Silk and F L E U R from head to toe…
Dress: Designed by me – Inspiration: Spring/Summer 2014 Floral (F L E U R) prints from the runway
Flower Crown: DIY
I had the pleasure of receiving a media pass to
Fashion Art Toronto, where Fashion and Art collide.
(April 22-26th)
I have never attended a Fashion Art Toronto Show before, so I had no idea what to expect other then the usual runway. I went for 2 nights as my schedule didn’t allow me to squeeze in more days. In my opinion I think I choose the best days to go! Click here for the week schedule. I’m trying something different and instead of only pictures, I have some videos from the show.
Let’s start from the beginning.
The venue was Daniels Spectrum. Upon entering there’s a piano that is open to the public to use. Everytime I passed by that piano someone was there with music sheets practising and learning how to play the piano. What a great way to give back to the community!
There was a lounge area for people to relax and wait for the show to start or closer to the entrance of the runway floor was an exhibit of 5-8 exhibits.
There was one exhibit where clothes were made out of old leather shoes. The shoes were stripped apart, and layed flat to create the clothing.
There there was the live exhibit where a lady and a man sat in front of mirrors which seemed like the environment surrounding them was a bedroom. They just sat and looked at themselves in the mirror, stood up a few times to fix their hair and stretch. They never made eye contact with their audience as if we weren’t there and we were peering into their bedrooms and watching their every move. Awkwaaardd.
After I took in all of the exhibits, I made my way to the runway floor to find my seat. I was fortunate enough to sit in the second row, where the view of the show was just perfect.
Here’s Tuesdays line -up of designers that I watched:
Theme: Earth/Industry
RUNWAY
7:05pm
WALLACE PLAYFORD (Toronto)
7:15pm
EOLITH (Toronto / Montreal)
7:25pm
SIMONE’S ROSE (Toronto)
Wallace Playford had a funky east meets west approach to designs for this show. Honestly, reminded me of the Chanel show where there were pearls and turbans as well.
For more images from this show click here.
Thursday theme: Masculine/Feminine:
RUNWAY
7:00pm
ADAM X ATELIER (Toronto)
7:20pm
PORTE (Toronto)
7:30pm
WORTH BY DAVID C WIGLEY (Toronto)
FASHION/PERFORMANCE/RUNWAY
8:30pm
FLUTURA & BESNIK HAXHILLARI – drawingmovingtable (Montreal, QC)
8:40pm
BENJI WZW (Toronto)
8:50pm
DIODATI (Montreal, QC)
9:00pm
L’UOMO STRANO (Toronto)
All in all this was a great show. Different from the shows I’ve went to before. My favourite was Atelier, partly because he worked closely with Alexander McQueen and I love his designs.
See you all next year!
Mothers Day, the weather was beautiful and the city was alive with events galore!
I had a baseball game to attend with friends from IBM and GNC later in the afternoon, so I planned to surprise her with flowers and cake first. I got to the door and just as I was adjusting my purse to knock on the door, my mom opens the door, on her way out to run some errands. I was caught off guard so I barely made it to saying..“Su su su SURPRISE!”
My mom’s reaction, shocked, “Oh wow!! How did you get here?!”
I love moments like this. When everything lines up beautifully, to bring a smile to someone’s face.
I immediately noticed her outfit and guided her back into the house, telling her she needs to get ready for her special day! Moms are always busy taking care and doing things for others that frequently they forget themselves. It’s their children, family and friends’ job to remind them to either look after themselves or to just do it for them. That’s love.
After some giggles and catch up time with my family and a moment to enjoy this perfect pre-game snack..
I made my way to the Rogers Center.
On this lovely day every women who attended the game received a pink rose, to mark Mother’s Day! They also had a section where they were giving free manicures, pedicures and more.
