From Beau to Belle

From Beau to Belle

Your ultimate guide to borrowing from the boys

We’re all guilty of doing it: us women cannot resist going to the mall and raiding the menswear section in a mission to discover some essential pieces for our already-packed, overflowing wardrobes. We love that the prices are cheaper, the fit is more comfortable, and that there is so much more variety to choose from; however, borrowing from the boys does not have to look like it sounds - we can make these pieces look way better than borrowed, and we can take ownership to menswear apparel in a way that enhances our femininity. Read below on how we transition our favourite menswear pieces from “beau to belle”.

The button-down dress shirt:

The button-down dress shirt is one of the easiest ways for women to incorporate menswear into their everyday looks. Simply un-do the bottom two/three buttons and tie the shirt around your waist to shorten the length, making it appear more fitted. Roll the sleeves and add a belt, a statement necklace, and/or a pair of sunglasses to add a pop of interest to the outfit.

Another one of our favourite ways to pull off a men’s dress shirt is to wear it as a dress. Simply wrap the shirt around your torso with the back of the shirt facing forward, and tie the sleeves around your back into a bow. This creates such a beautiful, tailored look on the body because it fits just like a glove, but of course you can always loosen the sleeves at the back as you wish. To add more interest and colour to the outfit, tie a belt around your waist, which will also further enhance your figure femininity.

The Crew-Neck Sweater:

This one isn’t so popular, but it sure earns points for its incredible comfort. Grab any basic, cozy men’s crew-neck sweater and pair it with a chunky statement necklace for a pop of colour and unexpected bling. For an ultra-feminine look, wear an a-line dress underneath so the skirt peeks out from underneath, or for a more casual look wear it with a pair of jeans and ankle booties.

The Men’s Watch:

Styling a men’s watch is one of the most clever ways to pull off a menswear piece that most other women are unlikely to repeat. Of course, it takes finding the right watch to pull this off, but that’s what we’re here for! First of all, we recommend finding one that has a chunky, thick band with a contrast of colour on the face (a gold, chunky band with a navy or red face tends to look super sharp and really adds interest to an outfit), and layer your arm with multiple bracelets that pull out the colours in the watch. In the example we mentioned, we would layer our gold watch with chain bracelets and bangles that feature gold with navy accents, and the entire outfit would be based around a neutral colour scheme so the jewelry stands out. The result is a unique display of arm candy that successfully combines menswear with beautiful feminine accents.

Chic in the Street

Chic in the Street
My top 5 Fall/Winter Coat trends coming from the streets of Paris, London, and Milan’s fashion week

It’s that time of year again; the leaves have fallen and we have whipped out our cozy knits, chic boots and of course our favourite layering piece, the coat. We all
know that every year the must have coat of the season changes and being fashion students we must keep up with those trends. I’m going to share my 5 favourite coat styles for this fall/winter as seen on the fashion show viewers and fashinistos alike in Paris, London, And Milan fashion week.


The Fur Coat

This season’s Fur coat is the Fur trim coat. Whether it’s a double-breasted long coat with fur embellishment on the bottom half, or an army jacket with a fur bottom there is no arguing that this style is one to take note of this fall/winter season.














The Candy Coloured Coat

For the lovers of candy coloured statement coats I have got just the thing
for you. Try a baby blue coat with a fur collar as seen in the photo below.
















The School Boy Cutie
For the girls that enjoy the scholarly Harvard look I have found the perfect coat with embroidery details of flower patches and red pocket and shoulder piping.














The Quilted Queen
The last but certainly not the least is
my personal favourite the oversized quilted coat. This coat can be seen on and off the runway for the lovers of the minimalist look.














The New Age Fringe Coat

The new age fringe coat for the flirty and fun ladies. This style is for the bold beauties out there that are tired of the basic fringe style and want to step it up a notch. The one seen in the photograph below consists of delicate flower appliques and fringe.

