Sunday, June 30, 2013

quebec city 2


dress via beacon's closet in nyc; kimono, zara.

here's the outfit i wore for the last day of my vacation in quebec city. i wanted this zara kimono for years since i first saw it and decided i couldn't afford it in the store, and my roommate tracked it down for me on ebay much later. you will probably be seeing a lot of it in my outfit posts this summer, as well as this dress, which is probably my favourite dress i own.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

quebec city 1


 dress, thrifted diesel; sweater, zara; boots, aldo.

some photos of the outfit i wore for my first day of tourism in quebec city, where i got into a heated argument with this stoic musketeer. luckily we resolved it and went our separate ways without it coming to blows.

Friday, June 28, 2013

red and black




dress, joe fresh; jacket, pearl river mart; shoes via winners; hat, zara (men's section); rosaries, vintage.

another outfit i had pictures of from earlier this spring. i'm finally getting caught up after my holiday with my parents and my flute exam in ottawa yesterday, which was causing me immense stress. now i really feel like i've graduated! this outfit is a weird mishmash of styles that don't appear to go together but because of the strong colour theme pulled together by the red lipstick, i think it works.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

quebec trip part 2


some more photos of my recent trip, all in the vicinity of tadoussac!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

eyelet


shorts, Zara; shoes, Tahari via Winners; blouse via Winners; rosary, vintage.

here are some photos of an outfit i've been saving since may - worn on one of the first warm days of the season. unfortunately the shoes were not quite broken in yet, and i had to take them off. some nice mormon boys on a mission stopped to ask me why, as a non-catholic, i am wearing a rosary, so we had a nice conversation. i like the combination of tough leather shorts and quaint, girly basketweave shoes and eyelet blouse which also made it possible to climb some trees.

maybe this is a time to note that i have recently been reading an etiquette manual from the 19th century* and it doled out this little bit of wisdom on fashion, which i have lived by more and more over the last few years and i believe is crucial for any stylish person even today, in the 2000's:

"The essential requirement of dress is to cover and make comfortable the body, and of two forms of dress which fulfill this function equally well, that is the better which is most accordant with the laws of beauty. But fitness must in nowise be interfered with; and the garb which infringes on this law gives us pain rather than pleasure. We believe that it will be found that fitness and beauty, so far from requiring any sacrifice for combination, are found each in the highest degree where both are most fully obtained—that the fittest, most comfortable dress is that which is most graceful or becoming. Fitness is the primary demand; and the dress that appears uncomfortable is untasteful."

it's taken me a while to realize that i will neither look nor feel beautiful in something that isn't comfortable, or isn't practical for the activities i am doing that day. this is a fact which makes dressing stylishly seem excessively difficult for those of us, like me, who don't have jobs and lifestyles that involve sitting in an office and getting in and out of cars, but i've found that the more i focus on comfort, the more creative i get and the more my own personal style comes out of the woodwork. it's very liberating to dress for my life, and not to follow trends. i wish i'd known that in highschool.

cheers!

* How to Behave, by Samuel Wells

Monday, June 24, 2013

spring flowers



dress, zara; sweater and desert boots via winners. on my friend: shoes and linen shirt, H&M.

here's an outfit from the beginning of spring, which came late this year. i've begun to enjoy layering sheer sweaters over printed dresses. i added a picture of my friend and usual blog photographer's outfit as well.

quebec part 1


i haven't posted anything for two weeks because my parents came to visit me after graduation and we went gallivanting around the province together, but now i'm back and i have pictures! this first set is from SAT in montreal, and the fjord near saguenay and tadoussac. i'll be posting some outfits soon as well as more photos from my trip!

Friday, June 7, 2013

morning light


since living spaces both influence and reflect the mood and aesthetic of their inhabitants, i recently started refurnishing and decorating my tiny studio to make it more liveable and inspiring. my favourite time of day to be at home is the morning, when the sunlight seeps directly through the windows for a short space of one or two hours. most of the decorations are collected from around the world and a lot of the furniture was found on the street or made from repurposed objects, much like my jewelry collection and my closet. i think style is best when it is personal, carefully curated and maybe a bit nostalgic. the emotion in clothing is such an important part of style that i tend to reject the idea of decor or fashion that is all purchased at the same time or in the same place. many of my outfits include old, gifted or borrowed garments which makes them hard to replicate exactly, but that is part of the joy of dressing just like it is part of the joy of decorating our homes.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

monk



thelonious monk sweatshirt, from winners (borrowed from my roommate); shorts, zara; shoes via winners.

my first outfit post! this is a lazy outfit for going to lab, but i love the exaggeratedly long sleeves on this men's sweatshirt. i have noticed this tag all over my neighbourhood and the angelic wings-and-halo iconography is charmingly out of place in this back alley the same way these red patent flats clash with every outfit they're part of.