Brand Spotlight: Knixwear

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Today’s brand spotlight is Knixwear

Location: Canadian brand, https://knix.ca/

Price: $$

Accessories: Women’s underwear, bra’s, tanks, swimwear and loungewear

Style type: everyday essentials

I discovered this brand when they originally came out with their leak proof underwear. While I don’t use the leak proof undies as my main period underwear they are great for light days. Currently my favourite product is the thigh saver shorts 6”. These shorts have been great this summer when wearing dresses. Also their regular underwear is great in the summer because the fabric they use is moisture wicking which is really important when it’s hot and humid.

If you want to see my review of the Knix Leakproof underwear check out my post

Today’s brand spotlight is Frank and Oak 

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Today’s brand spotlight is Frank and Oak 

Location: Canadian brand from Montreal, https://www.frankandoak.com/

Price: $$-$$$

Accessories: Women’s and Men’s clothing, shoes, accessories 

Style type: everyday essentials, fun and well fitting 

One of the few stores in the mall that has great quality clothing, shoes, and accessories. I had been looking for boots on my lunch (if you work in the PATH you know) and I decided to pop-in their Eaton centre store. Long story short I bought some great boots that I still have. I also really like that they are a sustainable brand from the fabrics that they use to the tags to the packaging. They are also a certified B corporation (more to come on this next week). 

Man Style Monday - Trevor Stuurman

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Happy Monday y’all! Today’s MSM is Trevor Stuurman.

Stuurman is an artist (multi-talented) that I found through his amazing clothing design collaborations [Insert pick of jidenna from GQ in floral set]. While his clothing design work is superb his visual art talent is incredible, if you scroll through his instagram page its like walking through an art gallery. He’s worked with Nelson Mandela, Beyonce and Jay-Z, and Barack Obama to name a few. 

What I love about his style is the colour, texture and impeccable tailoring. His artistry is reflected in his work and clothing and I’m a FAN!

Spotlight local store: Good Neighbour

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Today’s local store spotlight is Good Neighbour!

Location: 935 Queen St E, Toronto and online @ https://goodnbr.com
Price: $$ - $$$
Clothing types: looks for the whole family (Women, Men, Children/Babies)
They also sell home decor, accessories, and stationary
Style type: casual and everyday wear

I was introduced to Good Neighbour by my friend Molly almost 3 years ago and I was never so happy to stumble upon a local store (as a east end resident). It’s the perfect blend for me: clothing, shoes, home decor and paper craft I was in heaven! Over the years I’ve bought some lovely fortnight lingerie, some tops, candles and gifts for other people. They carry many brands including - @fortnightlabel @itsmaryyoung @levis @frame @tigerofswedenofficial @drakegeneralstore, @malinandgoetz and many more!

OOTD: Prairie girl

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As I’m recalibrating how I feel about summer this year, I’m looking for clothing that is easy to wear, comfortable, but still makes me feel amazing. 

Black Prairie girl chic

Black Prairie girl chic

I grabbed this prairie girl dress from Aritzia (it's still on sale!) and added my white sandals and who doesn’t love eucalyptus? 

Easy, breazy, beautiful prairie girl! 

Happy Thursday!

On Style with Dorcas Olasumbo

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As our chat went on we discovered that we went to high schools down the street from each other in Scarborough, we had similar experiences growing up with African parents, and continued to talk about style that we love and hate and shared some shops we frequent (COS, Aritzia, Simmons, Massimo Dutti etc.). Also exploring some new brands on the 4th floor at the Bay (do not sleep on those sales on the 4th floor!).

We never found out who that couple in the picture was but it was a great way to finish off a great conversion!

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2 Tips to Save Your Sweaters

YATEHLIKELATTE INC.
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Hey y’all I made a quick video about clothing care - mainly saving your sweaters from hangers!

If you’re interested in some other clothing care tips check out my previous post.

It’s Wedding Season! What are we wearing?

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Wedding season is upon us! I love wedding cake and and dancing the night away, but I’m sure we all dread figuring out what we’re going to wear.

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Pre winter storage: These boots were made for walking

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Post Cleaning :)

Post Cleaning :)

In my last post I spoke about how to care for your sweaters before you store them for the season and this week is speaking about boots. I find boots to be a lot easier to manage than sweaters because you normally only have two or three types of materials used in the construction of the boot. You can have leather, synthetic leather, nylon and suede or a blend of all four materials. Leather and nylon boots can be cleaned in the same way to some extent whereas suede is a little bit more labour intensive.

