AllyG: Lately, I’ve been drawn to Etalk. This will hurt L-A because as her friend, I should actually be boycotting all things Ben Mulroney (she finds him tres annoying…for some reason, he doesn’t bother me, then again I listen to artists called Ke$ha). I need to assure her that I’m actually in it for Tanya Kim. Dudes, Tanya looks good. So good, that I had to do some intense Internet research to determine her stylist (i.e. Googling “Tanya Kim” Stylist). I found out that it was Jessa Bissett (great name!) who works out of Toronto for JudyInc. She also dresses Seamus O’Regan (who seriously always looks good. Gents, take note).
Don’t you love the hanky? Seamus loves the hanky. More men should love the hanky.
Back to TK (ok, Brian is annoying when he calls her that) I am so enamoured by her outfits each evening. She has a great “figure” as my mother would say, so she can pull off pretty much anything, but Jessa seems to have her in the latest styles without making her look to trendy (See that Cheryl Hickey?). Let’s review:
That vest is killer. We already know I’m a huge fan of white tanks with anything. Apparently she is holding a 442 McAdam Flop Clutch. I quite like! Overall, good look. Casual, but dressy in a Canadian-entertainment-personality way.
Loooooove the dress she wore to the 2008 Much Music Video Awards. I would love a chunky necklace that draped like that. No idea who made it. Perhaps Jessa can help?
Now this is the cocktail dress I need for the holiday season! She even makes Ben look good!
Can you get over Ben to admire Tanya, L-A? Or is she tainted by association? Also, I’m concerned you may not “get” the title without understanding where it came from. Allow me to assist you!
Ah, and it ain’t even Friday.
L-A: This is how I feel about Ben Mulroney:
That’s right. I cannot deal. I don’t know the first thing about this Tanya girl because I cannot deal with her co-host. I don’t know if she likes him, but the look on her face in this photo says no:
BUT. Based on the pics the Ally posted, the girl knows how to dress. Fantastic work by her stylist. And the coat she’s wearing in my editorialized photo? As The Zoe would say, “I. Die.” I just might maim for a coat like that. Okay, I probably wouldn’t. But I would want to be your friend if you were wearing it, just so I could hang out with you and your fab style. (Like the girl I saw at work with a fantastic purple cloche style hat: I wanted to be her friend because her hat is so cute).
That’s all I have to say about that. I feel like I’m phoning it in on this one, but what can I do? I don’t know this Tanya Kim at all. I hate Ben Mulroney so much that I won’t even watch their show for research purposes (and I have watched all of Ally’s videos, so that shows you what I’m willing to do for this blog. I even watched the Ke$ha video).
oh, p.s. Love the hanky/pocket square on that guy. Maybe that should be it’s own post. I wonder if we can get Clinton Kelly to guest blog on that one – it’s not like his show has been on lately (what the eff, TLC?? Did they cancel it? Move it to another night? what?)
(I hope I didn’t get too Perez Hiltony on you with my MS Paint art…but I was using MS Paint before Perez was an annoyance to celebs. I just wasn’t blogging with it).
AllyG: Ah, Christmas, the lights, the mistletoe, the hooch. It’s my favourite time of year! Especially this year after I’ve lost most of the baby weight (I won’t be wearing any belly shirts for awhile, but I’m not expecting those to come back into style, and at age 31 I AM too old for that), I’m looking forward to dressing up in something other than jeans and a t-shirt (that’s a good day).
I’m loving the beaded, sparkly dresses this season and thought I would bedazzle this post if you will with some holiday cocktail dress brilliance. Indulge me, will you?
This isn’t crazy sparkly, however it does have the bedazzled magic on the removable belt (how much do you want to bet L-A would be whipping that belt off while I would be pulling out my bedazzler to implement even more junk jewelled fun!). This dress is from BCBG Max Azria. I also love this number from BCBG…
Perhaps a little much for my holiday party circuit, but wouldn’t that shut up all the bitches who whispered that I was enjoying pregnancy just a little too much while watching me stuff yet another donut in my mouth? Now, mind you, it also looks like a bridesmaid dress for a quickie marriage in Vegas…but that’s sort of my look anyhow.
