I’ve introduced my twin sister before here on StyleStruck.ca, and here she is again! Monika was in Sweden this past August, and there are two photos in particular from her trip that I found inspiring. I’m loving how casual and chic her leather bomber looks here, and the red against that natural swedish backdrop is heaven. 

(Above) I saw this picture, and the first thing I thought was, CAMPAIGN! If I were a retailer, I’d like my campaign to have the vibe of this photograph.

Monika’s clothes: Zara leather bomber jacket, Forever 21 T, Paige Premium Denim, a collaboration with O.P.I. exclusive to Holt Renfrew, and black leather flats, (brand unknown).

What are you doing this Wednesday night? Come mingle with me, local designer Sandra J and stylist Danielle Barnes, as well as loads of other Vancouver industry people! It’s a night of cocktails, fashion and music, with DJ Ch3rk spinning.
Ladies and gents, I want to see you at your most fabulous, I’ll be snapping pictures all night for my blog!

Sandra J designs and makes gorgeous one-of-a kind cocktail dresses, and will have models mingling with the crowd to show off her designs. One of her dresses:

Photo courtesy of Mazen Zeidan Photography.

Wednesday, November 25
8pm til late at Section 3 in Yaletown

No cover charge. 

Looking forward to meeting you,
xo StyleStruck

Jody's Self Portrait

One night in Brooklyn Adam invited Tommy and I over to his friends’ place for a get together. There I met Jody Rogac, a fashion photographer and her significant other, Matthew Booth, one of the three producers of Vancouver-based Pyramid Power magazine. Jody was based in Vancouver and found work here shooting for prominent Vancouver retailers like Lily +Jae, Jonathon+Olivia and Aritzia. She has now set her sights on New York and is based in Brooklyn. The night I met Jody  I was envious of her cozy fair isle style wool sweater, I wore a leather skirt and thin shirt that night with heels, and ohh boy does Brooklyn get cold at night! (Sometimes being a slave for fashion is hard work. But wearing heels every day and night in NYC felt necessary.) 

Jody and I got to chatting about fashion and I noticed she had some Diane Arbus books, so we got to talking about fashion photography and she passed me one of her business cards. On the front was a black and white image of a young girl, which immediately reminded me of photos I’ve seen featured on Aritzia carrier bags. I told her this, and then had a foot-in-mouth moment: Jody has already shot campaigns with Aritzia. Her photography is unassuming and beautiful, with a focus on the unique and unusual. (That’s my perception anyways). Here’s a taste of her work:

All images courtesy of Jody Rogac. These photos were taken as part of a “Vancouver Special” for Selector Magazine.  Check out her site.

Jody's card

What’s Jody been working on lately? A shoot with Nylon magazine, but I can’t spill who with until the next edition hits newsstands! Big thanks to Jody for letting me feature her on StyleStruck!

….I wish. Whenever it happens that I move to NYC, (because it will happen, it has to!!), I will have to find a way to become BFFs with her. And Marc as well, while I’m at it. For now I’ll just have to settle for visiting her fabulous store in the meat packing district. So here I am leaving the Plaza… and finishing shopping… and stopping shopping for a cupcake break. 

Sitting in the hall outside our room at the Plaza

Outside the DVF store!

 Everyone keeps asking me, “what did you get while you were there??” but I didn’t do very much shopping. Going there I had my heart set on a DVF dress, and that is what I came home with. I may look a little overdressed to just go shopping right?  It was the last day at the Plaza, and I wanted to be dressed up as we left our hotel, and I hadn’t worn it on the trip yet. And this dress got special attention, it didn’t just go into my suitcase, no, no. It was carried everywhere in a garment bag, which ended up being such a nuisance, but I didn’t want to take a chance on losing it or even wrinkling it! There’s a story behind the dress too: it’s a vintage DVF find. I was shopping at Front & Company on Main last winter and there on the mannequin was this dress! Only one, and it fit perfectly. It turned out that Front & Co had just been featured in a local paper, and the picture with the article was this dress. The article had not run yet when I purchased the dress, so when the article did run, I’m sad to say it was my fault when girls called the store inquiring about the dress. But it was true love, and because it was vintage I paid a small fraction of what it retailed for. I always wondered what season it was from, but apparently it wasn’t too long ago because when I wore it into the DVF store, the girls were all, “We remember that dress!” So it was totally worth it, although I felt like I looked a bit like a russian house wife all day.