Suede Boots

  1. I recommend using lukewarm water and 1 to 3 drops of dish soap detergent.

  2. Then dip a rag or a cloth into the water (water and soap) and rub small circles into the boot.

  3. Once you no longer see the white marks from the salt leave boots to air dry.

Leather Boots

  1. With the same solution dampen your cloth/rag. DO NOT SOAK WITH WATER, damp means it should be halfway to dry.

  2. Lightly wipe the boot down, do not leave the rag resting on boot.

  3. There shouldn’t be any excess water on the boot once you’ve wiped down the boot, take a dry cloth/rag and wipe away any excess water.

Mixed Material & Pleather - I would repeat the steps for the Suede boots but use the last step in the leather boots.


See my video below, on how to clean your boots. FYI if you are given specific directions on how to care for your boots please follow those directions.

I’ve had the leather boots for over 10 years and the Uggs for the last 3 years.





Sweaters and the tale of fabrics: bye-bye winter sweaters

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I touched on the transitioning between winter and spring clothing this week on instagram this week. Before you start being productive and packing your things away we need to start with cleaning these items first. To preserve your clothing you want to clean them prior to packing them away. When deodorant, sweat, stains, etc. linger on your clothing and sweaters in particular they damage the fabric itself and can lead to holes, thinning, and discolouration.

Sweaters and the tale of fabrics

Wool - is notorious for shrinking whether it be 20% or 100% of the makeup of your sweater. I would advise you Dry clean any wool sweater that you love. Even on gentle/delicates cycle you run the risk that it shrinks a little bit.

Cashmere - no argument if it is a 100% cashmere sweater definitely dry clean if you want it last you for a long time. If the sweater is a cashmere and cotton blend (20% Cashmere and 80% cotton) I would advise you to wash it in the gentle/delicates cycle. Regardless of the blend definitely line dry.

photo by: Dan Gold

photo by: Dan Gold

Merino Wool - this can be washed in the gentle/delicates cycle unless the tag says otherwise. There are merino wool pullovers sold by athletic brands that may allow you to wash in the regular cycle. When in doubt gentle/delicates cycle and hang dry

Cotton - this really varies based on the company, read the tag. If you’ve cut out the tag I would wash as regular and cold water, and tumble dry. If you want to be extra cautious line dry.

Blends - polyester, acrylic, etc. honestly always wash cold and tumble dry low.  (I would say you should stay away from blends but we can talk about this another time.

When in doubt, hand wash or machine wash on delicates and line dry.

Also here is a guide to some of the images you’ll find on your clothing tags:

Clothing tag icon legend (this is not exhaustive).

Clothing tag icon legend (this is not exhaustive).

 

Fun Spring Trends - for your whimsical self

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This spring has been pretty dull and wet - a standard in terms of weather but in fashion it’s been full of colour and fun! I am loving a number of things but the main stand outs at the moment are the spectrum of colour, skirts, platform sneakers, and fun nails.

Skirts

I am partial to a pleated skirt with a fun pattern or multiple colours. They are a great way to add some fun and depth to your outfits. Also, I really like the flow of a pleated skirts; when you walk it adds a whimsical vibe especially if there is a breeze. A knit skirt is a nice touch for texture and comfort. Knit skirts can also create an optical illusion and provide a great silhouette to any shape.

A rainbow of colours

I’m really enjoying the resurgence of colour in everyone’s wardrobe - from neutrals to tie die it’s nice to see the variety in people’s wardrobes and in their expression of self! An easy way to add colour to your overall look is painting your nails in a fun print or a rainbow with each nail being a different colour.

Platform sneakers

I tend to land on the streamlined classic sneaker end of the spectrum but these platform sneakers are definitely turning my head. Maybe it’s a Baby Spice throwback or I just like the extra height that I get without wearing heels, either way these are fun and comfortable. Bonus points when they are an Oxford platform - RIP my pair from Zara that I had to get rid of.

These are just a few of my favourite spring trends but my advice to anyone reading this is to be brave and have some fun!






Style Diary 2: EXTRA AF - Feathered Vest

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“See my vest, see my vest, Made from real gorilla chest” - Mr. Burns

Do you have that one item that you bought because you just couldn’t get over how extra it was? For me my EXTRA AF item is my Pello Bello Silver Grey Vest, I bought it on sale and on a whim at Saks a randomly. I love the texture of the feathers, the pockets can hold my iPhone 8 plus, and it's surprisingly warm.  

Pello Bello Vest.JPG

I’ve worn this vest on numerous occasions since I’ve bought it, I would say the trick to wearing your Extra AF item is not caring about the occasion - you wear it because you love it!

