Colour of the moment

We are seeing this colour everywhere from clothing to handbags to lipstick and I am addicted to it - the colour that I'm speaking of is referred to as oxblood.  I've never been one to love the colour red, in fact I've stayed far away from it for most of my life.  But with a new darker and edgier shade in town I've turned myself over to the dark side and embraced this colour with an open closet!  Oxblood is so rich and deep with brown undertones and I'm convinced it's my perfect complement.  I'm not the only one thinking this though, nor am I alone on the part where red isn't for everyone which is why this colour is being loved by so many.  It would only make sense that we wear it as much as possible to make up for lost time, right!  It's always fun to discover a new colour to play around with and this one in particular is super easy to incorporate into your look among the pieces already in your closet.  Wear the colour from head-to-toe, pair it with black, white, grey, red or blue or ease into it with a purse, shoes or heck just paint your nails in it! 

Come back soon to check out my outfit posts to see how I'll be wearing the hottest colour of the season.  Are you as crazy about oxblood as much as I am?

Change room diaries

 Image was captured in the change rooms of Coal Miners Daughter

There's nothing better then to be bundled up in cashmere over the winter season.  This sweater in particular caught my eye because of the obvious... polka dots.  I find that cashmere and polka dots are kind of perfect together actually.  I love the cutesyness of the print and combined with the softness it's an easy adorable look... not to mention neither will ever be out of style!

  Image was captured in the change rooms of Coal Miners Daughter

If you refer back to my fall wish list you will see I was looking for a camo/military style jacket.  My issue was finding the right one for me that fit my style.  There have been so many out there but a lot are boxy with oversized pockets, which don't get me wrong I love the look of but it's not really me.  Anyway I stumbled upon this green jacket, nice and light - perfect for fall and it was exactly what I was looking for (well actually I didn't really know what I was looking for when it came to this jacket but I instantly knew once I saw it).  It was a compromise because the colour was perfect but it was the versatility that had me.  It has a zipper off to the side to do up or it looks amazing undone, belted or not.  The oversized collar was another feature that I really loved making it more my style.

 Image was captured in the change rooms of Fitzroy Boutique

TREND STRUCK : VELVET

I have grown to love velvet so much but boy did I ever have my breaks on with it over the last 2-3 years.  Right now we are currently seeing a lot more velvet pieces like shorts, blazers and dresses and I am just head over heels for its richness.  And this is why I was drooling over this velvet blazer, it was AMAZING.  It fit incredible and is easily the perfect finishing to a great outfit.  Can we ever have too many blazers?

Image was captured in the change rooms of Fitzroy Boutique

TREND STRUCK : LEATHER DETAILS

Oh yes a very popular trend right now are leather detailing and one in particular that I see a lot of are sleeves like this one.  For starters I like anything that shimmers which is what drew me in to this piece to begin with and then the leather arm detail made this a super fab top option.  It's really about the details that get me every time!!

Check out my Facebook page tomorrow to see the reveal of what came home with me from this weeks change room diaries!!

www.facebook.com/trendstruck

xx

What a nice complement...

Inspiration Source

When I first stumbled upon this look I nearly drooled all over myself I loved it so much!  I'm a huge fan of monochromatic looks but I never would have thought this one up!   The emerald green pants in addition to the stunning statement necklace made this outfit look so rich.  With pastels being so hot this past season it's nice to find ways of continuing to incorporate them as we enter fall/winter without it looking too summery.  I hope someday soon I can put together a look similar to this one for you, but finding the perfect emerald pants have proven to be a difficult task so far!  In the meantime, enjoy my online styled outfit.
xx

1. H&M | 2. Jeweliq.com | 3. Emilio Pucci | 4. Lara Bohinc | 5. Burberry | 6. By Malene Birger | 7. McQ Alexander McQueen

Mintly layered

With a couple days of warmer weather for fall I decided to pull off an all pastel look but layered up to be season appropriate.  All of these colours look amazing together and bundled up with some cashmere with a great denim jacket I didn't feel too summery... as much as I find it hard to let go.  Anyway let's get to the one piece that I really want to talk about in this post... the purse (duh)!  OMG it was a mission in a half to get my little paws on this beauty.  I saw this mint purse worn by another blogger that was featured on the Tory Burch Facebook page and it truly was love at first site!  So much that the next day I called the Tory Burch store along with everyone else to track it down.  To my disbelief no had it!!!  Come on Canada get with it!  We like the good stuff too over here US!  So anyway off I head to the website and there are only 3 left in stock!  Off I go and fill out the order form online hit submit annnnnnnnnnd ERROR!  WHAT?!  Frantically I call them I put the order through manually and I feel happy.  But three weeks goes by and I still haven't gotten this purse!  I then get an email saying you credit card has been refunded!  Yep the order was put in too late and it sold out before mine went through.  It was a sad day until one day I randomly went on their site (who am I kidding I stocked that website three times a day waiting to find it back in stock) and there it is back in stock but only 2 left!  I chance to place the order online again AND IT WORKED!  YIPPEEE!  3 weeks later I had the purse I dreamt of, except one thing summer was now over!  This process began the last week of July and I got my purse around the second or third week in August!  Yep I told you it was a mission - but a successful mission it was!

