Mint Condition

Spring has definitely sprung around me.  The weather last weekend in Vancouver was fabulous and flip-flop worthy (thank goodness I did my toes!).  So much so that I actually had drinks on a patio with some of my girl friends.  Nothing better than that!

Despite the fact the rain has returned this work week, I'm still in a spring frame of mind.  I picked up some basics for the warmer weather the other day (white tee, light weight neutral cardi, striped tee), and now I'm tring to decide what my signature spring nail colour will be.  Normally I'm fairly conservative with my nail choices for my fingernails, but this year I feel like stepping outside my comfort zone.

Bright pink or coral shades are always nice on my skin tone in the spring/summer, but I've kind of been digging mint green lately:

Dior Vernis Scented Nail Laquer

Essie Turquoise & Caicos (from essie.com)

Mint green is a nice alternative to the "traditional" colors of spring and also suits my olive skin tone a bit better than blue, which is also a popular choice this spring.  I might invest in a bottle of something funkier than I normally would wear, or I might just stay the course with Essie Merino Cool which apparently still works for the spring.

Prints Charming: The Real Life Edition

Once in a while I go trawling through my closet and "rediscover" what I actually own.  It's like shopping, but you don't have to spend any money at all!  I highly recommend it.

Anyway, while wading through piles of tanks, tees, dresses, etc I found the perfect "mixing" prints combination:  a leopard print belt over a flower printed tank.  Both items are fairly neutral, so it doesn't scream "I'm wearing prints!", but it's a pretty cute combo if I don't say so myself!

Hmm, maybe mixing prints is for me after all!

You're Not Fooling Anyone

Most Real Housewives are pretty up front about the work they've had done and the maintenance they endure to stay young.  I'm not sure if the RH of Vancouver have been revealing about plastic surgery and injectables they use, but it's pretty safe to say that most if not all of them have partaken in some form of one or both:





I'm actually shocked that Slice would release this video.  It's very good quality and the close-ups reveal quite a few overly smooth foreheads and mysteriously plump lips.

To each their own, but I'm not sure I'm  comfortable with any of that stuff, lest I end up looking like this:

Rose McGowan was very pretty already (see left).
Now with all the plastic surgery she's had (right),  she's almost unrecognizable.

Ab Fab

Y'all know I am the first to appreciate a fine lookin' man.  I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to the subject of hot boys, so it would be wrong of me to not share this photo of a cute hockey player with some pretty hot abs that made the rounds in Vancouver over the weekend.  This is Chris Higgins' second go at accidentally showing off a washboard stomach, after an oops moment in the fall.

Are my hot abs still there....?

Yup!
He sure knows how to spice up a simple equipment check, doesn't he??

Also for those who are interested, here's his face:

Pretty cute and add in those abs...he probably does pretty well with the ladies!

Put a Ring On It

First there was the male manicure, then manscaping, now "Man-gagement" rings are on the horizon.  Is this a fad?  A way for the jewerly industry to squeeze more dollars out of us (hello right hand rings!)?  A way for women to feel more empowered to be the proposer, not the propos-ee??

Truly I think to each their own, but in a lot of ways I'm a traditional girl when it comes to love & men.  A man should make the move to call you after your first date and to propose.  I can't ever see myself getting down on one knee (can you imagine the pressure! eek!) though I guess the mangagement ring could be purchased after a man proposes to a woman.  I have male friends that don't even wear their wedding rings because they don't like to wear any jewelry, so who knows if a mangagement ring would even be worn?

Ladies, if you are ok being the proposer, you won't be alone in this very brave act.  Women are slowly getting more comfortable with this idea, and a lot of men would have no issue being the one who gets proposed to.

Green with E..xcitement!

My favourite holiday is coming up in t-minus one day:  St. Patrick's Day!  I have loved this day for several reasons that I won't get into...but let's just say that my St. Patrick's Days over the last few years have always involved me having great luck like meeting a super hot guy with an accent (sigh!  getting warm just thinking about him!) or getting free tickets to a hockey game from random strangers in a bar (for reals!).

I've even been to the world's largest St. Patrick's Day parade in NYC (above).   Who knows what might happen this year?  So far I just have drinks out with friends planned...but hoping there is some excitement involved.

Wishing you a fabulous St. Patty's Day...hope Irish eyes are smiling on you!

Let the Hunger (Style) Games Begin

The Hunger Games comes out in t-minus 10 days.  And if you didn't know, I'm very excited about this.  The book was amazing, and so far from what I've seen in the previews, the movie looks pretty killer (no pun intended!).

What's always fun about a new movie coming out is seeing all the gorgeously styled outfits that the stars of that movie wear to press events, interviews and premieries.  The stars of this movie are no exception. Jennifer Lawrence (who plays Katniss Everdeen in the movie) has been practically flawless so far:

 

The pièce de résistance was her outfit at tonight's L.A. premiere of the movie:  a gold Prabal Gurung cutout gown.

All I have to say is wow.  She is absolutely stunning. I think Kristin Stewart defintely has some competition in the "It" girl department!