I paired this vest with oversized Diane Von Furstenberg Silk Pyjama Top (I bought the top with the purpose of wearing it out - not to bed), Uniqlo jeans distressed jeans with unfinished hem, and my go-to Frank and Oak heeled ankle boots.

 

See outfit details below (click on images to shop the look):



Friday Style tip: cropped wide-legged cotton pants

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It’s Friday and I am here with a style tip to take you into the weekend. For those of us who work in a corporate setting Fridays are normally “casual Friday” -  a day that leads to a lot of pondering on what you can wear and why your closet sucks. One thing that has been irking me lately is I only have one pair of non-ripped jeans that I can wear to work, and lately I haven’t been loving that pair of jeans, so I had been looking for an alternative. I landed on some wide legged cropped cotton pants which is a style that has been trending over the last year.

Here are 3 reasons why you should consider adding these pants to your casual Friday rotation:

  1. You can wear a dress shirt or a t-shirt add a blazer and you’re ready for any last minute client meetings.

  2. Heels, flats, or sneakers are no problem - go with your mood.

  3. Comfortable, these pants are meant to be comfortable


Bonus points: these pants should work with everyone’s wardrobe and can/should be worn outside of work too!


Have a great Friday and weekend!






Style Diary 1: Wearing Neon to work

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Neon Chartreuse (the colour between neon green and yellow)

Neon has been trending over the past 3 years and I’m not sure who started it but as someone who isn’t quick to jump on trends, I decided to try neon out this past month. If any of you are familiar with my blog or instagram page you know that I’m a huge fan of Aritzia, while shopping their winter sale for sweaters, I scooped up this sweater (Wilfred Free-Isabelli Sweater- Waffle-knit crewneck sweater) in neon chartreuse to try it out. Functionally, I love this sweater because its soft and warm, which really saved me for the last couple of month when it was -20 Celsius.  Now to the best part, yes I have actually worn this sweater to my corporate job (multiple times - it was really cold!). Unless you work in a company that is a very strict/formal dress code the only thing you have to fear is standing out. I will say glowing like a highlighter will garner attention because you’re literally a beacon but otherwise I’m perfectly in the parameters of my companies policy.

I’m sure you’re thinking, yes your brave and you stood out but how can I possible work neon into my work clothes? What does neon chartreuse match with? I’ve pulled together 3 looks with my neon sweater that you can wear to the office (if permitted).

Neon & Black Pants - Bonus points if you pair this with a non-black shoe. Everyone should have a pair of black pants (if you don’t please email me), this is an easy look and very comfortable for a day in the office and with a colourful shoe transitions well into an evening look.

Neon & Tan High-Waisted Pencil Skirt -  At first glance, these two colours shouldn’t work together. I personally like the contrast of the two pieces and the colour of the skirt falls into the neutral category which tones down the brightness. It creates a unique look paired with comfortable black stacked heel ankle boots. The boots aren’t too high so you can comfortable get from meeting to meeting without feeling your feet go numb.

Neon & Navy Wide Legged Pants -  Blue and Yellow work well together, using different tones of both colours make it easy to pair the sweater and pants together. Personally, I like wide-leg pants for work because you can wear them with flats and heels and look cute in both.

The moral of the story is that you can wear neon to work! If you have something in your closet right now or you were eyeing an item, try it out!

P.S. I wasn’t joking about the black pants, if you don’t have any please email me - you’re clearly in dire need of a closet rehab!



90's Vibes

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Last week I served you a red monochromatic look for a work holiday party. That look is for those of us who don’t mind standing out at work events. This week I’m bringing you something cute and sassy that will have you sashaying into the party and maybe onto the dance floor for a little one-two-step. As always, I aim to put together work looks that anyone can wear and feel amazing in!

90's Vibe Work Xmas Party look

This holiday looks is pretty simple - the two elements that give it the holiday vibes are the headband that is crown-like and the sparkly tights. I love the billowy sleeves on the Rebecca Minkoff blouse and knitted pattern around the arms and at the top. The black skirt I bought in Paris and it’s been my fun/party since I bought it. Now the tights and headband I bought from Urban Outfitters and they a really the icing on the holiday fruit cake. Headbands have also been really big this year and let's be frank, they’ve been been around since forever so definitely try one out this holiday season. If you live in a cooler climate you definitely wear stocking/nylons in the winter time. Why not make this seasonal mainstay apart of your holiday look? These tights are really sparkly, fun, and will keep your legs a little warmer.  Finally, the ankle boots with a bit of a heel give this look a bit of a 90’s girl vibe but are practical and easy to wear throughout the day.

Happy Work Partying! If you want to put this look together see links below: