(Very Late) Six Take: What I'd Wear to a Holiday Party

Hey Guys,

So my six take post is almost 3 weeks late, but I figure better late, than never! The holidays are so busy! So this month's six take theme is what to wear to a holiday party. I put together a couple of looks for you guys. I'd love to know what you think!

Dress - Courtesy of Addition Elle/Shoes - Guess/Clutch - Thrifted from Double Take/Bracelets - Lane Bryant and Forever 21/Necklace - Ardene/Earrings - CBX

This dress was sent to me by Addition-Elle. As you can see, the top part can be worn in several different ways. You can make it a strapless, cap sleeve, halter, or you can even wear it as a skirt. You just need to get creative with the tying, and you can find so many different ways to wear it. It makes it a great choice for travelling as well, since you can pack it without it taking up too much space and wear it a couple of times and get away with it! It's also almost impossible to wrinkle it, which is perfect for travel. I would like this dress even more if it came in a few more (bright or bold) colours, and perhaps if it was a touch shorter. I like the versatility of the top, and would love if Addition-Elle would carry this multiple-way dress with a more fitted, body-con, (pencil-type) skirt as well. I jazzed up this simple LBD with a houndstooth clutch and my favourite pair of brighly-coloured heels. This is a great outfit for a ladies' evening out having cocktails and sharing gossip!

These next photos are shots of an outfit I wore to a friend's holiday dinner party. I love incorporating festive green or red into my holiday outfits and playing with texture during the colder months, which is a bit more difficult to do in summer. SHINE is also a big factor in holiday dressing, and it's always nice to have a bit of that going on as well... I mixed my leatherette skirt from Forever 21+ with an embellished collar, jewel-toned, green satin blouse (which means I didn't need to wear a necklace). I put on lace tights at first, but it just looked like I had a little bit too much going on, so I took them off and put on some flat black opaque nylons instead. I added to the shine factor with my silver bracelets, and put on my really-high black suedette hidden platform pumps with a block heel to finish it off.

Blouse - Lane Bryant/Skirt - Forever 21+/Tights - Hue Brand from The Bay/Shoes - Rainbow/Earrings - CBX/Bracelets - Lane Bryant and Forever 21

So what do you guys think? What are you wearing for the holidays?

Make sure you visit the other Six-Takers' blogs to see what they're wearing over the holidays!

Jessica of Too Many Sequins
Yoli of Diva in Deep Thought
Jessica of Chic in Every City
Rikke of Sticky Sweet Danish
Sarah of Queen Sized Flava

Six Take: No H8

Hey Everyone,

So me, and my fellow six-take bloggers, Rikke from Sticky, Sweet Danish, Jessica from tooMANYsequins, Jessica from Chic in Every City, Yoli from Diva in Deep Thought, and Sarah from Queen Sized Flava made in Montreal, have decided to write a post entitled "No H8" to promote greater understanding, acceptance, and love of others and what you might perceive to be their differences. We were inspired to do this after one of us endured hateful and abusive messages through one of our social media networks. We must show others that we will not be intimidated by their hatred, and that's what this post is all about.

Like many women who self-identify as fat, I was bullied mercilessly as a child. Other kids would call me "tub of lard" or "connect the dots" (because of my freckles) and I was often the object of other kids' cruel and elaborate schemes, one which involved getting a boy to pretend he liked me, me letting my guard down, and them pulling the rug from underneath me. These experiences left me scarred and lacking self-esteem entirely, and I found it difficult to believe that anyone would ever like me or even want to be friends with me. I suffered from two particularly traumatic physical assaults at school which resulted to my mother pulling me out of that school and registering me at another. The second school was somewhat better, though not by much. I internalized much of the bullying that had become a daily expectation; I became introverted and focused intensely on my studies to distract myself from the constant abuse from my peers. I think I also felt that if I wasn't pretty, that I should at least be smart, so that I could have something going for me...

When High School started, the aggressiveness of the Middle School bullying had dissipated, but there was a whole new sort of passive aggressive judgement that was rampant. I was lucky enough to go to a school where uniforms were required, so I didn't have to try as hard to keep up with all the brand names everyone was wearing, but on casual days, where we were invited not to wear our uniforms, you could tell that there was a lot of judgement going on regarding who was wearing what. There were also a few prank phone calls to my house. I thank my lucky stars daily that I don't have to be in High School in the Facebook era. Who knows what sort of trauma that could cause. People are so callous online. They think that the distance created by the medium of the computer gives them license to berate people, when if faced with the same thing one is critiquing in person, the berater would simply remain silent on the issue. The distance between people in an online discourse is no excuse for one to treat another poorly. Even in online environments, people should treat each other with the same respect that they would observe in-person.

