Toga! Toga! Toga!

          My roommate and I decided to throw a toga party during frosh week (a college right of passage). We watched a bunch of how-to-make-a-toga videos on Youtube and found that once you get the hang of it- togas aren't really that hard to make. It can seem daunting, but it just comes down to finding the best way to wrap the fabric around your body; You can wrap and unwrap until you get the look you want.

         To recreate my DIY look, which would be great for a Grecian Goddess Halloween costume, you'll need a single flat bed sheet, real or faux vines, some twine or rope for a belt, and a few safety pins.

          Instead of a traditional white toga, as my friend Teesha donned (pictured with me) I used a navy blue bed sheet. Once I got the look and shape I wanted, I tied an Urban Outfitters rope belt around my waist and wrapped some dollar store faux vines around it. I also made a little head band out of the excess vines by simply measuring it around my head and glue-gunning the ends together.


          Needless to say we had a great night and our togas were a big hit. Try a toga theme for your next party and don't forget to share your creations!

Summertime & the livin's easy...

What's better than beautiful weather, refreshing ocean waves, and family time? Well, nothing. 

Here's a pic of myself and two of my sisters: Kristina and Gabrielle, in size order. haha... We had a great day in the sun. 

Plus, check out our swimwear- we're rocking 3 different super cute suit types... 

J: Geometric Print Strapless Corset Bandeau Top w/ Matching Bikini Bottoms. $14.99 each @ Target

Kristina: Sporty Blue Striped Halter Top w/ Matching Bikini Bottoms. $9.99 each @ American Eagle

Gabrielle: Tribal Print Halter Tankini w/ Black Ruched Side-tie Bottoms. $9.99 @ KMart

Mixin' Things Up: Tough & Flirty

CLOTHES
Chiffon tiered ruffle dress, in floral watercolor ( $9.95 on sale @ Macy's )
Rock & Republic HOEBOE Vest, in blue + beige pinstripe ( $29.99 on sale @ Kohl's )

ACCESSORIES

Pearl Stud Earrings {Not Pictured}
Nude Patent Flat Sandals ( $8 @ Forever21 ) 

Various pearl, bead, rhinestone, and twine bracelets
Black denim crossbody bag {Not Pictured}

Let's Polka!

CLOTHES
Polka Dot Jacket, in black & white ( $7 @ H&M Kids )

Peplum top with sweetheart mesh, in black ( $12.95 @ Conway )

Colored Skinny Jeans in Forest Green ( $16.99 @ Marshall's )

ACCESSORIES

Black beaded bracelets

Black Strappy Flat Sandals ( $16 @ Go Jane ) {Not Pictured}

Black Stud Earrings {Not Pictured}

C's OOTD + dream shoes

Black Skinny Jeans... Macy's $20

White & Black button down sleeveless top with tie ... Marshall's 9.99

Black Blazer... Amsterdam $20

my dream shoes that I tried on at David's (Christian Louboutins) $875. :( wish I owned these!

J's Outfit of the Day

CLOTHES
Quilted Black Leather Moto Vest w/ gold studs on back ( $32.80 @ Forever21 )

White Sleeveless Button-Up Blouse ( $14.95 @ H&M )

Vibrant Floral Skirt, by Bongo ( $9.99 @ Sears )

ACCESSORIES

Black and Gold Retro Round Sunglasses, by LC Lauren Conrad ( $14.99 @ Kohl's )

Black Leather Clutch ( $5 @ Cotton On )
Black Tube Bead Sandals ( $12.80 @ Forever21 )
Dark Gold & Black Stud Earrings [ from various sets ]

HAIR & MAKEUP
A side part w/ an inward braid wrapped into a messy side bun.
Gold and neutral eyeshadow tones from different pallets.
Wet N Wild's Mega Liner for a cat eye effect. ( $1.99 @ Rite Aid )
NYC Cheek Glow Powder Blush in "Sutton Place Peach" ( $2.80 @ Sears )
Revlon Matte Lipstick in "Smoked Peach" ( $4 @ Sears )

C's Outfit of the Day

Wardrobe

Navy and white striped peplum top... $14.99 @ Forever 21

Red skinny jeans... $29.99 @ Smart Set

Accessories

Rustic gold tribal statement necklace... $1.99 @ Forever 21

Various gold bracelets & rings

Hair

Ballerina bun using a hair donut

Shine Bright Like a Diamond

Christmas time doesn't have to mean red & green, it can just mean adding a bit of holiday shine to your look.

