Horse + Nail

Sometimes you find out about great fashion in the strangest of places. At work the other day, someone had left a newspaper section on a table in the lunchroom and I picked it up and was flipping through it. To my delight, there were a couple articles on fashion and one featured a write-up about the great handbags from Horse + Nail. The reasoning for the inclusion of this brand in my local newspaper is that the designer is somehow connected to my local football team, the Calgary Stampeders (the pretty red bag is named after them and has a charm of their logo).

I tucked the name away in the head and today remembered to check out the website. What lovely pieces! Not to mention that the photographs incorporate my other great love besides fashion: horses (oh course, this doesn't include my family or bf)! I love these photos and the bags are just gorgeous. I love how horse tack has been incorporated into the designs (the metal pieces that make up the handles are actually horse bits). Definately a great up and coming handbag designer. (Photos from horseandnail.com).

New clothes!

I've had a few new additions to my wardrobe lately. Saturday morning I finished a brown and blue summer dress (only about ten minutes before I rushed out the door wearing it). When I saw my mom later, she told me she loved my dress (before I even told her it was one of my projects), so I think that's a pretty good compliment.

Saturday was the big day when I got my car (that's why my parents came, my dad co-signed my loan)! She is so pretty and her name is Suzy (because the first 3 letter in the license plate are SZY). I love her so much!

After Suzy was offically mine, my parents, the bf and I went to the mall because my mom's phone wasn't working right (turns out it was broken). I went to Aritzia because they had improved their sales and spend my gift certificate I had gotten for graduating. I got this adorable top (which I can wear as a dress I think, although my mom wasn't so sure) by Wilfred (my favourite label at Aritzia). I love the details and pleating at the front and back. I also got a pair of dress pants by Talula. The photo really doesn't do them much justice because when I put them on, they fit absolutely perfectly (which is rare, since my body is kind of wonky-shaped). I only ended up spending $3.75 more than my gift certificate, so I didn't even break the bank.

Also, Monday was my volunteering interview for Alberta Fashion Week. In my online application, I mentioned I ran a blog and I mentioned it again in my interview and the guy going the interview beside me must have been listening in, since he said "Oh, you're the one with the blog. I like that." I hope I get to do something cool volunteering at the Fashion Week! I wore my new top with some skinny jeans and gladiator sandals (sorry, I didn't take any pictures).

Last, but not least, I have some deals for all of you. Margo Morrison (designer of the beautiful earring I got in a recent giveaway) is offering 15% off to Pudding and Pie readers if you enter the code PP09 into the notes at checkout. It may not show up right away, but the price will be adjusted. Also, Rilee and Lo are offering 30% off their jewelry if you enter the code HOT30. Lots of great deals on great jewelry!

One last thing, my camera is on it's last legs (I dropped in a few weeks ago and it's been going downhill since). I can take a photo, but after that the screen goes black and I have to turn it off and and on a few times before I can take another picture. It's a huge pain in the butt and I know soon it will just stay black forever! I better start saing for a new one!

Pudding and Pie and Chickdowntown Giveaway!

Yes ma'am, it's Pudding and Pie's first ever giveaway. This prize comes from the great people at chickdowntown. It is your choice of any BB Dakota item (except for the Bella jacket)! You can choose from a variety of really great pieces. I especially like the black and red palette they have for fall. These pieces would look mighty fine hanging in my wardrobe.

So, here's the rules:

1. You must be in the US (sorry to all my lovely internationals, I know how it feels).

2. You must post a comment relating to BB Dakota or one of the other great brands that chickdowntown.com carries. One of these other great brands is Roja's Clothing, which has an amazing black shirtdress and tube skirt I am totally coveting!

That's it! The contest will run for the next two week and closes at midnight (mountain time) August 10th. Good luck everyone!

Also, check out chickdowntown's Facebook page and Twitter page! They always twitter great pictures and cool stuff!

Youtube Sketches

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, but it's finally my weekend, which is going to be Friday/Saturday from now on, as I work a Sunday to Thursday shift. I will try to post during the week though, because I missed you all so much!

Anyway, as it was my day off today, I spent some time on Youtube and stumbled across a bunch of videos of some really cool fashion sketches. The Youtube channel is magelvl and here are a few of my favourite sketches. Most of them are from my favourite of his collections, French Crow, although the last one (no hat) is from his Lanvin inspired collection. (Photos are from magelvl's Youtube videos).