We had seats in the TD Comfort Clubhouse area and I enjoyed taking a break and moving to seats in the dining area for lunch. We could still see the field from our table. The lunch was great! The desserts were impeccable. They had s’mores bread pudding (insert drool)
Close to the end of the game a ball came flying towards our section, and as much as I would love to say I caught it (so cliché) it fell into our section and no one had any idea where it rolled too. So I checked under my seat and there it was! Rolled and stopped right under me. Meant to be!
After the game I made my way back to my mama’s place, spent time with our family and then was on my way, bearing gifts, to see my other mom (my mother in-law). Whom I love so much with all my heart!
Share your Mother’s Day story in the comments below :”)
Blazer – H&M (Made from recycled water bottles)
Tank – Forever 21
Jeans – ONLY (Bought in Egypt)
Shoes – Tory Burch Spring 2014
Purse/Satchel – French Connection
Necklace – Handmade from Varadero, Cuba
If a picture can create awareness to my thousands of followers, then why not?
I recently posted an OOTD, which you can see here and I found it fitting to do an OOTN (Outfit Of The Night). Everyone’s seen the dolled up side of my style, well here’s my alternative style. Sporty Chic.
“What’s Sporty Chic?” you ask.
Simple, to start with you’ll need either a fitted casual sporty shirt or pants. Tracking pants or stretchy skinnies are popular ones. I went with stretchy skinnies. These pants are the most comfortable pants I own.
The top I chose for my ootn was picked out for me by beautiful Sami at Blk Sheep Clothing. An awesome boutique that carries more then 50 designer brands. I love this place and can’t wait to go back again!
Next, you want to match your clothes but not everything. Here I matched the colour of my fringe purse with my shoes.
Which brings me to shoes. For a sporty chic look you don’t want athletic sport shoes, you want something more trendy or with a high front. Converse works great as well.
It’s a Friday night and I just came home from my full time job. First thing I want to do is get into something that isn’t a blazer. I bet all of you working ladies can relate.
You make dinner and realize you’re missing something. In my case, I put on some kicks and went on a mission to find it.
Story changes here to something more important. Ever since I read the story about the young girls being kidnapped and sold into slavery, I’ve been meaning to find an opportunity to create awareness to my social media followers. If you have an influential stand anywhere, using it for good just makes all of the hard work you put into getting there, worth it. I love my followers and I’m grateful for every comment, like and follow I receive. I hope for more so that when I do posts like this, it resonates with not thousands but millions of people.
I’d like to clear the air about this comment that was made by a man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, that CNN had posted in this article.
“I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah,”
“There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women,” he continued, according to a CNN translation from the local Hausa language.
This is preposterous! Allah does not say to sell girls. Anyone who is Muslim or has done any of their own deep research of this religion will know how modesty and respect for women is highly important in Islam. I quote the opinion of Arsalan Iftikhar, special to CNN.
“They must have also missed the numerous times that the Prophet Muhammad categorically stated during his life that women or children were never to be harmed under any situation.”
Do your research everyone and find the truth for yourselves.
I stand by and respect our future generation of young women who stand for their human rights and my heart and prayers go out to the missing Nigerian school girls.
Jacket – BeBe
Top – Blk Sheep Clothing – Designer: CHRLDR
Pants – FCUK
Shoes – Nike Force Sky High
Purse – H&M
I love spending time downtown. There’s never a dull moment. So much to do, so much to see.
One of my favourite places is the new pedestrian bridge, Puente de Luz. This bridge connects the CityPlace condos with a short cut to popular streets like King and Queen St. Where you can pretty much find anything.
I often shy away from wearing everything white. It’s so easy to get your whites dirty if you’re walking everywhere. Which makes it even more special when you do choose this look. There’s something risky and pristine about this style. When shopping for whites, make sure you test the clothing for transparency. Do the light and hand test. Ask to see it outside or put your hand behind the fabric. If you already own items that are too see through, don’t worry. Wear a neutral or white tank top underneath the blouse or layer some tanks like I did. I love layering! For pants, it’s best you test them out first.