Mission Plausible: Vogue Replication

Stylish or Tacky? Trending or copying? Cost-conscious or cheap looking? It can be hard to see the distinction between chic and bleak, or it might just be the knock-off designer sunglasses you’re wearing.
With trends coming and going as fast as the tap feature on your credit card, buying into the latest looks is an all too easy way to mimic the hottest trends on the catwalk and strutting them down the sidewalk. Retailers are making runway looks achievable and available at affordable prices. Elegant yet affordable, sophisticated yet practical, original yet stylish – or so we’d like to think. Frivolous Fashion Sifting through the racks trying to decide what’s hot and what’s not has become an internal battle. We all love that exhilarating moment when you find that fashion killing gem especially when it’s at a price that doesn’t break your wallet. Yet, we all want to minimalize those moments of regret when the next closet clean out comes around. You know, like when we find that old (but really it’s still brand new with tags) garment at the back of the closet. Realizing, maybe it was in the sales section for a reason, questioning our own tastes. Time Moves Forward “Vintage” and “pre-owned, gently used” garments are major trends that are also contributing to the great havoc. When mom jeans made their surprising comeback, I felt like I didn’t want to be on the sidelines watching the game, I needed to play. I bought myself four pairs, not just one, four pairs of mom jeans, prepping myself for the extermination of skinny jeans. I wore a pair once, and never again. A year later, seeming as if those pants were on house arrest that had never left the property, thankfully for Kind Exchange, a clothing retailer that buys, sells, and trades clothing, bought them all off of me. I’m glad there are still people who can sport the mom jean like it’s nobody’s business, and it definitely isn’t any of mine. I mean, I’m sure there are some neat finds to be discovered too. A Good and a Bad Thing It’s great that designer looks can be achieved without our pockets hurting, but at the same time it can be hard to find original and unique pieces at affordable prices. When retailers are hopping on the bandwagon to replicate popular looks from fashion shows, everyone will be carrying more or less the same thing with perhaps a small detail differentiating from the guys next door. Be Daring Stores like H&M, Forever 21 and Zara are letting us have our knock-off, look-a-like cake, and eat it too. The stimulating environments these stores have are set up to awaken the inner fashionista in all of us, to reach depths that we never even knew we had before. It allows the cautious to be daring, to take chances, because it’s affordable – but also dangerous.

Back To Simple

                                                                 

                                                                            ---Wearing in simple, living in simple.

Paris Fashion Week 2015 already has passed more than a month, while most people still remember the luxury phenomenon that filled show all the time. Among luxury styles, simple styles is not flooded, instead, simple style is more unique and more attractive in the show. Most designers and fashion icons would like to use simple style to their designs and daily looks.

 

Hugo boss

After Jason wu who is known as golden boy in New York fashion as an art director of Boss’s woman wear, Jason wu’s simple style conquers all people. Boss is highly praised by fashion industry. In 2016 spring and summer series, Jason wu adds tassels to simple dresses to create a little tenderness feeling on the basis of clean and easy feeling.

 

Victoria beckham

On the Paris Fashion Week 2015, Victoria beckham’s brand ‘VB’ still insists simple style: no necklaces, no high-heeled shoes, no earrings, accessories. She uses elements like checks, printings and splicing to decorate simple-cutting dresses for creating a lively feeling. She attended Paris Fashion Week 2015 with a black one-piece dress which make her was looked fashionable. While dress’s free draping increase woman flavor. In her designs, she loves using black, white and grey because these colors can highlight simply style well. She also will use earth color and bright color with clean cutting to create concise feeling.

 

Tilda Swinton & ampInesde fressange

Tilda Swinton is an icon of simple style. Her temperament matches simple style well. She loves long coat, turn - down collar, straight clipping. She is good at using suits, white pants, stitching leather pants to create layers. Ines fressange is a representative fashion person of simple style. She never follows fashion trends blindly, she just insists herself. She prefers wearing the simplest jeans coat and flat shoes. Especially asymmetry shoes with tow colors can lighten her simple dressing up.

 

How to wear in simple style?

 

w Suit jacket

Suit jacket is the most favorable item of simple style. Especially long suit jacket with free clipping and big lapels, that looks like swallow-tailed coat. As we all know that all black is chosen most. However all white and all blue are amazing as well. When you wear suit jackets, you can choose multifarious colors to make you look more vivid.

 

 

w Knee length pencil skirt

Knee length pencil skirt’s excellent cutting makes women more sexy and enchanting. In fact, simple not just means using one color. It is a good choice to choose all kinds of color to enhance brightness, but you have to pay more attention on coordinating different colors which on your clothing. For example, jean pencil skirt of knee length matches white T-shirt is a nice-looking.

 

w One-piece dresses

One-piece dresses extremely reflect simple style. It causes a revolution of simple style. Amal Alamuddin is the symbol in simple style. Decorating one-piece with faint colors and excellent clipping make people looked more capable and experienced. Using drapes and waistline on one-piece dresses are wise choice.

 

w Waistcoat

Waistcoat is very practical in spring and autumn and it is easy to be matched with other clothing. Grey knitting matches legging and light tan color’s waistcoat is a good matching. White T-shirt with waistcoat also create a good looking.

 

Most fashion we cannot wear in daily lives, while simple style is the best choice for normal lives without losing fashion.

Feng Shui ‘Cause It’s A Paaartay!

How to transform your space out of the everyday living and into the perfect set up for hosting your celebration.

