suggested adding a cocktail stick and an olive, and what chick doesn’t like a couple of accessories?

Since we started on this road, I think this is one of my favourite projects to date. And I’m happy that the little martini glass ampersand found a home on Alchemy & a Twist’s new logo too! You’ll have to click on their site to see the whole thing!