Sunday 30 June 2013

Beige: a Sunday Shoe Story

shoes: Aldo "Equia"

2pm
your nonfat no foam extra hot triple shot caramel macchiato
McDonald's
minivans
the parent who fears razor blades in the park, and makes shoes mandatory
high school
white picket fences
dressing on the side
latchkey children
choosing not to vote
the Gap
the boys we dated in high school
the girls we hated in high school (and now)
Thanksgiving brussel sprouts that no one eats
circus weddings
waiting for the phone to ring
third dates
doing the same thing over and over and expecting things to change

why settle for beige when we can have gold?

Thursday 27 June 2013

The Cardigan Quest


Everyone always says dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Yet my reaction to traditional “librarian” outfits is generally a resounding “hellz no.” Sure, I like pencil skirts, glasses, and librarian pumps, but for years and years I refused to go anywhere the clothing item that people automatically think of when it comes to librarian style. The cardigan.

I always avoided caridgans because I felt like they made me look like I was too old, or because I didn’t like the prints, but I realized about a year ago that my go to warm up item (the zip-up hoodie) wasn’t really working anymore. Not only did my hoodies scream “high school” but they also clashed with dresses, dress pants, and even dress jeans in most cases. Which meant that I could either look ridiculous by wearing a hoodie anyways or I could leave it at home and be cold. Clearly it was a chilly year.

So I decided that it was time to delve into the land of the cardigan. I was already a frequent visitor to the men’s sweater department, but forays to the women’s sweater aisle were always met with many mental “yucks” and “are there colours besides taupe here” and even “that pattern looks like the carpet in Wendy’s… and not in a good way.” But part of my shopping philosophy has always been to love the thrill of the hunt, so once again I took a hint from Barney Stinson and said “Challenge… ACCEPTED!”

The quest was tough (tougher than finding the perfect pair of jeans, surprisingly), and at the early stages I was discouraged. Racks full of beige & burgundy, useless crop-tops, and cat-decals seems to lay before me. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a print. A tri-toned print in a Missoni-inspired spiked-stripe patten. In bright turuoise, mauve, and bitter chocolate brown. I got some weird looks by the old ladies shopping around me, but I couldn’t contain my grin.

A new era had come, and the quest for the fantastic cardigan was complete. 




*cardigan by Bianca Nygard, jeans by Makers, tanktop by Banana Republic, vintage necklace, flower pin by Ardene

Tuesday 25 June 2013

#WhistlerLiving


So I’ve been living in Whistler for almost a month now, and I’m pretty much settled into my routine. Work, eat, sleep. Starbucks Monday, Library Thursday, groceries Sunday. It’s a slightly weird routine, since my weekends are Sunday Monday, but it’s kind of nice not having to deal with crowds when I want to go out.

Then again, there isn’t a whole lot for a girl like me to do in Whistler. Shopping is expensive (and pretty limited to ski/snowboard/bike gear), restaurants are expensive, and most people’s idea of a good time is to go climb a mountain – or hurtle down it atop a bike. Sure, I have my adventurous moments – I’ll never turn down a hunting trip to the bookstore – but I’m what they call a bonafide city girl. Unless I can wear my heels and there’s a guarantee that my hair won’t get wet then I’ll choose to stay home.

And the men here. According to my boss there are three types of guys in Whistler: the snowboard bros, the bike bros, and intellectu-bros. You can all guess how pleased I am trying to explain Tolstoy; the difference between Scotch, Whiskey, and Bourbon; or reasons why one shouldn’t skateboard in the library plaza to this lot.

At least I’m not being a total Carrie about the situation, since I quite like the little squirrel who hops onto my balcony every few days! As long as he doesn’t try to come IN to my apartment…

Monday 24 June 2013

All My Stripper Friends


Just kidding, I don't have any stripper friends. Though sometimes I wish that I did, because I'm sure that they would have some entertaining stories to tell!

*platform pumps by Le Chateau. 

Thursday 20 June 2013

The Little Gucci Dress


Boy, has the little Gucci dress grown up. In fact, it's not so little anymore!

The little Gucci dress of the Posh Spice era was known for its provocative hemlines, monochromatic colour, and borderline trashy persona. Yet, with the departure of Tom Ford the brand has gone in almost exactly the opposite direction and still retained its fan following. Floor-brushing length, splashes (or slashes) of colour and print, and a decidedly grown up chic has proved that the house has grown out of its sexy teen years and metamorphosed into its sexy adult age. Maybe the designers were just following the transition of their biggest fan from a globe trotting Spice Girl to hot mum Victoria Beckham, but really what else are they going to do? Fashion Houses that don't change are like Spice Girls who don't change; they don't marry David Beckham. And we all want a little Beckham in our lives don't we ;)




Images from Tumblr. 

Tuesday 18 June 2013

The Name Game


I’ve been watching a lot of TLC’s What Not to Wear lately, and as much as I love the show I was not impressed when they called a girl out on being really into Louis Vuitton purses and name brand clothes. While they made some valid points -  brand isn’t everything, carrying a monogramed purse doesn’t mean you’re “cool,” 80% of your wardrobe budget shouldn’t be on spent on shoes to counteract cheap clothes – I totally think a woman has the right to wear name brands if she wants to!