This is the outfit I came up with for the Christmas party at my office, and it was a big hit. Here's a breakdown of what I wore:

Black blazer (not pictured), $19.95 @ H&M

Black & gold glittered tulip back top, $17.80 @ Forever21

Material Girl black & white vertical/horizontal stripe skirt with a back seam, $9.99 @ Macy's

Black suede platform pumps (not pictured), $29.99 @ Payless Shoe Source

Gold arrowhead necklace set, $5.95 @ H&M

Various bracelets from different Forever21 sets 

Gold etched square studs from a set, $3.80 @ Forever21

Black stockings (not pictured), $4.95 H&M

So I shared my look, now it's you're turn; We'd love to see what holiday inspiration works its into our reader's ensembles. Let's all get into the spirit together! -  J

A Day at the Farm

          "Markham Fair" is an annual event in my town. There's food and lots of different activities during the day such as concerts, woodcarving demonstrations, Moto-cross, wine tastings, and knitting & quilting classes. When I was little my school would visit the fair for field trips, and as we got older my best friend Nikki, my sister, and I started to make a day out of it.

          Though it's fun, the fair does have a farm which has a distinct cow poop smell, and so this year I wanted to pick out a cute look that I wouldn't mind smelling. With that in mind and to avoid being overdressed, I went with a plaid button up shirt (that J gave me) over a white v-neck t-shirt. I paired it with skinny jeans, brown knee high boots and a black leather jacket.

          Nikki (whom I'm pictured with to the left) wore her new beige buttoned Uggs, mint green jeggings from Garage (which I absolutely love) and a beige twill utility jacket from Aritzia which is really trending right now. I loved her red nail polish too- it's a really fun contrast to the light colors of her outfit.

          My sister, Samanta, (pictured below) wore a basic white tank with a cream and black striped open cardigan. With dark blue jeans and black boots she was ready for the fair. We'll see you same time next year, Markham Fair. xx

A Day In New York

       
          As some of you may know I recently visited J (my lovely cousin) and her family in the states. We planned the trip for the long October weekend and packed all the activities we could in the few days we had there. Spending the day in NYC is a must so my sister, Samanta, and I stuck to the tradition and went out to the Big Apple; Of course, we made sure our outfits were New York worthy too. Here's a breakdown of both of our outfits for the day...

My Outfit:    

-Black headband (Courtesy of J)

-White & black button up blouse with bow (Marshall's, $11.99 USD)

-Leather Steve Madden jacket (Burlington Coat Factory, $40 USD)

-Dark skinny jeans (Target, $20 USD)

-Red shoulder bag (Marshall's, $16.99 USD)

- My sister's taupe combat boots (Shoedazzle.com for only $30!)

Samanta's Outfit: 

-Blush embroidered gauze top (Forever 21, $15.80 CAD) 

-Black leggings (Aritzia, $22 CND) 

-J's denim jacket (H&M, $19.95 USD) 

-J's black messenger bag (Macy's Style Lab, $19.95 USD) 

-Black knee high boots (Shoedazzle.com for only $30!)

In front of Times Square, too bad it was raining.

Getting our coffee on.

Cute Outfits & All-You-Can-Eat Sushi

          To celebrate my friend Sadiya's birthday we went for All-You-Can-Eat sushi, which is basically the best thing ever. Plus, the restaurant is literally beside my house which was great because I could wear my cute new wedges and not kill myself walking. Sadiya and I both looked super cute for our night out, so I just had to make a post about it. Here are the details for our looks:

Hair:     Sadiya let her natural wave shine through in a her hairstyle. My hair was actually such a mess that day and I was wayyy to lazy to straighten it so I just used my curling iron and curled over my naturally curly hair; It actually turned out nice- props to me.

Wardrobe:     I wore a light pink blouse from Winners ($15.99 CND), dark skinny jeans from American Eagle ($39.99 CND), and a silk patterned scarf I bought in India for next to nothing. I didn't wear a necklace because that would've been too much with the scarf so I made up for that by wearing silver rings, and pearl and silver bracelets. To finish the look I did very natural looking makeup and wore my new black wedges from Payless.

Sadiya wore a brown cotton jersey top which had a big oval shaped cut-out in the back (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it). Her pants are my favorite part of this outfit; She bought these mint skinny jeans in Singapore this summer, and I'm super jealous because I wasn't able to find any while I was there. Accessory-wise she's wore a long pearl necklace that she wrapped around a couple times, and a big white and silver bangle. To add that little something extra to her ensemble Sadiya painted her nails red and rocked cheetah print wedges. Love love love.

Oh and what about the sushi? No worries.. here are some shots of the sushi we had. Yummmm :)

Halloween Haunt

          Happy Halloween everyone! Halloween is one of my favourite time's of the year. If you're like me and hate spending money on a new costume every year, which can be expensive, then here's a chance to get creative!

