Welcome to a post about some of my favourite things. It’s a bit of a look into what makes me happy, colours, textures, items that stir up beautiful memories and other items that make me feel creative.

Flowers from the same bouquet, soo lovely! I’d never seen this flower before, it’s now in the running to be my favourite flower, alongside peonies. So vibrant!

White textured leather flats from Zara. What could possibly be better than the softest leather flats? Perhaps faux snakeskin heels (right). There’s just something about putting on a beautiful pair of shoes that makes me feel like I can go out and accomplish whatever I want. I know what you’re thinking, “Olivia, you’re putting a heck of a lot of pressure onto one little pair of flats.” But that’s the effect shoes have on me! I shall blame it on seeing Dorothy slip on her ruby red slippers and have them take her just where she wanted. 

Well there you have it, a look into what makes me feel good. It’s the little things that brighten up these dreary Vancouver days! 

Xo StyleStruck

As I may have said a couple, or a few, or more times, this past Friday was my Birthday! Friday evening was spent having a lovely dinner with wonderful company at Cardero’s restaurant in Coal Harbour. Mmm the Wok Seafood was so delicious, so was the Beringer White Zinfandel! As well as the Torta Milano, with candle, to finish. Just delightful! Then Saturday night was the night to put our (bedazzled) party hats on! I don’t have many words for this post, but they say a picture, or 10 in my case, can say a thousand words. So look on! 

From left, Stephanie W, (of Elle-ectric), Dani B, (of The Fancy Pirate), Me, Kristen MT, Katie K. Apparently we all got the memo about short skirts!

And that’s it for now! It was a lovely Birthday and thank you to all who sent Birthday wishes!! They were much appreciated and helped to make Friday a very special day for me!

Xo StyleStruck

This post is for all the people reading who are, or are looking to be, in business on the web. Like myself, kind of, only I don’t make money off of what I do, yet. (Hopefully at some point this hobby/passion of mine will become lucrative!) Anyways, so to all you who are trying to figure out how to harness the power of the virtual crowd? (A.k.a. Harnessing the power of a crowd on the internet). Sounds interesting, right!??

I bet you think I have the answer to this. Well I’m a bit too young to have business advice of that level, (gimme a couple more semesters at BCIT and I’ll be your girl!). BUT, I do have an event to tell you about where you can learn how to do this!

On MARCH 10th, (that’s a Wednesday, mark it down), the IIMA, International Internet Marketing Association, is putting on an event at the YWCA on Hornby St. on just this topic! And they have a guest speaker you don’t want to miss! Richard J. Goossen, CEO of MakeGood and author of E-Preneur – from Wall Street to Wiki: Succeeding as a Crowdpreneur™ in the New Virtual Marketplace will be engaging the membership of the IIMA regarding the strategic concept of crowdsourcing.

From the IIMA site, here are some benefits of attending:

• Understand how to use the concept of the “crowdpreneur” – to use crowd power as a practical business tool
• Make sense of the linguistic alphabet soup of “crowd” related terms, from “crowdsroucing” to other variations
• Understand individual v user-centered innovation & the impact of the web
• Understand the six principles of crowd power
• Learn the Four elements of a Crowd-Power Business Model
• Lessons from case studies such as Fluevog – “Home of the Crowdsourced Shoe”, Cambrian House – Home of Crowdsroucing.
• Examine how crowdsourcing can be used for non-profit purposes such as MakeGood
• Learn how the use of crowdpower can be a competitive advantage for your company
• Reconsider the strategic positioning of your company in light of the concept of crowdpower

Not only will you learn lots, but this will be a fantastic opportunity to network! 

To be able to go to this event and many other events of this quality, become a member of the IIMA. (The IIMA is a non-profit marketing association with a goal to link marketing professionals together locally and around the world. This is definitely a cause worth supporting!) Become a member by clicking here!

There are 3 levels of memberships: 

1. GOOD NEWS FOR YOU MARKETING STUDENTS! An annual Student membership is only $35!

2. The Professional membership: $99/year

3. The Corporate membership: $399/year

And now for more pictures! 

Wearing: B.B.Dakota black lace dress, Accessories black woven leather belt, vintage pins, H&M bracelet, vintage rings, London Drugs brand tights and Zara white leather flats. Though I love heels and will always be a devoted fan, I’m really having a flats moment right now. And it seems the best ones are from Zara! Theirs are just the right shape, none of this pointy toe or toe-sticking-up business. Don’t even get me started on the prices, we all know how great those are!

