Couture Cocktail Dresses on Etsy

I love dresses. I would wear them all day, everyday if it were my choice and I never got cold! There is nothing in comparison to how feminine and downright flirty I feel when I slip into a pretty cocktail dress and a pair of high heels. There is just something about it~ the bare leg, the swishy movement of the short hemline, the definition of the calf muscle in a high heel.....

One of my favourite Etsy sellers is Sarah Seven, an extraordinarily gifted (and young!) dress designer out of Portland, Oregon. Her creations are dreams come true, frothy and flowing confections that look like they are spun from sugar~ all sweetness and innocence! Her designs are custom orders as well, so they are made to the buyer's own measurements. Now who hasn't ever wanted their own piece of couture? I've been lusting for one of her designs since I first discovered her several months ago and I'm convinced this little white dress would be perfect for my end of summer birthday party (if I consent to let it happen!). The blue petal dress is running a very close second! How is a girl to choose? I wish I could have both!

p.s. Sarah even was made mention of in last month's issue of Canadian House & Home magazine. It seems like I'm not even remotely the only one to admire this talent! Plus, her photographs are simply stunning as well! 

Powdered Sugar Dress, $375US

A Peaceful Afternoon Dress, $515US

Tulip Dress, $475US

Visit Sarah Seven's Etsy shop here. 

Redheads in Vogue

My one and only monthly purchase, without fail, is a pretty, shiny new copy of Vogue. I love everything about it~ the fantasy world of New York City socialites, the decadent homes of designers and, naturally, the insane fashion (good or bad, it's still amazing). I read it cover to cover, faithfully, every month, falling into a world I know little of but wholeheartedly worship. However, this month I was delighted to find not one, not two but three different spreads with redheads in them (July issue featuring Sienna Miller on the cover)! 

Sometimes as a redhead I feel left out from the glamourous and beautiful fashion world~ redheads are seldom considered as sexy as blondes or as mysterious and bombshell-like as brunettes. So I was thrilled to see The Spectrum's Ends (a high fashion photo shoot) with two different redheaded models, A Star is Shorn featuring model Iris Strubegger's new edgy (and very red) crop and my favourite, Steal of the Month (an article showing off things I may actually be able to buy!) featuring Karen Elson (wife of The White Stripes' Jack White) and Coco Rocha (a fresh face that is everywhere and was raised in the same city I was, Richmond~ local girl done good!). Coco, albeit, is a faux redhead, but I think she makes an amazing one! As a girl who grew up thinking red hair and freckles weren't beautiful, thank you Vogue for affirming that perhaps they are! 

Top: Coco Rocha for Michael Kors

Bottom: Karen Elson for Versace

(Photos via Style)

Friends

Friends have been on my mind a lot this week. As a female I've had my share of ups and downs with girlfriends growing up. At times it was really hard (being ostracized from the group in high school, one friend going after the guy I liked behind my back) and lately it's been amazingly good (wonderful, thoughtful and generous girls in my life) and I feel extraordinarily lucky. Girls, however, are tricky. We just are. We can be incomparably loyal and steadfast or equally as deceptive and catty. We can be kind or manipulative, inseparable or in the most dramatic of fights. Things can change in a day, an instant. Breaking up with girlfriends in the past has been more brutal and sad and draining than breaking up with any boy I've ever dated. I still have the scars to prove it. 

The girls I have in my life now are the ones I know I'll have for life. At thirty I no longer invest if I don't feel like it's worthwhile. Lately I've had the incredible opportunity to reconnect with a friend that I thought was gone for good. I guess you could say we "broke up" last year for no good reason except girl "weirdness" and I have missed her enormously. I feel lucky to have a second chance as I know true and good friends are honestly hard to come by and therefore I value them all the more. I've also made some new friends that even after a short time period I can't imagine my life without. 

My grandmother lost her best friend this week, which is particularly why I have been thinking of my friends so much. They were best friends since they were 20, a near 65 years. I find that incredibly inspiring and touching. They spoke several times a day, sometimes up to 5, about the most funny, simple and mundane of things, my grandmother told me. They spoke only hours before she passed, at 10pm while they were both tucked up in bed with the television turned on. This week my grandma told me to hold onto my friends, as they are so important. I couldn't agree more. 

