Stella & Dot: Shopping for Summer Accessories

Anyone who knows me knows that I dream of shopping in luxury, with a glass of champagne in one hand, dainty eats in the other, and an array of beautiful items to peruse. So when one of my University friends asked if I would be interested in having a Stella & Dot shopping party, naturally I got super excited. For those of you who haven't heard of Stella & Dot, they are a jewelry company who have individual stylists who  help you host a trunk show, where you can get together with your friends, family, anyone you want, and shop their newest collections in your home. The lovely ladies Chantale, Shivani, Victoria, Rebecca (of Rebecca Elizabeth Designs), Irene, Alison (of Styling My Life blog), our stylist Shannon, and my mom all came to join in on the afternoon of shopping and treats.

I was very glad to finally get a chance to use some of the pins from my Fashionable Eats board on Pinterest for the event!  With the help of my photographer/bestie, we decided on a list of girly and delectable treats: citrus sangria, lavender lemonade, earl grey scones with devonshire and jam, meringue with whipped cream and raspberries, cucumber sandwiches, and lavender cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting. YUM.

It was a truly delightful afternoon of girl time, and of course, we all walked away with some stunning new jewelry that will be sure to be show stoppers! I decided on some serious statement pieces: a necklace called the Olivia Bib, and another called the Juniper, as well as a simple yet feminine Camilla cocktail ring. These are going to be great for adding some colour to plain tops and dresses this summer! 

The moral of the story? Girly days like these are a must!

My mom perusing the catalogue

Shannon, our stylist, wearing the Lillith Fringe Earrings

Rebecca wearing the Dot Bloom Necklace

Doesn't Irene just look amazing? I couldn't get over her sassy glasses and trendy collar!

Myself trying on the Olivia Bib

Victoria and myself

Shivani and Alison (of Styling My Life blog)

Irene and Alison both brought bouquets of bright, beautiful flowers, how sweet!

Happy Styling! xo

~Britta

Vancouver Fashion Week F/W 2013 Day 5

It was a bittersweet day Sunday, as it marked the last day of shows at Vancouver Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2013. My feet are definitely glad to get a break now, but at the same time I'm already yearning for a new reason to dress up.

Unfortunately, life doesn't stop for fashion week, so we were late to the shows because of work. but we made it in time to see some absolutely stunning designs. My favourite from what we saw was Well Groomed. The designs were variations of Indian lehengas (traditional dresses), all in flattering bright hues and adorned in glamorous jewels and sparkles. The photos just can't do the level of sparkle justice. The heavily weighted hemlines created a graceful sweeping motion as the models walked the runway. I now need to go to an Indian wedding. I already know exactly what I will be wearing! Eva Chen's collection was equally stunning in a completely different way: the designs incorporated many trends like peplum and sheer bottoms in a way that was unique to her style (you'll see what I mean when you see the photos below!). Her dresses were very feminine but had sassy details: feathers along the bustline, mini shorts under a sheer skirt, bright colour-blocked peplum.

As far as my outfit goes, while Day 3 seemed to be all about leather, Day 5 was all about the fur! Other fashionistas in fur included blogger Nina of Nina on the Moon and stylist Sonia if iStyle By Sonia. It's interesting how the trend looked entirely different on each of us! This is one trend that is fairly gutsy to wear, but it'll give your outfit that touch of instant glam!









Vest-Bebe(thrifted), Shirt-Bebe(thrifted), Skirt-Topshop, Shoes-BCBGeneration(via Vince Camuto), Purse-from my neighbour, Bracelet-gift from Germany, ring-H&M


(From left to right): Simone, myself, Nina of Nina on the Moon, Alison of Styling My Life



Laend Phuengkit:






A dance performance by the extremely energetic Shiamak




Well Groomed:













Eva Chen:













Jaya Misra:






With blogger Nina of Nina on the Moon


See you on the runway next season, Vancouver!

Happy Styling! xo

~Britta

Vancouver Fashion Week FW 2013: Day 3

It's unbelievable that we are already finished Day 3 of Vancouver Fashion Week's Fall/Winter 2013 shows. Today was the day I have been waiting for all week, as I saved my best (at least according to myself) outfit for Friday! I fell in love with a pair of too-small highlighter yellow pumps in the thrift store a few weeks ago, and after a failed attempt to find the perfect ones online, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I thrifted a paid of white Aldo pumps and found myself some neon spray paint, and went to town! I'll post a step-by-step DIY if you would like it, but it was honestly as simple as taping the sole, filling the shoes with newspaper, and spraying a layer on each day for 4 days. I love the neon pop of colour in contrast with the leather dress, so I even spray painted a jeweled H&M necklace to match.

The Day 3 shows brought lots of coveted designs from Angele Eye, Goldie London, Fever, Zareen, Lucy Loves Ethel, Veejay Floresca, Carole McClellan, Theresa Chen, and Pouneh Askarian. It was a day of wearable fashion trends: my favourite being Theresa Chen's 1950's paris vintage-inspired collection. The voice of Edith Piaf sang over the speakers while models in perfectly ladylike yet seductive apparel walked the runway. I was in heaven. I am most definitely going to be doing some DIY projects to make my own fur-trimmed caplet. The shows also featured many more key trends including leather and peplum, which we've been seeing a lot of this week already. My favourite combination of the two was a leather peplum jacket by Pouneh Askarian (you'll see a photo of it below). Goldie London's collection also had my heart, with all the sophisticated looks which featured matted sequins. In particular, there was a pair of gold matte sequinned pants that were plain black on the back and sequinned on the front. They would be great for a night out.




Dress-Armani Exchange(thrifted), Belt-my mom's, Shoes-Aldo(thrifted, DIY), Necklace-H&M(DIY), Earrings-from my neighbour

The fashion scene crowd! (from left to right): Felix Tavira, Marilyn Wilson, Rony Walia, Sonia of istylebysonia, and myself
Angel Eye:


Goldie London:




Myself and blogger Angela Estelle. Everyone is wearing baseball caps as a fashion statement these days; I love how Angela changed it up and wore the jersey instead!
Zareen:


Lucy Loves Ethel:


Carole McClellan:

This vest looks so utterly luxurious and cozy!
Theresa Chen:




Pouneh Askarian:


Fever:


Isn't blogger Tairalyn's tulle skirt amazing? And she made it herself! I can't wait for her to put up the DIY post so I can make one myself too!

Clearly leather is here to stay! (I swear we didn't co-ordinate this!) The bloggers here rocking the trend (from left to right): Alison of Styling My Life and Ivy of This Is What We Do.
See you on the runway, Vancouver!
I'll be taking the night off tonight, but I'll be back at the shows Sunday to give you all the highlights of Day 5 at Vancouver Fashion Week.
Happy Styling! xo
~Britta