It's a trend thing / Black and White Monochrome

1. Balenciaga / 2. DKNY / 3. DKNY / 4. Lanvin

1. Torn by Ronny Kobo/ 2. River Island/ 3. Chicnova / 4. River Island / 5. Beth Richards/ 6. Chie Mihara/ 7. Giorgio Armani/ 8. River Island/ 9. Pour La Victoire/ 10. Marc Jacobs/ 11. French Connection

1. Obsessed with this look that was captured on the streets at Paris Fashion Week {source} / 2. This blogger has monochrome styled simple and perfect {source} / 3. There was something about this look that really caught my eye {source} / 4. Leave it to the Olsen twins to look awesome and matching in monochrome {source}

TIPS ON HOW TO WEAR IT

Is anyone else going crazy over the huge black and white monochrome trend right now?  I find it interesting because when spring and summer hits I love to wear colour, especially with pastels and mega brights trending.  As much as colour will remain popular this season it's still in major competition with black and white and I seriously can't get enough of it.  Let's be serious, anyone can rock this trend and I bet you can come up with something that's already in your existing wardrobe.  A lot of the images in this post depict the trend worn as separates, basically colour blocking with black and white, but that's not your only option on how to wear it.  If you like to wear prints you have so many to choose from.  Stripes will never go out of style and checkers are hot this season, although not for everyone, or go geometric!  Going monochrome is amazing because you really do have freedom on how you wear it. The street style images above are a great example of this.  Similar to the first image you could wear white denim with a sweater to be super casual or if you are meetings friends for drinks you could add a bit of edge like in image two where she has chosen leather detailed leggings or finally in image three make it a little dressy for a special event.  Think about the occasion and dress accordingly sticking to separates, adding prints or mixing both.  You can't really go wrong with how you wear this trend!

Fashion Challenge // East Coast VS West Coast

Welcome to the East Coast VS West Coast Fashion Challenge.  Here's the scoop - myself and Ally, blogger behind Gumboot Glam, decided to combine our style forces and come up with a fun collaboration since we are both fans of one another (and fellow Canadians).  We decided to choose a current fashion trend to style in our own way then swap pictures to see what we would each come up with.  Basically we were curious to see how an east coaster like myself would wear a trend compared to a west coaster like Ally!  We decided to pick the black and white trend that is MASSIVE right now and as you can see from the results we ended up with similar looks that were totally unplanned!!  I must admit that since following Ally's blog and getting familiar with her style she really did surprise me with what her final product was.  Surprised, yes! Disappointed, absolutely not!!  We totally complemented one another with each of our looks and I LOVED the results!  Looks like we both dig stripes when it comes to wearing black and white!
PS! Don't forget to enter the Marc Jacobs fragrance giveaway.  Enter here!

"Jumping on board with the black and white trend is a lot of fun because you really have a lot of flexibility on how to wear it depending on your style and what the occasion is.  For this style challenge I chose to make a statement by incorporating a bold print.  I decided to keep the main pieces all black and make a punch with this striped draped jacket and add a pair of black and white pumps that complemented the look beautifully.   With the impact of the jacket I kept the accessories minimal and just added a simple dainty necklace.   The final touches to complete my look was adding a bright red lip and red nails since this trend lacks colour." - Marla

Check out the super stylish and beautiful, Ally Soeker, at her blog Gumboot Glam and follow her:
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Fragrance Giveaway // Oh, Lola! by Marc Jacobs

Hello my dear loves!  Welcome to Trend Struck's first ever giveaway!  I've decided to host this to basically say thank you to everyone who has supported me along my blogging journey.  You have given me so much love and it's because of you that I continue with each post!  It's time that I give something back, so starting now I will be hosting a giveaway each month until the end of summer to share my gratitude.  

This months giveaway is a 50ml bottle of Marc Jacobs Oh, Lola! perfume.  With a signature note of the fuschia peony (my absolute favourite flower) and fruity top notes of pear and raspberry (delicious) it's definitely a scent I love to wear that's young, fresh and feminine.  Plus, how adorable is the bottle?  It will look amazing out on display anywhere.

So jump on it and enter to win a fabulous new scent!  

Contest will run until Sunday May 12th at midnight and the winner will be announced on Facebook and Twitter on Monday May 13th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Then VS Now // Checkers

1. Oh My Vogue // 2. Yoman Chic // 3. Fashion Diary // 4. Style Lovely

All fashion trends come and go and then come back again.  This month we are looking at the popular print of checkers that Louis Vuitton had dominate the SS 2013 runway.  Checkers were huge in the mod era back in the 60's and now 50 years later they have resurfaced in an even more fashionable way!

Check out my post on checkers from last month here

Outfit of the Day // Blending in Print

Growing up I lived next to an army base so I guess you could say I've definitely been around camouflage most my life however that doesn't mean I've been a lover of wearing it.  In fact I have no memory of ever owning something with the print, that is until now.  I was shopping around with my sister and decided to pop into a vintage store that I had been eyeing for over a year but for some reason have never stepped foot in.  Let me just say that if you are reading this and you live in Toronto please do go to 69 Vintage on Queen Street West.  I loved it!  It's certainly not my everyday shopping place but I enjoyed my experience and look forward to visiting every now and then.  I always thought of vintage stores being kind of smelly and just cluttered with mostly junk.  That was not the case for this store.  It smelled lovely and it was so well organized and categorized - exactly how I love my shopping experience to be!  Anyway, it was here that I found this camo vest that I'm totally obsessed with.  I've been thinking of adding the print to my wardrobe but knew it had to be the perfect piece for me to be sold.  So where to begin with it's fabulousness!  This print automatically implies a relaxed look with a baggy wear which is exactly what this was but the deal breaker was the elastic inside that created this perfectly cinched waist line that makes the vest look peplum!  LOVE!

What a Nice Complement // Polka Dots and Stripes

Inspiration // Tobi

Usually I talk about two colours that complement each other well but when I came across this polka dot stripe combo I had to share it!  Bold prints are super popular right now and wearing a mash-up of prints is also becoming very trendy if you haven't already been trying it.  Aside from all of that black and white is hotter than ever right now so there is no better time than now to rock this look!!  I understand this is very bold and may intimidate a few of you but if you like it try wearing a stripe button up blouse underneath a polka dot sweater.  Allow the stripes to peek out at the sleeves and at the collar and voila! Check out below how you could take this look from day to night.

Tip:  A punch of colour somewhere is highly recommended.

1. Forever21 / 2. CC Skye / 3. Ray-Ban / 4. Dolce Vita / 5. 7 for All Mankind / 6. WholeSale7 / 7. J.Crew / 8. Marc by Marc Jacobs  / 9. Pour La Victoire / 10. Atos Lombardini