Naked as we came

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I had a very exciting day yesterday, I received my Kimberly Taylor Stokholm dress!!! Or perhaps better known as "the naked dress", to all Man Repellers. For those who don't know, I won it a couple weeks ago in a Man Repeller contest. This dress is absolutely beautiful. The material is so silky and shiny and I am in love with the colour. And it's mine, allll mine.

So to start things off, this dress is pretty hot, especially when worn with my black heeled booties and floral tights.

I wore the dress out last night so I decided to add a few things to make it a bit more casual and a bit more Man Repelling, in honour of the girl who deemed me deserving of this dress. I threw on my thrifted lace-up boots, socks and Joe Fresh denim button-down. Also the dress is pretty short on me so I opted to wear my American Apparel lace trimmed shorts underneath. The shorts over the tights say "yes my dress is short, but don't get any ideas boys because I am wearing 3 unyielding and impenetrable layers underneath ". And the third layer is probably full-bottom granny panties ;) .

For warmth I thought it would have been a great idea to put my fur coat on overtop.

But it was really wet and snowy out so I opted for my black utility coat. Sometimes you gotta be practical.

Looking at these pictures of myself makes me think 2 things. Firstly, I need a much better digital camera. And secondly, sometimes taking the red-eye out of pictures makes you look even creepier than you looked with the red-eye. Either way, I'm going to have a lot of fun finding new ways to transform and play with my new naked dress. Thank you, thank you Man Repeller and Kimberly Taylor. I'm the happiest fashion blogger in the world.

And just for fun, here are a few other items from the Kimberly Taylor spring/summer 2011 collection which I have really fallen for.

Got yourself a simple tight black dress that you want to jazz up a little bit? Just throw a leather vest on top... why didn't you think of that?!

This shirt is so pretty. I want to wear it on a warm spring day.

Underwear as outterwear. A very pretty chemise-like top.

Loving this. Put on a leather bow-tie and some patent oxfords and you're all set.

Lot of leather in this collection, and I like it. I want to wear this shirt, with the leather vest and the leather shorts all at once... to much? Perhaps. Even though leather is the perfect item to wear in the summer because we all know how well it breaths, maybe keep to one leather item at a time. These shiny crotch-ruched shorts are pretty nice too though.

Looking so long at these pictures of you

Oh yes, get ready for more model pictures. Are you ready? ok!

Ginta Lapina - Her purple and green tights/shoes remind me of a cartoon dragon (NOT a real dragon)... this cartoon dragon...

Moving on.

Jac - Jill got a wicked picture of her out side the rag and bone show (maybe some day she will post it, ehm.) But what's great about my picture is really the photographer behind Jac. He just got her autograph and is now looking at it with the utmost delight. He is also wearing what appear to be women's flats. Pure gold.


Karlie Kloss - Ah Karlie, the American dream. If only that damn photographer didn't ruin my shot. Again though, this photographer is trying to give Karlie a little heart-shaped thing (it was Valentines day)... what is with all these 40 year-old men making moves on these 17 year-old girls? Not cool. But definitely hilarious.

Irina Kulikova- She looks like an adorable Jazz trombone player with that black hat, leather coat, and those patent shoes. Although I'm not sure I have ever seen a Jazz trombonist in real life... that's what they wear, right?


I don't know who she is, she just looked so deep in thought, I didn't want to disturb her.

Ajak Deng - The best part about shooting [pictures of] models outside the back entrance of the Lincoln centre, is the charming background.

Jacquelyn Jablonski - Loving that Jacquelyn is representing Gryffindor by sporting their colours of gold and maroon on her legs. I'm sure that's what she was thinking when she put on the outfit.

Kirsi Pyrhonen - I would say the most common thing that models seem to wear after a show is a classic black pant, black jacket, black boot outfit. I gather this from the few I have seen in real life, and the countless I have seen on street style blogs. But I can imagine when they are getting up at 5 in the morning to go have their hair and make-up done and put on ridiculous haute couture outfits, that all black must seem like the most reasonable thing to wear. And it always looks good.


Emily Senko - Model uniform exhibit B.


Edita Vilkeviciute - Exhibit C


Karmen Pedaru - Exhibit D

This unidentified fly honey is not wearing the model uniform. She is breaking all the rules, and I like it!

White collar boy

Problem: I cut all my hair off so now when I wear button ups and jeans and any other even slightly androgynous clothing, I actually look like a young boy.

The plus side to this is that my new haircut makes me look a lot like Jasper Cullen, so I might just see my tween following skyrocket!

I would cast me as a supporting male role in a vampire romance movie.

In love with your vision

I have lot's of model pictures to come. But before I get to those, I wanted to focus a little on one model in particular, manily because she is just so sweet and her style is unparalleled.

When I saw Hanne Gaby Odiele outside the Rag and Bone I could not take my eyes off her. She was actually wearing one of the most magnificent outfits I have ever seen. I asked her If I could take her photo, and she graciously agreed. Unfortunately this appears to be the exact moment that my flash broke so this is how the photo turned out...

Huge disappointment. Luckily before this I had taken a photo of her from behind, which did turn out, so you can kind of get an idea of how stunning the colours and textures of her billowy outfit were.

I have searched for another photo of this outfit, to no avail. Will I ever find another photo of this dream outfit? Maybe not. Tragedy.

I ran into Hanne again outside of the Carolina Herrera show. Once again she agreed to pose for a photo for me, AND (this is the really exciting part) she told me she loved my skirt. I died. Then I came back to life and took this photo of her and (I think) Kasia Struss.

Note: Models love doing that little heart thing with their hands. It's cute... when they do it. If I did it, I think it would look weird and lame.

Jill and I talked in length about what great style Hanne has, and to prove this to you, here are a few photos that I came across in my research of her. She is so cool. And she pulls everything off in a seemingly effortless way.

