Best Dressed - Critics Choice Awards

It is the start of Awards Season!  And first up is the Critics Choice Awards.  These are my favourite looks from the awards.

#5 - Nicole Kidman wearing Brandon Maxwell

Cutouts were huge at the awards.  I love the way this v-neckline perfectly frames Kidman's face.  And not to mention I love Brandon Maxwell, he is one of my favourite designers, his dresses are perfection and they really make any woman who wears them look amazing.

#4 - Kirsten Dunst wearing Valentino

I love the way this dress fits Dunst, it hangs right.  I think the tiers of fabric add texture along with the sparkles.  I probably would have chosen a different shoe, maybe silver.

#3 - Lily Collins wearing Elie Saab

Collins went all out in this look and that's what makes it so great.  The dark hair, the dark eyes and lips, all goes perfectly with this bell sleeved lace dress.

#2 - Jessica Biel wearing Elie Saab

Biel doesn't make appearances often but when she does she does wow.  This whole boho is perfect, her long hair with bangs looks great with that deep v neckline.  She is also minimal on the jewelry, and the coloring is really great with her hair colour.

#1 - Gina Rodriguez wearing Safiyaa

I have never heard of this designer, but the colour is perfect for Rodriguez.  The cut is also great with the darting at the bottom.  Rodriguez is also not your typical hollywood dress size of 0, but this dress is so flattering on her curves.

Holiday Gift Guide - What I'm obsessing over

So most gift guides are super specific, under a certain $ amount, gift guide for him, for her, for the hostess or kids.  I just wanted to create a list of all of the things that I have discovered that I am obsessing over and super excited to share with you!  So here goes...

 I have been eyeing the Daily Greatness Journal ever since I started following them on instagram.  A bit pricey I have needed an excuse to get one and Christmas is the perfect time.  They have a couple different options on their site, one for business, one for wellness, one for parents.  I'm hoping to get this one below.

Daily Greatness Journal $44.95

I have been trying to be more aware of photographers lately and I discovered Peter Lindbergh.  He has just released a coffee table style book called Peter Lindbergh - A different vision on fashion photography, and it is definitely on my list.  As a fashion photographer he has captured many fashion icons and the book is said to show images that have not been retouched.  I love a good coffee table book!  

Amazon $69.99

Candles are a great gift, but I'm never really sure what scent people will like this Cire Trudon Candle comes highly recommended.  We received one last Christmas and it is amazing, it really should be for the price, but it is well worth it.  The scent that we received was Ernesto, but I'm sure they're all great.  It is probably the best candle that I have ever had in regards to actually filling the room with the scent and it lasts.

Saks Fifth Avenue $95.00

Who doesn't love cheese, we do, my husband doesn't know, but I have already gotten him this subscription for christmas.  Murray's cheese of the month club, you can get it for 4 months, 6 months, or 12 months.  Cheesemongers specially pick 3 cheeses and send them right to your doorstep every month, if only they included crackers, fig jam, and fruit.
 $275 - $775

Murray's $275 - $775

I discovered this jewelry designer when were in London.  Monica Vinader is a British designers, but is quickly becoming popular stateside.  I really like her rings, they are simple, but elegant, she uses different gems.  I'm a fan of this one using pink quartz.

Petra Stacking Ring $135.00

  

No holiday party would be complete without a great bag and this Velvet Clutch from Anthropologie is the perfect option to go from day to evening.  Velvet is one of the biggest trends right now and I love the cute bow.  Either colour will work with most other colours, pair the grey with darker colours and the yellow with bright and jewel tones.

Anthropologie $275.00

These Frye Booties are so versatile, you can wear with a skirt, midi dress, cropped flares, and with a peep toe these would look great with socks or coloured tights.  

The Frye Company $348.00

This Australian brand is one I have been wanting to try.  A travel set is the best way to try beauty products, especially ones that are expensive for the full size.  Aesop Jet set kit offers travel sizes of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion.

Aesop $37.00

This year has really been the year of the sweatshirt.  Right now I'm loving this one from Maje.  It's perfect for the holidays and for the rest of season.  The red trim has a very varsity blues feeling to it.

Maje $210.00

And last but not least, if you have a little extra money to spend, this Loewe coin purse should definitely be on your list.  Some may find it a bit juvenile, but I think it's quirky in a polished way and would add a bit of fashion to any look.  This Spanish brand is known for their leather goods, and at $380 you know the quality is good.

Loewe $380.00

Holiday Gift Guide - Stocking Stuffers

I absolutely love a good gift guide, so I thought putting together my perfect gift guide would be a great way to get back into updating the blog!  I'm going to try to do a series of gift guides in follow up to the holiday.

First up stocking stuffers!  These are my favourites, they are little, unexpected surprises, not usually things you asked for, but so excited to see what you get.  My mom always did a good job with these!

Top 10 Stocking Stuffers

The holiday isn't complete without the gift of socks.  Happy Socks, they are a Swedish company with great prints and great quality socks.  I love these styles!

Origami $12.00 | Faded Snake $14.00 | Iris Apfel Birds $14.00

This dish from Anthropologie is perfect for holding everything from, loose change to keys.  The London one is my favourite, maybe because I'm missing my favourite city!

Ceramic Skyline Trinket Dish $16.00

Hot chocolate is the best winter treat, with marshmallows and whip cream and mine with almond milk!  Williams Sonoma has the perfect all in one, with chocolate, marshmallow, carmel, and peppermint.