I also think this is exceptional in a “completely out there” type of way.
Style.com refers to it as “Giambattista Valli’s love letter to the cocktail dress”. They write some good on that site. I just refer to it as “Pretty”.
I’m all over this sequined skirt. I got a fab deep purple sleeveless blouse at Winners the other day that would look perfect with this Adam Sequin wrap skirt.
For L-A, I would suggest the Marc Jacobs version of the sequined skirt. She loves MJ. Bitch parades that Marc Jacobs purse around me every chance she gets. Whatevs, she ain’t got no Betsey Johnson diaper bag, DOES SHE ?
note to Betsey: Sorry for using your lovely purse as a diaper bag. I’m hoping you won’t hate.
I sort of feel like she could salsa in this as well…non?
L-A: It’s that time of year again! (I write that knowing that one of my journo profs dies a little every time the words are strung together). Christmas party time! A reason to get tipsy at work (parties….not just because it’s Tuesday and there’s scotch in your desk drawer)? Yes please. A reason to buy a new dress and get your hair did? I repeat: Yes please. But just like hanging up the lights (I usually get half way around the window and say ’shag it, I’m getting a drink’), christmas baking, and visiting with extended family: finding a great party dress can be a stressful pain in the arse. You should have seen me the year I had a Christmas wedding to go to – I tried on just about everything in my size at Winner’s and any other store that might carry a cocktail dress at a semi-reasonable price.
A friend from high school recently asked me if I knew where you could find a dress that was about knee length (because let’s be honest, some of the dresses out there now are more like a cute top rather than a dress) and sleeveless, but without spaghetti straps. A surprisingly tall order (see dresses, worn as tops). The first place I thought of was Pretty Things here in Halifax. Most of the dresses go to the knee (I am ridiculously self-conscious about my knees…ever since grade nine when someone told me I had funny knees. He had no idea he was giving me a life long complex!) and the owner knows that not every woman out there is wee and svelte, so she carries styles for different shapes and sizes. Here are two of the dresses I like:
Pretty, n’est pas? Classy enough for your work party, cute enough for your friend’s NYE fancy dress rager. You probably still need your Spanx, but that’s okay – the damn undergarments cost so much that you may as well get as much use out of them as possible.
A site I found yesterday could prove to be the holy grail of online dress shopping : Frocktastic. They have EVERYTHING. Not kidding. They have collected dresses from just about every designer and categorized them by colour, style or price. You can get everything from this pretty princess of a Betsey Johnson dress (I was looking for a purple dress)…
…to a dress by a hot Canadian designer, like Valérie Dumain…
…or Eve Gravel:
Good luck on your party dress quest! Please don’t buy that last skirt that Ally posted. It looks like something a salsa dancer puked up.
AllyG: So! A couple of my friends (yes! I have TWO) inquired today about coloured tights. I’m glad they asked, there are certainly many examples of coloured tights gone wrong thanks to American Apparel’s easy access (don’t get me wrong, I love AA’s tights, but people should have to take a course before they leave the store with hot pink tights…I should know…that was one horribly unfashionable Wednesday in 2007).
It was a good day to ask this question, as Canada.com also took on the task of embarking coloured tights etiquette. The most important point they raise in the article is why focus soley on colour? What about pattern? Patterned tights are SO HOT RIGHT NOW. Speaking of Zoolander, remember this scene?
