Effective

Someone recently told me that I hadn't been posting enough, so here are my efforts trying to redouble it. Well heh at least it's being read a little. 

Midi skirts. Originally super feminine, and its effect doubled with heels. (As Alexa Chung says, flats with minis, heels with longer hems.) That's all that this look is going for - I can't even categorize it in a specific style. Boho-esque, feminine, retro, appropriate,.. the list goes on. The key to keeping the midi skirt feminine is the waist-to-hip defining. However, I recently noticed that a whole new vibe can be given to midi skirts when paired with something long and loose-fitting, like an oversize boxy sweater for example. Proportions are suddenly counterbalanced and that is when the minimalist flare comes out. Especially with flats. 

There are two type of people in this world. And trust me on this one this is the biggest difference I notice nowadays. Career wise, either people are saying to go do what you love, or either they're telling you to stay ambitious. The problem with most people who stick to the 'do what you love' mentality usually end up doing studying something super abstract or that doesn't even lead towards a career, or even worse, nothing, and end up doing something in the arts and/or not very stable. The problem with the 'ambitious' people is that so many overwork, get depressed, and at the end, aren't even happy. Then there are the people who miraculously love what they study or their job and also turns out to be intelligent/useful/elevating/ethical. Lucky them, honestly. 

Now I've seen a bit of both sides of the medal, and both extremes scare me. Personally, I've decided to keep harnessing my artsy fartsy hobbies on the side, while staying open to where life will take me and staying ambitious. Also to incorporate those hobbies into my job would be ideal. That way I won't have to depressingly live off government pensions, yet stay human. It's just the best compromise. What do you think?

Sandals: Ralph Lauren
Sherpa bag: Ecote

Enjoy!
Katia

Dressing Up

'Bout time for a new post eh?

As explored in a previous post, I tried defining my stylistic decisions. But how did I get there? Well, a little personal history is needed for this. 

As a child, I wouldn't say that I was consciously fashionable at all. As a matter of fact, I was quite the opposite - my wardrobe was not much part my preoccupations at all and therefore limited. My mom would dress me in little dresses over turtlenecks (that is believe it or not coming back) and. for a long time, I'd be the only girl in a dress running down the school hallways playing tag with the boys. Until I started minding. I wanted to start wearing pants like most kids around me, but it wasn't until 6th grade that I excitingly slipped on my first pair of skinny jeans. 

There was this gap time where my style was nebula like, dispersed and undefined. Then I realize that it was my music camp that helped me start refining my style. It put me off to more of a hipster phase, but the timing was just right, as cut offs and band t-shirts were a thing again, transcending all the low waisted pants of the 00's. I started finding an interest in fashion to help define my style. I started researching it online. I started to express myself in a new form. Quick anecdote: this was around back in 2008, and I had no idea where to start exploring the vast world of fashion online. So I just googled words such 'fashion', which made me stumble upon the humble blog Fashiontoast. Immediately admiring the unique photographic angles, the effortless style, and relating to her as she is also half-Asian, she quickly became my main my go-to blogger for style inspo. Who knew she'd be where she's at today, woah. Also googling my at first limited fashion vocabulary, I typed in the word 'lookbook'. Yes, kind of lame, but brought me to the now indispensable blogging tool and community Lookbook.nu. Anyway, I ransacked all of my mom's surprisingly valuable vintage closet (to prove my point the culottes in this post were her's), and when that wasn't enough, I went thrifting. My knowledge of brands and of their influence also grew.

Then came my job at American Apparel. It was my last year of high school, and it was time for me to find a job and get some serious clothes for cegep, as wearing a uniform spared me from stressful mornings full of fashion crises. The retail job definitely helped me easily build my wardrobe with stylish basics. All the money I earned also finally allowed me to save up and buy some statement pieces that I lacked. And never did I know I would be ever so exposed to the fashion world, and now, fashion blogging. 

Where do I look for inspiration now? Instagram and its panoply of posts of course, fellow bloggers, sites such as style.com, a bit of Whowhatwear, retail sites themselves, and also recently, Hazine. The options are all out there, now it's just about limiting myself.

Enjoy!
Katia

Dainty

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Robert Frost, 1874-1963

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay. 

Neo B&W

This is the first of many from a nine-look series I just shot. What it has in particular is that all of the looks to come consist of short dresses and tunics that just might be a little too short to wear on their own (you know you're guilty). To play with proportions and give them a new life with a modern and fashionable edge, I styled them with longer layers, mostly consisting of palazzo pants, midi skirts, and the ever man-repelling culottes. Each look has its own flair - some are urban, some are zen, some are beachy and some are  professional. 

If you look carefully, the 'dress' I'm wearing below is actually my mother's edgy-rocker authentic moto dress from the 80s. You can just tell by the broad shoulders and the zip that goes all the way down. To be honest, I would probably wear that dress alone on, let's say, a night in the town, but I still find it more amusing to dress this down to a to a completely different level - almost unrecognizable from its era. Here layered are a kimono and culottes, which keep the outfit amusingly monochrome. 

What I've been doing so far this week is amazing. I am basically in the middle of nowhere doing nothing. In other words, I am at the countryside by the lake sleeping in, cooking, reading, blogging (just a bit), and, well, incorporating more of nature into my life. I now have time to make myself infamous green smoothies every morning, but other than that, some of my activities included spending 30 minutes trying to photograph a snail under the microscope with my phone and trying to communicate with a frog through the sound of a rippled drinking glass. Today was even more awesome. Having some friends from work over, Canada Day was celebrated through various peculiar activities. We canoed on the lake despite the heavy rain and, like somewhat newbie explorers, landed on a desert island, docked our ships and attempted to bring back a valuable treasure for our spa-demanding faces: clay. Unfortunately, the resource was inconveniently buried in the coastal sands, and not wanting to expose our frail bikini bodies into the water, the mission was aborted. We scurried back, on our way reenacting and filming the dramatic raining boat scene of The Notebook. We also spent about an hour in the jacuzzi, and went stick hunting for the smores to be roasted over the campfire. As I presently write I still have the earthy smells of rain and smoke haunting my nostrils. 

Lol to that metaphor. 

Sherpa bag: Ecote
Clothing: my mom's

Enjoy!
Katia