Then we stopped for a break…

Magnolia Bakery! Mmmm

MmmMmmm cupcake

Those cupcakes are as good as the line is long outside the store. As usually it goes around the block. Yum yum yum. That’s it for now, more posts coming soon!!

Thanks for reading!

XO StyleStruck

New York City has this magic about it, it feels like a place where anything is possible. At least that’s how I felt in the 6 days I was there. One day I hope to live in Manhattan, lower west side or upper east side, I’m happy! There is just so much to see and do, and so many interesting and fabulous people to meet. One day… Below: This is Sarah, a lovely lady I met in the subway who works in fashion. Always great to meet another fashionista!

This is Sarah, a perfect example of fabulous New York City fashion!

Love the shoes!

More New York City posts to come! (I was there for 6 days, you can imagine how camera-happy I got)

Xo StyleStruck

Trying on outfits for going out! Cynthia Rowley silk dress, (bought last time I was in NYC, Zara belt and my beloved Miu Miu sequin pumps)

Yes I am standing in a hotel room in the Plaza. Just a minute: Ahhhhh the Plazaaa! Something happened so that we got a ridiculously good deal for our nightly rate, so we stayed at The Plaza for two nights. 

As Tommy and I walked into the hotel, which by the way is GORGEOUS, I had to try soo hard to keep a straight face because I could not believe where I was. I tried very hard to walk in all “Oh yeah, the Plaza, no big deal. I could buy the place,” you know, try and be very blase (blah-zay) about it. I even wore my 5″ Stuart Weitzman heels there when I had to drag my HUGE suitcase and garment bag and coats, etc. What can I say, I wanted to look “chic.” And was I ever glad I did when we got there, the dress code for ladies at the Plaza is heels and fabulousness. The first lady I saw looked like some Russian billionaire’s wife in a black coat, red sweater, white Karl-esque blouse with embroidery, cropped black cigarette pants with a huge belt buckle and black satin Christian Loutboutins. Very fabulous. It was the kind of outfit you just stand/sit around in looking pretty, you can’t actually do stuff in it. Then of course if you’re that rich you just pay everyone to do everything for you, so those kinds of outfits are ideal. People watching was one of the best things about that hotel. 

Pictures of our suite:

I died when I saw the bathroom

A bath awaits!

And when we went out this is what happened when we came back…

A Birthday cake was left in our room! (It was Tommy's Birthday)

Yuuummmm

We'd leave, and then when we came back, my shoes were all arranged nicely. Each time differently too

What an experience, definitely something I will never ever forget! We spent two nights there, and four nights in Brooklyn, which was equally as great. We were in Bedstye where his brother Adam lives, and the street was just gorgeous with all the old 3 story buildings all in a row, very Carrie’s style of apartments. Oh and if you’re wondering what I got Tommy for his birthday, I got him sterling silver cufflinks engraved with his initials from Tiffany’s. It’s a great gift if you need to get a present ladies! 

Til later,

Xo StyleStruck

Wearing vintage fur bomber jacket, black ripped skinnies, Zara booties and Zara purse

Throwing leaves in the park!

We went skating in the park too, at the Trump Skating Rink. I had been dreaming of doing this for years, and it was just as wonderful as I had thought it would be! (Also wearing Ray Bans, Tommy Hilfiger blouse and studded leather Zara belt, and those awful blue rental skates)

More posts to come of NYC, some exciting ones! I got to check out a popular designer’s studio while we were there…. Posts coming Saturday! 

Xo StyleStruck