Holiday 1

Holiday 1 by saimastyle featuring Topshop

Zara black dress / Aldo shoes / Topshop clutch / ALDO necklace / MAC Cosmetics red lipstick

Holiday 1

Holiday 1 by saimastyle featuring Topshop

Zara black dress / Aldo shoes / Topshop clutch / ALDO necklace / MAC Cosmetics red lipstick

Holiday 2

Holiday 2 by saimastyle featuring a crossbody purse

Old Navy plus size sweatshirt / H M short skirt, $33 / ALDO special occasion shoes / Charlotte Russe crossbody purse / ALDO kohl jewelry

Holiday 3

Holiday 3 by saimastyle featuring a multi colored sequin dress

Tinley Road multi colored sequin dress / Forever New clutch, $36 / Miss Selfridge ring

Holiday 4

Holiday 4 by saimastyle featuring a red lipstick

Topshop blazer / Mulberry twill pants / Topshop cami / ASOS black shoes / Manic Panic red lipstick

Holiday 5

Holiday 5 by saimastyle featuring a jump suit

Wal G jump suit, $65 / Zara leather shoes / GUESS by Marciano gold tone bracelet / Warehouse chain tassel earrings, $13

Outfit Post: Earrings Can Save Your Life

And by saving your life I mean allowing you to uplift your used and abused outfit immediately! This is what a fantastic pair of earrings can do. I for one have never been that keen on big earrings, not in recent years anyways. However, sometimes you come across a pair that you just can't walk away from, and this is the story of how that happened...

I had a night out with my girlfriends planned this past Saturday, and of course, say it with me: I had nothing to wear!! The amount of times I find myself or other women in my life (and men) saying these words/if I had a nickle for every time I heard this I'd be..you get it; I've heard and said this a lot! But of course being my practical yet fashion conscious self I could not fathom buying an entirely new outfit for one night out but I wouldn't mind getting one item. Luckily enough I got an email from Toronto Fashion Incubator informing me of an annual sale called "Guilty Pleasures" where local Toronto clothing and jewellery designers would be showcasing their goods at the Drake Hotel, in Toronto's Queen West neighbourhood. Perfect timing.

What a great way to support local talent and pick up a lil' something for my night out. As I was perusing the sale, one of the few booths that caught my eye was for the jewellery line called Shop for Jayu. I fell in love with nearly every piece! And it was all SO affordable - total win win. The Jayu girls were super friendly and nice and if I followed them on Twitter and Facebook I got an additional discount! I ended up getting these amazing earrings for about $12.00 that completely uplifted my previously tired outfit, pictured below ;) Budget-friendly and served my purpose, SCORE.

Shop for Jayu booth at the Guilty Pleasures sale by TFI

The Shop for Jayu earrings I got!

Earrings on

Various angles

The outfit that I've worn many times before!

Outfit Breakdown:
Earrings - $12ish Shop for Jayu 
Blouse - $25ish Forever 21 (last summer)
Black Skinnies - $60 Aritizia (not denim, super warm!)
Booties - $37 Call it Spring (on sale!)


And that is how earrings can save your life...do you have any life-altering accessory tales? Do share!

NYE Outfit: Last Minute Tips

So its down to the wire, you have that thing to go to tonight for NYE and not a clue what to wear? And on top of that you've been so busy with holiday stuff that the last thing you wanted to do was spend more time at the mall? Well I have some tips for you to use what you have to create a whole new look! I know for SURE you have something in your closet that you can re-style (with some help ;) and create a new look for your party tonight, and no one will even notice! 
Now go into your wardrobe, dig deep and pull out that dress that you wore that ONE time and never wore again. Using a dress is a safe choice, especially if its a solid colour as it acts like a blank canvas and is versatile enough to transform with different styling.
Here are 5 simple tips to create a new look with a dress you already have (you can use all of these tips or any combination of them in one look):

1. BOLD LIPS - use red, fuscia, orange, purple, maroon whatever bold lipstick colour you happen to have to add some interest and create a different look! (remember to fill your lips with lipliner of the same colour before you apply the lipstick)

 2. STATEMENT NECKLACE OR EARRINGS - pick one :) I am a firm believe if you go big on the neck then pick some beautiful studs and vice versa. I would add big bangles or a cuff, if you like more accessories.

