It's Almost Here... Nicolette Mason for Addition Elle!!!

It's here, it's here! My capsule collection with Addition Elle launches at the end of this week! There have been incredible write-ups from Glamour Magazine, Refinery29, The Huffington Post, and more, and the countdown is officially on to celebrate the launch of this project. Working with Addition Elle has been an incredible, collaborative experience, and now that the dresses are real (with hangtags with my name on them, to boot), I'm even more excited to unveil them. I've been working with the Addition Elle team since last summer on this collaboration, and they're available to the world this Friday, February 26th (or, if you're in Toronto, by this Thursday February 25th at Addition Elle's flagship at 181 Yonge Street, where we'll be celebrating the launch from 5PM to 7PM -- more info here).The collection consists of 7 occasion dresses in 6 distinctive silhouettes - each embodying a different side of my personality, from whimsical and ethereal to strong and feminine to sultry with a bit of sass. They all have women with different body-types in mind, and each is infused with special details - whether that be the soft pink color or crystal-button detailing or concealed crinoline to add just a little extra oomph to the shape of the dress. They're all beautiful, feel special, but also offer ease of wear: I tried to think critically about practical solutions to getting dressed (can you wear a bra? Does it require special shape wear? Do you need an extra set of hands to get dressed? -- yes, no, and no), and together with the team at Addition Elle, we designed styles that meet all my occasion-dressing criteria.Several of the styles offer great work-to-weekend solutions to getting dressed, something I keep in mind as a contributing editor at Marie Claire, because leveraging great versatility out of a single garment is crucial to the modern woman, while other styles are perfect for a date, as a guest to a wedding, or to celebrate a special night in your life. They all feel great to the touch, and are incredibly comfortable to wear (and to reiterate, you can wear regular bra with every style - I wouldn't have it any other way!)The dresses are available in sizes 14-24, and are all priced under $150 USD/$200 CAD on in Addition Elle's stores, AdditionElle.com, and at Lord & Taylor stores on March 3. 

Also, because it's not often the behind-the-scenes of a shoot like this comes to life, I wanted to share a little bit of what I can now look back on and laugh, (only in hindsight can these things be looked at and really feel funny). I was meant to fly out to Montreal to shoot the look book on a Sunday, with our shoot scheduled to start around noon on Monday. As I was on my way to the airport in Los Angeles, however, I got an alert that my flight was canceled... of course. I went into panic mode, knowing I had to be in Montreal to shoot in just over 24-hours. I got on the phone with the airline and tried to find some kind of flight path that would get me there in time, and finally figured it out: I would fly from LA to Detroit, and from Detroit to Montreal, with a tiny caveat - my departure from LAX would be at Midnight... and then I'd have a 2 hours layover in Detroit... and then I'd arrive in Montreal in time for my shoot. It was all kinds of a disaster, but we made it work, and I arrived at the studio having been awake for nearly 30-hours, and shooting immediately after Ashley Graham. Yes, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Cover Model Ashley Graham. It truly, genuinely, rocked my self-esteem if only for a moment, but with the help of an exceptional hair-and-makeup artist, fabulous lighting, an acclaimed photographer, a supply of espresso and gummy-bears to perk me up, and, if we're being honest, a little bit of retouching magic (my dark circles were something fierce, you guys), the look book came out beautifully.I'll have another post up at the end of this week with some great street-style shots of the collection and exact fit notes on each dress, but I wanted to share the look book (and the making of) before the launch later this week! I am so excited to share it all with you, but get your bookmarks ready to shop at AdditionElle.com or in store at Addition Elle and Lord & Taylor in the coming days! For those of you in Toronto, I hope you will join me this Thursday, February 25th, to celebrate!