Up and Down

(Clothes: diy wrap sweater - club monaco; helmut lang shorts - Neiman Marcus; jacket - HM; monsterkookie heart necklace - Etsy; juicy couture gloves - the Bay; hunter boots - Armadillo) @ Moore Park

I am not a fashion person but I am a shopping person. But I do I have some love/hate feelings about it. Shopping can be superficial ...but that's kind of what I like about it. Life is sometimes so serious and work can sometimes be so stressful, it's nice to have a very simple and fun outlet to express yourself.

Admittedly, this month I totally went overboard (too many good sales and too much time sick in bed). And after weeks of self indulging, I am weary of all the excessive consumption - it's just so easy to go overboard. When this happens: I pause, and I like to reevaluate my actions just to make sure they still reflect my priorities. I read that article about the woman who pared down to 100 personal items (she has like 3 pairs of shoes and 2 plates or something). I do think the number is a bit arbitrary and the whole concept too extreme, but I am enamoured by the idea of a perfectly efficient wardrobe. This is how I feel this month ...probably until next month when I see a new pair of shoes I want! ...Just being honest.

A Misstep

(Clothes: dress - Victorias Secret; socks - Fcuk; sandals - Browns; diy spiked bucket bag - Zara; heart-shaped wristlet - Bebe) @ Leaside

You would think after my previous heart-shaped purse incident (yes, there was another), I would have learned my lesson. But instead I end up with this useless heart-shaped wristlet from Bebe. (I must be a sucker for all accessories of miniature sizes.) Although super cute, it is also super small and awkwardly shaped - too small and awkward to even fit a credit card. Any item that makes me feel like an idiot for buying it, definitely has to be a shopping 'miss' ...right?

Always a Pedestrian

 (Clothes: blouse - topshop.com; diy cutoff shorts - levi; bag - corinna and foley; boots - bcbg) @ Home

Found this pic from last Thursday. I wore this to meet a group of friends in Parkdale at CafeTaste for an informal wine and cheese tasting event (so delicious, I definitely recommend!). After hours of very loud and very funny girlish conversation, I jumped on a streetcar to meet Jon and his friends at Sin and Redemption. Confession: I am a complete streetcar amateur! When I finally got off the streetcar, I was blocks past where I needed to be, and had to grab a cab to get me back on schedule. It was ridiculous! ...I can really only navigate Toronto from the pedestrian level.

Also, I've been loving these boots off! So I took a close up so you could see just how lovely they really are.

Time Well Spent

I've been sick most of the week so I've had more time than usual to do a little online shopping. There are some amazing sales out there and surprisingly, there is still a lot of selection left. I received an email from Neiman Marcus about some new additions to their Sale section and was shocked to find a lot of the stuff on my wish list ...and in my size! I filled my cart and I filtered it till I ended up with these three (kind of similar - I just noticed that) black basics all @ 65% off:

(Bird by Juicy Couture butter leather shorts)

(Helmut Lang gathered twill shorts)

(Elizabeth and James silk paper bag skirt - actually in black but I couldn't find a picture)

Is it weird that I have a separate email address dedicated to shopping? I personally think it's quite brilliant (but then again, I might be kind of crazy) - it's so I can add my name to any list and get updates about sales and stuff without it filling up my personal mail ...basically, a way to separate shopping spam.

A 70's World

(Clothes: vintage dress - from my mom; purse - Corinna and Foley; shoes - Coach) @ Leaside

The concept of vintage clothes confused my mom - she was perplexed by the idea that I would pay $$ to wear someone else's old clothes. It was only until I wore this 'Chosen Ones' dress to Christmas morning, did she finally realize the potential of second hand.

Inspired, my mom recently rummaged through an old trunk she had in the basement and found a collection of her own dresses from the 60s and 70s. They are all beautiful and in fantastic condition, and fit perfectly too!!! So I took this maxi dress and shortened it to a cute mini. I was a bit sad to see that much material go, but the excess hem may make a nice scarf or something.

Just One Night

(Clothes: talula babaton dress - Aritzia; boots - Bcbg) @ Home

A group of us went to Nota Bene last night to meet a friend that was visiting from Chicago. We had a great time - lots of interesting conversation and lots of bottles of wine. Well ....mistakes do happen, considering my impaired judgment. (No, not anything you're thinking! I'm too old for that.) Jon was half asleep when I got home, and as I crawled into bed he muttered something about Forward having a sale on Alexander Wang purses. Slightly under the influence, I ordered the Donna Hobo purse without even glancing at the price. I woke up this morning, confused ...and wondering, "Did I buy an Alexander Wang purse last night?"

Luckily, this was truly a great sale - the purse was 40% off and in the new mocha colour I already had my eye on. I just get really nervous about spontaneous purchases. I had a whole list of brown hobo purses that I wanted to investigate before making a sound and well-informed decision. But now that I've accepted that the hobo is mine, I'm actually pretty excited about it. But a warning: drinking and shopping? V dangerous!

Haha. The funniest thing about the night? That I still remembered/managed to take that outfit picture!