Now go be pro-active and get out there and network! And look fabulous while you do it. I’m thinking blazers, skinnies and some outrageous heels! (In December I went to one of these web-people gatherings wearing the pink sequin Miu Miu’s and made connections because people liked my shoes. Seriously.)

Xo StyleStruck

Winter 2010 Collection from stylestalker on Vimeo.

A bit about the ladies responsible for this video:

Finally, a label for self-confessed style addicts…

stylestalker is the lovechild of Sue-Ann San and Rachel Zeilic.

We were drawn together by our mutual addiction to ‘stylestalking’; scouring magazines, trawling the web and travelling to all parts of the world to devour all things style. We decided to create a label to satisfy our fashion cravings.

The result is stylestalker, launched in August 2008.

I think this viral look book is brilliant and wish I could create something like this myself! Stylestalker, the label, is fantastic. The clothes are unique and edgy enough to set you apart from the rest of the body-con, leggings, grunge wearing girls because they have a simplicity and chic-ness to them. I’d like to order one, or two, of everything. Credit card, get ready! Check out their website here to see what’ll fit into your closet! And don’t forget to check out their blog too! Stylestalker Blog

Xo StyleStruck

Hairband from True Value Vintage on Robson St. I love this thing, it’s got personality. 

This vest and these pants are two of the birthday gifts I got for myself on Friday while shopping on Main St. at Front & Co. LOVE that shop. 

My beloved Chanel shoes, purchased on a summer trip to New York City in 2008. 

The belt, which was taken off a B.B. Dakota dress I got in New York on the second and latest trip, November 2009. 

Me. Very happy me decked out in fur and Chanel, which in my world equals fabulosity. This post was put together while listening to Paul Simon’s “She Has Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.” 

The Brands: Vintage vest and pants. Black tank, hidden by vest, from Target, B.B. Dakota belt and Chanel pumps. 

Only 4 days until my birthday, let the countdown begin! xoxo

A nice, casual menswear look. 

You see, the trouble I am having is that I am a little disappointed with Vancouver’s fashion weeks. Although it’s not Vancouver’s fault, or the fault of the people who put on these events. These people are fantastic and without them we’d have no fashion week at all. The problem lies in the fact that Vancouver has little to no big business to support fashion designers who want to be different and break the mold as the international designers do each season. Why don’t we have the big success stories of people like Alexander Wang here in Vancouver? Surely we have talent that equals that of Mr. Wang? Of course we do, but we haven’t got the backers and buyers that NYC, London, Paris and Milan have. Money = more creativity on the runway. And so, every F/W and S/S season in Vancouver the fashion group gathers to watch runway shows that give us trends that are already prevalent on our streets. I have nothing against the companies that provide the clothing for these shows, like Parasuco and SuperTrash for this particular event, it’s just that these are commercial companies who don’t strive to create “editorial” fashion, they strive to create everyday clothes for their young consumer and they do a very good job of it. So while I understand all this, I still felt a little melancholy watching the shows last Saturday night. That being said, here are my favourite looks from Parasuco: (Including the above picture)

I quite like these skinny jeans. The cardigan looks cute pushed up over the sleeves of the flannel too, I must make a mental note of styling my shirts that way.

The performer during the Parasuco show. 

And now for SuperTrash:

The performers during this show were the Tito Deville Band, they did an amazing job. 

Loving the shoulder detail on this gold lame dress.

I never tire of sequin skinnies paired with architectural black patent pumps. Sequins are so fierce coming and going!

I’d love to wear this on a bit of a windy spring day with a great pair of peep-toe heels and clutch!

Now I’m picturing this suit with a loose silk blouse and Miu Miu’s S/S ‘10 platform heels with the bird print. *Siigghh* Heaven… I’m just dying for the pink pair of the Miu Miu platforms, the pink ones have crystal detailing on the toe. 

I have to say that through both shows I really did appreciate the styling that went into the outfits, which was done by Karolina Jez and Amanda, (so sorry I don’t know the last name – if you do, let me know! ). You could tell there was thought behind how the pieces were put together. 

