StyleStruck » Niki Blasina

2 FOR J. CREW, PLEASE

Olivia — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:40:36 +0000

On Tuesday night, April 24th J. Crew opened its Robson St. store doors to a veritable who’s who in the Vancouver fashion scene. The store opening party was jam packed full of fashionistas looking to meet the designers and PR team flown in from New York and check out the newest J. Crew offerings. My favorites are the leather ballet flats, which I intend to go back for come better weather. I had the pleasure of attending with Niki Blasina of A Haute Mess.

{ Images by Evaan Kheraj, c/o J. Crew }

{ I look a tad unimpressed here, but the evening was actually rather good! Particularly when you have Niki as your date. Wearing: Twik anorak (c/o Simons.ca), BCBG Max Azria dress, Zara belt, Nine West sandals, Clutches of Karma snakeskin clutch and a plethora of sparkling, golden bracelets – photo c/o Niki’s iPhone }

As it was raining that night, a rain coat worn as a dress seemed rather appropriate. I layered the anorak over my 21st birthday dress, close up here.

Fashion’s Night Out (In Schools)

Olivia — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:57:29 +0000

Last night I teetered (walking on Yaletown’s cobble stone lined side walks is not easy feat in 5″ heels) over to V Lounge at Earls for a Vancouver production of FNO put on by Social Chair, Define Magazine and @hummingbird604.

The event benefited Out in Schools – an organization on a mission to educate youth on the dangers of bullying, homophobia and stereotypes, and featured spring/summer fashions from The Bay’s White Space.

I’m not sure what got into me, but I was feeling satin leopard print – maybe I’ve been watching too much jersey Shore. But I figured if I balanced it with a jacket, tights and a ladylike bag I could pull off the look. Looking back, I may retire the dress to the back of my closet for awhile. I mean, you can only wear satin leopard print so often right? (Like once a season. Except that I wore silk leopard print for my birthday as well, which was on Saturday. Birthdays don’t count for fashion rules. That’s a new rule.)

With fabulous friend Eryne Ordel, who is holding a baby Balenciaga – a.k.a. a clutch. Wearing: Zara leather bomber jacket, Guess leopard print dress, H&M tights, Browns ID patent leather heels, Kate Spade bag, gold studded belt from Bang-On. Vintage ring.

A big congrats to Social Chair – Vancouver’s new lifestyle PR firm featuring co-principals Niki Blasina and Ashley Mangat – on a fantastic evening. A few photos from the night:

Party guests!

And the front row… (well one side of it, I was on the other.)

Sitting pretty: Far left, Franceska Lavaggi, stylist for The Bay, and Lily Nguyen of Bleed for Fashion.

Xo StyleStruck

p.s. I tweet all the darn time.

Loven-Beauty-Mark

Olivia — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:22:53 +0000

As in, my last name is Lovenmark! (I had to do it. How often do I get to use that??) Last night a group of journalists and bloggers gathered at BeautyMark to celebrate the store for all its fabulosity and to check out what products will be hot over the holidays. The shop was decked out in festive-goodness with canisters at every counter filled with yummy chocolate treats and delicious wine, graciously provided by Bear Flag Wine. Here’s what I wore:

Wearing: I.N.C. dress, tights from Mum, Browns ID patent leather heels (which were RIDICULOUS for walking on Yaletown’s brick sidewalks in. How’s a girl supposed to navigate those bricks in heels?? Tips?), Fossil watch, pearl earrings.

Niki Blasina with our favourite t-shirt:

Above: Erin Ireland and Christie Lohr talk samples. 2 up: Girlie Girl Bows. Below: Product variety at BeautyMark: Principessa lotions and beauty care, Smith’s Rosebud Salve, Dermalogica skin care. Niki and Erin Gee, of Haus of Hybrid, try out hair products.

With BeautyMark owner, Marc Brunet. (Tevrow + Chase wool jacket, Zara leather clutch).

It was a fun and fabulous night, and I sure do appreciate a well-planned event! Thank you to Marc and Adele Chan for hosting such a lovely party!

Xo StyleStruck

JOE FRESH LAUNCH PARTY – 16/10/2010

Olivia — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 17:20:53 +0000

Last night marked the official launch party for the new Joe Fresh flagship store at 540 Granville St, and what a party it was!

My party date and I, (Brittany Yu of Stiletto Marketing), joined the festivities after a quick drink at the Shore Club, where we coincidentally sat down beside Marianas Trench at the bar – Marianas Trench was one of the bands playing at the Joe Fresh Style Street Party earlier in the day, and were also headed over the party. The carpet leading up to the door was of course bright orange, in keeping with the Joe Fresh branding. Inside were a few of my fashion favourites: Joe Mimran (the brilliant mind and namesake behind Joe Fresh), Lisa Tant (editor-in-chief of Flare magazine), Adrien Mainella (host of Fashion File), Niki Blasina of A Haute Mess, Peter Ty of The Starving Stylist, Nicole Soon of Le Mode de Jour, Ishra Sharif, Lily Nguyen of Bleed for Fashion and countless other fabulous people. I could go on and on, but instead, I’ll just give you some photos from the night!

