165/ CHANGES

These pictures have been sitting on my computer for far too long. I took these back in August and so much has changed since then. I have been MIA from the blog for a bit, but not without good reason. I quit my job. I moved cities. I'm going back to school. I'm doing this all at the age of 25.

For someone who is absolutely terrified of change, this is huge for me. My life back in Ottawa was so comfortable. I was surrounded by people that I love (and that love me), I was at the same job that I enjoyed working for nearly six years (!!!), my life was perfectly routine and secure. I was happy but I needed something that scared me - I needed a change.

So here I am, writing this blog post in a cafe around the corner from my new place in Toronto. It's scary terrifying, but I'm confident in my decision and I can't wait to see where this adventure takes me.

TOP/ Forever 21+ SKIRT/ Burlington Coat Factory 

SHOES/ H&M BAG/ Thrifted (no brand)

Photos by Sue Waugh

TWENTY-SEVEN/ winter dress

I can't stress my love for dresses enough. As I said in my previous post, I find that they're extremely easy to just throw on in the winter and you don't have to think twice before leaving your house. You will always look chic and polished, no one will have to know you got ready changed in five minutes or less.

I picked up this dress, as well as two others, at Old Navy on Boxing Day. The three dresses in total cost me less than forty-five dollars with the tax. The other colours are orange and black/white striped and I wear them on rotation, with a couple of other dresses, almost exclusively. For this outfit, I paired my dress with my favourite little leopard print cropped jacket. This jacket has become almost life affirming to me to me now. It is one of my favourite pieces of clothing because it can make even the most dull outfit come to life. Everything needs a little bit of leopard print, right? I bought it a couple of years ago and I wear it at least once a week. The colours have started to fade a bit, but other than that it's in really good condition. I don't place a lot of trust into Forever 21 clothing, as it is a fast fashion store, but a few of my finds seem to keep throughout the years. I'm thrilled this jacket hasn't gone on me yet, and I assure you when that day comes I will shed a few tears.

I finished the look with mostly skull accessories (I have an addiction), a few rings and my new (to me) Sperry heeled booties. This, and many different variations of this basic outfit, is something I'm going to be living in for pretty much the rest of the winter.

JACKET/ Forever 21 DRESS/ Old Navy LEGGINGS/ American Apparel
 BOOTIES/ Sperry via Rikochet Resale ACCESSORIES/ Various
BRACELET/ Gifted 

All pictures were taken by Michael Tundo and Jessie Larabie.

TWENTY-SIX/ winter dress ideas

Winter is in full force where I live. The days are shorter, it's freezing cold and the ground is covered in a thick layer of snow. As much as I love this season, it is so difficult to get out of the warmth of my bed some mornings. Usually I'll wait until the last possible second to get up and get ready for the day. I give myself about five minutes to actually pick out clothes and throw them on so I've been sticking to a strict uniform of dresses, leggings and a cardigan/jacket/sweater/blazer combo. There's a lot less effort in wearing dresses than there is in just about anything else and the most fantastic part of it all is you almost always look great. It's foolproof, really.

Right now all of my favourite dresses are from Old Navy. You can usually find them in the clearance racks ranging in price from $2 - $20. They fit like a glove on me and I love the assortment of styles, colours and materials. Also, I can't really argue with the prices. I also have some from New Look, Avon and of course, thrift shops. If you find it's difficult to find a dress to fit your body type properly, look for something in a jersey-type material. It's usually very forgiving and flatters every body type. Also, a pop of colour can bright shed some light on an otherwise dark winters day.

Here are some outfits I could definitely see myself wearing over the next couple of months. The second one is especially easy, and leggings are much much warmer than pantyhose. 

Look One: jacket/ New Look dress/ H&M, clutch/ New Look, necklace/ ASOS, booties/ Jeffrey Campbell via Solestruck, tights/ Addition Elle

Look Two: dress/ Old Navy, leggings/ New Look, blazer/ H&M, boots/ black velvet Dr Martens via Solestruck, necklace/ ASOS, watch/ MBMJ, purse/ H&M

* All images belong to their respective owners and have been referenced back to the original sources. This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way, all thoughts are my own

NINETEEN/ monochrome addict

My mother and I recently took a trip down to Syracuse, New York, to do some serious shopping. If you live in Canada you know that shopping here sucks, even if you live in a big city like Montreal or Toronto. Everything up here is at least double the price as it is down in the States and we have about a quarter of the selection they have. It seems kind of stupid to me seeing how close we are, but that's just the way it is. Our stores even start carrying trends a lot later than they do south of our border. I, like most people right now, have been dying over the leather/pleather panel trend and I knew when I saw this allblackeverything paneled top in JCPenny that it had to come home with me. Now I know that JCPennney is definitely not the most glamourous store in the world but l really love some of their clothing! This shirt is incredible, not only does it have a pleather panel, but it has an exposed zipper in the back and the jersey material on the rest of the top is so forgiving. I feel like I'm going to be seen wearing this top a lot. Those booties were an amazing find too, they were only $22.99 and have a whopping five inch wedge. I feel like a giant when I wear them and I absolutely love it. My skirt was a great find too at Forever 21 (favourite store ever) for only $4 after discounts. I dare you to find a skirt in Ottawa for that price, even at a secondhand store it's next to impossible.

I bought a few other pieces on that trip that I'm just way too excited to blog about. These items include: a yellow cardigan (favourite colour), a pink top with rhinestones and ankle length black skinny jeans that fit like a glove. 

TOP/ ANA (JCPenney) SKIRT/ Forever 21 BOOTIES/ Bamboo 

All pictures were taken by Laura Kidd and Michael Tundo. All item photos were taken by me.