Parasuco is available at the Parasuco store, there’s one on Granville at Dunsmuir and SuperTrash is available at Lola Bleu, Wear Else and Jack & Jill on South Granville. 

Thank you to all the people who put together Vancouver’s fashion events, it is really nice to see everyone at these gatherings!

Xo StyleStruck

Just wanted to get that off my chest before I went to sleep. Night night readers. Xo

This morning I woke up wishing I owned a chic pair of cashmere sweatpants that could be worn with heels. I wanted fierce comfort, but an over-sized boy hoody and comfy jeans did just fine! This was a perfect outfit for me today, I felt good in it from 10:30 am when I left my apartment til 6:30 pm when I finally got home. 

You may have noticed that lately I have taken to wearing hardly any make up, or none at all. I am having an I-hate-eyeliner moment right now, and I’m not into gloss with fur, so minimalism is my new thing. Til next week anyways. : )

Today I took two busses and one sky train to Main St. to visit my friend Jennine Banks. Jennine has the most AMAZING apartment, as I showed you earlier in December, and can also cook up one yummy omelet. Today she made us green apple-caramelized onion-goat cheese omelets with fresh brewed coffee imported from Seattle. I brought the dessert: a fresh croissant and blueberry muffin. Mmmm. Catching up with friends is such a lovely day to spend the day. 

Afterwards I ventured further up Main St. to Front and Co. where I scored some incredible vintage finds!!! = A bag of birthday presents for myself! My finds: 1-white rabbit fur vest with sheepskin collar, (PETA please do not hate on me. It’s all vintage, which in my opinion makes it better than buying new). 2-very fitted leather pants!! Which makes them borderline leggings, but styled like jeans, and without that awkward frontal area that leggings create. Which is why I hated leggings to begin with. Again people, leggings must be accompanied by a tunic or long sweater of some sort. Please adhere to this. 3-a loose knit black sweater that has thing amazing lace-up detail up the sides of the sweater that continues down the arms on the inside, so the lacing holds the sweater together. Très chic. Pictures coming soon, I can’t decide whether or not I will save these delicious items for my actual birthday, WHICH IS ON FRIDAY, FYI. Yayyy!! I shall be 22 years old. I may even do a retrospective post on my year being 21, after all, it was a huge year for me; StyleStruck came to be!

Ta-ta for now lovely people! And thank you very much for visiting my blog, you make me very happy!

Xoxo

Above: Suzy Menkes, head fashion editor of London’s Herald Tribune and of hair bump-fame. 

VIDEO: Suzy Menkes and Fashion Bloggers on Fashion Blogs

A MUST WATCH for all those in the fashion blogging world, or just interested in it! You may have already seen this video on Bryan Boy’s blog, but doing my blog catch-up tonight, I’ve only just seen it now. I loved it. I love Suzy Menkes. I love her way of speaking. I’d like to have tea with Suzy Menkes while wrapped in some sort of chunky knit sweater and sporting big hair.

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

I can’t wait for warm spring days and summer heat that makes you crave those drippy yummy cyclone popsicles from 7-11. I can’t wait for fresh peonies and iced lattes while strolling down Robson. I just can’t wait for all the new spring sandals at Zara and weekends away wearing them… Till then, I’ll be keeping cozy in shalls, leather and over-sized denim. 

You may have noticed that I take most pictures in my apartment, this is because 1: I don’t have as much time on my hands as I’d like, so rather than spend a day out taking photos with a friend, I do it at home and 2: as much as I do take pictures of myself for this blog, surprisingly I really don’t like being in front of the camera, especially when there is someone behind the camera! When I’m alone doing it, I find I am able to be much more creative. 

I am wearing: vintage leather shorts from Legends on Main St. and…

March: Zara cropped jacket, I <3 NY tee from a NYC vendor, Zara wedges.

April: Kersh long cardigan, Forever 21 bolero, Betsey Johnson mules. 

May: H&M denim vest, orange blouse-brand unknown, Manolo Blahnik flats, vintage snakeskin clutch

June: Vest from a street-side shop in Mexico, Zara studded belt, Heels… secret… 

July: Zara blouse, vintage vest, Prada mary-janes.

August: Wilfred dress worn as shirt, Bang-On gold belt, Zara yellow faux snakeskin heels

New posts coming this week featuring events I recently attended and an upcoming Vancouver stylist! Stay tuned!

Xo StyleStruck