Of course, a head to toe monogrammed look isn’t right for everyone anyone, but a carefully placed logo shouldn’t be damned just because it’s a name brand! God knows, I have my fair share of monogrammed LV’s, but I try to make sure to wear them with outfits that work. For example, I have one that looks like a portfolio which is perfect for the office, but the mini backpack LV is strictly for shopping or walking around town during the day.

It also seems to have become the case that girl – and I do mean everyone – has at least one designer purse in her collection. And subsequently she totes it everywhere. I can’t even count the number of teenage girls who haul around the classic square Chanel tote, or the oversized LV carry-all, or the brown Gucci monogram, or any number of Coach or Guess bags (if you count Coach and Guess as a designer brands).

Seeing these staples day in and day out has made me realize that while 5 years ago (when I started collecting vintage designer bags) I was one of the few to blaze a mongrammed trail in a small town, I’m now one of the crowd. Which obviously I can’t stand being. So I have therefore switched almost universally to purses with a more subtle stamp; purses like my vintage crossbody Dooney & Bourke satchel or my Christian Dior saddle bag. I’m sure that plenty of people have these exact same purses, but thus far I have yet to see them, so my plan is working!

Monday 17 June 2013

The Librarian: a Sunday Shoe Story

sling-back wedges by Frankie & Dany
Everyone knows that I collect books, but I'm not sure that most people understand quite how ridiculous my collection is. I've lost track of the official count, but the last time I checked it was over 600. And that was more than 2 years ago. The few people who have been to my house inevitably end up seeing my collection at some point, and get the picture, but I've found that explaining how many copies of certain books I have is often a good substitute for the real deal. Neil Gaiman's Stardust is often my go to example, since I have (almost) legitimate excuses for owning multiple copies. Like the fact that there is a graphic novel and a regular novel version. And then there's the single issues of the graphic novel and the collected version (I still need issue #4, so if anyone sees it let me know!). And one of the novel versions is autographed. But that still leaves 3 "extra" copies. My final excuses are this: one copy is my reading copy (the white spined trade paperback), and one is my shelf copy because it has the cover I like the best (the brown old-book copy), but the final copy has no excuses. I have it just because I'm a collector. It's extremely likely that I'll find more copies throughout my bookhunts and be unable to resist buying them, so don't be too surprised to find that eventually I'll have many more. Some probably not even in English!

And you all thought my shoe collection was out of control. HA!

Thursday 13 June 2013

Don't stomp your little last season Pradas at me honey!


When I think of Italian fashion I inevitably think of the Prada. Not just because of the infamous quote from the best lawyered movie ever, but because Prada tends to show some rather strange things on the runway that I just can't quite connect with. Their strangest stuff lately is their rather conceptual take on Fall florals for Spring/Summer 2013. I'm all for messing with seasonal fashion expectations, but flowers on fur? Totally not digging it. Especially when the fur (and the flowers) looks totally faked.


And then there's the odd proportions... I'm sorry, but who is honestly going to be able to pull off that odd tunic without looking like they're wearing their kids' clothes? Or having that much bulk around the hips? Only women who are 6'5 and weigh 110 pounds. Which is like no one in the real world.


Ironically, I quite love the odd flowers transposed on the classic hard lines of a Prada purse. Putting flowers on a purse for adults can be tricky (hello we're not in kindergarten anymore), but the conceptual flower design adds a touch of whimsy and interest to the sometimes overly hard lines of the Prada purse.



Then it gets weird again, as the flowers move down the body. All the way down to shoes. For men... I'm not sure if I love this look, or hate it, but I'm pretty sure the men of today-land are not quite evolved enough to accept flowered footwear. Though I would love to see some men do it, just because they can! (Do I hear a challenge acepted anyone?)

Hopefully Prada can reign it in next year and go back to the fabulousness that they had circa Sex & the City season 6. Afterall, I totally want to be one of those women who introduces her new boyfriend to "the Prada" rather than the parents.

Images courtesy of Tumblr. 

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Photoshop This!


Since body image has been on the minds of many bloggers recently I figured that I would jump on the bandwagon and showcase an awesome Tumblr-trend that is going on right now – all thanks to Amanda Palmer (who I honestly wouldn’t know existed, except that she’s married to Neil Gaiman). The short story is that people all over Tumblr are posting photos of their bodily imperfections – be they scars, cellulite, love handles, etc – along with the hashtag “Photoshop This!” in an effort to show the media (who are notorious for over-Photoshopping celebs) that people are okay with imperfection.

We all have something that we don’t like about our bodies, and maybe it’s time that the media realizes that we’re all okay with not looking like plastic dolls. Sure, I Photoshop a zit or two out before I post photos to the internet (they’re temporary anyways), but you’ll never catch me tweaking my nose or lip shape, or taking off a few pounds around the waist. Not that I’m not tempted to some days, but I have no idea how to do that on Photoshop anyways, and I don’t really care. What issues I have with my body type I can easily hide anyways through clever tricks such as finding the right angle to elongate my neck & jaw, wearing clothes that emphasize the correct bodyparts, and using bronzer to create creekbones.

Though, I will admit, the jury is still out on what I’m going to do about the facial scar that I acquired through the annoyingly embarrassing accident a month ago. Thankfully it didn’t make an appearance on film due to my camera angle, and people tell me it’s not that prominent, but I’m sure it’s lurking there below my lip - waiting to make it’s internet debut…

To Photoshop, or not to Photoshop, that is the question…