Autumn, I welcome you.

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I got another pair of new frames. Yes, another… but this time they’re the ones I’ve been eyeing on for the past couple of months. The free pair I wore in my previous post just didn’t cut it. Not because it was free, but the lenses were just a couple centimeters too big. I searched high and low for them, only to find that Clearly Contacts would provide them for the lowest price possible. It came with a really cute rectangular prism box:

I loooove them.

I am wearing:

Glasses: Christian Dior 3197
Shirt: Vintage
Skirt: Vintage
Suspenders: Dad’s
Shoes: eBay

Falling for Cougar Boots

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Matchstick has graciously offered to send me a pair of Pillow Boots from Cougar Boots to review and style.  Of course I jumped at the chance!  It’s illegal to say no to shoes.  Besides, I am all about supporting companies which spring from my country’s red and white grounds.  I have utmost faith that a Canadian company would turn out a boot worthy of engaging in battle with our cold and wet elements.  Hardcore as these Pillow Boots are (pillows are SO hardcore!), they have a soft and cushion-y inside too.  I felt so comfortably protected and invincible that I wanted right away to jump into a big pile of snow, but I guess nature can’t be hurried.

The Pillow Boots come in a variety of colours, but the tan with red fleece lining is LIMITED EDITION!  Can’t ever go wrong with Limited Edition.  (Side story, in the makeup world, we call them “LE”.  And we looooove our LEs!)

I can imagine getting a lot of use out of these when the snow hits.  Check out the store locator to find out where to purchase yours!

I am wearing..

Top:  Zara
Blazer:  Yeou-Ya (Korean brand)
Shorts:  Stella McCartney for GAP kids
Necklace:  Street Vendor in Toronto

Special thanks to Davis for snapping these shots!

Hold on to me

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Unfortunately, it’s too cold to dress like this now.  Toronto has been getting some chilly temperatures already. I guess it’s time to bust out those opaque black tights again!  Just as well, because despite my best efforts, the pasty legs just refused to adopt any colour.  Softball, jogs and camping apparently weren’t enough to beat them into submission.   Summer, you really weren’t that hot, but I’ll miss you anyway.

What are you gonna miss the most about Summer fashion?  SHORTS for me.

I am wearing..

Skirt:  H&M
Blouse with bow:  Club Monaco
Belt:  Versace
Shoes:  Nine West
Headband:  Hong Kong

Magic hour

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The best time to take outfit photos (and any photos for that matter) is at around 4:00-5:00 in the afternoon. That’s when the sun sets and the light is just right (if it isn’t overcast/cloudy). If you miss it, you miss it. But there is always tomorrow.

These huge hipster glasses have my new prescription (I’m nearsighted) and got them free from Clearly Contacts (well, I had to pay for shipping which was like $15-$17). They have promotions for free glasses (select frames) every so often. I keep a lookout for  promotional codes from Smart Canucks. The funny thing is, Clearly Contacts never had freebie promos for contact lenses, even though their business name sounds like they’re all about contacts, clearly (ha!). It’s like that restaurant with the words “express donuts” in the name, but they don’t sell donuts (???) and are well-known for their quick chow mein lunches.

I’m trying not to depend on my glasses so much, but it’s really hard. I find that I even need to wear them when I’m in front of the computer! And the screen isn’t even that far away from me! I guess my eyesight is getting worse…

I kind of got a little overboard at Forever21 and suddenly bought 5 dresses from there in a span of 4 weeks! I don’t know, I never really bought dresses from there since I know they don’t last long and probably made by sweatshop workers, but they’re so cute!! And I guess, like the rest of the middle class, I passively feed the exploitative system and perpetuate bad business practices because I think “they’re so cute!”.

I try to stop and think — is wearing cute clothes a priority over ethical consumption? But it’s too late, the credit card has been swiped and the ethical shopper in me had lost. But the battle was already lost when I stepped into the store.

Now I’m trying to just spend my lunch hours with bubbly new co-workers and have insightful conversations, rather than walk around the big mall like an Olympic sport. Like any addiction or bad habit, the first step is to replace those bad activities with something else (hopefully better), and take other conscious steps to ween off of it. Baby steps….

I am wearing:

Dress: Forever 21
Purse: Vintage
Shoes: Korea
Glasses: Clearly Contacts

Review: HANA Titanium Ionic 1.5″ Flat Iron

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The awesome folks over at Misikko sent us the awesome HANA Titanium Ionic 1.5″ Flat Iron with all the tools to help us with our hair woes. Included was a heat-proof pad and storage pouch, to prevent burning of countertops (in case you set it on a plastic-y tablecloth). It’s handy when you’re done using the flat iron and need to put it away quickly while it’s still hot.

Justine’s hair is naturally super straight, in search for the natural kinks and waves that Chris has!

 

 

We normally use hair straighteners that have ceramic plates. The plates change colour when the iron is hot. New to titanium straighteners, we consulted the instruction guide and found that there is a red LED indicator light (see above picture) that starts out as a steady/still red light. It blinks when the desired temperature is reached. If the light is off but the switch is set to On, the iron is decreasing temperature to a lower setting. Good to know!

We timed the heat-up time and the straightener took about 1 minute, 30 seconds to go from 0 to 370 degrees.

Once heated up, we got iron-happy and used it to add curls to Justine’s pin straight hair, and straighten Chris’ kinks and waves.  The plates are very smooth,which allow for the hair to glide through without any tugging.

Overall, the HANA Titanium Ionic 1.5″ Flat Iron performed well and we appreciate that it maintained its heat throughout its use. The adjustable heat dial allows users to choose a temperature that best suits their hair type. Hotter if your hair is healthier, cooler if your hair is damaged. It heats as low as 140 degrees fahrenheit to as hot as 450 degrees fahrenheit. Despite the hot temperatures that it can reach, it is energy efficient at only 38 Watts. It also has a 360 swivel cord to prevent cord tangling and accidents caused by cord tangling.