Wearing everything white with pops of colour in accessories or shoes, brings more attention to them. For an example, take a canvas and splash 1 or 2 colours of paint on it. They stand out right? Add any more colour and it’s just a colourful painting. Avoid wearing white shoes and go for metallics, brights or nude. I chose pastel and soft colours to go with my white ootd (outfit of the day). During the day I like to go for more neutral or pastel colours and flats! Unless I’m going to an event or in the evening when I need to bring out the gems and metallic heels.
Coat – Club Monaco
Blouse – American Apparel
Map Watch – Urban Outfitters
Nail Polish – Formula X Spring 2014 Collection
Pants – Zara
Necklace – Cara
At the end of every winter, we tuck away the heavy duty boots and replace them with our dainty heels and twinkle toe flats.
I had so much fun putting together my first Monday Minute this week to feature the type of shoes everyone will be wearing this Spring. Here are my picks:
1. BCBG Metallic Pumps – These pumps will take any of your low key outfits and add that extra needed pizzazz.
2. Khussa Flats – A style of South Asian handcrafted shoes made in India and Pakistan. My sister got me these awesome flats from her trip to Lahore, Pakistan. These shoes have delicate and intricate thread embroidery. In the days of Kings and Queens, these shoes were heavily embroidered in real gold and silver. Nowadays, they’re made with materials that make them affordable for everyone to purchase.
3. Charles & Keith Flats – Purchased at the City Stars Mall, the largest mall in Cairo, Egypt.
4/5. Nine West/Steve Madden Wedge – I got these in California and it was one of my favourite purchases during that trip. Wedge’s are the most comfortable in the heels category. Especially if there’s a platform in the front for balance.
6. Mango heels – The ankle buckle adds structure to this delicate heel and can be easily dressed with your simplest to your most dolled up outfits.
It’s a beautiful day outside, so it’s only fitting to share a few of my favorite pieces for this season. Some of these items I just couldn’t wait and went out to buy them, so you’ll see them in my upcoming ootd’s (outfit of the day) on Instagram.
1. A perfect pastel satchel. This one is from French Connection and I love the spacious inner compartment!
2. The tea length skirt. Mini, midi and maxi have a great new member. I’m going gaga over this modest trend. The hem hits just above the ankle.
3. Spring studs. Floral is back, so get a nice floral pair.
4. Beach ready Tory Burch espadrille flats.
5. Nautical stripes. No matter what your personal style, stripes will surely fit into your spring wardrobe effortlessly.
6. Guerlain Meteorites Powder.
7. The Clutch.
8. Bold sunnies. If you don’t have a bold pair already, be on the look out for a killer pair. I can’t wait to rock these Prada sunnies.
9. Metallics. We saw this trend in FW2013 and it’s been adorned since. These BCBG pumps make for a great statement heel.
10. Get bold orange lips! I love this YSL Tangy Mandarin color.
11. Wide-leg pants made a strong comeback this season. Flooding the runways in collections from Michael Kors to Ferragamo. Pair this style with a feminine blouse or bold blazer to get this season’s posh tailored look. Think, Victoria Beckham.
Keep these colors in mind when you’re out and about, shopping for your Spring wardrobe:
If you had to make a Spring 2014 Mix, what songs would you include?
Stacks with necklaces, stacks with bracelets and even rings! Is it just another trend or a choice of style? If you ask me, it’s always been a personal preference for those who love the look of stacked jewelry. Lately it’s been trending and seen everywhere from magazines, social platforms and even on the red carpet.
Here’s the quick cheat sheet of how to stack your accessories without looking like Mr.T :
When you’re layering your rings, keep in mind that stacking your rings doesn’t work if you wear every ring you own. Also, if you plan to wear a chunky or cocktail ring, make sure you have polished nails; especially since they can bring more attention to your hands.
1. Pick a metal and stay within that theme.
2. Make a statement with a chunky ring and a small simple one on your pinky.
3. Wear your cocktail ring with your more dressy outfits.
4. More than 1 statement ring on each hand? Do it! Just make sure you match them up either by metal or colors. They have to flow together in some kind of way.
