Petite Fashion Challenge #2

After completing my first Petite Fashion Challenge I was excited to hear about Petite Fashion Challenge #2  hosted by Alterations Needed.

But then I kind of started panicking because September was filled with personal highs (friend's wedding!) and personal lows (2 funerals :(  )  and the rest of what makes life so hectic all in between.  I had pictured in my mind to turn a Summer Dress into an approprial Fall outfit which seemed easy in theory but turned out to be quite a challenge!

Here is the dress I picked:

Dress:  RW&Co size 00

Here's my spring/summer look:

Wedge Sandals:  Avon

This is a dress I ususally only wear on vacation because it's quite low cut.  Sometimes I would wear this over my bikini if we were walking around town.

So here is how I changed it to wear for Fall/Winter:

Short Sleeved Turtle Neck:  Joe Fresh

Cardigan:  Loft XSP

Boots:  Nine West

Tights and Belt:  Winners

Necklace:  Avon

I didn't want to just throw a cardigan over it and say "yay this is Fall" I wanted to really show the layering.  I put the turtle neck underneath for a bit more modesty and to make this work friendly but buttoned the 3rd button of the cardigan up so the neckline of the dress wouldn't really show.  I also liked putting on textured tights with this.  I thought it was interesting with the pattern of the dress.

So...how'd I do on my 2nd challenge?  I think this one was even more challenging than the first LOL!  But I'm so glad I did it, I would've never thought to wear this dress to work since it was so summery and revealing but now I can, YAY!

A Blogger Award!!!

Seriously...ME???...I received a Blogger Award from the AMAZINGLY sweet ML of Twenty York Street.  She is also a fellow Canadian.  I'm having a love/hate relationship with blogging right now so this was such a nice little message to receive!

Love?  I love reading other's blogs and being inspired to re-discover my wardrobe and be creative.

Hate? A lot of the times I put an outfit together that I think looks good but the pictures I take at the end of the day tell another story LOL!

Have you checked out ML's blog yet?  Her pictures are amazing thanks to her photographer the mysterious "J" and everything this girl puts on just looks so chic and classic.

So I am passing this award on to some of my favorite bloggers.

Kelly of Alterations Needed - the original petite blogger!

Jean of Extra Petite - impeccable style and a great eye
Callandra of Petite Early Morning Style - I think she's a master of proportions because I can't even tell she's a petite!
Petite XXS - she has really informative reviews
Cher of A Fashion Deliberation - she's originally from my city and many of her items are actually accessible to me!

And...and...sheesh I could really go on forever!  Each blogger I read has something so unique about them, it's so hard just to pick a few, but really if I didn't you might as well just check my blogroll out :P

Don't forget to join in the Petite Fashion Challenge #2 hosted by Alterations Needed!

I just finished taking my pictures, hopefully it's not a fail!

A Wedding!

So I've been incredibly busy the past week as one of my closest friends got married this weekend YAY!  I thought I had taken a lot of photos of my outfit, but apparently I did not :P

So here are a couple photos from this weekend (showing my face in full this time...I would do it all the time if a professional makeup artist would come and make me over everyday LOL).

These are unfortunately the best pictures I have showing my dress!  It was a cheapie from Charlotte Russe which I picked up in the US last year.  The adjustable straps broke in the morning and I had to get the Maid of Honour sew them in place LOL!

Do you recognize the blazer above?  It's part of my Loft score!  It can also be seen on Really Petite, Callandra and Jean of Extra Petite.

And can I just tell you how much I LOVED the bride's dress?!?  Eeek!!  Makes me want to get married all over again!

Absolutely love the details of this dress!  She was STUNNING!!!

I also got a lot of compliments on my necklace which handmade by "On My Way by shellbrun".

She is a fellow Canadian that has just launched her business and makes GORGEOUS pieces! Check our her Etsy Shop.

 Here are some close ups:

I apologize for not commenting as much as I used to.  Work is actually really busy right now and that's where I usually quickly get my blog updates and comment ;)  I hope things will calm down soon and I can get back to reading everyone's shopping stories.

That's it from me for now!  I have a really busy week ahead of me which includes a cool networking event and shopping with a personal shopper!  I'll report back on both these experiences.

Verrrry Casual Friday - Loft Cardigan!

I just wanted to post really quickly one of my new favorite cardigans, the famous with petites Ann Taylor Loft Ruffled Cardigan as seen on Kelly, Chloe  and on Vicky in Turquoise (I got this one too!)

I used it to polish up an otherwise very casual Friday outfit.

