Recently I had the pleasure of enjoying tea at the lovely Bel Cafe with the two members of Ma-Luxe, a full service team that produces high-quality, luxurious photo shoots for brides-to-be as well as glamour sessions for women not counting down the days till the big white dress. I’ve been [...]]]>

Recently I had the pleasure of enjoying tea at the lovely Bel Cafe with the two members of Ma-Luxe, a full service team that produces high-quality, luxurious photo shoots for brides-to-be as well as glamour sessions for women not counting down the days till the big white dress. I’ve been given access to images from one of Ma-Luxe’s Victoria based glamour sessions, done at the Dunmora Estate on Saanich Inlet and I am so excited to share it with you. Marion and Lisa and their team are a creative force to be reckoned with and in their early days of business have already been flown across the continent (to NYC!!) to produce shoots. Their work is fabulous. Please enjoy images from the Dunmora Diaries glamour session!

{ Photography by Ophelia Photography }

Of course a photo shoot isn’t a photo shoot without all of the wonderful vendors who provide the necessary details, from the clothes to the location: Ophelia Photography, Carly Flint, The Magnolia Hotel, Adorn Atelier, Blush Bridal Boutique, Swasion Boutique in Victoria, BC, Ooh La La Cupcakes, Platinum Floral Designs, Stella Haute Coiffeurs and Dunmora Estate. A note about the beautiful estate: “Dunmora is a charming, classic English Tudor-revival home that was originally built in the 1920’s and designed by renowned Architect J. C. M. Keith. The historic Saanich Inlet house has recently been the subject of a very extensive restoration. The original charm and grandeur has been retained and the home now features beamed ceilings, French doors, panelled walls, high end fittings and equipment, four fireplaces, seven bedrooms and six bathrooms.” Wow. I’ll take two please!

What I love about the mission behind Ma-Luxe’s work is that they aim to empower women to discover their confidence by cultivating their own unique look. It’s not a dress-up-fits-all approach, but much more of a be your best self approach. I can’t wait to see more from this talented team!

{ Wearing: Zara sweater, Fidelity pants, Ted Baker belt, Manolo Blahnik flats, H&M sunnies, Fossil watch, Poshlocket bangles (c/o) }

Some days you just want to say #$&% to the tight waist bands, fitted [...]]]>

{ Wearing: Zara sweater, Fidelity pants, Ted Baker belt, Manolo Blahnik flats, H&M sunnies, Fossil watch, Poshlocket bangles (c/o) }

Some days you just want to say #$&% to the tight waist bands, fitted jeans and high, high heels. Those days are often Sundays. Sundays bring no fashion events, no meetings, just coffee strolls and brunch dates. And I want to enjoy brunch with my comfortable pants on, like these Fidelity cargo pants. I know you hear me when I say there is nothing worse than digging into your delicious eggs benny and mimosa only to feel like you’re about to pop the button on your trousers. You know that post-brunch shift in your chair thing, when you’re trying to get comfortable but your constricting skirt won’t allow it? Yeah, that’s the worst. We’re spending Sunday morning in Blaine as a result of an over-nighter birthday party bash at a beach house. And these pants are coming with me!

Happy brunch-day Sunday!

P.S. Many thanks to Poshlocket for the bangles, I am absolutely in LOVE with them, as seen here and here on instagram. Get yours here!

Have you heard of Rush? Put on by the BC Lung Association, Rush is an annual race and urban scavenger hunt through the streets of Vancouver! Sounds fun right?? If I wasn’t one of your checkpoints I’d wanna be winning participating! – I can get a bit competitive. The event goes [...]]]>

Have you heard of Rush? Put on by the BC Lung Association, Rush is an annual race and urban scavenger hunt through the streets of Vancouver! Sounds fun right?? If I wasn’t one of your checkpoints I’d wanna be winning participating! – I can get a bit competitive. The event goes like this (official description here): teams of two run around Vancouver deciphering clues to get to their next checkpoint where they must complete a challenge. With all challenges completed, the team that crosses the finish line first wins a trip around the world! It’s ridiculously fun and for a very good cause. So what’s my part in it?? Well kids, you’re going to bump into me along the way, and I’m going to give RUSH a good dose of style in amongst those leggings and headbands! Ha. I’m SO into it!! You can read my interview on the Rush website here and more importantly, register here!