3. FANCY PANTYHOSE - there is SO much variety nowadays, you can get coloured, printed, coloured print and its cheap! (Joe Fresh has some great options). Pantyhose, if loud enough can change the look of your dress, and you don't have to do much else (maybe a bold lip and some nice earrings) and you're good to go!

4. UPDO - the new updo rage is that sock bun thing.....I personally haven't tried it but it looks fairly easy to do and you can find these round doughnut looking thingys to help you at any drugstore. Personally, any kind of updo works that pushes your hair off your face, especially if you normally leave your hair down. 

5. BLAZER IT UP - if you're someone who dresses more conservatively, this is a great option over a dress to really change a look. Pick a blazer that creates the most contrast with your dress (i.e. pairing a black blazer with a red dress, or bright yellow blazer with a black dress).

Keep in mind you can use any combination of these tips or all 5! Personally, I would use the #1 bold lips,  #2 statement necklace and #4 updo to restyle my own look.


Now get to it! You only have a few hours to figure this out and GOOD LUCK!

Beauty: Blunt Bangs

THE EXPERIENCE:
This is something I've been thinking of doing for a long time. I first entertained the notion about 3 years ago but just never was 'ready' for such a change. If there's one thing about me you should know if we're gonna be friends is that I'm cautious, and spontaneity scares me sometimes lol. I take risks but they are usually highly calculated risks with Plans A-F set up in the event something goes wrong. Sounds crazy? It probably is.....

So no wonder it took me 3 years to actualize an idea for a flippin' haircut....I got a fringe! Lucky for me it's still in style (although if I really want to do something I don't care if its trendy or not). I took the hair plunge a week ago and went from long layers, no fringe, to full on blunt bangs with one easy snip.What finally prompted me to do this? It was one of those things where I had the idea percolating in the back of my mind for a while and one day I just decided that it was time, I needed a change. And with my hair I don't mind cutting it off because my hair grows back SUPER fast (#browngirlproblems) - which is great for hairstyles but not so much for everything else (I swear brown girls keep the laser hair removal industry afloat). I always envied my Asian friends who never seemed to have hair growth except for where its supposed to be, on their head! Anyways, I digress...

Back to the haircut, so since this was a big deal for me, I decided to go to one of the best hair salons in Toronto, known for their creative hairstylists, called Brennen DeMelo. I did my research and booked an appt with the highly recommended Shawna who is a senior stylist. She was amazing, understood exactly what I wanted and did a beautiful job executing the cut. 

THE RESULT:
And here is the final product: (I tried to mimic those infomercial "before" pictures, they always look so miserable )

BEFORE  :(                                                                                      AFTER - Ta DA! :D

I LOVE my new haircut!! I didn't realise that with something so simple as adding a fringe, I could change my look so drastically. I love it. 

THE MAINTENANCE:
The maintenance hasn't been so bad, the KEY in styling bangs is to blow-dry them FIRST, downwards using a comb, do that right away as soon as you get out of the shower, because if they dry on their own even a bit, they will end up looking funny and frizzy. And if you add too much product to it, they will look flat and oily. I blow-dry first and then use a straightener to get that sleek look.  Since I got the cut last week, I've washed my hair more then usual to keep the bangs looking fresh and fluffy.I bought a dry shampoo by Kevin Murphy, in the event I didn't have time to wash my hair (pictured below). It was about $15 for the travel size and $24ish for the bigger one - I bought the smaller one since I'd never tried a dry shampoo before and didn't know if I would like it. (Batiste is a cheaper alternative, found @Shoppers). I tried the dry shampoo once but it dried my hair a lot and it went all staticy - so it might be better to use it in the hotter months. 

Anways, this sounds like a lot of work but it's just a few extra steps when I'm styling my hair and its SO worth it! I was actually really lazy with my hair before, put minimum effort in and didn't really care. But with this new cut I feel compelled to style it properly and I don't mind at all! Of course the days when I'm rushed and don't have time, I'll use a cute headband and pull my hair back and call it a day. But for now I'm really enjoying the new me :)

PS: I posted these pics on my Instagram @saimastyle and my Twitter last week, join me there to see more :)

Super-sized Outfit Post: Striped Cardy

So the super sweet fashion blogger and social media extraordinaire Anum from http://www.summerxskin.com and myself decided to offer you a bonanza of an outfit post today! What we've done is pick one item from H&M and styled it 6 different ways for ya! She wore it 3 different ways and I wore it 3 different ways. We hope to show you looks with one item for multiple occasions from day to work to night! 

