l'hiver.

This morning, I threw open my curtains and let the sun shine into my room. I dressed weather-inappropriately and curled up in a pool of sunshine on my bed like my cat did in Brazil. I dreamt about summer and spring-like temperatures and soaked up my daily dose of vitamin D.

I'm tired of being cold all the time.

I'm tired of putting on layer upon layer of clothing before going out to brave the weather.

I love you Canada. I love Tim Hortons, I love ice skating and maple syrup and Quebec, but your winters are really really trying.

Maybe it's the fact that I've already had to deal with 6 months of winter. (Yeah, winter in Brazil counts as winter. It was DARK by 4:30, and I could see my breath in the shower.)

But if Spring doesn't come soon.. I don't know how I'm going to deal.

Seriously...

all men should look like this more often.


(photo via the sartorialist)

hope you guys had a good halloween!

consumerism

Even from the far corner of small town Quebec, without a credit card, without any income except for $15 a week, and a weekly expenditure of an average of $25 a weekend on booze, I still manage to keep consumerism alive.

Thank god for Paypal and international shipping.

I just bought this:

So cute! I'm super excited for it's arrival. I just hope it won't take 1 month and a half to arrive.. because I won't be here any more.

Shopping has become a distant memory for me. For the last 6 months every item of clothing I've acquired has been second hand - I do a weekly tour of all the second-hand stores in Valleyfield, and even in Manoel Viana, I managed to find a second-hand store (which is an amazing feat, since the town was so small, and barely had anything in it...) where I thrifted little boys button downs (actually if you think about it, it's kind of sad to think about - I'm wearing the castoffs of someone from a small-town in the South of Brazil... oh well). I don't think I'm capable of buying anything over the price of $5 any more. I actually balk at the thought of paying $5 for a sweater that looks brand new and has the tag on it here.

My host mom has promised me a trip to Montreal for shopping purposes, and besides the fact that I'm pretty much broke (or will be soon.. Halloween is on a Friday this year!) and have no access to a credit card, I'm dying to walk into an H&M, UO and/or American Apparel. (Let the stop-supporting-global-capitalism lectures begin!)

Out of the 5 pairs of jeans that I brought to wear on the trip, 2 are too tight and way too uncomfortable (I guess I did put on some weight...), one has several rips in the crotchal area and paint on it from digging, planting, and painting in Brazil, and one has a hole in it from falling off my bike. Someone purolate me some clothes please. I'm tired of fighting with little old men for plaid flannel shirts, little old ladies for cable knit sweaters, and buying mens undershirts to wear as dresses.

On the other hand, I will return home with the most impressive collection of plaid shirts and grandpa cardigans that Mississauga has ever seen.

The other day I bought a hand-knit, long, heavy wool sweater at one of the stores for $10. I wore it all weekend during mid-project, and at night I put a light hoody under it and spent the whole night outside by the camp fire, and I could not feel the cold even if I wanted to (this could've been attributed to the Fireball mixed with chai that I was drinking... but I really don't think so). It's magical, and probably the best buy I'll ever make in my life.

At least if I wanted to I could dress up as an old man for Halloween. It might be easier than dressing up as an 80s aerobics bitch, or a poutine...

Does anyone know what I can wear to cover my ass if I dress up as an 80s aerobics bitch, with my AA raglan sweater on top, and leggings and legwarmers? We all know how I feel about wearing leggings as pants...... RAFAY, I AM LOOKING AT YOU FOR IDEAS. Something that can easily be thrifted. I couldn't find short shorts at any of the thrift stores I frequent.

(wow, there are a lot of pertinent tags for this post..)

it's 430am

and i cannot sleep. so here is prt 2 of the boyswear post.

everyone needs a jacket like this.
I need a jacket like this.
Note plaid shirt done all the way up to the top button.
(image from the commodified)

No boys I know will ever wear anything like this, which is sad because this is actually my favourite.
I'm not really sure why, but it probably has something to do with the colours or the proportions.
Maybe the glasses.
Or maybe because he's from Televiv, Israel.

(image from borderline)

And for the less adventurous:

you can't go wrong with plaid flannel, if it's in the right size and not hanging off of you lumberjack-like.
(image of homme from chictopia)

or if you're really simple, white tee, leather jacket and jeans.
(you can leave the suspenders at home.)
follow through with any of the footwear seen above, or some high tops.
and accessorize with a swoopy haircut.
(image of one of the french touch guys from my exactitudes post)

mens wear #1: If I was a boy.

Recently someone asked me to do a post on mens wear?
Why they'd ask me, I don't know. I haven't even done a post on women's wear yet.
I had no idea where to start, but I've always said that boys have it pretty easy.
Plus we all know that I am stuck on a particular type of aesthetic.
Anyways, I started searching for pictures and examples and decided to split it up into 2 parts.
So here's part one.
If I was a boy this is what I would wear:



Finally, a reason to use polyvore!
What a good use of 3 hours of lecture time.