{ Wearing: Guess jacket, Diane Von Furstenburg dress, Zara shoes, Frances Cobiasia bag, Armani sunnies, rose gold bangle from Blue Ruby, the rest from a street vendor in NYC’s SoHo }

I picked this outfit for Friday’s errands: picking up denim for [...]]]>

{ Wearing: Guess jacket, Diane Von Furstenburg dress, Zara shoes, Frances Cobiasia bag, Armani sunnies, rose gold bangle from Blue Ruby, the rest from a street vendor in NYC’s SoHo }

I picked this outfit for Friday’s errands: picking up denim for Tuesday’s BT segment and pulling clothes and accessories at The Bay. Rae and I left feeling great about our outfit options for Monday’s Hotel Georgia photo shoot, amongst them this and this combo!

I tend to love all of my clothes equally. Some may be designer, some high street, some on trend and some very old, but they’re all special pieces to me. I picked up this jacket in Whistler during a spring trip up the mountain when the Balmain embellish military jacket was all the rage. I still enjoy the military look and love how I can belt this right at my waist, particularly when this DVF dress billows out, as seen here in January 2011.

Now, to tend to my apartment. Which currently looks more like a closet. SO MANY CLOTHES. That are not for me. Styling is bitter sweet.

You know I am a big, big fan of Clutches of Karma! I’m thrilled to share with you that for two days they are available as part of a pop-up shop at Jennyfleur Loves! So go visit and find yourself a gorgeous clutch! See my pick

You know I am a big, big fan of Clutches of Karma! I’m thrilled to share with you that for two days they are available as part of a pop-up shop at Jennyfleur Loves! So go visit and find yourself a gorgeous clutch! See my pick here!

Last evening saw England’s Mary Katrantzou at The Room at The Bay downtown Vancouver. The designer gathered a big crowd and a fabulous party including fashion bloggers, socialites, clientele [...]]]> { Wearing: Cynthia Rowley dress (as tunic), Twik denim (c/o Simons.ca), Marc by Marc Jacobs shoes, Zara belt, Franchi clutch }

Last evening saw England’s Mary Katrantzou at The Room at The Bay downtown Vancouver. The designer gathered a big crowd and a fabulous party including fashion bloggers, socialites, clientele of The Room, journalists and photographers. Also amongst the crowd was the new addition to my StyleStruck & LOVE + MARK’D team, Rae Stevenson. Rae is a Blanche MacDonald student studying fashion merchandising and now interning with me! Actually, for all official LOVE + MARK’D biz we’ve named her “Creative + Social Media” because she does indeed take care of a lot of creative things and our social media. What did I ever do without her??

{ With Lisa Kwong and Niki Blasina (of A Haute Mess) }

Many thanks to The Bay for having us at the lovely fête, it was very much enjoyed! Now on to the rest of today:

12:30 – Pulling clothing options at The Bay with Rae for Monday’s hotel shoot.

2:30 – Male model fitting (don’t tell George… haha. I kid, I kid. Rae will be there too.)

3:00 – Creative work for LOVE + MARK’D, we’re working on an email campaign right now and I am quite excited to show you what we’ve come up with!

5:00 – I won’t want to work anymore. I will want to go play outside. Maybe I’ll go to yoga.

Today marks the launch of the FEED x Tory Burch bags at Holt Renfrew! See Lauren Bush Lauren, CEO and founder of FEED, chatting about the bags on Canada AM this morning below.

You may have seen me post a pic or two (or three, or four) of my [...]]]>

Today marks the launch of the FEED x Tory Burch bags at Holt Renfrew! See Lauren Bush Lauren, CEO and founder of FEED, chatting about the bags on Canada AM this morning below.