The heat up time may be considered too long for some people in the rush in the morning, but we found it is an improvement from our early experience with drugstore flat irons that took 5-10 minutes to heat up (and sometimes they wouldn’t heat to desired temperatures!). It is a great iron for those who are making that jump from drugstore irons to salon-quality irons.

Thanks again to the folks at Misikko!

Strange but familiar

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One of the many good things about keeping a fashion blog is I feel like I can venture way out of my comfort zone, wear crazy thingies and then write it off as “something to post about on my blog”.  For this reason, I’ve felt “empowered” to experiment with a lot of styles, whether it’s androgyny, sickly-sweet, prep or what-in-the-living-heck-is-that.  It turns out, I like’em all!  My point is, try something new!  Know your body and get creative with adorning it.

Maxi skirts were a significant part of my wardrobe during my high school days.   I’m at a point in my life now where I’m very much ALL ABOUT THE PANTS, but I can totally live with this maxi business too.  I’ll even give you a wink of reassurance.

I am wearing..

Top:  Club Monaco
Maxi Skirt:  BCBG
Clutch:  Zara

Casual Fridays

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Casual Fridays in an office setting are such a nightmare.  Is it smart casual or business casual?  What do those terms even mean?  Should I wear my grungy jeans?  Are tees appropriate?  Can I come in with a faux hawk?  Fortunately, my office isn’t too uptight when it comes to dress code, so I define Casual Fridays as Comfortable Fridays.  However, the style culture of every workplace is different, so here are 2 casual tips to follow when you’re scratching your head on a Thursday night wondering how to present yourself on the chillest day of the week:

1. Minimal effort to get ready, put on and stay in

Dude, it’s Casual Friday.  Take advantage of it.  You don’t have to show up in a suit.  Besides, why bust out an iron when you don’t need to?  Let your hair down!

2. VIP-proof

Step away from those yoga pants (aka bane of my existence) and flip-flops.  The question is, would you want to be in the outfit if someone important comes through the door?  You never know who you will see during the course of your day.  A colleague of mine came in with a graphic tee, capris and dirty crocs on a Friday only to be surprised by a request to present to the Board of Directors.  Oops.

The only rules I like to follow are my own, so here’s a Friday outfit that is both easy and presentable.  In keeping with my style goal of going easy on the denim, I’ve ditched the jeans and put on something nauti. (ha.. ha…)

I am wearing:

Cardigan:  BCBG – This is one of my favourite pieces in my closet.  It’s super resort – kinda makes me feel like I am on an exotic getaway even when all I am doing is slave away at my desk.
Top:  Zara
Pants:  Urban Behaviour
Purse:  Vintage J&ANS Dolce & Gabbana purse from a family friend

Colour whirlwind

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I hope I’ve drilled it into your brain by now that my love for fashion actually originated from an undying devotion to make-up art.  So yes, this will be another one of those posts where I go on and on about the artistic inspiration I find in strawberry sundaes, Mozart’s piano concertos, sunflowers petals, the laughter of children and silver unicorns.

Just kidding.  I did want to show you this look though.

 

I wore this to play a music gig involving an awesome musician from Hong Kong who does rock and electropop.  Quite genre-appropriate, don’t you think?  Can you believe that it was my brilliant counterpart Davis who came up with this colour combination?  I should ask for his input more often.

 

If you’re in Toronto and want some makeup done this summer, give me a shout!

I am wearing..

Brows: Shu Uemura Hard Formula in Seal Brown 02
Eyeshadows: Some pink eyeshadow from Inglot, MAC Rule (orange), MAC Copperplate (grey), MAC Blanc Type (off-white highlight), MAC Satellite Dreams (purple), Lise Watier Duo Shadow & Glitter in Smokey Silver
Eyeliner: MAC Blacktrack Fluidline
Lashes: Ardell #120

Don’t sweat the small stuff

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Yikes, my last post was on April 26. I really don’t know where the entire month of May went, or the first half of 2011 for that matter.

For the most part, I’ve been alright. I’ve been going through the usual tough stuff that any 20-something goes through, and the unusual tough stuff that I’d rather not get into. The things that make us vulnerable are the things that can make us so strong. At the end of the day, if I have the freedom to express myself with art and style, I am thankful and grateful. There is no more that I could ask for.

I guess these thoughts are sinking in after I lost a lot of material things that brought me so much stress, and at the same time, I lost a lot people and things that were irreplaceable. I had several wake up calls which came in just in time. Without making this too cryptic or serious, the positive side is that I learned a lot of lessons and I feel that I value different things. Now all I need to do is keep it going, and make sure I don’t fall back into old bad habits.

These shoes are so cute but they gave me a blister today. Note to self: only wear these with cotton/wool tights or socks.

I am wearing:

Cardigan sweater: Heritage 1981
Dress: Vintage
Shoes: eBay

Time poverty, fashion poverty?

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If time poverty is defined as having little leisure time as a result of working long hours, then fashion poverty would mean a wardrobe so consumed by work clothes that the proportion of leisure (aka fun) clothes becomes depressingly minuscule.  I don’t even know what to wear on weekends anymore.  Talking about minuscule, I was overcome by sudden urge to get my hair hacked off a few weeks ago.  Not sure what was going through my mind..  I think I forgot to eat oatmeal in the morning or something  like that.

I am wearing..

Blazer: H&M (I was surprised to see this at H&M.  The construction is solid and quality superb!)
Pants: Halston
Belt: BCBG
Silk Scarf: Pierre Cardin
Purse/Clutch: Street vendor in Hong Kong