To me all you need to do is to throw on a v-neck and some skinny jeans, as pair of nike dunks or plimsoles and you're good. Want to class it up? Throw a vest over your v-neck and trade in the shoes for a pair of brogues and a fedora. Accessorize with a necklace and a messenger bag/man purse and you're gold.
The addition of a straw fedora helps these outfits transition into the summer. Pops of bright colours in shoes and accessories are also good.
The outfit in the middle could probably be teamed with a pair of single pleat shorts (technical term for this?), cuffed and ending just at the knee and a pair of boat shoes. I'm thinking either staying with black or a light khaki colour if you ditch the cardigan.

I think I would dress better as a male.
But this is a whole other story...

Part 2 with some real life examples coming next.

(then it's less fashion and more art/culture/music I promise.)

outfit post #2

So as promised, here are some pictures of what I wore to class on Tuesday to fail my first multiple choice exam of my university career. You guys weren't kidding when you all bitched about how stupid/hard those exams are. I apologize for laughing it off.

Anyways, these are featuring the plaid shirt that I bought form Value Village, and perhaps in retrospect I shouldn't have worn it with highwaisted pants and cuffed them because I feel that it made me seem shorter/stockier than I really am.

apparently i make weird faces to amuse myself while waiting for the self-timer to go off.
and i also don't know exactly how long 12 seconds is, but it gives a nice backview and of the bag that you all know and have seen
details.

Also, while I was at Value Village, in addition to picking up some sweet swag, I also managed to find a cute boy.

Perfectly worn in Cheap Mondays, scuffed Nike High-tops, white crewneck, and swoopy hair.

Thrifting is good for all kinds of things.
I left him at the fitting rooms trying on dockers shorts and the most amazing pair of brogues that I'm jealous I wasn't able to fit in.
I also left without exchanging anything but a series of shy smiles and glances.
I am horrible at boys.
:(

um wtf

No, your eyes do not deceive you.

Those are high-heeled Crocs.

I cannot wait to see you wear them, teemed with your cut off denim skirt, lacy capri leggings, and spaghetti-strap tank top.

OH SO CLASSY.

Comfort AND style, ladies. Yes, you too can have it all.

And all for the very affordable price of $49.99.

If red is too racy for your tastes, these beauties also come in a sophisticated black.

Feeling sassy? Maybe the bronze, or the two toned silver/lavender.

Out for a night in the town? how about the "chocolate/cotto"? You'll be a magnet for all the guys once they see you in these. Every man is looking for a woman who tries to mix trash and style.

I CANNOT BELIEVE THESE EXIST.

THIS IS LIKE TRYING TO MAKE TRAILER TRASH NOT TRASH BY TELLING THEM TO CLEAN THEMSELVES UP, AND AFTER 15 MINUTES THEY EMERGE WITH MORE LIPSTICK ON, WITH THEIR CLEANEST PAIR OF DENIM CUTOFFS, AND WITHOUT A CIGARETTE IN THEIR MOUTH, BUT ONE IN THEIR HAND AND THEIR NICEST LIGHTER IN THE OTHER.

IN FACT THEY'LL PROBABLY BE WEARING THESE SHOES.

outfit post

I was bored today so I put together some outfits, set my camera on self-timer, and went to work.
Don't e-judge me.
I am planning outfits to wear to various events coming up in a couple weeks, and I needed some opinions.
And yes, this is what I do with my hair when I am at home and know that I am not going to go anywhere.




YES I DID DO LEGGINGS AS PANTS.
But they were shiny, and that shirt's long enough isn't it?
Where I will most probably wear this to, I'm sure I won't be the only one doing it.



I guess you can see the shine better here.
They're the poor man's version of the american apparel lamé leggings from h&m and they're kinda itchy and super long.



The purple tights!
These are my new favourite shorts, and I have actually been wearing a variation of this outfit over the last couple of days. Sometimes with black tights, no tights, and/or a different shirt.




I bought this a couple days ago, and was told that it looks frumpy.. so I attempted to make it look not so frumpy.
But I'm undecided as to which way looks best, and if all my attempts look hideous, I may return it.



With a belt, purple tights and closed eyes?


A belt and no tights?


No belt and light olive-ish green tights?
(or no belt and no tights, because it kinda just looks like my legs are supertanned a really weird colour)


Or no belt and dark green tights, and the price tag sticking out?


So, does this mean this is going to turn into another "What I Wore Today" blog?
Probably not, although it was kind of fun, it was also a big pain in the ass to make sure everything was focused, and having to change aperture/shutter speed settings everytime the light changed, and i don't own a point and shoot digital camera.
Plus, sometimes I wear the same thing for a week if I know that no one is going to know that I did repeats (gross, I know but whatever), so I don't think I'd have a lot of material to post.
Maybe I'll do one occasionally like this one where I ask for opinions.