Stripes: Stripped Down

I love stripes. Always have. I remember one of my favourite gymnastics bodysuits (yes I was a competitive gymnast), was a full length unitard (yikes) that was black in the back, light surf green in the front with a cream racing stripe running down each side. Essentially three giant stripes made up my suit.

At a party we hosted in Toronto a few years ago, a girl came who I didn't know well and who had never been to our place before. I remember her saying "boy you like stripes." I hadn't given it too much thought, but then I looked around our apartment and saw we had a striped duvet cover, a striped shower curtain, a striped couch and I was wearing a striped dress. I think I may have even bought striped paper plates for the party.


Here's an outfit that I wore the other day. Here I mix stripes. Mixing patterns and prints can be a mildly intimidating process. This is about a 0.5 on the difficulty scale of mixing patterns as I keep the print and the colour the same and I'm only mixing two items. The only thing that I change up is the scale of the stripe. (Note: that even the background in the photo is kind of striped)

For some serious print/ pattern mixing check out the Glamourai blog. Man does she have some crazy good style, she also is an expert pattern/ print mixer.

My Outfit
Striped 80s T-shirt Dress: deLuxe Junk Co.
Wide Black Belt: Thrifted
Striped Wool Scarf: Club Monaco
Leather Jacket: Mackage

These Could "Be Yours" To Wear For Your "Be Mine"

Valentine's Day picks from the shop...

This abstract rose and hexagon print dress would be a perfect outfit for a semi-casual dinner and drinks date. Pair with heeled boots and a blazer. Maybe during dinner, let one of the buttons fall open.



Take your pick for red skirts. One to go dancing. One to show off your curves. And one that seductively unbuttons up the side.







Going for a nice walk outside on the big romantic "hallmark" holiday? If you live in a milder climate (like here in Vancouver), this honeysuckle cape will have your honey guessing what's underneath.



For the follower who likes to walk on the wild side...something animal print might be more up your alley.

Animal Print Shoes



Animal Print Hat



Check out page 1 of the shop for more Valentine's Day inspirations.

Spring Ready to Wear (by me please)

I really wanted to do this post in the fall, when the Spring Ready To Wear collections were showing, but alas October through December got away from me. And yes, I’m aware Pre-Fall 2011 collections are now showing. But I actually think it is a good time to post some spring fashion- nothing like escaping the January blahs and dreary weather by looking at gorgeous spring/summer clothing.

While I've never been a slave to labels or crazy for Fashion Weeks etc, I was pretty smitten with many of the Spring 2011 collections. All those pretty dresses flouncing down the runways- how could I not take notice?! Here are some of my favourites.

Luxurious and Exotic at YSL

Image Courtesy of Style.com

Perfect Minimalism at Chloe

Image Courtesy of Style.com

Graphic Crispness at Celine

Image Courtesy of Style.com

HUGE swoon over everything at Jonathan Saunders

Image Courtesy of Style.com

Delicious Prints and Colours at Prada

Image Courtesy of Style.com

My Kind of Colour Palette at Fendi

Image Courtesy of Style.com

Be Seen in Green

I don't really document my outfits very often, but I do enjoy looking at other people's daily outfit blogs as they give me some inspiration. But last week, I had the opportunity to cover ECO Fashion Week for the Vancouver Observer and I felt it was fitting to share one of my outfits.

This is what I wore to the opening party. Since I don't have much eco-friendly fashion in my wardrobe (or so I thought), I decided to wear head to toe vintage. Turns out that I actually have quite the environmentally-friendly wardrobe as vintage is very eco chic.

I really did go head to toe vintage:



Coat: I bought this yellow, tweed, satin-lined, bracelet sleeve coat 11 years ago at a Value Village in Victoria. I knew back then that it was a fantastic find and it was only $19. I think that it may very well be my favourite vintage piece I've ever owned.

Dress: I got this indigo button up 40s style union worker dress on my first trip to Portland with my vintage partner in crime, Amy. I had the sleeves shortened and the skirt hemmed. I bought eight other dresses on that trip.

Shoes: I found these plaid peep toe 80s Stuart Weitzman heels on Etsy from She Hearts Vintage

Earrings: I just found these flower shaped clip-ons a couple of weeks ago at a church thrift sale.

Black slip: My mom's from the 80s. I told you I was head to toe!

Here are my three stories for the Vancouver Observer:

Eco-fashion gets a makeover
Green is chic
Gorgeous Garments

Leggings Are Not Pants

Nuff said...


Photo courtesy of the Facebook group "Leggings Are Not Pants." Become a fan here.

Hybrid goes Bad

I never got these shoes. They are everywhere in my neighbourhood. Hybrid cars?.....great! hybrid tomatoes....yes! hybrid boots and sandals? nope. I'll be glad when it's too cold for toes to be out and then real boots will have to reveal themselves.

Green Eyed Thrifting Monster

It's a fact that NY is a great city, tons of stuff to do, city that never sleeps and all that, but when it comes to thrifting, this city royally sucks. $20 for a t-shirt is not a thrift store price and neither is $40 for shoes....so unfortunately I sometimes get a case of the green eyed monster when I see other vintage ladies on Twitter announcing a carload of thrifted goodies. This dilemma has turned me into the Marco Polo of thrifting, I go in search of vintage all over the city and beyond, determined to find pockets of clothing I can in fact re-sell. A wonderful source this summer is stoop sales, there's a neighborhood in Brooklyn which seems to have sprouted at least 5 vintage-stocked stoop sales per weekend. So far I have met a stylist selling 12 years of vintage inventory, an antiques dealer who sells slightly damaged goods every few weeks outside her apartment and one incredibly lovely lady who has stacks of vintage patterns, magazines and clothes lined up outside her apartment building. $5 1940's dress? yes please! $15 Edwardian robe...yes! these are like my own teeny thrift stores right out on the street....which makes me very much dread winter and these vintage ladies retreating indoors with their wares....




cat picture above source: ekaputra blog