Recently, there was a hashtag trending on twitter - "#onlyfatpeople." Some fat-haters began to put hateful messages after the hashtag - things like "order a diet coke with a supersize combo at McDonalds because they are 'watching their weight.'" There were a number of other terrible comments which I won't reiterate here, partially because I don't want them to function as a trigger for anyone, and also because I don't want to dignify their terrible message by re-broadcasting it. Quite frankly, those idiots and their hateful messages are not worth my time. I posted a response to this hashtag on twitter and had a number of people congratulate me for standing up to these bullies (and got about 100 new followers - welcome, by the way, if my response is what brought you here), and also a number of bullies trying to force me back into submission by way of body-shaming me. After experiencing this journey of self-acceptance, a self-acceptance that has come by way of the scripto-therapy that this blog has given me, I found myself steeled against their bold and impudent attacks. I was not affected by it. I recognize that their hatred comes from their own deficiencies, and I accept their difference in opinion. So I politely (and eloquently) told them to f*@# off. I have come to love myself and nothing can change that now. I am me, and I will be me, and I don't care what anyone says about it. I use fashion as a language to express who I am to the world. I will no longer be shy, and I will no longer submit to body policing by others who would force me into striving towards an ideal female normalized body that I would never be able to healthily (mentally or physically) inhabit.

So the pictures that accompany this post are not themed. They are just me being me, and being totally happy with who I am and what I have on and what that says about me. I can't help it if others are going to be hateful, though I can control my reaction to it. In my own life, however, I have adopted the principle of No H8, and I hope all of you will too. We are all people with hearts and hopes, dreams and desires, families and friends, and no one wants to feel the sting of hatred and we should strive for peace and understanding always.

Jacket - Forever 21+/Skirt - Thrifted/Petticoat - Sofistafunk/Shoes - Honest Ed's/Top - Redress NYC/Sunglasses - Vintage Clothing Sale in York, UK

Remember:

Above all else, to thine own self be true.
- Shakespeare

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
- Siddartha Gauttama

Life isn't about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.
- George Bernard Shaw


You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.
- Winston Churchill


No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Six Take: A Tale of Six Cities (Toronto)

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I've been working on this epic six-take featuring city-inspired style. Since I am from Toronto, and it's such a diverse city (both in population and in terms of its architecture and things to do, I couldn't just take pictures of one place and outfit, so I took inspiration from a number of different locations across Toronto. I've been putting together the outfits and shooting them for over a week! I hope you like it!

Toronto is situated on Lake Ontario, one of the 5 great lakes. The lake is a big part of Toronto culture and recreation, with residents and visitors flocking towards it on hot days. There are loads of beautiful yachts docked along the shore, as boating is a favourite pass-time of Torontonians. I interpreted Toronto's love of the lake with this nautical look.

Hat, Purse, Earrings, Necklace, and some of the Bracelets - Thrifted/Shoes - Penneys (Ireland)/Skirt and Camisole- Ricki's/Tunic - Forever 21+

Another really amazing part of the city is Kensington Market. It's crazy colourful community with lots to see and do. Since it is a market community, there are loads of vendors selling everything from fresh fruit to linens, meat and fish, chocolate, baked goods, and clothing. It is a very socially conscious neighbourhood, so you find a lot of vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian, organic, and fair trade options there. There is a street in the community that consists mostly of eco-friendly fashions (more organic and fair trade, and of course, vintage), and I absolutely love getting lost in it on a Sunday afternoon. I interpreted this neighbourhood in my outfit as sort of nouveau-hippie/bohemian chic. 

This car is a project called the "Community Car Reclamation Project." It's an old car that has been totally gutted and has been reclaimed as a street garden. It's permanently "parked" in a municipal parking spot, but the city would never dare to try to remove it because of its significance to the community (not to mention the logistical difficulties of such an undertaking).

