Updates and such...

Modern-Guilt is now twittering away. You may be asking yourself 'how many more things can S possibly be addicted to on the internet?'...and the answer is I've no clue, but this Twitter business is extremely fun. So yeah. There's a link to it here and on the sidebar if you ever feel like knowing what's going through my head at 2 a.m. on a Monday night.I've been tagged by the lovely Sueper of The Sueper Blog to share with ya'll the contents of the gigantic satchel full of receipts and gum wrappers that I carry around with me (more commonly known as my purse). The contents are more or less staples of anyone's purse, and are as follows: concealer, Dr. Pepper lip gloss, office and apartment building access cards, headphones, wallet, keys and suede gloves. The only integral thing that this photo lacks is my iPhone, and that would be for the very logical reason that the only thing a camera cannot see is itself (one of my favourite lines from the book Robot City which I've been trying to figure out a way to re appropriate into the blog for the past couple of days...yes, I am a huge sci-fi nerd).
I leave this tag open to anyone who wants to complete it! I hope that a lot of you do, as I'm sure most of you out there have much more thrilling purse contents than mine.

Before I sign off for the day I just want to wish you all a very, very happy Thanksgiving. We here in Canadaland celebrated it all the way back in October, but if you're reading this and you're American (or residing in some other country which celebrates it today...I can't say I'm that well-versed in international holidays) then know that G and I are wishing you the loveliest of days! In all fairness we wish that for you every day, but today is Thanksgiving so why not voice it publicly for once.

Patterned purple tights and a black dress at night

I totally didn't intend for the title of this post to rhyme, but the fact that it does nonetheless pleases me. A few days back my gorgeous, lovely and thoughtful mom came for a visit, armed with the basket full of brand new tights of every colour and pattern imaginable (perhaps that's an exaggeration, but she did bring a lot). As I've stated before, anyone who knows me well knows that winter does not exactly deter me from wearing skirts and dresses on a regular basis, and as such tights are a necessity for me to live my day to day life happily and comfortably; the fact that I can get creative with such tights and, as is the case of today's outfit, even have them be the focal point of whatever I'm wearing is just one of the pros of my tights bias.
This little black Erin Fetherston for Target dress was purchased almost one year ago to the day on a trip to Michigan for American Thanksgiving. I've determined that it is entirely impossible for me to go to the U.S. without visiting at least two Targets along the way, and this unfortunately always tends to remind me of how bleak life in Canada sans Target is.

I'm a big fan of this dress (and the rest of the $500+ haul I pulled out of such suburban Michigan Target), and was glad to have the opportunity to wear it last night when G took us out for a romantic pizza and wine extravaganza at a nearby Italian restaurant. We did, of course, take photos on the way - G really seems to be mastering this new 'night photography' business, and I must say it's quite fun to carry around a big external flash and witness the befuddled looks of passerby wondering what I'm doing standing there with it in an alley doorway! Fortunately for us, most people are too self-interested and/or too cold outside to really care.

Wearing

- The black babydoll dress is Erin Fetherston for Target. And, while I'm on the topic of designer collaborations with chain mass-retailers, who else had a mini-stroke when they heard that Matthew Williamson is next up for H&M? I believe I've mentioned in the past that I don't line up for things, but this announcement is seriously making me reconsider my stance on the matter.

- I forget which brand purple floral printed the tights are, and I've already thrown out the packaging they came in. Oops.

- The black platform shoes are vintage. I really, really have a thing for black platform shoes.

- My large white quilted bag is, of course, the Chanel that I seemingly cannot go a week without using.

DIY Bleached and Destroyed Jeans + Keith Richards' face on a t-shirt

I now present to you what is perhaps my second DIY success ever (the first being the studded boots in yesterday's post of course). While bleaching a pair of old, cheap jeans is admittedly not the most difficult DIY in the world to complete, I am nonetheless proud of myself for actually doing it without entirely ruining them...then again, the point was for them to be entirely ruined, so perhaps I succeeded in that? I don't know, and moreover don't feel like playing semantics with myself this morning.

These jeans (which I am now madly in love with and want to wear all the time) are the result of spending Saturday night at home with a cheese grater, jug of liquid laundry bleach, bucket and and a sponge. And before you ask: yes, I actually do enjoy Saturday night 'arts and crafts for a 3 year old' as G likes to call it, regardless of the fact that I've reminded him time and time again that a 3 year old shouldn't really be handling a two litre bucket of bleach.

I've had this Keith Richards t-shirt for ages, but unfortunately rarely wear it as a result of it being from what I like to call the Toronto version of Hot Topic...a shop called Black Market, located on Queen Street West. While Black Market does sell a certain amount of proper vintage clothing, the rest of their wares consist of mass-printed 'punk rock' tees which are, by way of their very creation and place of origin, not punk rock at all. So it's kind of a lame t-shirt by all means, but from time to time I certainly cannot resist the appeal of a young Keith Richards' face staring up at me from my t-shirt drawer.