SEVENTEEN/ canadian tuxedo

It's finally fall where I live and the leaves are slowly but surely changing colours. The temperature did make a desperate drop lately as well and I happy to say — it's FINALLY sweater / jacket weather again! Autumn is definitely one of my favourite times of the year (along with winter, I'm weird, I know) and when it was finally cool enough to break out my denim jacket I had a smile plastered on my face all day long. 

I bought this faux fur stole last year and I just did not know what to pair it with. I feel like it's a bit too fancy to wear in a casual outfit but I tried it out today and I have to admit, I'm in love. I glam'd up the casual look of denim + denim (Canadian tuxedo) and leopard print blouse with the use of my faux fur stole, dark red lipstick, my beloved gold glittery converse and gold / tortoise shell accessories. I felt self conscious of my outfit the entire day but after looking back at these pictures, I'm really happy with the outcome. I'm comfortable with taking wild and punky risks but when it comes time to play around with denims or preppy looks I'm completely lost. I need to start taking more risks in that respect.

TOP/ Thrifted JACKET/ Old Navy JEANS/ Forever 21 SHOES/ Converse (gifted) 

FAUX FUR STOLE/ H&M ACCESSORIES/ Various PURSE/ Cooperative

All pictures were taken by Laura Kidd.

SIXTEEN/ the dream shirt

I have been looking for this exact shirt for about a year now, possibly even longer. It is something that I made up in my mind and I wasn't able to find it anywhere. I searched high and low and even sent my friends on missions to find it as well. I wanted it SO badly that one of my best friends even tracked down a girl wearing something similar in a Tim Horton's to find out where she bought it.... the girl got it at Dynamite... so the hunt continued.

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I went to the mall a couple of weeks ago to help my friend find a dress for a wedding she was attending but an alarm kept going off in the mall so we retreated into the only quiet store, The Bay. 

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That's where I saw it.

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It's semi-sheer, white Calvin Klein safari blouse, long enough to wear with leggings and with gold buttons. The EXACT shirt that I have been lusting over for over a year was just there, hanging in front of me, I had to have it. We brought it up to the counter to pay, and it was even on sale. Definitely my favourite piece in my closet right now; I can't get enough of it.  It's perfect and it's all mine!

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For this post I decided to wear it with my favourite American Apparel leggings, my animal print oxfords (with a hot pink sole!), a pink coloured purse with a cameo brooch and a bunch of gold accessories to liven up the plain white safari blouse.

SHRIT/ Calvin Klein LEGGINGS/ American Apparel ACCESSORIES/ Various 

WATCH/ DKNY PUSE/ Mark. by Avon SHOES/ Dolce Vita (thrifted)

All pictures were taken by Laura Kidd.

FIFTEEN/ fall wishlist

This is a bit of a fall wish list for me. I absolutely hate the summer and I'm so glad that it's coming to an end! I can't wait for colder weather, shorter days, boots, scarves and pumpkin spiced lattes from Starbucks. Lately I've been lusting over camo jackets but I never had any idea of what to wear with it. In this outfit I paired it with a heather grey v neck from American Apparel and black skinny jeans. It's a pretty simple look but it's definitely something you can make a little more interesting with accessories. I paired it with these studded skull loafers because I love skulls, a big silver boyfriend watch to complete the tomboy look and a bright orange bag for a pop of colour. I'd personally wear it with Azealia Banks' lipstick from MAC because I have been dying to get my hands on it and I feel like once I do I'll wear it daily. You can make this look more feminine if you wish by adding more girly accessories such as rings, bangles or dainty necklaces and by replacing the loafers with wedges or heels.
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I really do love this look and I can't wait to get my hands on these various pieces. Anybody else as excited as I am for fall? What are you staple pieces for fall? What are you dying to get your hands on?

1/ Top Shop 2/ ZiGi (Town Shoes) 3/ American Apparel 

4/ New Look Inspire 5/ Azealia Banks for MAC 6/ Nikon (ASOS) 7/ Oasis (ASOS)

ELEVEN/ mccqueen skull scarf

I'm currently suffering from the worst case of writers block I've had in years, so please bear with me. In this post I'm wearing mostly clothing from mall stores; a bit of Old Navy here, Addition Elle there and Tom shoes. It all seems very bland and generic, even the pictures are void of any colour. I think all of these boring elements help draw attention to what really matters in this post - my Alexander McQueen skull scarf.
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With my skull scarf being just about one of the only designer items I own, I'm very afraid to wear it around. If you've ever felt one, you'd know that it feels like nothing - it's so light and airy. It's so delicate. I have been lusting over them for years now and now that I finally own one I'm not letting anything happen to it. It's like my child, seriously. I can't afford to replace it anyway. If you know me in real life or follow me on Tumblr, you'd know just how much I love skulls. If it has a skull on it, I need to have it. I also adore Alexander McQueen. I live for his gothic style, hauntingly beautiful pieces, and his runways were like nothing I've ever seen before. It just makes sense that I needed this scarf in my life. The scarves became sort of an obsession with me. I told my mother about it, and I would talk to her about them every single day.
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When opening presents on Christmas of 2011 she wrapped a fake skull patterned scarf in a box for me as a joke. I looked at it, laughed and put it on the ground on top of the box and then I noticed something else in the box. My heart nearly stopped as I reached over to investigate and I, no word of a lie, almost passed out. There it was: my very own Alexander McQueen skull scarf. It was one of the biggest/best surprises of my entire life.
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 I'll be the first to admit, I'm very spoiled. But I'm also very thankful. 

JACKET/ Old Navy SCARF/ Alexander McQueen JEANS/ Old Navy

SHIRT/ Addition Elle SHOES/ Toms
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All pictures were taken by Jessie Larabie, Michael Tundo and Laura and Lisa Kidd.