Nothing to do with patterned tights, but it’s awesome. Sorry, back to Canada.com. They correctly note that, “Bold fashion followers can team bright or patterned tights with a fun, flirty dress for a playful look, as shown here. Or go more monochrome for an equally eye-catching look with black, patterned hose and a black, patterned dress. The red shoes add a splash of colour.” Agree. My friend M wondered whether she should have paired her black dress and boots with grey tights. I love mixing grey in with black. It breaks up the look and I think it makes you look taller. If you do want to go all black, then I would point to Canada.com’s advice to work some pattern into your black tights and pull out a bright pair of shoes.
I was looking for some “best of” coloured and patterned tights and saw that Vogue had done a feature on this for a recent accessories file. Being lazy, I decided to share! You can go to the link to read the full article.
I decided to actually do some work and find some tights I enjoy. My friend S asked about what to wear with an off-white skirt. I know she has the same pair of BCBG ankle boots as I do, which I thought would be perfectly paired with the skirt and these tights from Forever21.
I also love this look from Urban Outfitters. It’s much more casual, but great for the weekend or casual Friday.
For ordering info you can go here…
As for coloured tights, this is a great look. It’s bold, without being too young and in your face. You can still wear to the office.
Those red/wine coloured tights are from Emilio Cavallini (90 Denier Alligator Tights) you can also order online thanks to polyvore.com
I feel as though many people in their thirties are terrified of coloured/patterned tights because they equate them with this crap:
That’s just disgusting. Seriously. That’s not fashion, that’s insanity. You wear those and you are looking for attention in all the wrong places.
Since patterned tights are so popular for F/W 2009, you should be able to find them easily in Halifax. I’ve seen many different brands at Winners for great prices (specifically Hue)
Hope this helps, ladies. We’re totally behind fab tights. Mostly because Blair wears them.
Leave it to Serena to be slutty. Again. Wtf is she wearing? Again?
L-A: Would you believe that I’ve never actually seen Zoolander? (the sound you hear just now is that of Ally’s heart breaking).
Serena’s outfit is like the late-2000s/NYC version of this:
For reals. And that was 1995. Let’s bring back one decade at a time folks. Everyone is killing themselves over the 1980s comeback right now, so let’s just get through that before we move on to the 1990s. Besides, we’d need to go through grunge first before we can start bringing back Clueless.
Anythehow, coloured tights. Love them. I was getting ready for work the other morning and realized I was head to toe in black. Which is not the norm for me. So I broke it up with a pair of Betsey Johnson purple tights (found at Marshall’s on sale) and poof! My outfit was a million times (or at least five times) more interesting. Or my grey plaid dress (kind of Mad Men Joan-esque) that has a very small hint of purple in the plaid. You barely notice the purple, but it works oh so well when I throw the purple tights on. Hmmm…I possibly only ever wear purple tights. I think that’s because I was broke for so long that I couldn’t afford to buy another pair of coloured tights. Whatever the reason, I’m drawn to purple tights (and slightly heartbroken over the hitch in my favourite pair).
Moving on to the patterned tights. Mostly love. I love them in theory. However, I fear trying these on myself because I’m not sure they’d look so hot stretched over my gams. I’ve got big legs. It’s a fact of life. I’m sure going to the gym might help a little, but to tell the truth, I was born with thick legs, so it’s not like they’re going anywhere – they’d just get less flabby. So the idea of me in patterned tights is a bit scary.
But if you think you can do the patterned tight and not look like ten pounds of shit in a five pound bag (this is one of my mom’s sayings. I kid you not), then go for it! Wear something a little simpler – your outfit doesn’t need to be competing with your tights. Let your tights do the talking. Like, cute solid coloured skirt or dress and AWESOME patterned tights. If you’re at all crafty, you could try to DIY:
Although, that is not a project for amateurs. Aside from wanting to avoid a run in your tights while you embellish, you’d want to be careful that you don’t end up bedazzling the shit out of your tights (p.s. if you do try this project – please share pics with us!).