In other news, I've determined that I do not own enough winter-appropriate clothing. I can't keep wearing tank tops and tiny, thin sweaters under wool coats and expect to not freeze. A thirfting trip for a pile of chunky knit sweaters and various sweater dresses and whatnot is definitely in order. Because yes, it's still cold here. And yes, it will continue to be for approximately forever, or rather, until it's not anymore. Getting more specific than that is just depressing for the time being.

Wearing

The jeans are initially from Urban Planet and cost $19, hence the reason I bleached, ripped and generally felt free to destroy them as I did.

The t-shirt is, as already mentioned, from Black Market.

Converse shoes, obviously. I've really been feeling the high-tops lately and am considering buying a pair, but understand that it would be reasonable to hold off on this as their thin rubber soles are the coldest and slipperiest thing imaginable in the winter. Damn you winter and the limitations you impose upon my clothing and footwear choices!!

The black oversized hoodie is G's, and I'm unsure as to where it's from. I don't think he likes that I take his clothes all the time, particularly in consideration of the fact that 90% of our closet space is alreadty taken up by my stuff...

Wearing grey on the weekend...

It's hard to believe that the weekend is over already, as I spent the majority of it holed up in the lovely comfort of the apartment under a blanket with Cup-A-Soup in hand. It's safe to say that I'm feeling 99% like myself again, so any sacrifices made in my 'exciting weekend activity' time were justifiably made towards the greater good of not feeling like death warmed over for the rest of the week.
Today's photo set was taken yesterday on my first excursion out of domestic comforts all weekend. If I wanted to get all pretentious and philosophical about things I would say that I'm wearing all grey to represent the middling state of my health at this point in time, as I am feeling neither black nor white and instead residing, emotionally and physically, in an ambivalent and undecided state. Alas, I am not pretentious or [generally] philosophical when it comes to clothes, so what I'm wearing basically comes down to the fact that layering is necessary in the cold/these clothes are comfortable for a walk about town/I like the colour grey - and there you have it, my outfit inspiration happily has essentially nothing to do with anything at all!

To expand upon the subject of clothing a little bit further, as it is, for all intensive purposes, the driving force behind this blog, I completed a couple of wicked cool DIY projects this weekend while bored and couch-ridden. One of them will definitely make its appearance on here tomorrow, so stay tuned for that...I'm generally not so good at DIY, but this one turned out particularly awesome if I do say so myself. I'm still unsure as to how I feel about the other one I completed (it involved a bunch of silver paint and way too much time on my hands), but I'm certain it will make its way onto me at some point or another, wherein you can either laugh at my kindergarten-level painting skills or be impressed by my ingenuity....I'm somewhere between the two at the moment.

Wearing

The grey sweater is from Zara.

The grey dress thing is from a random Yonge Street shop. And I really need to stop buying so much stuff in such shops.

The grey cotton tights are Hue, and I have been veritably living in them lately. So. Darn. Comfy.

The pleather studded boots are initially from UP, and were DIY-ed (successfully) to be studded as shown.

My red satchel is Adidas.

My long black wool toggle coat is an Aritzia purchase from last year. I hate that I have to wear this thing every day again, but what can you do.

A vintage fur coat (a.k.a. the warmest thing I own), and the boots that I promised myself I would never wear...

Not only is it reaching horrendously cold temperatures around here, I've also unfortunately come down with a bit of a flu, which is somewhat evident in these photos if you note the puffiness around my eyes and nose. That being said, I still had a great evening. G brought home Little Big Planet for me (and I'm not usually a video game person, but this one is seriously too cute for words, and the music in it is great) which I've quickly become addicted to, and when I decided that I needed to get out of the apartment for a little bit, we walked down the street and bought a couple of albums I've been eyeing and, of course, took a couple of photos along the way. All in all, I really don't have anything to complain about!

This photo set is real-life as opposed to fashion in the sense that what I am wearing has far more to do with practicality than anything else. As you can see, many of the streets here in Toronto are currently sheeted in ice, making creative footwear choices next to impossible unless I'm taking a cab to somewhere indoors or, similarly, carry my 'good shoes' in my bag until I reach my indoor destination; this brings me to my justification of the Ugg monstrosities currently residing on my feet - they're warm, I don't slip and fall in them and the fact that I dislike them on an aesthetic level results in me not getting upset when they're damaged by various outdoor elements. And I walk basically everywhere I go, so these are all entirely necessary qualities in a shoe for me. So before ya'll go and judge me for wearing them, please take a moment to think about my struggle.

Moreover, taking off my coat for a few quick snaps out in the cold is not currently an option lest I have a desire to die of pneumonia, which I don't. Thankfully I have a bunch of warm, cozy, functional coats that I love and believe to be stylish, the vintage white-gold fur that I wore last night being my favourite one of all. What I love most about this coat is the fact that I can wear a pair of black trousers or jeans with it and still look put together, regardless of how not put together I may feel. The true mark of a great item of clothing is, in my opinion, that it always makes you feel good - in which case my vintage fur undoubtedly qualifies with flying colours.