You may have seen me post a pic or two (or three, or four) of my pink FEED bag (c/o of Holt Renfrew). I just love it. Last week I used it as a chic mail bag en route to the Post Office with an abundance of LOVE + MARK’D treats:

Me and my bag also seen here on Robson St! Which colour are you going to choose??

{ Wearing: H&M Conscious Collection blouse (c/o), Zara skirt, [...]]]> The other day I was browsing my closet options for last night’s The Art of Romance Jason Matlo bridal show at The Hotel Georgia. George (boyfriend) took a couple snaps as I toyed with a sequined option:

{ Wearing: H&M Conscious Collection blouse (c/o), Zara skirt, Ballin shoes, Fossil watch }

Here’s what I ended up wearing:

{ Wearing: Vintage sequin jacket, Joe Fresh silk blouse (details instagramed here), Zara trousers, Elie Tahari shoes, Franchi clutch, Fossil watch, Poshlocket bangles (c/o – also seen here) }

The event was beautiful, from the spectacular room with it’s decadent wall paper and crown moldings to the weddings dresses Jason Matlo showed. I did tote along my camera, but when I saw the talented Georgia Esporlas snapping shots, I thought, I’ll wait. No point trying to reinvent the wheel, especially when Georgia does it so well.

 And also, this:

I’ve mentioned before that at LOVE + MARK’D we do a lot of custom work. We’ve (there are two of us now! Not including our creative consultant, the cat), just finished a good number of custom “From the desk of…” sets and since we keep (some of) our clients cards private, I thought I’d show you our work via StyleStruck. See them in-store here!

Also new!: LOVE + MARK’D moves on from the [...]]]> Today the collection grows! Two designs have been added to the LOVE + MARK’D card offering: the neon eiffel towers and the neon lady bags! Both make a wonderful mail box surprise for your gals, they’d love you for it! Buy them here.

Also new!: LOVE + MARK’D moves on from the days of existing as a blog tab into a full grown website!

**Now available for downtown Vancouver residents only: need a last minute special occasion card? LOVE + MARK’D will deliver downtown with a minimum purchase of one set of cards (4).

Just imagine how much your pals would love to get a pretty card in the mail from you! What a friend you’d be! And we can do ‘em custom too! Whatever you want, just ask: loveandmarkd@gmail.com

{ Twik anorak (c/o Simons.ca – can you tell I’ve been quite into this coat as of late?), JNBY blouse (c/o), Mavi denim (c/o), Aldo sandals, Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, Fossil watch, H&M sunnies }

On Wednesday evening I [...]]]>

{ Twik anorak (c/o Simons.ca – can you tell I’ve been quite into this coat as of late?), JNBY blouse (c/o), Mavi denim (c/o), Aldo sandals, Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, Fossil watch, H&M sunnies }

On Wednesday evening I met up with Eryne Ordel (Mavi Canada’s PR & Marketing Manager), for a drink at the fabulous Hotel Georgia‘s outdoor, fourth floor lounge Reflections. Just being there is a treat. I ordered a Cosmopolitan Daisy martini – a cosmo made with gin instead of vodka and oh my, was it ever good. I’ll definitely be going back for another one of those! I walked the few blocks home afterwards to co-host a couple friends for a movie night which meant popcorn, m&m’s, red wine and spring rolls… so much for my diet. Our movie of choice: The Count of Monte Cristo – sooo good! Do you host friends over very often? We’ve just started having people over to our new place and are really enjoying it! My key host necessities: a couple scented candles lit, one on the coffee table and one near the door to create ambiance, a great bottle of wine, blankets draped over the couch for easy access during the movie and fancy wine glasses – you know the ones.

{ VOGUE magazine, May 2012, Tech Support: The iBag – page 174 & 176 }

My boyfriend and I spent Friday night relaxing at home, a welcome evening of watching TLC and reading the latest Vogue. As I flipped through I came [...]]]>

{ VOGUE magazine, May 2012, Tech Support: The iBag – page 174 & 176 }

My boyfriend and I spent Friday night relaxing at home, a welcome evening of watching TLC and reading the latest Vogue. As I flipped through I came to an article that I really enjoyed (well a few actually, this one very much as well), about fashion following the consumers needs for their technology. It’s not exactly ground breaking, but nonetheless I found the piece clever and well written. I particularly enjoyed Natalie Massanet‘s (founder and executive chairman of Net-a-Porter) comment on the matter: “Today, Apple sneezes and out comes the Burberry Kleenex box!”