Fur trimmed and paint splattered... just your everyday outfit!

The armpit on this sweater is so low. It's just not natural. And I love it.

Layers upon layers and a beret. If this girl can't hail a cab, I don't know who can.

This one is my favourite. I want every piece of this outfit. And she is such a trendsetter... I bet in a month everyone will be wearing only one pant leg cuffed. Heck, I'm wearing it right now!

Show me something new

While in NYC I got to see 3 real life fashion shows! I feel very privileged. The first show I went to was called Blanc de Chine, a designer based out of Hong Kong. The show took place on the second floor of their 5th avenue store. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures because it was a very small intimate show and I got too nervous to lug out my 4 pound canon camera. But I will say the show was nice. My favourite elements were the simple black trousers that the men and women wore with a few of the outfits, and I especially liked the mens structured jackets (I think it says a lot about me that my favourite pieces were menswear... what can I say? I'm just a big fan of men's fashion).

The second show we went to was Suzanne Rae. I really loved this show. It was presentation style, so most of the outfits were out on the floor at the same time, and the models moved around and stood in different locations. Here are few photos I took of the collection.

Great skirt.

Aside from the lacy shirt, this look is very Oliver Twist. I might attempt this, only I'll add some dirt on my face and a hat to complete the look.

That skirt looks heavy.

Snake skin oxfords? Yes please.

Please sir, I want some more orphan-chic. (Get it? Get it!?!)

Sheer shirt, obviously. I have a few of these. I like to wear a bra with mine, but that's a persoal preference. Also those metallic shoes are lovely.

One of my favourite looks. Those pants are so crisp.

Hard to see the snake skin clogs... but they are there.

On our last day in NYC, mere hours before our flight, we went to the Meatpacking district for the Study NY show. The second I walked into the room I noticed this spicy cumin scent. And while in the show I ended up standing next to a very friendly woman who told me she designed the scent for the collection specifically, which I thought was a really cool idea. Unfortunately the actual show started late so we could only stay for a few minutes before racing back across the city. But we got to briefly see all the looks, and it turns out I am a big fan of this eco-friendly brand. The runway was set up like an old classroom. Each of the models came out, put an apple on a teacher's desk, and posed on the runway. Cute.

Huge fan of big knit sweaters. Who isn't?

Boots. I want them.

You can't see it here, but this checkered shirt has a huge cut-out in the back. So scandalous!

I wish that I had had time to get a better picture of this red shirt/striped pant look because I quite enjoyed it.

All the models dressed up for school.

The whole line seemed very rustic, which goes with the eco-friendly brand. A lot of earth tones paired with bright accents. And of course some two-toned suede oxford shoes, which I would love to get my hands on (or feet in). If you are interested, there are better pics of the whole collection here on the website.

If I could have a second skin

Probably the most frightening and intimidating thing about going to NYFW was deciding what to wear. I was well aware that there were going to be a lot of beautiful, stylish women decked out in Chanel, DVF, Marc Jacobs and the like, and sporting Louboutins and Manolo Blahniks on their feet. But the only designer items of clothing I own are a vintage Armani jacket and some of my mom's old Escada shoes.

Notice a trend? I apparently like things that are old and used, which is great for my wallet! I assembled almost my entire NYFW wardrobe from thrifted or vintage pieces.

Let's investigate.

Day one

Standing in the dark gloomy hallway of our hotel, so happy to be wearing green trousers! (Note: I have a pair of socks that match that carpet to a T, refer to the next outfit for proof.) The shoes and pants are both vintage. The shirt is vintage and hand altered (I bought another paisley shirt, cut some pieces off and sewed them to the collar and front of the shirt). The belt is from zara and it came with another pair of trousers that I bought. Super inexpensive outfit. Moving on.

Day two

I bought the fur from a thrift store for only $30, the skirt was thrifted as well, but a lot of time was put into altering it. Here is a view of the shoes and socks...

Note: This pic is cropped from one taken by Phil Oh and can be found on... wait for it... VOUGE.COM!!!

These are the socks that match the carpet (you know you are mighty fashionable when the prints you wear match tacky hotel decor), and the shoes are from the Town Shoes outlet store (the animal print shoes most likely also matches some tacky hotel decor somewhere)!

Day three

My mom likes this outfit because both the jacket, which is Laurel/Escada, and the pants are from her! The scarf is handmade by my friend Madeline, the turband is a silk scarf I bought from a thrift store, that a guy in Lincoln Square mistook for Hermes. I was pretty happy about that. I had another version of this outfit that I wore earlier that day; instead of jeans I wore a camel suede skirt that I made and I wore navy loafers with a bit of a heel. Both versions of this outfit were equally penny-pinching.

Update: Found a picture of the other version of this outfit on Vogue Japan. EEeeee!

Day four

Vintage Armani jacket, thrifted skirt and top, and my Town Shoes shoes again. I cut half the liner out of the skirt to make it sheer. And by the way, I know it's February, but it was 10 degrees Celsius and sunny that day!

And there you go, my New York street style. A totally inexpensive NYFW wardrobe. The only item from my wardrobe that was a bit of a splurge is my roots bag, but even that I got on sale. And look, here it is walking across the Brooklyn bridge! Hey bag!

Another way to save money in NYC, go on a model diet! Or only eat food that was given to you in a Fashion show gift bag. (I am only half serious about those tips...)

And lastly, if you have a smart phone with data, turn off that data and steal WiFi from where ever you can. If your phone is not smart (like mine) then I think you already know a thing or two about saving money ;) .

And that, my stylish friends, is how I did NYFW and how you can do it too. Things brings me to the end of my Managing NYFW Modestly segment, but stay tuned because I still have more street style photos to post!