 

Are you having a celebration in your home and need to spruce it up with some chic for cheap? Get creative and venture out into the streets of downtown Toronto as you may be surprised what you can find on a budget. Turning your home into the esthetically appealing, and oh so functional, space for our party isn’t as daunting of a task as you think.

            Limited in your physical space? Fake it ‘till you make it to maximize how large the room looks. Prop a tall mirror up against the wall and place a candle or tea lights in front of it to give it a beautiful glow while creating the illusion of depth to any room. The Ikea EKNE mirror for under $50 and Wal-Mart’s Maintstay Flameless Tea Lights, 34 for under $15 can be a great combination and used again and again!

            Not enough seating for everyone? Swing by Winners for a couple fabulous large floor pillows for under $45 and place them around the coffee table. This assists in giving the room a more intimate feel by creating nooks for your guests to get to know each other better in ease.

            Now lets get people talking, moving, and eating. Create a comfortable flow through your home by setting up stations with snack trays in different areas of your home, this way your guests aren’t bound to one spot. You can find some great serving trays at Canadian Tire, like the Canvas Acacia wood platter with handles for under $12

 

Now that your home looks great, it’s your turn to stand out. If you’re looking for the perfect cocktail dress for your perfect party, stop by Cabaret Vintage at 627 Queen Street West. One of a kind dresses from the 1920’s, 30’s 40’s and 50’s ranging from $80-$400 will keep you looking chic and all of your friends asking “where did you get that dress?”

            Looking for something a little sexier for that special someone at the party?  Veer off the beaten path and hit up TSOQ (The Store On Queen) at 662 Queen Street West. You can find the Ziptux dress for $85, this winter white long sleeve blazer inspired dress with gold zippers and plunged neckline will for sure steal the show, and his heart.

            So whether you’re staying inside for the end of evening or stepping out to end the night on the town, the perfect pair of shoes are essential to top it all off. Can’t find the right pair you say? Make your way over to Young & Tae at 630A Queen Street West where you can customize your perfect pair of shoes for your perfect party. Starting at just $129 you can customize your shoe from style, colour, heel height, and material. That way you can match your shoes with your dress and take the claim for having a great eye! Now if you ran out of time because you were planning your event and need your shoes right away Young & Tae offer a wide selection of their own shoes starting at just $29!

 

Now that everything is in harmony you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the ambience of your Feng Shui Paaartay!

 

Super Queen You Better Work

Know all the ins and outs of becoming a couture queen! Just follow these 4 tips and you’ll be on your way to becoming a couture queen…on the streets!

My inspiration for all of this is couture queen herself, RuPaul. Her look and existence is taken from starting off as a couture queen growing up as a teen in the streets of Atlanta, then moving to New York.

Tip #1 “Super Model You Better Work” - RuPaul

Being confident about outlandish looks, will get you to the top of the list. Being extravagant and that more is better into becoming a couture queen. I mean after all you are a supermodel! Bright colours, puffy dresses, extra materials and of course sparkle and shine scream couture! Let’s not forget big shoes and to accessorize to the max while complimenting your gown dress for the ball we call life on the streets. Just stay up to date with RuPaul!

Tip #2 “A Face Is Like A Work of Art, It Deserves A Great Frame” – RuPaul

Make sure your face is on and ready to for the spotlight! Being a queen will definitely come with a lot of watching. With a great outfit, comes a great face and a lot of big hair. Step outside the box and explore with all different colours of fabric, face makeup, nails and hair. Painting the face is an art and can really take you to the next level of being the ultimate couture queen, because “life is about using the whole box of crayons”, said by the fabulous RuPaul.

Tip #3 Vogue Baby

If you are planning to be a couture queen for the streets the next step is voguing. Yes, strike a pose and hold. Voguing came from the underground New York ball couture scene in the late 1980s and is so very relevant today. Willi Ninja one of the queens from that era, also known as the godfather to this style of dance, crowned the dance to be inspired from haute couture runway shows. Hugely inspired from models on the runway. The dance style that is a major part of the underground scene and the meaning of couture being on the streets and lives of everyday people. So tune up those dancing skills, so when you are done applying these colours, you can start voguing!!

Tip # 4 Last but not least, L.O.V.E.

The last tip is to love yourself and to spread love to become the ultimate couture queen! Let your inner queen shine through! “When you become the image of your own imagination, it’s the most powerful thing you could ever do”, said by RuPaul. Self-love is important to take on this role, because if you can’t love yourself, then no one else will! RuPaul truly embodies love, creativity, originality and power. All these aspects are what will truly make you a couture queen. Following all these 4 steps will lead to nothing but success and being a super queen on the streets!!

Get Down and Shake it Out

Get Down and Shake it Out

Say bye to the straightening iron and hello to the curling iron for carefree wild mermaid locks and springy ‘70s-style waves.