The article isn’t available online for reading, but The Daily Mail UK did quote most of it in their version of the story here.

On Tuesday afternoon I visited Vancouver-based artist Sarah Holtom at the Waldorf Hotel to have my portrait painted. (I tweeted my outfit for the adventure here! Wearing: Zara jacket, skirt & [...]]]>

On Tuesday afternoon I visited Vancouver-based artist Sarah Holtom at the Waldorf Hotel to have my portrait painted. (I tweeted my outfit for the adventure here! Wearing: Zara jacket, skirt & flats, Brooks Brothers shirt) Sarah is a fantastic artist who has been painting portraits for years, with a 100 piece collection, entitled 100 Portraits of Calgary Artists, purchased and hanging in Calgary’s Glenbow Museum. Sarah has a new project now: 50 portraits in 15 days. Hosted by the Waldorf Hotel, Sarah will spending just over two weeks capturing the likeness of many notable Vancouverites, including ex-mayor Sam Sullivan. And there are still a few appointments available!

Beginning yesterday, May 3rd, oil-on-wood portraits (12×12”) will be completed in a 1-2 hour sitting in the gallery at the special rate of $250 (single) $350 (couple). Pets and children are welcome; costumes and personality are encouraged. Sarah will maintain full-time hours at the Waldorf Hotel gallery during her residency (12-7pm, Monday – Saturday) and will accept both appointments and drop-in’s, time permitting. Appointments are limited to 50 portraits.

May 3rd- May 18th – Live painting in gallery, by drop-in and appointment.
May 18th – Closing reception.
Work remains on display until May 31st.

Book appointments via: Graeme Berglund // Gallery Director - graeme@thecheapershow.com

I haven’t received an image of my completed portrait yet, but below shows the painting part way through:

{ Images by Graeme Berglund }

{ Wearing: JNBY sweater dress (c/o), H&M denim & sunnies (two regular favorites… I’m wearing the jeans now as I type this!), Nine West wedges (purchased in 2008, we’re rekindling our affair this spring, [...]]]>

{ Wearing: JNBY sweater dress (c/o), H&M denim & sunnies (two regular favorites… I’m wearing the jeans now as I type this!), Nine West wedges (purchased in 2008, we’re rekindling our affair this spring, they’re just perfect with this season’s Sport Luxe trend), Frances Cobiasia bag, gifted nameplate necklace, leather wrap bracelet purchased from a SoHo street vendor, crystal embroidery thread bracelet from New Look (London) }

In the news today, two pieces that will likely shake up your fashion future:

• Anna Dello Russo partners with H&M for an “over-the-top” accessories collection to debut October 4th 2012. “The collection features jewelry, sunglasses, shoes, bags and a carry-on allowing H&M customers uniqueness at an affordable price,” says H&M. From Anna Dello Russo: “I am excited by this collaboration: this is the first time H&M has involved a fashion director in a special project. This is the sign of an important evolution in fashion, and I am both thrilled and humbled to be the one chosen to lead it. I wanted to create precious accessories that are impossible to find. As a stylist, I know accessorization is essential; it is the personal touch in any outfit. With these pieces, everybody can have fun, and turn an ordinary day into a fantastic fashion day.”

• SweetSpot.ca, the Rogers owned online source for all things current in fashion and retail in Canada, has announced it will no longer be publishing new content. There was no reason given, just: “we’re sad to announce that sweetspot.ca will no longer be posting new content, and that our archives will be shutting down at the end of this month.” It’s a shame, the Canadian publication scene feels to be dwindling when it ought to be growing. On a brighter note, there is independent growth: did you see this brilliant new online magazine, just launched yesterday?