My plans for this weekend consist of nothing more and nothing less than getting tons of rest, acquiring new outfits for my poppit on Little Big Planet, and drinking as much hot lemon water as humanly possible (not only is it good for me, it's also the most delicious warm drink in the world). And I'm looking forward to it more than I have any weekend in quite a while, because I know that it's exactly what I need right now. I hope each and every one of you goes and has the weekend you want and need as well, and I look forward to coming back on Monday and catching up with you!

Wearing

The white-gold fur coat is vintage.

Underneath the coat I'm wearing a DKNY thin-ribbed black turtleneck.

The black trousers are from Guess, and are surprisingly wonderful.

The black boots are Uggs.

I've no idea what brand the black gloves are, but I do know that they're unbelievably warm and soft.

My favourite party dress and Givenchy-inspired layered necklaces

It's not often that I get the opportunity to wear this dress, but when I do it's always a great time and last night was no exception. The reason I'm all fancied up is that G and I attended a send-off/farewell party for a very close friend who will soon be going halfway across the country for an indefinite but surely extended period of time; as such, the event was somewhat happy and sad all at once, but there was a lot of happy in there, so I'm counting it as a technically 'great time' anyways.

So I've determined that this dress is, without a doubt, the best thing I have ever found on a Club Monaco sale rack, and unknowingly so at the time of purchase. When it was bought by yours truly two years ago I merely liked the drop-waist 1920's Gothic ballerina style of it (do those terms even make sense together?) and the sale price, as I remember desperately needing a party dress that day for a reason which escapes me now. I didn't even try it on, but then again I rarely do when shopping.

Two years later, and this dress continues to be one of my favourite things in my closet. The crumply crepe-like bubble skirt (you can seriously manipulate it into whatever shape you want it to be!), the various shoulder straps, the sheer overlay...there's a lot about this riff on the LBD that pretty much shouldn't work under any circumstances, but somehow it does and it's fabulous...or at the very least I feel fabulous in it.

As you've no doubt noticed, there has been an increasing amount of indoor photos recently, due to the fact that it looks like this outside:
Not only is this causing a lack of outdoor daily outfit photos, it's also making me congested and unable to breathe through my nose properly. My, my, how horribly jealous I am of all of you Australians right now, what with the beginning of glorious summer and whatnot.

Wearing

The black chiffon, crepe and silk party dress is from Club Monaco.

I'm wearing tons of various necklaces, all of which are from one of the following four places: my mom's jewelry boxes, vintage shops, made by me, or H&M.

I've no idea where my little white socks are from.

The black patent platform wedges (a.k.a. my favourite shoes of all time) are from H&M.

The vintage 70's maxi dress finally finds its way out of my closet...

While I do enjoy wearing all-black (as I did yesterday, and the day before that, and the one before that one as well...you get the point), it's nonetheless really fun to sometimes go in the entirely opposite direction of that and just pile on the colour. This is particularly the case when the days are getting right into the heart of a thoroughly dark, grey and depressing Toronto winter, and a little pick-me-up in the form of an amazing psychedelic print dress is much needed.
This is one of the dresses that I briefly alluded to acquiring last week, and of which the only slightly problematic thing is the length; it skims my ankles but does not quite cover them, making shoe choices, at least in terms of the shoes I own, extremely difficult for the time being. I feel like a pair of brown leather riding boots would work semi well, but since I don't own anything even remotely akin to riding boots as it stands, I merely have my imagination (and potentially really useless and bad sketches of what I'm visualizing) to count on when attempting to make such decisions.

I'm currently reading Patti Boyd's autobiography, which is not only insanely inspiring on the fashion end of things (between her, Anita and Marianne, it's impossible to decide who had the best wardrobe), but it's also the stuff that rock n' roll fantasy is made of and for that reason alone I love it. I will admit that I was not a normal child in the sense of having had posters of boy bands on my bedroom walls...I was far more into cut-out photos of young Eric Clapton from magazines.

This unfortunately did not do wonders for my early social life, but regardless, my long-standing crush on Cream-era Clapton has stood the test of time, and the fact that Patti married both George Harrison and E.C. is a fact that I have always, always been insanely jealous of in a weird, nostalgic kind of way. Naturally I missed the boat on pretty much everything I am jealous of Patti for having...so if I can't live it, I can live through it vicariously, right? And this is the reason this book of hers is perhaps my new favourite thing ever.

Wearing

The dress is vintage, acquired at the St. Lawrence Market a couple of weekends ago and finally worn for the first time last night.

The little gold flats are from Forever 21, and are unfortunately the most uncomfortable shoe in the entire world.

The brown whip-stitched leather purse is vintage.

My lapis lazuli and gold necklace was give to me by my mom, and is without a doubt one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry I own.