Coveting: Glamorous Green

What I love about Pinterest is that, over time, patterns emerge, and even if you can't really describe your taste, eventually it appears before you like a slowly completing jigsaw puzzle.

 Oscar PR Girl

Anne Sage

 Who What Wear

I had no idea I was so drawn to emerald green, polka dots, slate black and faux fur, but in the past few days I've pinned these three gorgeous styles, so there ya go. And now I am obsessed with replicating this glamorous color ensemble!

And PS - my wedding looked almost exactly like my Getting Hitched board if you are curious!

Style icon: Miss Piggy

This little piggy went to Polyvore.

 She translates, no?

I am a dork.


Miss Piggy via Roxy in the City, Outfit via Polyvore

Boldness becomes her

As long as I live, I will never love another hat as much as I love this one.

Cherry perfection.

via From me to you

Clever thinking

Not sure what to wear? When in doubt, this is the ticket: aqua tie dye maxi skirt, celery flats, gauzy sweater the color of whipped cream and a floppy hat. 

via Making Magique

Bonus points for perching somewhere fabulous (but the checkout stand of the local grocery store would work too).

Maybe she's born with it

I'm just crazy about mustard with a red lip.

Works every time.

Photo via The Celebrity Dresses

Outfit of the day

Coral. I need to go put on some coral. How gorgeous is this color on her:

via Girls with Curves

Stunning.

Dress like a Popcicle, feel like a million bucks

The sun came out yesterday just in time for the weekend, and Adam and I hopped on our bikes and went for a spin around the city (including the gorgeous Stanley Park seawall). Halfway round we stopped for cold beers and warm halibut tacos on a patio. It was probably one of the best days of my year so far.

I wore my cut off jean shorts and a tshirt, but at home I changed into a hot pink skirt and hot orange tank top, inspired by these dashing photos:

via Sterling Style

via Christine Martinez

What a fantastic trend. I felt like a Popsicle and it was wonderful. Let me know if you try it too, eh?

Happy Monday folks! (And Happy Memorial Day American folks!)

PS: My $50-and-under picks for this trend at Polyvore

I spy with my little eye

Regardez! A bathing beauty in a life jacket, sunning herself on the sea.

That's right, in a life jacket. Did you miss it? Look again:

 

Yes, that waist-hugging (and dare I say flattering) belt is actually a BandeauBelt, an innovative take on the old-fashioned bulky personal floatation device, submitted to a redesign competition by Vancouver's own Dana Ramler and Kathleen Westerhout. 

As a former lifeguard, I and kind of obsessed with water safety. And a PFD you can look like a pinup in? That's an all-round win. 

via lululemon lab

High/Low Fashion Chef

I'm in the market for a springtime jacket in either leather or suede (or faux), and while browsing Net-a-Porter for "if I win the lottery" pieces, I saw two cute looks that I really like for spring.

Exhibit A: $2982.50 for the whole look (not including boots or cuff, which aren't available yet)

Exhibit B: $2910.00 for the whole look

I love having a few more expensive pieces in an outfit, but wearing four times my rent on my body all day long seems a bit excessive. So I created my own budget looks! Hooray!

Exhibit A: rip off On a budget

Exhibit B: On a budget

 Both of these outfits are so easy to recreate. They're both going in my fashion recipe book!

Fashion chef

I heard some great advice a few weeks ago that has really stuck with me. A stylist on the Rachael Ray show suggested that, when getting dressed, to approach your closet like a chef approaches a kitchen. Don't just throw whatever you have together. Go in with an idea, a "recipe", and put the recipe together using the "ingredients" (clothes) you have. Then spice it up to suit your taste.

That's pretty easy, right? The hard part is finding a few really good "recipes" that work on your own body and that you like. But once I started looking at outfits in this frame, I kind of got the hang of it.

Starting with The Basics (capital B), I love the look of dark pants, striped shirt and solid scarf seen here on Kendi:

And again on Jessica:

 

This is an easy look to recreate and looks super polished. Plus, I can mix it up with a trench, heels, jewelry, whatever I feel like. It's going in the recipe book!

Now moving on to something a bit more complicated: Blazer, blouse, jeans, statement accessory, booties.  Again, still not rocket science, but it looks good on Miss Melissa here and I think it would be pretty easy to recreate:

 

I'm going to keep my eyes open for more recipes to recreate. 

Vancouver transitional style

Loving this look: warm enough to wear in these pre-spring months, cool enough to wear downtown.

The perfect transition from winter to spring - as long as the rain holds off. I love casual style!


Via Vancouver style blog extraordinaire, Style Quotient

Casual style

Casual style is my biggest fashion struggle. I do fine on nights-out (cocktail dress, done), but days-out are another story. Plus, being curvy it's hard to find inspiration since most fashionistas tend to be teeny-tiny.

I hesitate to use the term "curvy" when talking about Kim Kardashian, since she's about 90lbs soaking wet and round as a Popsicle stick. But compared to other celebrities, she does have a booty and some hips, so I'll just pretend for the purposes of this post.

And I love her rich-girl style! Check it out.