Brainwashed, Ssense Update

(Clothes: rag and bone dress - Holt Renfrew; purse - Foley and Corinna; necklace - Tiffany, boots - BCBG) @ Home

I was a bit under the weather last weekend but still managed to fit in a little bit of shopping (of course). Our last few shopping trips have been led by Jon to find the perfect chinos. This search took us to Nomad and Delphic and resulted in one pair of Dr. Denim's and another pair of J Lindenberg's. Still unsatisfied, we spent much of Saturday hunting down the elusive Wings and Horns brand. My brother took Jon and I under his wing and guided us through less familiar territory such as TNT Blu - where we got off track and contemplated if $1200 was too much to spend on a winter coat (we all agreed: Yes! ...But I think I saw my brother hesitate - I have a feeling I'll be seeing him with a new Wooyoungmi coat soon). As for Jon, his search continues.

Anyway, one thing led to another and I ended up with a few purchases that day (blush). Somehow my brother's obsession with Rag and Bone led to Jon's obsession with Rag and Bone, and  it all ended with me purchasing this Rag and Bone shirt dress ...It's such a twisted web.

@ Berczy Park

We took this on the way home from dinner at the new Oliver and Bonnacini. I know that the lighting is  awful (I'm going to chalk it up to our poor skills for taking pictures at night) but for some reason, I still really like how it turned out.

Ssense Update:

So Ssense sent me this letter in response to my defective zipper.

Hi Melinda,

We can offer 10% discount for the dress.

Otherwise, you can return it at our cost and we will try to fix it, and we send it back to you.

Please inform us as how you would like to proceed.

Best regards,

Patrick

.....At first, I thought this was very reasonable, but now that I've had some time to think, I'm really disappointed that they didn't offer an exchange or refund. This dress was originally over $500 (I didn't pay exactly that - thank god for the midsummer sale, but it was still an expensive purchase, atleast to me), and so I expected a certain level of quality, and assumed the broken zipper was probably just a one-off defect. Ok, I get that. This is my problem with Ssense's response: even if the zipper is repaired and looks like the dress I paid for, I still don't get the quality of the workmanship I originally thought I was purchasing ...Does that make sense? Or am I just being too difficult?

Because I hate the hassle, I took the 10% discount and got the dress repaired myself. I did write back to let them know that I was disappointed with the options they gave me and why I thought that an exchange or refund was more appropriate.

All and all, I would put their customer service somewhere in the middle. I guess I just expected a little better.

I Was Trapped

Remember my purchase from Ssense? Well, I bought this Elizabeth and James LBD for 50% off. I wanted a dress that was simple but still interesting.

After I received it in the mail, I tried it on - the zipper was a little sticky where the fabric meets the leather. But after a bit of persistence, I was able to zip it all the way up ...then the zipper split! The teeth separated below the slider and was stuck! (Which, by the way, made it very challenging to get the dress off - can you just imagine? It was actually pretty comedic.) Well, I emailed the company and they're apparently going to contact me in a few days - hopefully to allow an exchange or credit me so I can repair the zipper. This is one of my first times dealing with Ssense so this will definitely determine if I will shop with them again. There online store is pretty fantastic (and Canadian!), and has a really good reputation, so I hope hope hope they make this situation as hassle free as possible.

Sitting and Drinking Orange

(Clothes:  dress - Topshop.com; necklace - Tiffany; boots - Bcbg; ring - present from my mom) @ Thompson Hotel

Jon and I love going to hotel bars - in fact, they're probably our most favorite type of places to go. It may seem a bit strange but they generally have a pretty chic atmosphere, a good selection of cocktails and snacks, are open 7 days a week and are way more intimate than your typical downtown lounge. So after we met up with a friend at Bar Wellington, we decided to check out the new Thompson hotel (which was a very small hop, skip and jump away). Although the bar area was very modern and chic, the layout was a bit awkward and the concept a bit too open - like we were having drinks in the lobby area ...which I guess we kind of were.  Jon took these pictures in the midst of an animated conversation with my friend K.

Civic Mash Up

The long weekend consisted mostly of different variations of food and drink and friends - a mish-mash of events that required a mish-mash of outfits. I also finally got around to reorganizing my closet. The focus was on the 3 Rs! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! (But there were some exceptions ...see below.)

(Clothes: sweater dress - Abercrombie and Fitch; socks - American Apparel; vintage docs - Cinderella; marc by marc jacobs shoulder bag - Shopbop) @ Little Portugal

(Clothes: topshop shirt - Jonathan and Olivia; shorts - Club Monaco; purse - Gucci; boots - Stone Ridge) @ Niagara on the Lake

(Clothes: dress - Topshop.com; belt - Fcuk; necklace - Tiffany; purse - Coach; boots - Bcbg) @ Finn McCools

(Clothes: vintage jumper - Meat Market) @ Home

Brunch at Saving Grace, wine tasting at Niagara on the Lake, patio hopping around the city, purging my closet of ridiculous pieces I never wear.