Outfit Post: Retro Vibing

Lately, I have been in a 70's kind of mood, hence me wearing this dress I bought from F21 months ago. I love the whole 70's vibe; big pants, the big sunglasses, billowy big hair and full on silk blouses, printed dresses, bell bottoms- the whole nine yards. You'll be seeing more of these trends to in future blog posts!

With this dress, I saw it, loved it, bought it and then it sat in my closet, tags and all for about 3 months. I have a bad habit of buying "statement" items or items that are "different" or items I have an emotional reaction to (yes, i get emotional- you know you do it too!) then these "statement" pieces sit in my closet and rarely ever see the light of day. I really need to learn how to buy more practical basics to go along with all the crazy colourful, printed stuff I have in my wardrobe. And you know whats even funnier? Despite having all these printed/colourful items, I will always resort to my trusted black cardigan, blue jeans and white t-shirts...go figure. So this outfit took a bit of self-persuasion but I'm glad I took this dress out for a spin, finally....

Also I think I was waiting to get shoes, accessories that would go with this dress. Enter wooden anything - the shoes and the purse both are wooden which gives it a retro vibe. Also any gold accents also add a 70's flare to any outfit:

Outfit Breakdown:
Dress - F21 $30ish
Shoes - Costa Blanca X ($15 on sale!)
Purse - FCUK ($30 on sale)
Bangles - Le Chateau ($40 for 3) 

Are you retro vibing? Whats your fav retro era?

Ps: I sometimes do outfit posts on Instagram (saimastyle) or Twitter (@saimastyle) that I don't blog about - follow me on either so you don't miss a thing!

Thirfty to Trendy: On the GO!

From now on I will be regularly doing posts titled "Thrifty to Trendy" which basically means I'm wearing an outift where I've taken a thrifted item and rendered it "trendy" by mixing it with newer items. When I thrift, my goal is not to make it obvious that I'm wearing a thrifted piece (unlike some hipsters who basically will pick the most ragged looking piece of clothing and try to make it "homeless chic") Not my thing. So I hope to show you how you can take a piece of clothing from Value Village or Goodwill and make it look new and expensive! Doesn't mean you have to hide the fact that you thrift, (God knows I shout it from the roof tops) but you don't really want it to be an immediately discernible aspect of your outfit. Now, if it looks vintage, that's another story, whats the difference you ask? We'll save that for another blog post....

Here is my first outfit that I took from "Thrifty to Trendy"! Classic, simple and easy - some of my favourite style values :)

Me on the go! Just before leaving for work

Outfit breakdown;
Tuxedo Blazer - Value Village $12.99
Shirt - from my DIY project 
Jeans - Gap Skinnies ($80ish0
Shoes - Aldo loafers ($29 on sale)
Bag, pleather tote -  FCUK (I believe I got this for $30 on sale)

And there you go! Stay tuned for many more....and please tell me if I start regressing into "homeless chic" - these hipsters start rubbing off on you without you even realising..its quite cultish.

OUTFIT POST: Oh Rainy Day

So it's been raining here in Toronto consecutively for about 3 days - and this is after a mostly bright, sunny, and HOT summer we've had so far (like record-breaking heat). Personally, I love rainy days (especially if I'm cuddled up inside, watching it come down through my window). But as a city girl, who does a lot of walking during her commute- rain totally presents some challenges to my outfit choices, (as does the heat), its hard to dress weather-appropriately and be stylish at the same time.

And that's why its important to have stylish pieces which are ALSO functional in this hectic daily life of ours. A piece like that for me is this light grey trench/raincoat I got from Club Monaco last summer, I love absolutely everything in that store (but honestly I don't always want to spend $80 on a tank top) but its great for those one time purchases that you will use regularly. And of course I refuse to pay full price on anything, so I like to buy jackets near the end of the season so I can get good discounts. You do risk a lack of choice and sizes, but once you find THE piece for half the price - it's worth the initial frustration.  And to add a pop of colour, I added red shoes (got on sale from Zara for $10!!)

An unedited pic of the jacket to give you a better look

Outfit Breakdown:
Trench: Club Monaco (Wait for it.......$120!!!)
Jeans: Trusted GAP 1969 Skinnies
Shoes: Zara $10

Whats your rainy day go-to piece?

Lady Gaga on VOGUE

To this day, I don't think any other magazine does a better job of styling and creating epic editorials then American VOGUE. Absolutely my number one favourite. The styling done by the likes of Grace Coddington (I would stalk her if I lived in NY) is always so sophisticated, artistic and fashion forward without being gimmicky (meat dress anyone?). Coddington is definitely my styling role model, I would love to live in her editorials as a despondent housewife, sitting by the window on a rainy day waiting for her true love to return from war.....(ok, not really but the clothes would be FAB!).

Dreamy tangent aside, today via twitter Lady Gaga released the American VOGUE cover for September 2012. The September issue is THE most important issue where all the big guns come out, not only is it the largest in page number (and advertising dollars) but also in quality of content. SO who better then Gaga to grace the cover and styled by none other then Grace Coddington (the bigger celebrity in my world).

Lady Gaga on the cover of American VOGUE's September '12 issue

Lets talk about this cover for a sec, VOGUE once again proves their brilliance by completely transforming Lady Gaga but not losing her artistic/brand essence. She still looks "edgy" and editorial, but oh so naturally beautiful. By using silhouette and shape alone, Coddington manages to create a fashion forward and artistic image without resorting to the usual Gaga gimmicks. Is it just me or does the silhouette remind you of an Oscar award? Foreshadowing maybe? In any case, the reinvention is exhilirating and builds such anticipation for Gaga's next career move. Bravo Coddington and VOGUE.

Here is Gaga's first American VOGUE cover back in March of 2011 - I like the new one better.

 What did you think of Gaga on Vogue's September issue?

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!