Leah, Nicole, Erika, Rachel, Alexandra, Kayli, Chloe, Lauren, Sarah, Ashley, Mari Pier, Tiffany, Marle, Erin, Kate, Katita, Britt, Alana~ thank you for blessing my life and being a part of it. I love you. 

Betty, I'll miss you. 

Favourite Lyric of the Day

You can't just say 'I love you'

You have to live 'I love you'.

-Ben Harper, Heart of Matters

(Lyric choice thanks to Leah and Nicole and our crazy, heated conversation about boys last night! Love you, girls)

(Photo via Paper Tissue) 

Style Inspiration~ Cate Blanchett in Armani Prive

Cate Blanchett wore a chinoiserie cocktail dress to the Armani Prive couture show in Paris this week and it gave me goose bumps! Every few years the ode to the asian cheongsam surfaces in the fashion world and I have never seen it reworked so beautifully. Plus, it doesn't hurt that it's worn by one of the most stunning women in the world! Does she ever make a fashion mistake? I've yet to see it! I can't wait to see this influence trickle into the mainstream fashion world (no couture for me clearly). 

(Photo via People)

Vintage Style At My Place

My love for vintage style has crept into my apartment and is trying to take over! I just can't seem to help it that all my favourite things are ancient or made to look as if I just found them at a flea market! I think that's the wonderful thing about home decor and personal style~ the mixing and matching of all kinds of different items somehow band together to form a charming vignette! Here are a few of my favourite places around my little home. 

The picture above is in my living room. The mirrored chest (my favourite piece) is from Chintz & Company, the lamp belonged to my grandmother, the French clock a Christmas gift from Greg and Leah (love!!), birdcage tealight holder from Liberty, vintage gold jewelry box from my Auntie Barnie, art book from Chapters, silver bird and picture frames from Pottery Barn. 

My bedside table has a crystal block stacked lamp from The Cross, an Eiffel Tower purchased on the actual landmark, two books including a very old Alice in Wonderland and a new Wuthering Heights (a gift from Leah) plus fresh flowers, tealight holders from Anthropologie and buttons from Etsy with my favourite quote on them. The marble and gilt table is vintage itself, given to me by my grandmother.

My bedroom dresser has another crystal stacked lamp (this one a total steal from Home Sense for $40), twig earring stand and vase from The Cross, a stack of 70 plus years old Shakespeare books that once belonged to my grandmother, vintage teacup that holds more jewelry and an antique mirror from my other grandmother.  

My absolute favourite thing when I wander into any decor store are the inspiring vignettes on display (perhaps why I adore The Cross so much, they are masters at this). I've tried to introduce this into my own home and it is easy to do, as you can see! Books, flowers and odds and ends go a long way to make a space look homey. Now.... my big project~ I'm working on my mantle! Stay tuned! 

Smile of the Day

I'm not really into scouting paparazzi photos but these caught my eye today for the sweet and truly hilarious expressions on these little faces! Shiloh and Zahara are sooooo cute, how can you not smile? Plus, the way they are mugging for the cameras makes me think they are very well adjusted little girls! Love them! 

PS- Angelina looks as stunning as ever, even just taking her kids to dance class! I love long dresses! 

(Photos via Eonline, US Weekly)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy 60th birthday to my amazing, thoughtful, generous, inspiring, kind and very very patient mother! I love you, mom! I will see you tonight! xo

Girl Crush~ Marion Cotillard

My latest significant girl crush is French goddess and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard (Public Enemies, La Vie En Rose). Not only is Marion a truly charismatic actress but she's also the face of Lady Dior handbags, the latest ad having just been revealed. In this latest campaign Marion portrays a woman leading a double life (just what exactly is peeking out of that lovely handbag?) and Dior will reveal more of what this mysterious beauty is up to with further ads in late summer and early fall. Aren't her red gown, lips and polished nails perfect? 

Marion's first campaign for Dior had her climbing on the Eiffel Tower. Tres parisienne! 

I first fell in love with Marion's style at the 80th Academy Awards. She was nominated for Best Actress for starring as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose~ a role that demanded she lose all her glamour (and eyebrows), but she ruled the red carpet in Jean Paul Gaultier's ivory mermaid gown and long gold necklaces. I especially love her side swept curls, which she kept over one shoulder all night. Gorgeous! She won the Oscar (and the best dress award in my opinion). 

