FIFTY-FIVE/ OFW S/S'13 day one

Oh September, how I love you. From the chilly air to the falling leaves to fashion weeks all over the world. Who doesn't love Autumn? This past weekend was Ottawa Fashion Week (OFW) and that's when all of the fashion lovers in Ottawa and Gatineau come out of hiding (so it seems) and try to out style one another (or so it seems). All jokes aside, it actually is a great weekend and it's great to see a lot of people in from my city out and about and expressing their love for different fashions. I was fortunate enough to receive a media pass from the organizers at OFW and I'm beyond thankful for that. I of course went with Laura and we were up to our usual shenanigans. I'm still on a fashion high from all of the great looks that weekend, on and off the runway.

I didn't really figure out the proper camera settings for the runway shows until the very last day, of course, and my posts will totally reflect this. But for the first night of Ottawa Fashion Week my favourite show, by far, was Brit Wacher. I'm still obsessed with monochromatic looks and I'm a complete sucker for drastic and structured pieces and every piece of that collection materialized those looks.

I never know what to wear to these occasions. I either dress too causal, too dressy, too outrageous or too boring. I think my first outfit would fall under the "too boring" category, but I was comfortable and felt at ease. That's all that matters, right? I wore my favourite jacket by Calvin Klein paired with a black and white stripe dress from the good old Old Navy sale rack. You can't see my shiny leggings or black creepers, so you might have to use your imagination on that one, but believe me they're there. In all honesty I didn't plan this outfit out at all and I didn't even have time to change my purse so I just grabbed my everyday Marc by Marc Jacobs bag and prayed it worked. I swear my outfit for the next couple of days was better planned than this.

DRESS/ Old Navy JACKET/ Calvin Klein PURSE/ Marc by Marc Jacobs (via consignment)

LEGGINGS/ American Apparel SHOES/ New Look

* Outfit shot was taken by Gabrielle McKay (edit done by me) / Runway photos were taken by me.

FORTY-FOUR/ pink moto jacket

Every time I wear this jacket my confident goes through the roof, I may never take it off. It is just the perfect shade of pink and I love the bright gold tone zippers. As of right now, this jacket is everything to me and it is definitely my favourite piece in my wardrobe right now. I love how lightweight it is, I love the moto style of it, I just love everything about it. Of course there's a bit of a back story behind it. I came across it by total dumb luck. I was killing time with some friends before a concert downtown and we decided to go to The Bay. We were roaming around and looking for nothing in particular when we came across this beauty. I pulled it off the rack, tried it on and fell head over heels. Then I looked at the price tag... originally $160, marked down to $110. Still a little steep for my budget. I sighed, and I returned it to its home on the rack.

The only problem was that I could not stop thinking about it. I gushed to everyone about this jacket, I showed everyone pictures, I just couldn't get it off my mind. A few days later, my boss told me about a sale The Bay was having. 20% off of already reduced items - not a huge amount off, but it was just the excuse I needed to buy the jacket. I made my way downtown, found the jacket and went to purchase it. I'm not sure how, but it rang up at $57 with the tax (even less than 20% off!). The price was a lot better than the $110 a few days before, and a hell of a lot better than the original $160. I guess somethings are just meant to be. 

JACKET/ Calvin Klein JEANS&TOP/ New Look PURSE/ Marc by Marc Jacobs (consignment)
SCARF/ gifted WATCH/ DKNY

* All pictures were taken by Jessie Larabie and myself.

FORTY-TWO/ ombre

The last time I dyed my hair was SEVEN years ago. This is a startling fact for me because for starters, how did I get this old? and secondly, what was I so afraid of? I'll be the first to admit my hair history is a bit gruesome and I was always taught to learn from the past and to try to never repeat it, but I'm so happy I took this risk. Laura dyed it for me and we stuck with just the tips for this time around. To be 100% honest with all of you, we first bleached it and then dyed it purple. The purple has since washed out and all that's left is the bleach. Don't get me wrong, I actually do like the blonde but my heart is still set on purple and it will be redyed ASAP.

As for my outfit, the majority of it actually comes from the United States. I go on many cross border shopping trips with my mother and that's where I usually find my favourite pieces. (I'll do a post about the differences between shopping in the States and shopping in Canada eventually.) These pants were an awesome JC Penney find and the Calvin Klein blouse is something I grabbed from TJ Maxx. I bought both my jacket and Toms in Canada though and they are two pieces that I could truly not live without. If you don't own at least one denim jacket, I really don't know what you're doing with your life... I suggest you find yourself one (thrift stores always have a ton!), you will be living in your denim jacket for years to come. You may even recognize the jacket from these posts - 1, 2. I also spoke about Toms a few time on this blog as well. They are an absolute necessity in my wardrobe. I have a few pairs of them now and I dare you to find a more comfortable shoe. I've tried a countless number of alternatives because I used to absolutely hate how they looked but I'm proud to say that I'm completely turned around on them.

SUNGLASSES/ Ray-Ban (consignment) JACKET/ Old Navy TOP/ Calvin Klein 

PANTS/ Worthington SHOES/ Toms BAG/ H&M (consignment)
WATCH/ Michael Kors (consignment) 

* 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.