Jeremy Szafron (Canadian TV personality), Niki Blasina, me and Adrian Mainella.

With Lisa Tant.

Adore this hat. Wearing: Denim vest from Walmart, oh about 8 years ago for $7, Target shirt, Rag & Bone silk tie, vintage leather shorts, sheer black tights and black patent Elie Tahari heels, which you can’t see. Holding my black leather bomber jacket from Zara, and black leather Franchi clutch.

Lily Nguyen, Peter Ty and Ishra Sharif.

I couldn’t resist. With Trevor Linden. Lily couldn’t resist either…

I have to give serious props to the PR team behind the event, Lisa Parker Tait PR, and Lisa Kwong who did a sensational job of coordinating the evening. Thank you for having me! And thanks for the fabulous swag bags – each attendee was gifted a Joe Fresh puffy pack-away jacket. I got a bright, fresh green jacket, which I’ll be sure to include in a post soon!

And of course, thanks to my fun-times date! Mrs. Brittany Yu!

Nothing like a Cosmopolitan to start the evening off right! At Shore Club.

For more (and better), coverage of the event, please check out Style Quotient, and any of the blogs listed above!

Xo StyleStruck

Vancouver is Awesome, Shine Nightclub, Red Bull & Belvedere Vodka Proudly Present: An Awesome Showcase

Olivia — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:47:41 +0000

LOOKING FOR A HIP AND STYLISH EVENT TO ATTEND THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THOSE WINTER GAMES? Look no further!

VancouverisAwesome.com and Shine Nightclub present “An Awesome Showcase” of local Vancouver talent. A little excerpt from the organizers:

The three part visual arts show will feature Vancouver’s top established and up-and-coming artists, photographers and designers throughout the entire two weeks of the winter games.

Running from February 12 – 28, the show will be viewable to the public throughout the daytime and will offer visual displays for the night scene as well. When taking in the art works, daytime guests are also invited to slip into Shine’s cocktail lounge to relax and sip on tasty libations.

Each day for the duration of the showcase, Vancouver Is Awesome will be blogging live from the venue, giving the public up-to-date information on the event’s happenings and sharing favourite Vancouver stories from the people who visit the exhibit.

Tuesday evening was the launch party of this fabulous event, which was put together in part by DelaCruz PR firm. The launch party was a gathering of Vancouver’s most artsy, from photographers, graphic designers and artists to bloggers, public relations people and various other reporters.

The curator of An Awesome Showcase, Randy Laybourne and I. (I’m wearing: Bebe mesh and sequin top, Zara leather jacket, black ripped Sirens jeans and rose-gold Fossil watch).

I can’t think of a better venue for an exhibition like this, the art was displayed so effectively against the lit-up walls.

Four of the featured artists.

Kelly Litzenberger, photographer and Editor/Art Director at Concrete Skateboarding Magazine with one of his pieces.

When I asked Kelly what his reasoning was for placing two panoramic images together, Kelly replied simply, “I don’t have a deep reason for doing this, I just thought they looked good together.” To me, this is art at its best. I’m not one for drawn out lengthy and philosophical meanings behind art. It’s either aesthetically pleasing to you, or it isn’t. And Kelly’s piece is! (Two panoramic images of the pond and path near it at Granville Island, taken from above on the Burrard St. Bridge).

Left: Another piece of panoramic photography by Kelly Litzenberger

The vibe in Shine was amazing, low lighting and lots of great people to meet, not to mention very visually stimulating, (I’m talking about the art. Although, for all the single ladies out there, this type of event was a prime spot for mingling).

STYLE at An Awesome Showcase:

Vancouver entreprenuer and Lily & Jae designer Jude Feller. It was a pleasure to meet this woman. Jude, Niki, (Blasina, of A Haute Mess) and I engaged in a very interesting discussion about Vancouver’s fashion industry, not only are these events fun, but also insightful.

I have one word to describe photographer Christine McAvoy: adorable. And sweet, so maybe two words. Here Christine stands with one of her photographs. Christine will be blogging daily from the exhibit at Shine for the duration of the show, Feb.12-28. Check out here work here!

Fabulous PR woman, Melania Dela Cruz of Dela Cruz PR.

Stylish Bloggerina, Niki Blasina of A Haute Mess. I had the pleasure of spending a good part of my evening viewing the exhibit with Niki, the girl is smart and will definitely go far in her chosen career of PR.

And just a little reminder, this exhibit is running from February 12-28 at Shine Nightclub! Enjoy!

XO StyleStruck