Marion on the red carpet for Public Enemies, her latest film starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. I love her ruby Vivienne Westwood cocktail dress and pretty up do. 

Can't you see why I have a "girl crush" on her? Watch A Good Year and you certainly will! 

(Photos via People, IMDb, Eonline)

My Mood

Today I feel like this.  And not the sunny sliver of this photo either. I'm talking the dark stormy part. Enough said. I guess bleaker days are necessary in order to appreciate the happier ones. But still.... I wish they didn't exist. 

Quote of the Day

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

-Unknown

(Photo via Paper Tissue)

My Obsession~ Vintage Jewelry

Anyone who knows me knows how deeply in love I am with vintage and antique jewelry. My thirst for fine jewelry was born a few years ago when I was "loaned" (I say "given") one of my grandmother's diamond rings. I have worn it nearly everyday since and still take giddy pleasure in looking at it on my finger. My grandmother has some incredible jewelry, all of which makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up (in only the good way), but myself and my circle of girlfriends don't have or acquire jewelry in the way that women did "back then" (we're too busy paying rent in this ridiculously pricey city). Still, pretty shiny things are always alluring so instead we browse in Tiffany & Co. or Birks.  No crazy person would ever deny that these stores have beautiful things but they are not exactly unique. 

This is where my passion for antique comes in. Lately I've been on a search for a piece of jewelry I can buy that isn't too steep and that will be special to me in years to come. The simple act of searching Google produced the lovely website, Vintage Jewelry Online~ a treasure trove of Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces that had my heart pounding and my credit card sweating (just kidding). I'm still torn between several pieces but in the meantime I thought I'd share three of the absolutely gorgeous rings I love (all for cheaper than a Tiffany "bean" necklace, with far more character and history to boot). I can't wait to have something arrive for me one day and I can wear it, wondering about the woman who wore it before me, perhaps sixty or seventy years ago. Now that is what I call unique.

Aquamarine Art Deco ring from the 1920's with silver filigree band, $195US

1930's 5 Carat Coral cabochon and Marcasite ring, $165US

Top ring: Genuine 1930's Art Deco Pearl and Sapphire ring, $285US

Click here to visit Vintage Jewelry Online

Wear This Now~ Hyacinth Purple

It seems like every season there is a fresh, new colour that is inevitably referred to as "the new black". Well, black is truly irreplaceable but during the summer it can often come off a little too..... depressive for these startlingly sunny and sultry days. Shelve the dark clothes until fall and opt for something in this ethereal shade of purple instead. I've been drooling over it everywhere lately and it repeatedly reminds me of adorable little grape hyacinths (one of my favourite flowers). This is a colour that looks good on everyone so don't hesitate. Purple may be a bold choice, something that perhaps lay beyond the comfort zone of most, but it shouldn't be. It is rich enough to be stunning on blondes, brunettes and even us redheads and looks as lovely against a tan as it would next to (sigh) pale skin! Ditch the dark and pick up something in this flattering hue immediately. Trust me~ you'll be glad you did!

(Photos via shopbop.com)

Quote of the Day

"Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken, it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." 

-C.S. Lewis

(Photo via Paper Tissue)

Smile of the Day

I came across this photo the other day and had immediate warm and fuzzy feelings. Apparently at one time a young Audrey Hepburn had a baby deer as a pet, who took naps and trips to the grocery store with her! Isn't this the cutest thing in the world? I would like to bring one home to make a sister for Lulu! 

(Photo courtesy of my blog guru A Cup of Jo)

Paper Trail

While driving (make that inching) to work last week I was paused at a stop light and had time to admire the uber stylish Moda Hotel on the corner of Seymour and Smithe in downtown Vancouver. I immediately fell in love with its lobby, not least because of its gorgeous birch tree wallpaper. I have become rather obsessed with wallpaper lately and this one appeals to the more rustic side of me~ the side that longs for that summer cottage, walks in the woods and picnics along the lakefront. That being said this paper would look equally stunning in a contemporary urban apartment. It would lend the air of living in a treehouse~ a glamourous hideaway in the middle of the city! Since I'm still averse to hanging wallpaper in my rental apartment I think I may soothe my soul with a cocktail at Moda's lounge Uva instead~ that way I can admire it from afar!