Cardigan:  Ann Taylor Loft size XSP

Top:  H&M size S (old)

Jeans:  Gap Always Skinny Cropped Size 00

Necklace: Avon

Close up of the pretty ruffles:

Necklace:

Ann Taylor Loft is sadly not available in Canada nor does it ship to Canada :(.  Kelly aka Alterations Needed was kind enough to acquire a few of the petite items I was coveting.  If there is an item you are looking for but are unable to get your hands on try posting a request on the AN Forum Marketplace another fellow petite may be able to help you out!

Good Bye Summer....Hello Fall

I know it's now officially Fall, but I have been absolutely crazy busy this week and super tired, so I haven't had time to post a current outfit.  I thought it would be appropriate to post a summer outfit that was never used so it doesn't go to waste ;)

Dress:  American Eagle Outfitters

Belt:  Winners

Sunglasses:  Coach

You may recall seeing a review of this dress here.

I don't know if I'm being brave or lazy posting "all of me" -- probably just lazy LOL!

The sunglasses make me feel a little better though.

Pictures were taken by Husband in front of the CN tower ;)

Well, that's it for Summer!  Although tomorrow here is supposed to be hot and humid.

OOTD: Leopard print

I keep hearing about how animal prints are huge for this Fall - for many this is exciting - not so much for me!  I don't know why but I've never been attracted to animal prints.  I think they look AMAZING on other people and am so envious of how they manage to make it work.  Maybe it just doesn't suit my personality?  I do have a pair of Leopard-ish print shoes (another post) but that's all I owned.  Until I came across this blazer that is.

Jeans:  Gap Legging Jeans size 00 (yes, I'm wearing these a lot!)

Tank Top:  Old Navy (find it online here)

Blazer:  H&M size 2

Necklace: Avon

I was first drawn to this blazer because of the all the feminine details.  The puffed shoulders and the pleating at the bottom, then I saw the lining! 

Not what I'm normally drawn to but I thought this was the right way for me to incorporate some animal print until I get braver ;)

Here's the sleeves rolled down - a little long.

Back view:



Close up of pleats in the front:

I LOVE the colour of the tank top and the pretty ruffles!

And here's a close up of my necklace (husband calls them my string of grapes LOL):

Anyone else afraid of animal prints like me?

OOTD: Getting ready for Fall and making some new friends

Ok Fall is DEFINITELY here to stay.  The mornings and nights are frigid and the days are comfortable.  I love Fall but it can be hard to dress when you're going to be out all day! 

There is a really big park near my place called High Park which is a park in the middle of the city!

Here are some pictures from our walk there:

Corduroy shirt/jacket Jacob Connexion XS

Scarf:  RW&Co

Shirt:  mark by Avon

Jeans:  Gap Jean Leggings 00

Boots:  Avon

Some Canadian pride!

We also met a few friends in the park:

We happened to have a bag of peanuts on us so we all became closer friends ;)

This is one our favorite Fall things to do - take a walk in the park and feed the squirrels and chipmunks and help them get ready for Winter hibernation :)

OOTD: A (new) typical work outfit

I'm calling this a new typical work outfit because it's not something I had ever worn together before but it makes a great typical work outfit for me!  It was actually inspired by Kelly at Alterations Needed when she "deconstructed" her go-to outfit.  I loved this idea of breaking an outfit down into elements.  I don't know about you, but I don't have a lot of vision when it comes to putting together an outfit.  When I see something I immediate know if I'm drawn to it but often times the vision I see in my own head does not work out so well when I'm standing in front of a mirror!  I appreciated Kelly breaking it down a bit so I could see why it worked and instead of copying the look exactly, figuring out which elements I had in my own closet to pull off the overall look.

This is what I came up with:

Jeans:  Banana Republic Trouser Jean size 0P

Blouse:  Mexx XS

Cardigan:  Old Navy XS (in Canadian stores, not online - and disappeared from the US site!  But THIS is similar)

Belt - Danier XS

Necklace:  mark by Avon

Kelly had 4 basic guidelines I was trying to follow:

1) A fun top.  I don't have too many of those so I just went with an "interesting" top with the pattern and added the bold necklace.

2) 1/2 buttoned cardigan to give an "x-shape".  I did this but the cardigan itself is a little boxy and I don't have a really defined waist so to add further emphasis I added the belt.

3) Dark Denim.  Check

4) 3/4 sleeves.  Check

I also like the flower embellishment on the cardigan to add more elements of "fun" to the look ;)



So...how did I do?

Also....don't forget to enter the giveaway from Lisa of respect the shoes.

She's giving away a beautiful Anthropologie necklace to celebrate her 200th post (WOW!!!).

Enter until September 17th!