I think these are really cool and I love the elongated leg and emphasis on the clothes rather than faces. Also, he mentioned on his page that his next collection is going to be inspired by Draco Malfoy, which is totally exciting for a huge Harry Potter nerd like me! What could be more fashionable than old money and wizardry? Here is the video of French Crow, my favourite collection. I hope you check them out!

Great Day with Family

My mom and dad unexpectedly came into the city today, along with two of my nieces. It was a great surprise! I'm very close with my family, so I'm always happy to see them. The main thing we did was very exciting: car shopping! After 2 and a half hours, I think we've bought a car (as long as all the financing goes through)! It's a Honda Civic and if everything goes well, it will be mine! While I am very excited about this, I'm also going to be incredibly broke! I am looking at my budget and it is not a pretty picture! But I am still excited!

After that, we went grocery shopping and my parents bought the bf and I a bunch of food, so hopefully we can survive a while on limited grocery shopping! I'll start by living on fruit and tea, then move onto the dry goods. Healthy? Probably not, but then I won't waste any food. Plus if the bf's brother's birthday party tomarrow and his mom (a wonderful cook) is making dinner and usually we score a few leftovers from her.

After that, we went out for dinner at Montana's. I will not be going back anytime soon. We arrived and were seated, then we waited over fifteen minutes and still no one had come to take our drink orders. Finally my mom asked another waitress, who said she hadn't seen ours, but took over our table. Thank goodness. She was a really good waitress, but after all that waiting, it took forever to get our meals. All of the adult meals were good, but both my nieces ordered cheese pizza and it was terrible. It looked gross and my one niece only managed one tiny piece. my dad tried it and said it tasted as bad as it looked. And it cost $6.99! I guess that included a chocolate milk and ice cream for dessert, but everything there was very expensive. Oh well, at least I got to spend time with my family. This is a picture of the bf, one of my nieces and me. Shirt is kersh and earring are Margo Morrison.

As well, my mom just got back from a holiday through Montana, North Dakota, Manitoba and Saskatewan. And she brought me presents. The first is a teapot set, because she accidently broke the set I got in the gift exchange at Christmas. Also, I got a fashion book (she knows how much I love it), Hello Kitty stickers and some American candy we don't have here (some is for my bf. He got a science book as well).

Have an enjoyable rest of the weekend. Not me though, I'm off to work tomarrow. But it may be one of my last trips there on the bus!

Off-Runway Style

You would think that with all their exposure to fashion, models would have a great every-day style. And sometimes they do! Lately these catwalk stars were spotted looking great in their own combinations. Sigrid Argen and Natasha Poly show off great casual looks (Natasha's hair is done for a show) and Siri Tollerod shows off a great dressed-up outfit. (Photos from style.com)

A Distinct Lack of Outfit posts

I think you'll be noticing a distinct lack of outfit posts and here's why. My new job is working in a lab processing samples. Since some of the samples are preserved with nasty chemicals (for example, today I added choroform to some samples), PPE (personal protective equipment) is required. This means a lab coat, safety glasses (which fit dorkily over my regular glasses, as contacts aren't allow incase they trap chemicals on your eye), rubber gloves when handling samples and, possibly, steel toes. Also, long pants (or at least to mid-calf, which isn't flatter on me) are required and fully enclosed shoes (if I'm not wearing steel toes).

Clearly, my fashion options for work are very limited. Also, my boss told me not to bother wearing nice clothes, because they'll probably just get ripped anyways. So the only times with wardrobe freedom for me will be weekends (or days off once I'm trained and working shift) or after work.

Just a heads up in case you're wondering where the outfits went. And here is a photo of my basic uniform. Yeah, it's pretty awesome. (photo from explorehealthcareers.org)

More Couture

Now that I've shared my favourite show, here are looks from other shows that I loved. (Photos from style.com)

Alexis Mabille - I like this dress and think it's very pretty. It may not be the most fashion forward dress we saw at the couture shows, but it's still mighty cute.

Armani Prive - I love the shape of this dress. The decoration looks like a flower or a ride-along alien or something. The colour is gorgeous and there's a hat!