Jumbo Marshmallow on a stick $5.95

With all of the electronics that we have and all of the cords it's great to have a tidy way to keep them all organized.  These are perfect, at Paper Source, I love the cute sayings!  All you do is gather up your cord and wrap these around the centre.

Scalloped Cord Keeper $8.95

Lindt chocolate is my favourite, and this cute house filled with chocolate is perfect for any stocking.

Lindor House $12.00

With winter here the air is so dry and I, so easily, get dry, chapped lips.  I recently tried this lip conditioner from Caudile, and within hours my lips were back to feeling great.  I bought mine at Birch Box, but you can also get it at Sephora.

Caudalie Lip Conditioner $12.00

Another great essential for the winter is a great moisturizer and my favourite is The Body Shop's body butter.  The scents I really like are mango, fuji green tea, and grapefruit.  The mini size is perfect for traveling and then you can try a few different scents if you like a bit of variety like me.

Body Butter $7.00

Bauble Bar has these really cute personalized key chains.  You can pick the colour and the saying that you want to appear on the key chain.  I'm trying to figure out something super motivational to put on mine, like Live Laugh Love.

Acrylic Custom Keychain $32.00

We love to take photos during the holidays and how cute are these to wear and make your photos that much more fun!  Pick these up at World Market.

Holiday Sun-Stache Sunglasses $9.99

I love Hamilton, I want to share it with everyone I know, Dec 2nd they are releasing Hamilton Mixtape, you can download this on iTunes or get it on Amazon.

The Hamilton Mixtape $14.49

New York Fashion Week - Day 4

I actually had a day off Saturday from shows, but I was still following everything on social media!

My favourites from Day 4 of fashion week are below!

Christian Siriano
Every since Project Runway he has always been a favourite and he is actually one of the only project runway winners, that I know of, who has gone on to have a successful line.  His focus is usually on formal wear.  And this season he showed plus size models in the collection as he designs a line for Lane Bryant.  The collection had a bit of a 50s, South of France vibe and the use of colour was great.  He is also offer 4 of his designs as part of see now buy now on Amazon.com.

Top Looks

Co

I think I was drawn to this collection because of the amazing location they used.  But then looking through the collection the clothes are so lovely.  Beautifully structured pieces that have texture from the ruffles and fullness.  The brand is based in LA, but it has a more East coast sophistication to it, very polished but easy.

Top Looks

Jill Stuart

Generally not a big fan of Jill Stuart, her stuff seems to gear older, and for me I have always associated her with more classic pieces, and luxury basics.  But for SS17 there is definitely a younger feeling to the collection, but I can still see 40+ women wearing it.  I love the pairing of the leggings with the dresses, and the colour combinations.  The dresses had really great silhouettes, a bit of a ballerina 80s feeling to me.  The shoes were also great and well styled with the looks.  There were also a lot of different floral prints used throughout the collection.  Some of them were a bit drab, but I love this print the image below.  

Top Looks

All images were taken from vogue.com

New York Fashion Week - Day 3

Misha Collection
It's day 3 of fashion week and I started my morning at Misha Collections.  I was not familiar with the designer and again had a standing ticket, but managed to get a seat.   The Australia designer focused her collection for SS16 on more formal wear, cocktail dresses, lace jumpsuits, and long dresses.  The collection was beautiful, a lot going on, but it came together.  The designer used lace, feathers, leather, metallics, leopard, and fringe.  The colour palette was dark for SS, using reds, black, grey and a bit of white.

Photos taken by me during the show, not the best, the girl that was sitting in front of me kept putting her arm up to take photos.

Tadashi Shoji

In the evening I attended the Tadashi Shoji show which was at another venue and despite having a seat I had to wait in a very long line.  The venue was in the garment district close to Madison Square Garden.  I think everyone and there mother was invited and it was quite a production.  The American -based Japanese designer has a background in costume design and typically designs formal wear.   He also blends landscape art with his designs and this SS17 collection is a vision of rebirth.  The show started with a video of a piece of animated art projected on screens, you can see the image below as a painting.  The collection was pretty stunning and I was so happy I was able to see it in person.  One super exciting, a bit fashion nerd, thing for me with going to a runway show is to be able to see the movement of the garments and when you have a collection with so much life in it, seeing it in person on a model, walking, is the best way to experience it.  I wasn't able to take any photos because even though I had a seat I didn't have the best view for picture taking.  So these are some of my favourite looks from the show.

Top Looks

Jason Wu

Jason Wu is a favourite every season.  And he did not disappoint for SS17.   He showed amazing dresses and used a brighter colour palette.  I loved the floral overlaid dresses and the lace pieces.  

He also used this really cool metallic blue colour, I haven't seen any other designers use it yet this season, but it is a nice alternative to the gold and silver metallics that are trending.  

Top Looks 

Red Valentino

Valentino is one of my all time favourite designers, Red Valentino is a more afford line and I would say gears a bit younger.  For SS17 there was a bit of a boho sol cal feeling mixing crochet with fabrics giving it an overall fresh feeling.  Patterns were a mix of psychedelic and sweet florals.  

Top Looks 

Novis

I loved the colors that Novis used for their SS17 collection.  The clothes also had a lovely texture to them.  And check out the shoes, so consistent with the clothes.

Top Looks

All images taken from vogue.com

Click on the designers name to see full collection.