Welcome To The Jungle

This fall the two predominant jungle animal prints we have and will continue to see are snakeskin and leopard, and I really think it's safe to say that these are my two favourite prints. They continue to come back season after season (even for spring and summer), and because we find them in nature, they truly are timeless. If you wanted to invest in some serious leopard and snakeskin pieces that will last you through the seasons, go for some like the items below, in neutral palettes. From time to time, we will see these prints in crazy colours like bright pink, but their natural colours keep continuing to show up.

If you want to go all out, mix these two prints together in one outfit, but remember to break it up with blocks of colour. For instance, wear the snakeskin bralette with the leopard pencil skirt, but add a brown leather jacket and chunky brown booties. Or opt for the prints in your accessories, like the sunglasses and clutch, while wearing a monochromatic outfit. As well, if you are going to mix the prints, keep them in the same colour family (like both prints in grey or both in brown), and wear one print bigger than the other so they contrast each other (like the big snakeskin print on the blouse and the smaller leopard print on the sunnies).

1. Coat: H&M

2. Clutch: Anya Hindmarch

3. Sunglasses: Freyrs

4. Blouse: Topshop

5. Bralette: Nelly

6. Sandals: Joie

7. Trousers: Lanvin

8. Skirt: Balmain

Toronto Fashion Week

I’m so lucky to be living in Toronto; it’s one of my favourite cities with always so much going on, you’ll never be bored or out of ideas. I’m also lucky that Toronto is the location of World Mastercard Fashion Week, and that I was able to go see a few shows this year. My life has been crazy these past few months (which is also the reason I haven’t posted in a long while), with school, work, and my internship. So it was a nice little break to sit back and be able to watch some great fashion shows.

I wish I could’ve been fortunate to be down at the tents more than one day during fashion week, but I was only able to attend the Caitlin Power and Rudsak shows on Thursday night.

Caitlin Power

The feel I got from Caitlin Power’s S/S 2014 collection was very businesswoman-esque; tailored and geometric. However, the not-too-long skirts and deep Vs kept the collection flirty and feminine too. The colours Caitlin mostly used were black and white, but the colours she wanted to show off for spring and summer of 2014 were definitely red and chartreuse (more green as opposed to yellow, though).

These were some of my favourite looks from Caitlin. Pictures from photographer Michael Ho.

 

 

 

Rudsak

If camo was the trend for fall, Rudsak’s trend for S/S 14 was snakeskin. There were a lot of neutrals and earth tones, which is great for spring, when nature is making its debut for the year. There was also a lot of leather, and I’m really glad to see it’ll follow through from fall to spring. White is one of my favourite trends and colours for spring and summer, since I don’t get to wear too much of it in the fall and winter (I’m not one to follow the “don’t wear white after labour day” rule, but living in the great white north, my winter whites tend to get ruined and salt-stained). I was glad to see some all white outfits and lots of white bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts).

These are some of my favourite looks from the Rudsak show. Pictures also from Michael Ho.

 

 

 

 

What were your favourite shows from Toronto fashion week? Let me know in the comments!

Transitions

To me fall is all about transitions. We’re transitioning from warmer to cooler weather and from summer to back-to-school. And if you’ve just graduated, like me, you’re transitioning from one point in your life to another. So since this is a fashion and style blog, I thought I’d make a post about transitioning your summer fashion to fall. Just because I have my fall wardrobe ready and raring to go, I know most people like to hold on to their summer styles for as long as they can, before it’s absolutely necessary to bundle up.

A good way to wear your summer brights and neons into the fall is to pair them with a darker colour, either a neutral or a paler shade of the same colour as the statement piece.

You could pair this neon pink blouse from Style Says Shop with these khaki green cargo pants from H&M. I also love this look because the trousers give the outfit an edgier, more masculine feel while the blouse makes it feel more feminine. Alternatively, pair the blouse with pale pink trousers, like these from Gap. The cords also give the outfit more of a fall feel. Throw a black blazer on top of either outfit to complete the look.

Another way to style a bright colour for the autumn would be to wear it in a shoe or accessory, like a statement necklace. The rest of the outfit can be warmer colours or neutrals. The picture below is from Liliaki’s blog, and the necklace is styled perfectly for autumn (snake skin is very in for fall 2013).

As mentioned in my previous post, fall must haves, you can wear shorts in the fall, in fabrics like tweed or leather, by layering them over thick tights. But if you want to transition some of your summer shorts in lighter fabrics into the early autumn, just pair them with a thinner nylon in a translucent shade.

You probably don’t want to do floral or lace, since it might look too contrasted with the nylons, so a black or beige in a light summer material would be perfect. Even denim looks great with this look, including short overalls, like these ones from House of Fraser.