Chic and Glam party

I am so thankful that I am finally done school for the semester, the last 2 weeks of school was exhausting and...slightly painful. Last Saturday, I attended my dear bf's company Christmas dinner. Of course, a girl like me would love to have any excuse to dress up. So after digging through my closet and trying to search for something to wear...I ended up buying my whole outfit! Well, except for the shoes.

The outfit is utterly important to me, not only is it because what I wear is a reflection of myself, but also because I wanted it t be fun, young and appropriate. So, this is what I opted for:

Dress: Mendocino, Cropped jacket: Zara, Black Opaque tights, Heels: Nine West

I absolutely adore this dress, the detailed floral pattern is so feminine and the waist band just excentuates the waist line even more. The material is also stretchy, which is extremely important for a night that would consist of a meal that is equivalent to an Italian wedding (as there are many Italians at my bf's company, thus, they opted for Italian meal, which was absolutely delicious).

As the dress is strapless and on the shorter side, I opted for a pair of black opaque tights, which took me forever to find. I thought of playing around with hosiery and perhaps opt for a pair of black tights with lacey patterns, however, I felt that it would be too much on tp of the floral printed dress. Furthermore, the warmth provided by these opaque tights are more practical in this freezing Toronto weather.

For the cropped leather jacket, it was love at first sight. I was in search for a blazer (either sequined or studded) to go with this dress; however, I just didn't fall in love with any of the ones I saw. As soon as I spotted this cropped leather jacket at Zara, I knew it was the one. It's youthful and edgy, and to top it off, it's different. I will take a proper picture of it later on and do a feature post on it. The great thing about this jacket is that I can pair it with so many other outfits, dress it up, dress it down. I even wore it to work today!

*Please excuse the bathroom picture, I wanted to take a picture before we left the house and we were just rushing to leave, so I couldn't find a good spot to take a picture of the outfit with enough light and would be able to showcase my full outfit.

As for accessories, I kept it simple as I felt that my outfit was already doing most of the talking.

earrings: cheapy earrings from Hong Kong, absolutely love them though and they matched the flowers on my dress!

Watch: Movado - my birthday gift from mommy and George
Necklace: Tiffany & Co. - a gift from my dad many years ago.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday and happy holiday shopping!

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Chic and Glam jewellery

To me, jewellery is the best way to accessorize any outfit, it can add an instant oomph to spark things up, which is why jewellery is my weakness. I can't stop buying them...I will be doing several posts on my jewellery collection as I have a lot....from costume jewellery, to fine jewellery, to vintage jewellery.

First off: vintage love

Above are a few of my vintage pieces. First off, gold-tone flower choker (scored from a sale at Select 18 in Hong Kong), it is a gorgeous piece and you can really feel the weight of the piece, unfortunately, I have not had a chance to wear this amazing piece as it is too loose for my neck; however, I like it pull it out of the pouch to look at it once in a while. Then a pair of silver flower earrings that I took from my grandma last Christmas when I visited her, we spent a whole night going through her jewellery that she bought when she was young (some pieces are amazing, I've been eyeing a vintage Dior brooch...but she hasn't parted with it yet...so I shall wait). Unfortunately, I still haven't had the chance to wear these earrings either, but these would look super cute with a nice summer dress or a nice day by the beach. The third piece, is a vintage cameo ring, I love it because it's a statement piece and the cameo work is impeccable. The crystals surrounding the cameo just gives it the va-va-voom. This piece adds an instant glam to any outfit. (purchased from a vintage jewellery store on Queen St. W, Toronto). Then, the tennis bracelet also from my grandma, the 3 red stones in the middle gives it a little subtle pop of colour and the marcasites throughout the bracelet just gives the whole bracelet an antique look. I have actually forgotten about this bracelet until it fell out of the pouch where I stored the flower choker. Last but not least, my absolute favourite piece, the gold chain with 3 marble-like stones (which I also acquired from a sale at Select 18 in Hong Kong).

These pieces above are the pieces that I wear the most often (as well as my Pandora charm bracelet which is not included in this pic). On the top left corner, we have a gold-tone cuff with a black stone in the middle (acquired from H&M sale), I love this piece to death, I always find myself going to this cuff. Leaning against it, is a Christmas ornament that I bought with my mom while shopping for Christmas tree ornaments at the Bay last year, I use it as a pendant. I sometimes wear it on a gold-tone chain, and sometimes on the pearl necklace photographed above. Then we have my vintage cameo ring, as mentioned above. The bow earrings are new acquisitions from Betsey Johnson, they are simply too cute to pass up. Plus, I am currently obsessing over everything bow. As for the pearl necklace, it was a hand-me-down from my mom. I absolutely adore this piece, there are so many different ways of wearing it. I wear it almost everyday, just in several different ways, from adding a pendant, to wearing it as a multistrand necklace, wear it long, or tying a knot in it, or wear it short. I will do a post later on all the different ways of wearing this magnificent pearl necklace.

