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!

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)

Outfit Post: Resort-Minus the Resort-Wear

Got these new pants from Zara over the weekend, (retail $49) and I couldn't wait to wear them! They are lineny, front-pleated white pants with gold zippers and a whole lot of amazingness. I am in love with this style of pant(s?), and Zara seems to have a large selection in all different colours - however they do sell out fast which I found out the hard way, because I initially went to get the hot pink, more silky ones with gold zippers and they were sold out everywhere. SO get them when you see them! These pants are so versatile, you will definitely be seeing them in future posts
And the top is a STEAL from H&M for $10!The bangles are from Le Chateau from 2 years ago, cost about $40 together.
All in all this outfit makes me feel very resort chic, the weather here in Toronto is SO HOT that it could pass for a resorty city :)
This season's resort wear is quite loose fitting and flowy as it tends to be usually. I absolutely LOVE that about resort collections, the casual chicness of it all. As you can see my other outfits here and here, I love it when comfort and style meet. You could say thats a major fashion goal for me ;)


Anyone else into resort-minus the resort-wear?

DIY: I Came, I Sew, I Conquered

Growing up I always had a penchant for DIY tasks - especially when it came to clothes. I would rearrange, re-tailor, renew old clothes lying around all the time - (take off sleeves, add studs, patches etc) usually all by hand. Eventually I lost that hobby once I began university and then a full-time job, but I'm pleased to announce my old-school hobby is back in full swing and I can't wait to share my first project with you!

As I was doing a closet clean-out, I discovered a shirt that I had (for some reason) held on to for probably 10 years. I hadn't worn it in 3 but I still had it, and then I suddenly had an idea to change it up a bit. Here is a step by step visual diary of the process to help you do your own DIY! I'm sure you have plenty of items of clothing that could use a 'lift'!

STEP 1:  Select a shirt/top that you think could use an update; I selected this top which is a standard $20 top, synthetic, shiny fabric- so I wasn't afraid to cut it up

 

STEP 2: Take off the sleeves, I did this by hand with a pair of eyebrow scissors and a needle (good lighting is a must)

STEP 3: Remove buttons (I bought MUCH cooler replacements) -again the mini scissors came in handy

STEP 4: Get new ribbon and buttons. The ribbon is 1 yard of black velvet , to be used as borders for the sleeves. And the buttons come in a dozen (total cost of materials < $10)
 

STEP 5: This is the hardest part, the velvet border took a while to sew on. ALL BY HAND! If you can work a sewing machine, I'm sure it would take all of 10 minutes.

But here is my final product (Its not perfect by any means, but I love it!)

The entire process took me a few hours in total, and cost about $10 in materials. And now I have a new "custom" shirt in my summer rotation. Keep an eye out for it in future outfit posts :)

I've been bitten by the DIY bug and already have new projects in the works - its quite fun and easy, I'd love to hear about your DIY projects!


             
BEFORE:                                                                   AFTER:

                       

Shellac'd and Hook'd!

Uh oh this could be trouble...so I tried a Shellac mani for the first time for a wedding and I think I'm hooked....can I ever go back to the regular ol' way of just painting nails? My wallet is not going to appreciate this...

I went to some Asian place in Mississauga (is it just me or is every time you step in an Asian nail salon you feel like Elaine from that Seinfeld episode? I swear the woman doing my pedi was laughing at my feet). I spent about $50 for a shellac Mani and regular pedi- not bad right? I'm guessing just the shellac manicure alone would probably run me about $25ish.

So what are the benefits of this brilliant invention? Well, it looks pristine and stays in tact for about 3 weeks, chip-free so you really do get your money's worth! Usually my regular manicures barely last over a week because they get chipped or I inevitably ruin them right after.

With Shellac they are pretty much immediately dry and ur hands are free to multi-task as we all do.The only caveat would be that it requires a little more effort to remove. You can either buy one of those acetone jars to remove them or get them removed professionally (at this nail salon removal costs $5).

Here is evidence of my first and definitely not my last. I'm hooked!

My Dream Summer Sandal

A girl can dream can't she ;) YSL sandal heaven delicious super amazing amazingness!! Aahhh I want!