Fashion 101 - Jeans

Jeans are a wardrobe staple of mine.  If I could wear them everyday, I would.  I'm actually considering putting my butt on the line and suggesting to my boss that we be able to wear jeans to work all week long instead of just Friday.  This is probably wishful thinking, but you don't know the answer until you ask!

Jeans have evolved from casual to chic.  Instead of just throwing a cardigan over your jeans or pairing them with a simple top, you can pair them with pearls, a faux fur jacket, fabulous boots, funky belts, etc. and still look stylish.  I really could not live without my (10 pairs of) jeans!

Here are some of my ideas to inspire and update the ultimate classic: jeans (via Polyvore).

Prints Charming

I love looking at the colourful, the outlandish, the garish, the shocking.  It's probably one of the reasons I love fashion so much - I can appreciate the creativity of a piece even though I can't exactly see myself ever wearing that piece.  Overall, I stick to a tried and true formula for my own fashion choices - flattering fit for my body type (I'm petite and very curvy), one neutral piece, one bold or coloured piece, and classic jewelry/accessories.  Most of the time I look put together and it works for me.  Sometimes it does get a little boring, so I do change things up once in a while with prints, sequins, etc.

I do find it really interesting when people mix prints.  I rarely wear prints, so the thought of wearing two or more types of prints is fascinating to me.  How do people do it without looking like they dressed in the dark and forgot to check what they put on before they walked out the door??

Apparently it is possible!

Diane Kruger doing a pretty good job of mixing prints.

What really looks great that I've seen a lot lately is mixing a print with leopard patterns.  I think Helen Mirren looks pretty damn fabulous (for a senior citizen, no less!) in this Dolce and Gabbana ensemble. 

 

Helen Mirren in Dolce & Gabbana via People Stylewatch

Hmm, maybe I will have to switch up my style philosophy a little bit to add some fun prints!

Welcome to the Good Life?

It's no joke that Kanye West takes fashion seriously.  A couple of months after his first presentation at Paris Fashion Week for Spring 2012 and a lonnnnng Twitter rant about his passion for designing clothes and his new company DONDA, Kanye went for round two at PFW with a fall collection.

Diddy was there, so was Kim Kardashian, but it didn't matter.  Kanye cancelled his post show interviews, sensing that the reviews would be bad.  And bad they were.  One editor called his show "Rap with a capital C" (clever!); others politely noted that it wasn't as bad as his last show.  Not exactly glowing reviews and you can't exactly blame them:

Ill fitting pants, droopy tops and what is with that bag?  Another set back for sure, but Kanye's like a cockroach...stomp him a few times & he's still alive.  Remember this is a man that recorded a song while his jaw was wired shut. He's not going anywhere!

On the positive for him, his first pair of women's heels went on sale recently, and someone actually wore them:

Kim Kardashian in pearl encrusted heels designed by Kanye West.

Bag Lady Part Two: The "Man" Bag

Love him or hate him, LeBron James doesn't care.  He also doesn't care if he's seen in public holding what appears to be a purse:

Call it whatever you like ("murse", man-bag), that my friends is a purse.  And more power to him.  He's probably gotta make room for all those championship rings he has...Oh wait...he doesn't have any.  I guess it's just for his iPhone and some moisturizer??

Pill Poppin'

I don't know if this is meant to be ironic, cute or both, but Katy Perry was spotted with a very interesting Christian Louboutin purse yesterday at a fashion show in Paris:

Yes, you saw that correctly:  it's a purse in the shape of an oversized pill.    The idea is kind of cute (playing on fashion as an "addiction") but it also is kind of strange seeing this on a pop star when there are so many pop stars known for being addicts of some sort whether it's booze, drugs, or sex.  I haven't heard of Katy Perry being addicted to anything, but she is a huge pop star.  Just sayin'

In any case, pairing the pill shaped purse with blue hair, a blue trench and black & blue sheath from Victor & Rolf is actually a pretty fierce look.  I think Katy's style game just stepped up a couple notches from cupcake themed bras, no??

More Than Just a Pretty Face

When I was a girl in my 'tweens (before that term was even ever coined!), I was obsessed with the supermodels of that era, including Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista.  She was known as "the chamelon" for her ever changing hair colour, not to mention her famous quote that models "don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day"(!).  Since her time, there really haven't been any Canadian models to make it BIG...that is until the talented, persistent Coco Rocha came along a few years ago.

Coco is one of the first models to really jump on the social networking train as it were, and she's done good!  Over 200k twitter followers, an awesome Tumblr page called "oh so Coco", and she's also on Facebook, Pinterest, Vimeo, YouTube, etc.  It's all helped her become an "insider" in the fashion world and now host of Canada's Best Beauty Talent. 

I think this is really cool...a hometown girl (she's also from a Vancouver suburb), who was discovered while dancing at an Irish dance competition (for real!) making something big out of what is normally a short career.  Not only is she expanding her horizons beyond modeling, she's also not afraid to speak out about the reality of the fashion industry.


Coco is a defintely woman we can admire for being more than just a pretty face...