Aldona Barutowicz celebrates personal style in Calgary
People around Calgary may have spotted a flash of auburn hair, a glimpse of wide-rimmed glasses or a hint of red lipstick darting through the streets.
The instantly recognizable Aldona Barutowicz can be seen taking photographs at some of the cities hottest events or simply roaming the streets looking for stylish people.
Barutowicz is a street-style blogger for both Swerve Magazine and Downtown Calgary. In this role, she spends her days attending fabulous events, or simply walking around downtown Calgary in order to photograph complete strangers who have a great sense of personal style.
“When I see someone and they are individual and they have a flair and there is something distinct about them,” said Barutowicz, “I just know that I have to go and photograph them.”
Produced by Scott Kingsmith
Barutowicz was not always the outgoing woman who chases down stylish strangers. She was born and spent part of her childhood in Poland. During the 1980s, Communist Poland was facing the effects of martial law, so Barutowicz, with her family, moved to Italy for three years before finally immigrating to Canada. She was 10-years-old at the time and could not speak a word of English.
“A lot of my fashion and the things that I’m interested in have really stemmed from how I grew up,” said Barutowicz. “I was used to seeing women that were all dressed up and put together – wearing their lipstick, and their heels. The same was in Italy: everyone was really fashion-forward. That’s what I grew up around and that always stuck with me.”
Today, Barutowicz spends her time celebrating people who take as much pride in their personal style as she does. And along with her sister Kate Barutowicz, she has developed a new blog, Beauty by the B, to celebrate and inform about beauty and skin-care.