          I feel like girls feel obligated to dress really scandalous (like in Mean Girls), and let me just say there's a way of making your costume look cute and girly without looking like a total You-Know-What. This past weekend I saw a girl wearing a bra and underwear with a police hat. Like, what?... Personally, I love getting crafty and showing off my creativity instead; This year my roommates and I decided to be road signs (don't ask me why, we thought it was funny).

          To make the sign all I needed was poster board, string, paint in red and black; It only took me about 40 minutes to make my costume. The sign on my back said "speed bumps ahead", unfortunately I don't have a picture of it, I can guarantee you that it was pretty funny though. I wore my signs over a black v-neck, and leggings and wore my cute new black wedges. I also wore this mint polka-dotted headband J bought me, just for kicks. I thought it looked cute, and everyone loved our costumes. My friend Fiona (on the left) also made her costume, she was a toddler in a tiara (if you can't already tell :p). She bought the dress, which came with the pearl necklace attacked to it, for $5 and the tiara and pacifier were bought at the dollar store. So both of our costumes totalled under $10. Happy Halloween.

P.S.  J and I would love to see what you guys are dressed up as for Halloween. Tweet us a pic @FashionTMH. xx

New York, I Love You.

          Oh how I love going into NYC. I usually make a day of it: Do some shopping or sightseeing and have dinner & drinks somewhere fun. Most of all- I take in the street fashion and the big city atmosphere. Plus a day/night in NYC is the perfect excuse to break out a new outfit, or a look I've been dying to try.

          The inspiration for my latest ensemble came from an Urban Outfitters catalog model, who wore a blue & white bandana as a headwrap with practically all of her outfits in the spread. She never matched, mixing prints and colors, and I loved it; I was officially inspired. I decided to go for an urban chic look myself, complete with a DIY headwrap, hoop earrings, and red lipstick. And I mixed 3 prints in total, but chose black as my tie-in color so there was a common thread.

Here's a break down of my outfit:

- DIY Headwrap... I was set on wearing a headwrap, but nothing I had worked so I had a bright idea: Make one! I simply took a swing tank from American Rag, laid it flat, folded it horizontally in about 1 1/2" sections until it was a long band of fabric, tied it around my head and double knotted it for a secure fit. I then readjusted my bun, so it wasn't too perfect and voila! A headwrap, made out of a shirt with no sewing or cutting necessary.

- Clothes... A sheer black tank with ditsy hearts embroidered all over (w/ black bra) and distressed denim boyfriend shorts, both from Forever21. And a Material Girl black & white striped cardigan/jacket.

- Jewelry... I went with a set of dark gold hoops, and black and rhinestone stud earrings. I added a long chained heart pendant necklace from Forever21 and two rings from JC Penney.

- Shoes... My black tube beaded sandals from Forever21.

Just Catching Up With A Friend

How cute are we?

       
          Before my vacation I met up with one of my best friends, Fayola, who I haven't seen in practically forever. We both love fashion, and might I say both looked cute so I thought "Why not blog about it?". 
          
           I'll start off with my outfit... I'm wearing a turquoise-green top from Garage that I got from a friend so I have no idea how much it costs. My pants are the ones I bought a few weeks ago from Forever 21 for about $25. I wore a beaded necklace with blues, greens and brown that I got from Mandy's in New Jersey for about $7 and two simple plastic bangles that I've had since I was little. I then matched the entire outfit with the black peep toe flats  that I bought recently at Payless and my big black H&M bag, since I planned to be out all day.

          Fayola's black shirtdress is from Forever 21 and cost $22.50. Her lovely coral wallet, from Hong Kong, adds a nice pop of colour and her other accessories are from a variety of retailers. Her earrings are from a pack of 2 for $6.50 from Spring, her watch is from Guess, her small beaded bracelets are from H&M and her beaded bangle was a gift. She's also wearing a Pandora charm bracelet and a long Tiffany heart tag chain (love this). What a cute summery outfit. Love it!

J's Outfit of the Day

Outfit Breakdown: 

- Strappy printed tank by Hollister, bought years ago.
- Distressed denim boyfriend shorts from Forever21, $19.80 last summer.
- Cream T-Strap sandals from Forever21, $6 last summer.
- Short-chained "Forever" necklace, $3.80 ... and a long triangle pendant necklace, part of a set from H&M.
- Tortoise wayfarer sunglasses from Forever21, $5.80.

Summerlicious Living

          In Toronto, during the summer they have a promotion called “Summerlicious”. A lot of high end restaurants have specials available where you can have a 3 course meal for lunch starting from $15 or a 3 course dinner starting at $25. From Italian food to Moroccan, and places from the Distillery District to Yorkville, the choices are endless. 
          
          To take advantage of this deal, my friend, Fiona, and I met early in the afternoon to explore Yorkville. And later, met her brother and my sister for dinner at Ciao Wine Bar. Unfortunately, I had a huge dilemma the night before because I had no idea what to wear; Luckily, J was only a Skype call away and she was able to help me choose an outfit. 