Earrings, Purse, and Skirt - Thrifted/Necklace - Dollarama/Top - Dots/Scarf - Costa Blanca/Shoes - Target/Sunglasses - gifted from Kmart/Hat - Domino Dollhouse

Another important part of Toronto that I wanted to highlight (probably because I am there so much) is the University of Toronto. It's my Alma Mater, so I couldn't resist! Many of the buildings on campus have been around since the 1800s, and it's one of the best preserved parts of early Toronto as there were a couple of massive fires around the turn of the century here. It's a beautiful place for a walk, especially on a hot day, since there are loads of shady trees to sit under. These pictures were taken in front of Hart House, which functions sort of like a student centre for U of T students. I interpreted U of T style as sort of preppy - the summer scholar...

Jacket - Thrifted/Shoes - Dorothy Perkins/Purse - a gift from my Dad (tag says Esprit)/Shorts - Dots/Camisole - Forever 21+/Bracelet - Dollarama/Necklace - Gifted from Charming Charlie

St. Lawrence Market is another really fun part of Toronto. The building that houses the market used to be Toronto's city hall (way back when Toronto was still called York). It also functioned as a jail for much of the late 1800s. Today, it is where Torontonians go to get their produce at the Saturday farmer's market and all of their spices, seasonings, meat and fish during the week. On Sundays, it even hosts antique vendors. I interpreted this Toronto site by wearing a fruit themed outfit. I kind of feel like I'm channelling Carmen Miranda a bit here!

Scarf and Clutch - Thrifted/Shorts - Dots/Top - Forever 21/Shoes - Target/Sunglasses - ASOS/Earrings - Etsy store called Bonjour Button

And the last area of Toronto of which I did a style interpretation is the Distillery District. The buildings in this district are some of the best-preserved examples of Victorian-era industrial architecture in the world, and as a result, have been the backdrop for quite a few films set in this era, including Cinderella Man and Chicago. The plant in this area was owned by William Gooderham and James Worts and produced rye-whiskey. In the 1920s, after the decline of the (short lived here in Canada) prohibition, the company was purchased by Harry C. Hatch and was renamed Hiram Walker (who still make Canadian Club). The rye-whiskey was produced at this site until 1990, after which it was converted into "the distillery district" which is now home to loads of trendy restaurants and boutiques, a excellent theatre, and functions as the backdrop to many important art exhibits (including Nuit Blanche). I interpreted this area of Toronto into my style by trying to emulate the style of the roaring twenties, just after the distillery was purchased by Harry Hatch and prohibition had ended.

Dress - Penningtons - Shoes - Redress NYC via Target/Purse - Gifted from Jessica at Chic in Every City (she's awesome) by Simply Be/Hat - Thrifted/Necklace - Garage Sale

So, lovelies, what do you think of my city and my style?

Make sure to visit all the other wonderful bloggers participating in this take of six cities!

Jessica - Too Many Sequins - Australia

Sarah - Queen Sized Flava - Montreal, Canada

Rikke - Sticky Sweet Danish - Copenhagen, Denmark

Yoli - Diva in Deep Thought - Baltimore, USA

Jessica - Chic in Every City - Philadelphia, USA

Six Take: Celebrity Style - Kate Middleton

Hey Everyone,

So remember a month ago I did a three-take on what I would wear to a wedding with Rikke from Sticky, Sweet Danish and Jessica from tooMANYsequins? Well we've added my room-mates from NYC as well! Welcome to Jessica from Chic in Every City, Yoli from Diva in Deep Thought, and Sarah from Queen Sized Flava made in Montreal! They will be joining us for these monthly features from now on.

This month we've decided to interpret our favourite celebrity's style for ourselves. I would say in terms of style, my favourite celebrity is Zoe Deschanel. She has a very pretty, feminine, and unique style, but my style is already so similar to hers and I wanted to try something different! Since Kate Middleton and Prince William are visit Canada at the moment (and everyone seems to have royal fever) I thought I would play along and use Kate as my style inspiration for this blog post. She's very feminine, proper, and conservative, she loves navy blue and has worn the military jacket look before, so I thought that's the way I would go with it.

I found an amazing vintage hat at Public Butter for $12 and I thought it would work perfectly for this post. What do you think? Did I capture the essence of Princess Kate's style? Make sure you visit the other beautiful bloggers' sites!

Suit - Thrifted (Vintage Christian Dior, damn they don't make 'em like this anymore.... $10!)/Hat - Vintage from Public Butter/Shoes - Costa Blanca/Clutch - Express