Some interesting patterned tights are the ones handmade by Sans Soucie of Montreal. I’ve yet to try them (see the part where I was too broke to buy tights, let alone fancy ones), but I’ve been tempted (Love, Me carries them). They’re coloured and patterned and quite frankly, look like they’d be real pretty.
But now it’s my turn to ask for some tights advice from you:
1. I have a navy pencil skirt: what colour tights (and colour top) do you wear with that?
2. I have mustard coloured tights that I kind of love, but am not sure what to wear them with. Suggestions?
AllyG: I’m totally going to use BabyG as an excuse to why I didn’t take snaps of all my shoes. I’m just going to give you the highlights. We’ve had lots of visitors the past few weeks which has resulted in my shoe collection being tossed all over the house. For reals, I found a pair in the bathroom. Shoe porn seems popular with the masses! And by the masses, I mean the 15 regular readers we have (we totes love you)! We’ve actually had requests from readers, and guest bloggers, to feature their collections. We’re totally down with that! Keep Monday shoe porn coming!
So, I am profiling my fave footwear from my closet. Let’s begin!
These are my wine coloured BCBG ankle boots. Please take careful note of the fabulous ribbon tie at the front. I love these so, so much. I purchased them at John David in 2008 pre-pregnancy. I attempted to wear them month five of pregnancy before I realized that my life was over (I mean that in the best way possible). I have never, ever, been in so much pain. My feet were so swollen. I thought I was going to teeter over on my face in the middle of a conversation with a Hali-famous politician. I looked great though. Truly.
I bought these mint green Biviel’s at the Fantatical Footwear going-out-of-business sale. That was a seriously sad day for shoe lovers. The owner of that boutique is incredible. She remembered everybody that walked through the door and what they purchased. I sent my mom there one day and mom still remembers the experience of being treated like she was a Queen. It’s wear she bought her shoes for my wedding. These shoes are very comfy, wider heel so you can actually walk from your office to meetings (as opposed to marching to the cab out front…which I did often whilst wearing stillettos…what?). I can’t find the Biviel website. To be honest, I didn’t try too hard. I’m on borrowed time here.
Horrible photo quality. I know L-A is going to be all over my ass for the crappy photo job. She likes our blog to look all “presentable” like. Anyway, the above two flats are Shellys…my beloved Shellys. I also bought these at John David, but they no longer sell them there. Learning this news was a tough day. Almost as bad as the day we all learned that Britney was being placed under a 5150 hold. Devastating.
These, my friends, are Sacha London’s. I adore this line of shoes. I have three pairs, however I could only find two for my photo session (need I mention how weirded out Jeff was by my mad-tear around the house with our digital camera taking snaps of my “stank shoes”, as he called them?”). I like to wear these with my white pantsuit. Yes, of course I own a white pantsuit. Why don’t you?
These are my all-time favourite shoes. I would wine and dine these shoes. I would gently caress these shoes while listening to Kenny G in the background (a former roomate used to have Kenny G playing while she made sexy time with her boyfriend. Our room was seperated by a very thin wood panel. Needless to say, I still associate Kenny G with sexy time…and not in a good way).
L-A was recently chatting about the perfect pair of black shoes. These are it for me. Franco Sarto is my go-to shoe (I own two pairs of Sarto boots, one in black, one in brown…exact same boot). They’re just made very, very well and are extremely comfortable. I love the round toe on this shoe. These are snazzy when paired with my skinny jeans. Not sure what they would look like with skinny jean “leggings” or “jeggings”…perhaps L-A will buy a pair for me at Christmas and we’ll all find out!!
Ooh! These are my Michael Kors! They are exceptionally hot. Pretty comfy too. Not great for walking on grass as I learned at one wedding recently. Definitly my favourite summer shoe.
These were my wedding shoes. I know…awwwwww. Love the beading. I did many an “ass drop” on the dance floor while wearing these babies. Not sure what an ass drop is?