That is all for now, and once again, I apologize for the delayed update.

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Chic and Glam in Colombia

I thought I would have more time to update over the summer since there would be no school, but boy was I wrong. Below are a few pictures from my trip to Cali, Colombia at the end of August, it was such an amazing trip. The people there were so friendly and it's such a beautiful place, the only down side was that my favourite Havaianas flipflops broke =(.

Also, I promise to update more often and with more interesting things! I have the blog themes lined up already!

First day's outfit: Zara floral dress, gold studded belt ( I love this belt, it adds the instant oomph to any outfit)

a gift from the lady who did my pedicure for the wedding - a multicoloured beaded bracelet...she said it was something to remember Colombia by

ceramics by the truly amazing Mauro Phazan (we actually purchased a pair of angels and a pair of candle holders from there!)

more beautiful ceramics by Mauro Phazan

gold jewellery from back in the days at the Gold Museum

me dancing in my favourite Betsey Johnson dress at the wedding!

my mom and I having lunch at a restaurant at Dapa.

outfit: dress from a local store in Hong Kong, grey cardigan from a local store in Hong Kong

my mom, me and our friend, Adriana in front of El Gato!

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

New Purchase!

So I went home to Toronto with dear BF for the last few days, and we went shopping....and yes...I broke my shopping ban
These skinnies from Armani Exchange were on sale from like $100+ to $39 CDN! What a deal!
So yes...I broke my ban.
I was never a big fan of jeans but ever since my dear BF bought me the pair of Domino skinnies...then I slowly moved on to my COH skinnies...and now...I'm addicted to skinnies. They're all dark wash too, according to dear BF, all 3 pairs look the same....except well, the COHs have gold lining on the seams, which just makes the jeans pop. Plus, dark wash skinnies are staples of a closet, and will always be in style. Moreover, I think they're the only style that I look good in.
Another reason why I bought these pair of jeans is that the material is super comfortable and very smooth.

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Currently doing a closet clean out with dear BF, and he's finally realizing that it's not an easy job.

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

An Appreciation for the Arts - Tom Binns

Irish born jewellery designer, Tom Binns creates the most exquisite pieces, I can't even find words to describe it, the pictures and his designs will speak for themselves.





And now....my 2 fave pieces...

The First Lady of US, Michelle Obama's a fan of Tom Binns too!

All his pieces are such amazing art work, I aspire to own some pieces one day. Just looking at all the different gemstones and material he uses amazes me, the details are impeccable. His pieces are so delicate yet are such powerful fashion statements. They are definitely on my list of "things to own before I die"!

"Jewelry is always a treasure, and though it may not be made of gold and diamonds, it should still have that sentiment." - Tom Binns

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Wedding Vows

Today, I was hanging out with my friend Quyen, and we were just talking about everything. The topic of wedding came up, and I suddenly thought of what I'm going to say for my wedding vow when I get married.
"Some of you may laugh, some of you may not understand, but you, baby, (insert name here), you're the Christian to my Louboutin, the Manolo to my Blahniks, the Jimmy to my Choos, the Giuseppe to my Zanotti, and the Vera to my Wang"


♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Rant...

Somebody please tell me why am I not in fashion school, or studying something related. I practically live for fashion and it's all I care about, which results in the my horrible grades this semester...my parents aren't going to be pleased....all they will say is that I'm distracted by the dear BF, but that's not true, truth is, I spend way more time on fashion websites, blogs and reading fashion magazines than I do studying (yes guilty) , however I do and did try in school. Perhaps not hard enough since I really could not tear myself from the fashion world and completely immense myself into my studies. What my parents need to realize is that I do try in school, very hard indeed, perhaps I would try even harder if it was something I loved. All they'll say when they hear about my grades is how I'm not trying hard enough, if losing 10 lbs over exam week is not a result of being stressed and studying hard, I don't know what to say.
"Oh why did you lose weight Laura?" my mom asked when I last visited. "You look horrible now, eat more." Frankly I like my new weight and I'm happy with my body. The only thing I'm not happy with is my grades and I don't even know how to tell my parents. My grades aren't all THAT bad, it's just not as good as they used to be or not up to my parents standards (straight As), but it's my first year in Uni, obviously my grades would not be as good as they were in high school. Last thing I need right now is to get into another fight with my mom, especially since it's 2 weeks before her birthday...and right now, I really don't think I deserve the Barcelona and Madrid trip that my mom was planning, nor the watch that she plans to buy me for my birthday in August.

