Thrifty to Trendy: Black Blouse & Turquoise Pants

As promised, I will regularly be doing posts called Thrifty to Trendy to show you how I used a thrifted item in an outfit (check out my first T to T post here). One of the perks of using vintage or thrifted pieces is definitely the unique characteristics you are sure to get in your item. No one else will be wearing anything like it, and I think that's a coveted quality (at least for me ) in fashion. There is nothing worse then wearing something on trend, only to find every other person wearing the same exact piece. Part of me doesn't like the idea of being uber trendy, the best way to do it is to mix popular trends with unique pieces that really reflect who you are. It also shows you're not a slave to trends.

Here is my "Thrifty to Trendy" outfit, shot by by friend Priya Crasto (you can see her other work here) - now which item is thrifted? I'll let you be the judge!  Is it the black blouse? The turquoise pants? The necklace?  Ooooh the plot thickens...or it might be super easy to guess!

Is anyone else TGIFing today? Have a great Thanksgiving weekend - I know I will :) Having my friends over tonight and then making a big family dinner on Sunday at my Mama's (it's her first Thanksgiving even though we've been in Canada for almost 20 yrs). We did manage to get a halal turkey (Muslim version of kosher) so she could eat it. I shall let you know how our halal Thanksgiving goes next week - I'm sure I'll have some great Mama Hasan quotes to share!

I HIGHLY recommend Priya for your photography needs, she was awesome! If you're in the Greater Toronto Area, you can reach out to her at crasto.priya@gmail.com for photoshoots of your own, (engagement shoots, outfit shoots, headshots etc) and don't forget to mention that I referred you!

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!

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!

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.

The Big Photoshoot: October in July

I'm truly truly grateful that you all have been checking in regularly, only to find that I've taken a bit of a hiatus....oops, but I promise the break has been all for valid fashion reasons. For the past little while I have been working on conceptualizing, styling and helping to organize and  a major editorial spread for the October issue of SHE Canada magazine (www.shemagazine.ca). I have to say the day of the shoot was THE professional highlight for me thus far, it was a great day that validated all the risks I took to switch careers and turn my life upside down in my late 20s (a story I will surely share with you once the ending is written, right now we're still in the beginning chapters). I worked my butt off along with the rest of the SHE Canada dream team (Priya and Liz) but more importantly we reached out to a talented, hard working team who really made magic happen.

I cannot wait until the images hit the newsstands, but until then I have compiled a few BTS shots (instagram pics I took/stole, obvs) with a bit of my own commentary, to show you what the experience was truly like. The shoot took place on a scorching Tuesday in July, on a rooftop in Toronto, with the incomparable fashion photog Renata Kaveh (check out her work here), it was a true privilege to watch her do her thang', her passion was absolutely contagious! We featured two models: Shaifali from Elite and Delia from Next - both who rocked the ish out of the clothes! Justine Mcknight was the make-up artist, that woman can do wonders with her arsenal of palettes, brushes and q-tips and Danika Cahill did her divine signature hair style, that battled the fierce winds and won each time. Really could not have asked for a better synergy. The creative direction for the shoot was Tim Burtonesque meets Fall 2012 trends meets glamazons (lol I suck at explaining my concepts but I can see it in my head). 

Oh and ofcourse, the CLOTHES- we featured a mix of designers both Canadian and otherwise (including Alexander Wang, Isabel Marant, McQueen, Acne) but my favourite were the VAWK pieces. Another highlight, I got a chance to meet Sunny Fong, the Canadian designer behind the beautiful VAWK clothes and I can only hope we did his clothes justice (me thinks he will likey :)

It was an amazingly fulfilling day, I loved the adrenaline, the dynamism and creativity behind it all, when my head hit the pillow that night I can only describe it as a feeling of happy-tired....and I'm still happy-tired.


Here are a few pics from behind the scenes:

Renata doin' her thanggg

Stunning

Me in the middle in work mode and models off duty

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!


             
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