Tank/Sweater/Belt : Club Monaco | Jacket/Pants : Zara | Shoes : Steve Madden | Necklace : H&M | Purse : Tory Burch

All images captured by Pj Stephen

It's a trend thing... Leather

FROM THE RUNWAY

1. Hakaan : Source |  2. Salvatore Ferragamo : Source | 3. DKNY : Source | 4. Isabel Marant : Source

INTO THE STORES

1 NastyGal.  2 Danier Leather.  3 Donna Karan.  4 Bardot.  5 Maison Martin Margiela.  6 T by Alexander Wang.  7 McQ Alexander McQueen.  8 Gucci.  9 Steve Mono.  10 Marc by Marc Jacobs. 11 Jason Wu.

TO THE STREETS

Madame de Rosa 

Born This Way

K-Fashionistka

Haute & Rebellious

TIPS : HOW TO WEAR IT

My tips are simple with leather - just don't over-do it.  Listen, when it gets cold outside I love pulling out my leather jacket and leather boots but what's up with the leather trend this season are the details, the sexy leggings and the colours.  Let's start with leggings (and like mine yours may be faux - but we will pretend those count), I'm totally drooling over the new on-trend colours hitting stores like the fabulous oxblood and forest green.  I love my full on leather leggings but you don't have to feel dressed up in them.  Throw on an oversized knit sweater and you will find a comfortable balance.  Aside from the new colours that are hot, you can also find leggings with leather just on the front half or even just slashes and patches.  If the whole legging aspect of the trend freaks you out there are some amazing options for up top.  I'm obsessed with blazers to begin with and now seeing blazers with leather details such as the collar I'm finding it hard to pull myself away from them!!  Wear a lot of blouses? They have detailing now too!  Even more casual tops and sweaters are partially leather most popular being the sleeves creating nice texture.  

So like most of my posts, you know your style best and with trends there are a lot of different options on how to wear it so just be sure to be true to you and be comfortable with how you rock it!

xx

Playfully pink

Yes I'm a girly girl who loves her pink.  Truthfully though I don't wear much of it - in fact these pants plus one casual tee basically sums up what I own for clothes in pink.  Stationary on the other hand is a different story.  Anyway, this shoot was a lot of fun - I guess the pink pants got me feeling a little silly.  I kept it fun with a sequinned tank then added one of my favourite blazers to give the option of dressing up the look a bit.  It's sad to say it but I think this was the last wear for these pants this season.  Sad yes, but when I unpack these again in the spring it's going to feel like Christmas.  Have you done an official switch over in your closet of spring/summer clothes to fall/winter?

Tank : Club Monaco | Blazer : BCBG | Pants : J.Crew | Belt : J.Crew | Shoes : Nine West

All images captured by Pj Stephen

Fashion Challenge

Ok, so let me explain since you're probably wondering what this random post is about.  So although I currently live in Toronto I actually grew up in a small town called Pembroke (population 14,500) where  shopping barely exists.  I headed home this past weekend to be with my family for Thanksgiving and the day that I left to head there I had this really random thought that excited me.  I decided I wanted to take on a challenge that demonstrates to people that although you may not have a lot of stores and fashion variety to choose from given your location that you can still find something stylish and that you can do it on a cheap budget (around $30 pre-tax is what I had in mind).  So Saturday I went off and started my hunt and not only was it super successful but I ended up with two outfits to prove my point further and honestly I found the challenge pretty simple.  It did require digging through racks of clothes which is something I'm not normally fond of but this time the thought of having so much to go through was what made it so much more exciting.  So in the picture above you can find the two outfits that were a result of my challenge and below you can find the cost break-down for each look and where I got each of the pieces.
So check it out and tell me your thoughts on my challenge.  Would you wear the outfits that I pulled?

 For outfit #1 I came across wine coloured nylons that had fleece on the inside, perfect for keeping your legs warm for fall.  I then paired the bottoms up with a long-sleeved denim button-up which everyone should have in their closet for this season and for my feet I found basic black velvet flats.  The only adjustment I would make to this outfit is cut the feet out of the nylons since they are worn with flats.  So the total cost for outfit #1 was... $19.99!!!

For outfit #2 I found these awesome fitting cords in one of this seasons hottest colours, oxblood.  I knew I wanted to find a warm comfy knit sweater for this outfit and I love the one I found!  I feel like the pants pull out a red undertone in the sweater, it's a perfect complement to oxblood.  To top off this outfit I was able to squeeze in a purse that totally worked with the outfit then reused the flats from the first outfit.  The total cost for outfit #2 was... $34.24!!!

In conclusion I spent $54.23 for two complete outfits that involved shopping around at a few different stores but at the end of it the challenge was a complete success!  These pieces may not have a popular label inside but what matters is these outfits look great, I'm exited to wear each piece that I bought and they are not only appropriate for the current season but the colours and style are totally on trend for f/w2012.

Family portrait : sister (Alicia), sister-in-law (Jessica), niece (Lillian), moi and my mom (Nina)

Happy Thanksgiving

xx

Sequin on the streets

Things that sparkle are always fun especially to wear.  These sequinned shorts are one of my favourite pieces (you will see from one of my last change room diary posts here that I've been pondering getting another pair but in golden hues).  These shorts are amazing because even though they are sequin you may think you are limited with wear but you really aren't.  I got them last fall and wore them a few times in the colder weather with black tights and dressed up like here.  Then came summer and the nylons came off and I wanted to rock these babies but without being dressy so I slipped on a basic black silk tank leaving it untucked and TA-DA - you have a super easy outfit that although contains shimmery sequin, the detail isn't too exposed allowing this to be a total daytime look.

 

 

Top : Club Monaco | Shorts : French Connection | Purse : BCBGeneration | Shoes : Nine West | Watch : Michael Kors | Bracelets : Club Monaco & Tiffany's

All images captured by Pj Stephen