5. For a more electric look, pair a statement ring with a midi ring (a smaller band that is worn above the knuckle) and a pinky ring.
What if you have a wedding/engagement ring? Can you still stack? Absolutely! Work around your ring but place any statement rings on your other hands fingers.
There are two different techniques of stacking necklaces that have really stood out to me. One is the casual, everyday stack and then there’s the statement stack.
Casual Everyday Stack: You pick out minimum 3, no more then 5 thin chained necklaces and put them on in layers.
Statement Stack: There are so many variations of statement stacking. See below for some examples
On the red carpet:
Keep it fun and if you like, apply some of the same guidelines from ring stacking. Just try to avoid looking like the 8 year old you, who just finished raiding her mother’s closet and put everything on in sight.
I did a poll on my Twitter account to see how many of you thought there was a right way to stack or if it’s all a fluke! Here are the results:
Stacking #jewelry post is coming up! Is there a right way to stack? RT if YES. Favourite if NO. #fashion #fblogger pic.twitter.com/XVPaW5qKl8
— Humara Kausar (@HumaraKausar) March 29, 2014
I believe there is no right or wrong way. Your style is unique to yourself. You can wear what you want, the way you want. If you wear it with confidence, others will notice and before you know it, you’re a trend setter.
This post is a set of guidelines from a variety of fashion experts and tips of my own. Tried and tested, with many compliments. Whose to say you must follow these ways. If you like the suggestions; try it, tweak it and make it your own.
How do you stack? I want to read all about it! Share your tips below.
Fashion Night was an exclusive and invite-only event that took place on Friday, October 25th at The Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto during the final night of the 2013 Toronto Fashion Week.
It was a cold day and one hour before the Fashion Night show started at 9:30pm it was chaos outside the Windsor Arms doors. People who had invitations were patiently waiting to go inside, until news passed around that they were at max capacity. Worried and eager to get inside the pushing to get to the front commenced and I was lucky enough to get inside and be in the third row!
The show was hosted by Canada’s Next Top Model judge Stacey McKenzie, and co-hosted by celebrity hair extraordinaire, Jie Matar. The fashion show featured Canadian designers Evan Biddell and Whitney Linen. For worldwide designers there was China’s Han Couture, Italy’s Tosca Delfino, and Royalz Clothing. Toronto’s local star DJ Fizza, and superstar violinist Eugene Draw aka Dr. Draw entertained the audience with an amazing performance on the catwalk.
Toronto’s hip hop artist from back in the day, Choclair took the stage and performed a few of his songs. All in all it was a great event and I can’t wait for the next one!
Check out this video for highlights of the show:
During my time in New York for Social Media Week (SMW); SMW Reporter/Top 10 blogger in Singapore – Estelle Kiora and I bundled up to fight the cold in our winter streetwear. Estelle who came from Singapore, where the sun is mostly shining, was in for a surprise! I was impressed with how well she managed to wear her style in below zero weather. All thanks to strategic layering. Those timberlands, love’em!
Some of my favourite winter layering essentials that are the key building blocks of a fashionable, yet warm outfit, would be an infinity scarf, leg warmers and layering tops.
Ever since infinity scarves hit stores, I’ve been a huge fan of the warmth and protection it provides. What’s an infinity scarf? A neck warmer resembling a scarf, but forming a loop with no ends.
An infinity scarf is a perfect addition for Winter StreetWear.
If you’ve been following my Instagram posts this winter, you’ll notice I have a comforting need to always rock my leg warmers. They’re perfect if you’re wearing leggings with boots that are looser at the top. Trapping the cold so it doesn’t get to your feet. The plus, it can look fashionable if it’s your style to start with. You can also make your own leg warmers at home with some old sweaters. Just cut the sleeves at your desired length and bunch them up!
I love layering my tops! Some people like to say there’s a right and a wrong way to doing this. I’ll save that for another post, but I say have fun with it! Let your imagination go wild and style your outfits the way you want to. Wear a dress, put a cardigan on top and for extra warmth top it off with a bright hood.