The item we chose is a classic striped cardy from H&M for $20 bucks and here are my looks;

Look #1: Workin 9-5
-Striped Cardy tucked in
- Black cropped trousers (Dynamite $34)
-Studded belt (Zara $15)
- Nude purse (Mango $50)
-Red shoes  (Zara, on sale for $10!!)
 

Looking for cat hair on my black pants

 

Look #2: Prepster Hippy

- Striped Cardy

- Mint denim (Urban Outfitters $78)

- Aldo Loafers ($30ish)

- White collared shirt (Tommy, probably around $50)

Vat a poser

Look #3: Dinner dating
- Striped cardy, yadayadayada
- Camel pencil skirt (H&M)
-Thin brown belt
-  Black pumps

WARNING: Do NOT eat a big meal when wearing any pencil skirt

Now to see Anum's 3 looks click HERE

 

Floral Pants (just hear me out)

The title of this post might have scared you, you might have thought "WTF!! Absolutely NOT!!" and clicked away to some trashy celebrity gossip site or YouTube to watch kittens play. But I'm glad you didn't, because I'm here to alleviate this potentially debilitating floral-pant anxiety that us women and (open-minded men) carry with us on the daily. Lets embrace flowers in our pants, and rejoice in the variety of floral pants that are out there -how can you reach this nirvana you ask? Well, if we know HOW to adorn our butts in flowers, only then can we reach a level of consciousness that takes away our floral pant anxiety (which is really a fear-based projection). Lets heal together!
 Here are some examples of outfits with floral pants (including me, I practice what I preach yo) - to help you figure out how to incorporate this trend into your life:

Outfit #1: You can absolutely pair floral pants with a bold colour, but you must add neutrals to balance out the look - so the black tank top and nude pumps seal the deal. Add metallic accessories (also another kind of neutral) to complete the look. I got mine from Zara for $40.

Outfit #2: If you're less adventurous, then combine the pants with all neutrals; in this case I chose black.

Some other no-name examples of  floral pant healing

My personal favourite is #2 from the left: Olivia Palermo

Also note that the kind I have are of the PJ variety (my fav variety, I might add) but there are some sexified, tight skinnies that are out there as well.

And BAMMM you've been healed! Hallelujah!

The Heisenberg Hat

One of my favourite shows has to be Breaking Bad, and for those of you who don't watch it, go watch it! Anyways, in the show the main character leads a double life: on one hand he's an average family guy and teacher and on the other he cooks and distributes meth - alright, so where does the hat come in? Well, his drug dealing alias is Heisenberg and his "costume" as Heisenberg is basically this hat....whenever he puts on THE hat, he becomes his alter ego; the crazy, drug-dealing, dangerous Heisenberg (the anti-superhero!)

Here is my outfit post today, with the Heisenberg hat (more like a cross between Breaking Bad and Little House on the Prairie, two equally impactful shows)

Outfit breakdown:

Hat- Le Chateau $20! (Le Chateau is great for accessories and sometimes shoes)
Skirt - FCUK $50 (on sale, this summer)
Lace tank - used to be a dress i bought years ago from F21

Ps: Go watch Breaking Bad!!  
Pps: Now go watch Little House on the Prairie to get your moral compass back!

DIY: Studded Denim Vest

Hi all! So I'm back with another DIY, I love doing these and I really hope you find it helpful too. I feel like Debbie Travis but for fashion :) Exactly my kind of thing, but instead of showing you how to stencil a snazzy leafy border on your bathroom walls, I want to show you how you can turn a fairly plain/boring item in your wardrobe into a unique, customized, conversation piece at the party, street-cred earning, pride and joy of your closet type thing. For today, I am going to show you how to jazz up a denim vest, which I bought from Tribal  Rhythm for $25 (a vintage store in a basement on Queen St). 

