Photo: Nicole Dextras, Location: Shanghai Alley, Vancouver, BC

The Maple Flapper Jumper symbolizes hope for new beginnings. Fresh off the boat and in honour of her new Canadian home, she wears a dress of Sycamore Maple Tree Seeds, which resembles the liberated woman of the 1920’s. Emancipated from the Victorian corset  and with her unincombered boyish bob, she is now able to move freely and make her mark in this new port. As a young entrepreneur, will she open a garment factory  that pays a living wage to its workers, or will she become disillusioned and turn it into a sweatshop? Her future is still a mystery but she hopes to influence her destiny with her old-world talismans, the money tree (Pachira aquatica) which is associated with good financial fortune and her messenger of good news, the Magpie Robin.

This new addition to the Weedrobes collection was first inspired by the pink Samara seeds I found in my neighborhood without knowing that the Maple tree is a symbol for longevity and money! I sure did not feel that way the day I picked the seeds because I was on a ladder covered in Aphids. I found the wild Lupines growing along the highway and although I was not wearing a black mask at the time, they always make me think the Monty Python’s Lupines sketch.

Special thanks to Jordi Sancho, photo assistant, Josette Jorge, model and Keith Murray, makeup

Model: Josette Jorge, Makeup: Keith Murray, Photo: Jordi Sancho.