          For a high class area like Yorkville, I wanted to dress accordingly so I chose a patterned skirt from H&M that I bought last summer for about $12 and I paired it with a pale pink blouse that I got from Winners for $17. Sadly, I didn’t have any sandals to match this so I borrowed a pair of black flats from my sister. (NOTE TO SELF: Don’t wear flats if you plan to walk around in the hot sun all day. Bad call.) I also wore my big and shiny black purse from H&M, I bought it about 3 years ago at just under $40. Lastly, for my jewelry I went simple: my usual Return to Tiffany heart tag necklace, silver peace sign earrings, stacked silver rings, Pandora and faux tiffany bracelets.

Print & Color

Back View

          My outfit was probably a bit too dressed up for my errand, but it just felt soooo right. ha... Here's a breakdown:


-My top is a sheer printed oversized tunic with a strappy deep V back. ($15.80 @ Forever21) 

-The paprika trouser style shorts are from a brand, Land And Sea, that I found @ Marshall's ($14.99). I added a basic black belt.

- My black tube beaded sandals are also from Forever21, I bought them just about a month ago. ($7.50)

- For jewelry, I wore one of the necklaces and stretch link bracelets listed in J's New Loves, and two of my basic beaded ones. Oh and one of the ear cuffs (not pictured), from my June 30th J's New Loves post. I LOVE it.

From Day to Night

          Hey guys, here's an example of how an outfit can be transformed from dressed down in the day to a night out on the town, using only one item.
          
          I am wearing a white cotton Hollister t-shirt ($9.99 CAD), with a slight ruffle at the neckline. The ruffle can give it both a dressy or casual look. Since the neckline is very low I layered a peach colored cotton camisole from Forever21 ($3.99 CAD) underneath. I tucked these in to this cute pair of self tie cargo shorts from Bluenotes ($15 CAD).
          
          I matched this outfit with a thin patterned scarf from Garage ($12.99 CAD). Wearing a scarf gave the option of not wearing a necklace, but I chose to add a vintage looking necklace from Forever 21 ($4.99 CAD) with a long chain so it falls lower than the scarf. Also, there's the option of swapping out the scarf entirely for a statement or collared style necklace, which are really trendy right now. 
         
          Instead of wearing bracelets I wore some intricately designed cocktail rings; One was $4.99 (USD) from Forever 21 and the other was $3.99 (USD) from Wet Seal. And since I was out during the day when these photos were taken, I wore my Kardashian Kollection Aviators ($17 USD). 

Date Night

           
          A few nights ago I went on a date with one of my best girlfriends from highschool; Dinner and a movie style. For this cute little outing I wore one of the new swing shorts I bought from H&M last week for $10. My slightly ruffled top is from Aritzia by Wilfred which I got for about $15. And of course I wore my usual jean jacket and gold payless sandals! 
          
          For my hair, I curled it the same way as my "Can't Be Tamed" hair curling tutorial. Instead of leaving it down though, I braided my bangs back (because it's hot and they're annoying) and then I started to fishtail the top of my hair but stopped once I reached the nape of my neck and tied it into a ponytail. 

          
         Now for accessories I wore my two favorite necklaces, my Return to Tiffany heart tag necklace and a peace sign necklace that my friend bought me from Bittersweet. I wore plain silver peace sign studs and four of my favorite bracelets: a faux tiffany bracelet, evil eye bracelet, pandora braclet, and a bracelet this same friend bought me from Italy. I also stacked some silver rings on my fingers. 

          Finally for my purse. I didn't feel like wearing a big bulky purse since I was just going to the movies. So I decided to wear my Coach messenger bag that I bought from the Coach Outlet at Crossings Mall in Pennsylvania. 

Swing: To move with a free, swaying motion...

       
          Hey, remember the Material Girl swing crop top that I bought recently, (see more at J's New Purchases)? Well I'm kind of in love with it, haha. Here's a look at how I put together in an outfit:

          Since the top is cropped I decided to compliment it with a pair of high-waisted shorts ($13.50 @ Forever21 last summer). I like the way the two pieces break the outfit into tiers; and the swing of the shirt has a breezy feel which goes well with a more fitted style of short.


Now onto accessories...


- Gold & gunmetal twisted chain necklace. $6 @ Forever21 

- Burnished gold stretchy spike bracelet. $4.99 @ Sears 

- Black and coral + brown beaded bracelets. (From separate sets)

- Gold round studs and faux diamond stud. (From separate sets)

<-- Light aqua & gunmetal studded belt. (On trend- see Playing With Pastels) $4.50 @ Forever21

Cognac T-Strap sandals $6 @ Forever21 (last summer) -->