Neutrals upon neutrals upon neutrals:

Easy-peasy jeans & t-shirt plus show ikat jacket & necklace:

Fresh and fun in a black sundress with (shocker) flats:

 

Love these looks. 

via Celebrity Style Guide

Going (all) out

In the last two years, Adam and I have been invited to now fewer than thirteen weddings. We've been busy. I guess we're just at that age! This year should be a bit quieter - we're only invited to one, and it's in town, in September. 

Besides what we're going to do with all that free time and money in the summer, the most important question to me is, obviously, what am I going to wear to that one fabulous wedding? The event is black tie, Adam's a groomsman and it's being held at one of the chicest venues in town. Talk about a trifecta of excuses to splurge on a fabulous gown. 

I'm sure in reality my budget will be more of the "borrow a gown and wear my mom's pearls" variety, but let's pretend I had an unlimited slush fund for this, shall we? If I did, I'd probably slip on, oh, I don't know:

A paneled silk-satin coral gown with quartz earrings, a deco brooch and gold accessories.

Or a vintage inspired peach silk and leather gown with lace knuckle box and garnet inspired details.

 

Or maybe a pleated silk-chiffon gown with begonia patent bow pumps and a twinkly clutch.

Or a Nile blue silk chiffon gown accented with peridot and diamond jewelry and paired strappy thin gold sandals. 

Sigh, a girl can dream. 

 Check out my Polyvore for shopping links

Dress of the (Wednes)day

Check out this incredible gown by Claire Pettibone. It's got sleeves, color, feminine details, classic lines, modern fit and unexpected details, all in one dress. 

 via Style Me Pretty

Perfect for a late September wedding in this elegant Chinese Garden, don't you think?

Heading to the cape

I love the old-money look of a camel cape, but I wasn't sure if my short, curvy frame could wear it. But then here comes Jay Miranda, and she's Pulling. It. Off.

 

Am I right?

Work it!

via Fatshionable

Smile

Note to self: why not throw a little color on?

 via Prepfection

via That Kind of Woman

via C'est ca

via Q's Daydream Inspirations

Couldn't hurt, could it?

Lovely thing

I just love this watery blue gem.

 via Style Me Pretty

Classic and darling.

We interrupt this weekend...

To propose that nothing says "lady" like skirts, heels, long loose hair and lots of accessories.

 via The Sartorialist

via PRP

What to wear on your next trip to Milan, in case you were stressed about it.

Rainy day love letter

Dear Hunter rain boots,

It took me five years of trudging around town in my second-hand hardware store galoshes, whining about my sore feet and calf chafing, before I could accept the fact that you and I were meant to be together.

 

via What I Wore

 I balked at your price tag ($150 for rubber?!), but secretly admired your stylish little label on the cute girls about town.

  via Emerson Made

The day I tried you on was love at first step. Your thick, cushiony rubber makes me want to jump around, and you are just the right balance of practical and cute.

 via Metaphysical Heart

Now that you're mine, I walk with confidence, no longer dodging puddles and splashes but charging through like a bull on wheels.

I think we'll be together a long, long time.

xoxo Sarah

Most stylish girls on the Internet

Reading my 101 in 1001 list, two items jump out to me as really, really difficult. I think you'd be surprised that the two tasks I'm dreading most are: 

56. Determine my personal style philosophy
57. Reduce my wardrobe to pieces that reflect my style

It took me months to pick out rain boots, yet I've challenged myself with defining my style philosophy, and editing my wardrobe to reflect this in only 1001 days? Madness!

Luckily, I have the Internet. To help me get started on determining my style, here's a round-up of some of my most favorite outfits on some of the most stylish bloggers In The Universe and how these outfits would fit my life. (Ed note: I just reread this and realized I describe myself "walking around" in almost every outfit. This is pretty reflective of my life so I'm going to leave it in, but I wanted to give a shout out to redundancy.)

Mixing prints when out out for a stroll downtown on a sunny Saturday:

via Cupcakes and Cashmere

Modern and lady-like look for meeting Adam's parents for Lebanese food in Gastown:

via Karla's Closet

Going for a stroll in Stanley Park with my girlfriends (followed by a rum cocktail at The Pirate Pub under the Burrard Street Bridge): 

via Jen Loves Kev

For hanging out on the rooftop pool of the Fairmont Waterfront, overlooking Vancouver Harbour:

 via Fatshionable

And for meeting Adam for an evening stroll and patio supper:
 

PS These are shorts via Fatshionable

For walking to the financial district for a meeting with a supplier:

 

 via What I Wore

and for a walk on Robson Street afterward to pick up some new lip stain at MAC:

via What I Wore

The perfect ensemble for a working-from-home day lunch hour walk:

via Kendi Everyday

And for a frocktail party with the girls:

  via The-Anthology

One thing these ensembles share is that they're complete right down to the perfect accessories. I think that's where I'll start: paying attention to detail. Hopefully the rest will follow.

P.S. Kendi's Create a Working Closet series is just brilliant and I'm following it verbatim. Check it out: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4