Chanel - I love the 1st black outfit. With the train and the jacket and the skirt, it's perfect! The 2nd outfit is pretty. It reminds me of something a couture witch would wear.

Elie Saab - I absolutely love this dress. Vlada looks like an angel in it and now I want to too!

John Paul Gaultier - I love both these looks, even though they are very different. I want that sequiny sailor top and the little sailor hat so bad. I would wear them the pieces. The other look I am completely in love with, but would probably never wear. But boy would I love it!

Valentino - This dress was by far my favourite from Valentino. If I were to imagine a dress based on the word mystery, I think this would be it.

The Usual Favourite

I'm a little slow on posting about the couture collections, so you may have already seen them and/or read a number of people's opinions on them. Here's some looks from my favourite, which was, as usual, Christian Dior. Dior is almost always my favourite couture collection and fall 2009 is no different. While I wasn't totally in love with the lingerie style (I would have liked to see more clothes), the clothes Galliano did show were beautiful. And the hats! Hats have a total couture feeling for me and I was definately not disappointed in that department. My favourite is the gorgeous purple one. The other thing I loved about this collection were the beautiful colours. As someone who loves colour, I am in love with this beautiful collection. (Photos from style.com)

A Change in the Winds

The title of this post is a bit corny, but I still think that it's fitting. First of all, it is bloody windy, which you can probably see from the photos. Secondly, my luck seems to be changing. I'm no longer an unemployed university grad. That's right, I got a job and I start Monday. Woot!

Also, if you checked out my Maybelline Pulse Perfection vblog post, I (and Matchstick) have a favour to ask you. If you don't mind filling out a survey for them, they will donate $2.00 to the Redwood Women's Shelter in Toronto. I strongly suggest you did; it's good karma!

Dress: Sisley
Jacket: Espirt
Pulse: ??
Tank: Tommy Hilfiger Jeans
Sandals: Feet First
Necklace: gift
Earrings: Margo Morrison

Earrings arrival!

So when I checked the post today, I was in for an exciting surprise. The Margo Morrison earrings I won from Pomergranate & Patchouli had arrived! I was so excited to open the package and try them on. And, as a pleasant surprise, they were enclosed in an adorable little box that I just had to photograph! I love the little blue flower and am saving it for next time I give a gift. Also, margo even sent a little handwritten note, which was very sweet. When I opened the box, I was very happy with the earrings. Not only are they pretty, they are also high quality. They have a loop closure (I'm not actually sure what it's supposed to be called) and with some earrings like that, I've found the loop doesn't close that well, but these beauties just stap right in. I love them so much and will probably include them in an outfit post later this week.

Best Dress of June 2009

Sorry this post is a little late, I was spending some time with my Mom and her internet connection is slow to sift through tons of pictures, so I had to wait until I got back to the city. Anyway, here are my picks for the five bested dressed ladies of June (Megan Fox nearly made the list simply based on the sheer number of photos taken of her. But not quite.)

Dita Von Teese - For the second month in a row, Dita made the list. What can I say, I love her style. It's so pretty and how I would dress if I was rich. I just love almost everything she wears.

Isla Fisher - Isla has been out quite a bit lately, helping to promote her husband's newest film, Bruno. How anyone seen it yet? Is it good? I just want to see the part where he sneaks onto a runway. Anyway, she looks equally as cute dressed casually to take her daughter on a pony ride. She looks so good in green!

Jessica Alba - I think I'm becoming more and more of a fan of Jessica's style. I never used to think of her as overly stylish, but she's shown up in the top five two months in a row. I think she looks great in both these dresses.

Maggie Grace - Both of these are fancy looks, but I think she looks lovely in both. I don't think I've come across a picture of her casual looks, but I am excited to see what that looks like too.

Miranda Kerr - Miranda made the list by the skin of her teeth, mainly because I don't love the nude shoes with the plaid skirt and yellow top. The other look, however, is flawless and I am so jealous of that dress.

Honourable mentions (this month's list is long): AnnaLynne McCord, Cameron Diaz, Hilary Rhoda, Lucilla Bonaccorsi, Megan Fox, Rihanna and Sienna Miller. (Photos from style.com, justjared.com and celebrity-gossip.net).