The How- to 

Want those loose waves everyone has? By using these simple 6 steps you will become master of the waves in 30 short minutes. 

Step 1)First begin by, use the moisturizing milk leave in conditioner treatment and run it through your locks with your fingers making sure its applied evenly for optimal coverage. 

Step2 ) Rolling on to the next step is to create a centre part in your hair with a comb and blow dry the front two pieces away from your face. After using the leave-in conditioner and making a centre part use the blow dryer to dry the rest of your hair, switching between brush and your fingers creating that amazing messy look. Make sure all hair is fully dry. Separate a small amount of hair and brush it out once using a round brush to make your hair fluffy.

Step 3) Now on to the curling iron! For different lengths of hair use the according size of curling iron: short hair use a 13mm to 19mm iron and for medium length to long hair use 32mm. Hold iron on a forty five degree angle downwards. Hold for 10 seconds and let go. Continue curling small sections until you've curled every single piece (you may have the Shirley temple look going on, but don't worry) . Don't forget to smile because you're almost there to achieving this hot fresh look! 

Step 4) Brush out the curls lightly using the round brush to make the curls loose, if they look a little too curly pull down on the sections for 5 seconds. Pour a dime-sized amount of smooth soothing Moroccan oil in the palm of your hand and run it through each section of your hair making it shiny and silky. 

Step 5) Almost there! Use the CHI enviro spray with natural hold hair spray and sprits lightly from a distance about 12 inches away from each section of curled hair so they stay in for your crazy day. 

Sep 6) Now shake, shake and shake it out to the Taylor Swift’s song Shake It Off for even more fun. The more you tassel your mane around the more street wave it will look! These waves look even better the second day so in 30 minutes you achieve a look for not one, but two days with a little help from dry shampoo. Now you’re ready to pick your outfit and strut down the street camera ready!

Patch Things Up
Inspiration for recreating your denim 

Words by: Haley Dach

These days, we see jaw dropping trends left and right. We’ve seen it all, from crotchless pants to dresses that only cover one breast. The runway is known to bring the wow factor – but what about streetwear? Streetwear has been around as long as streets, but people started making it trendy in the late 1970’s. Stemming from Los Angeles surf culture, "streetwear" has come a long way from wearing what everyone else is wearing, to finding your own personal style. One of the main things it has created is originality. People are fighting to stand out rather than fit in, and the easiest way to do that is to add your own personal touch to everything. The trend on the rise is denim, but not just any denim; patchwork denim. We’re sick of seeing your moms same old hand-me-down Levi’s.. until you add some patches, that is. Designers recognized the trend and made beautiful designer pairs; the only problem is, we teens can’t afford them. Fear not! We are here to teach you just how to make them yourselves, for a fraction of the price.

All these items could be found at thrift stores, consignment stores, dollar stores, etc. The whole point is to do more for less, so get crafty and creative, but stay money conscious.

Example A: State Your Statement

Do you have a lot to say but not enough hours in the day to say everything? It’s time to stitch it to your pants. Make your bold statements bolder and your pants fiercer than ever. Plus, if you have more to say, just stitch it on the back - but always remember to be cautious with what you’re going to say.

 

EACH X OTHER $683.03

Example B: Be There or Be Square

An easy tactic to customizing your jeans is adding on square of fabric. It’s as simple as going to the fabric store and getting a few mismatched squares from the scrap box. This adds personality without costing anything. This tactic is also perfect if you have a hole you’re trying to cover up!

MARC BY MARC JACOBS $480.21

Example C: Bedazzle Your World

What’s one way to make you stand out amongst the rest? Cover your jeans in sequin and glitter filled fabric cutouts of your favorite celebrities! Although this method will take more time and effort, it will definitely pay off when you have never-before-seen jeans that can’t be replicated. A suggestion if you’re having trouble trying to figure out whose faces to put on – boy bands come in packs, that’s a lot of cute faces all over your pants!

DISCOUNT UNIVERSE $1175.00

Example D: Vincent van Denim

If you’re good with a paintbrush or feeling artsy, try adding some hand-painted elements. (Be sure to use paint that won’t come off in the wash,) grab a pair of jeans, and make your masterpiece. In a world where anything can happen, people might love them so much that they ask you to paint theirs! 

 

DOLCE & GABANNA $2,488.43

Example E: Friends not Food

This last (but not least) example is a more adorable approach. The type of patches used for this style of jeans must be of animals. Find a patch of your favorite fuzzy friend and attach it onto a pair of boyfriend jeans (possibly free if your boyfriend has left a pair lying around.) Give yourself, and the world, a reason to smile when they see your new adorable pair of patchwork denim!

 

PHILIPP PLEIN $1,343.46