[L-A: Ally originally had a picture of herself doing an ass drop and it was EPIC. Like, spit your drink out onto the computer laughing epic. She changed her mind about having the picture of herself on the blog. So to demonstrate the ass drop, I present Julia Stiles dancing to "Hypnotize"...]
I once did eight ass-drops in a row to Usher’s, “Yeah” . The crowd loved it. LOVED it.
Really bad photo, I know. These are my Steve Madden’s mary janes. Low-heel, which makes them great for everyday wear.
Lastly, these are my Chinese Laundry shoes. Adorable, non? Don’t you just love the wee blue bow on the back? Sigh. Love ‘em.
That’s all for me. Perhaps when I find more I will snap and upload. Hopefully this will hold you over?
L-A: I’m not actually a tyrant about the blog or the photos we take. Really I’m not. Okay, maybe a tiny bit. It comes with the Anna Wintour-esque hair cut. But y’all saw the mess that was my AFW pics, so I really can’t complain. Anyway whatevs, let’s talk about Ally and her shoes:
I think taking photos of your all your shoes freaks out husbands/partners/roommates. I know the husband started to get his shell shocked look when he came into the living room and found ten boxes of shoes in the middle of the room. I think he begrudgingly lives with my collection. In fact, until I called it a collection, he started talking about me needing to get rid of shoes before I could buy more.
I do love the wee blue bow on that last pair. I don’t even mind that they have an animal print (I generally dislike the animal print. That fact may cause Eden to have a heart attack). And I kind of adore the BCBG booties. Nice work on finding the Franco Sartos as your LBS. Shinier than what I’m looking for in myself, but I do like them.
When Ally mentioned wedding shoes, it made me realize that I must have a box of shoes somewhere that I haven’t opened, because I didn’t take a picture of my wedding shoes last week (I moved last winter – but don’t judge. It’s not like I wear my wedding shoes everyday so they’re doing okay in that box in the closet). But I do have a picture of them because I’m the sort of girl who has a picture of her shoes taken at her wedding. What? Some people like wedding pictures of their flowers or their rings, I like pictures of my shoes. And my photographer was smart enough to know that.
Best “man” Helen was wearing my bro’s sneakers (about five sizes too big. Dude has big feet. Runs in the family I guess, since I’m a size 10) because it was raining out and she didn’t want to ruin her shoes.
And now time to announce how you can participate in shoe porn Mondays! We have a Flickr group for your shoes. You can add pics to the group and then on Mondays we’ll pick a collection at random and put them on the blog. Yay! The group is “by invite only” because I fear using the words “shoe porn” in a flickr group could bring an unsavory element to the group (there are some strange groups out there). But y’all are welcome to join (I think you can request to join) and share your shoe collections. We’re looking forward to seeing them.
Edited by AllyG: I would also like to reassure our readers that L-A is only like Anna Wintour when it comes to fabulous hair. She simply likes the blog to look professional. If it was up to me some days, I would be scanning my crayon drawn photos of pretty dresses and pretty shoes. Thank the heavens for our L-A.
L-A: So, awhile back I told you about how much I love magazines. One of the magazines that I think rules is Worn Journal. They are fashion. They are Canadian. They are independent. They are run by volunteers (I can’t even imagine. A blog alone can be a lot of work). That adds up to all kinds of awesome.
I just read today that their bank account was recently “compromised” – leaving the magazine without money to do the things it needs to do to be awesome.
It’s sucky enough when jerks clear out someone’s account, but it feels doubly sucky when they do it to a group of volunteers who are just trying to make an independent fashion magazine.
So, while I can’t send them a big fat cheque, I thought that if someone out there has an uncle who looks something like this:
and that uncle just happens to be a fan of independent fashion magazines, then maybe you can point him towards helping Worn out (there’s a paypal link there for him to use). Or you could throw ‘em $5. Or maybe you could buy an issue (only $6!) or subscribe ($20/2 years = insane deal! I bet someone out there would love that as a Christmas present).