Materials needed: 
- Scissors
- Laundry facility
- Studs (from sewing supply store, I paid $8 for 24, but you can get them cheaper on ebay I hear)
- Denim vest ($25)

Here is what the vest looked like when in its original state:

Step 1:  FRAY Ends: Cut along the border you want frayed, in this case I am only fraying the sleeves - cut a thin strip

this is what the ends look like after cutting

Step 2: Throw the item in the wash to get the frayed look

Ta da!

Step 3: Time to put the studs in- there were many shapes and sizes, but I decided to go with the bigger square studs (also bigger studs are easier to put in)

Close up: notice spikes on the back, which are inserted directly into material and then folded over

 Step 4: Insert Studs; you just push the studs in and fold the spikes over in the back (warning do not get a fresh manicure when doing this, it will get ruined)

fuzzy pic of what the stud looks like in the back

Step 5: Pick a stud pattern you like and continue studding. (I googled this pattern) Here is one side done!

And the other side- Ta da! (Keep in mind it will not be a perfectly lined pattern, but I kinda like the messy look anyway which works for this item)

I didn't realize just how easy studding would be, and if placed strategically, they can really add interest into your clothes. 

Before:                                                                                          After:

So what did you think? Do you like the before or after?  I will definitely be wearing this in future outfit posts! keep any eye out ;) And good luck studding!

Outfit post: The Canadian Tuxedo

Along with moose, beavers, maple syrup, untamed wilderness, Tim Hortons, igloos, lumberjacks and bacon, Canada also offers a highly sophisticated sartorial rarity known as the Canadian Tuxedo. This species is comprised of variations of denim on denim and can be found mostly along the Queen West area of Toronto. It normally comes out during random weekday afternoons and likes to hunt for speciality organic coffees and vegan foods. You might also find it in the right lane on a bicycle riding dangerously close to your car, slowing you down without fear of being hurt. A very unaware specimen it is. Keep an eye out for the Canadian tux and remember never discuss your car or big box grocery stores in its presence.

Outfit Post: Yellow Blazin Goodness

Generally speaking, I don't normally spend more then $49.95 on one item at H&M- it's a matter of principle really. But when I saw this cropped bright yellow blazer, all my principles went out the window so quickly that I almost was embarrassed for myself! But no regrets, I am in love! And note the top underneath the blazer is my DIY top :)
Here is the outfit breakdown:
Blazer - H&M $60
Pants - Zara $50
Clutch - French Connection $30 (on sale)

Summer 2012 Must Haves!

SUMMER 2012 MUST HAVES!

Striped dress / French Connection military tank top / Low top / Topshop / Zara zip pants / Warehouse cropped capri pants, $39 / Fringe shoes / ALDO high heel sandals / Rebecca Minkoff studded clutch, $220 / Oasis stretch jewelry, $19 / ALDO jewelry / American Apparel see through shades / Elizabeth and James tortoise sunglasses / summer decor honeysuckle pink mustard yellow pastel flower photography...

         As summer is in full swing, and a HOT one at that (here in Toronto at least) I've been compiling a mental list of summer staples for 2012 - don't fret, you don't need to buy all of these but in the event you're in the mood to shop, keep an eye out for some of the items pictured above to update your summer wardrobe instantly! And because I follow my own advice (always and without fail, I swear) - I'll be showcasing some of these trends in future outfit posts, can't wait!
       I've created 3 outfits using all the "must-haves", but really you can mix and match and easily create many more outfits. Now keep in mind that the clothes above are definitely more casual day-time wear, but some of the combinations can transfer easily into evening fun (ie: floral pants with wedges).
Here is a breakdown of each outfit:
1.) Floral pants, Aldo Brown Wedges, Sleeveless collared top
2.) White flowy tank, Zara loose pants in pink, lots of arm candy, long chain necklace, and tribal flats (please throw out your gladiators)
3.) Striped Maxi dress, Rebecca Minkoff neon cross body bag, Denim Vest (best to thrift this), 
And the sunglasses are the fun cat-eye glasses which I absolutely love (left is American Apparel $ and right is Elizabeth and James $$$).


Which of these are your fav? And do you already have some of these? Hope this helps you shop this summer!