:(

In preparation for summer

I'm just so glad that school is finally done. YAY! Done first year....hopefully I did well in all my courses...praying for good grades...now this means that I finally have time to work on my blog and add more to it since it's so bland right now. Although the summer season hasn't exactly arrived permanently in Canada yet, I thought I'd do a post on summer outfits. My summer outfits would pretty much consist of summer dresses and sandals or wedges. The following pictures are from my Punta Cana trip (oh yes, it was summer weather there!) from February.

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Indulgences

Hmm....COH jeans on sale for $99 = MUST HAVE! Oh, I've been practically LIVING in those jeans since I've bought them! They're sooooooo comfy and they just flatter your body in every single way, I just love them! The fact that they were only $99 makes me love them even more!

As my camera is dead right now and it is crunch time/exam time right now, pics of the COHs will be up later.

Luckily, I am not one of those who get uber stressed out by exams and school work, and my secret? INDULGENCE INDULGENCE INDULGENCE!

I am currently indulging myself in the following before starting my revision of the day...



Grande Vanilla Latte (much thanks to dear SO's starbucks giftcard)




pate on mini toasts


smoked salmon


Godiva Truffles (once again, much thanks to dear SO's generous gift)


Although Epicurus says that we should eliminate the desires for natural but non-necessary desires such as luxurious food (yes I just had my philosophy exam today), I still think they are crucial to my success.

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Hair band craze

A few years ago, I went through a hair band craze where I bought hair bands all the time. Then it went away, and now, it has returned. Just like any other accessories, hair bands can really add a little something to your outfit, especially on your off days where you don't feel like dressing up, accessories can go a long way.

There are so many different styles of hair bands to choose from, different price ranges too. Of course, one can always look to Blair Wardorf from Gossip Girl for inspiration.

The classic one would be the Burberry one:

One that I would die for -Miu Miu Gold Glitter Hair band:

Then for more fun and unique ones:




by Jennifer Behr from http://www.fengjunk.com/

and now, a little DIY that I did today:

That's it for now.

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Maxi dresses

With summer coming up, dresses are in stores everywhere now. The number one investment for summer that I would recommend is a maxi dress (or several). At the right fit, the dress can compliment any type of body. The looseness of the dress allows you to eat(while fitted dresses show your stomach sticking out right after you eat), the length of the dress also cover your legs if you are not comfortable with showing too much skin. That being said, to some, the length of the dress may restrict the convenience of certain activities, however the looseness of the dress actually allows a lot of leg room without a lot of restriction. For more petite ladies, it is best to take the dress to the tailor to get your dress altered to avoid looking swamped in the dress.
Now, what to pair maxi dresses with? Gladiators, flats, strappy sandals, you name it, but I’m personally favouring strappy sandals ATM.
And of course, with the summer season coming, don’t forget your sunnies and make sure you apply sunscreen for protection.

Jaguar Print Maxi dress by Rebecca Taylor from eDress me

Silk Chiffon Maxi dress by Tibi from eDressme

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Men's style: Brad Goreski

For some reason, to majority of the population, fashion and style seems more of a "girl's thing". However, I strongly believe that it's BOTH a guy's and a girl's thing, especially seeing Brad Goreski on The Rachel Zoe project and reading about Michael Tonello's Hermes buying outfits in his book, Bringing Home The Birkin.

I absolutely adore Brad's style, from his Ralph Lauren sweaters to his cute bow ties. I think that all men should look put together at all times, no matter what your style is, always look put together.
Assistant to fashion stylist of the stars (Rachel Zoe), Brad Goreski

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥

Investment pieces

In our world, fashion is ever-changing. Trends and fads come and go, some staying longer than others. Of course, not everyone has the money to go invest in expensive designer pieces for every single part of their outfits. The key idea is to invest money in the staples of your wardrobe, be in good quality jeans, or a well-built and fitted blazer, or a cashmere scarf, or the most classic example of a LBD. The idea is to invest in timeless pieces that will always remain in style. Another good investment would be vintage pieces as time passes, they become more and more appreciated. Last but not least, classic style purses are also a good investment, because whether you are 16 or 61, they are still suitable. Oh and who can forget about a pair of classic killer heels.

New York socialite, star of The City, Olivia Palermo has it down!

♥Stay Chic. Stay Glam. ♥