After strolling around with my new and oh-so-trendy hair, I started noticing that everyone around me was also sporting a form of ombré as well. I lay in bed that night wondering if I’d become a slave to trends and that people would think I was a bandwagon-jumper (I quickly dismissed the thought because it was just plain silly).

Aside from the typical style of ombré (hair lightening gradually), there is so much rainbow ombré happening that looks super bold and so fun.

Now that is just too bold for me, however, the last time I was at a salon I was introduced to a product called Color Bug. It is essentially chalk that you brush into your hair. The stylist showed me how it worked and for an evening, I looked like a rockstar with pink ombré hair. The downside to this was the fact that I had more chalk on my shoulders than in my hair at the end of the night.

Hair isn’t the only place that ombré is having a moment. Check out these other interesting ideas for graduating colours from light to dark (or vice versa).

Cake:

Umm.. this is just the prettiest thing to look at and I think it is one of the most creative ideas. Having an ombré cake for a wedding (as an example) is a great way to take the pressure off getting the color scheme to match/making it too match-y. One of the most overrated concepts is keeping colors the exact same; I like a little imperfection. It is also a style that is non-traditional and adds even more to the cake. The presentation is awesome, but it’s the gradual darkening of the colors that makes you really admire and appreciate the hard work that must have gone into making a cake like this.

Nails:

If you are looking for nail inspiration, look no further than the Nails of the Day section of the site. There are so many incredibly talented people mastering nail art – it is insane. A nail art trend that I’ve been seeing is ombré. Some stick to one finger while others use all five fingers (thumb is the lightest and pinky is the darkest). It looks like it takes a lot of patience to master this form of nail art – if you try it, I would love to see your photos!

Ombré on the Runway:

Image via Trend Fashion Style

Also known as “dip-dyed”, this trend is all over the runway for Spring. It is a very bold look to wear but with all the fun colors, I think it’s well worth it. If you aren’t into the color, I’ve seen the chambray shirt dip-dyed as well – plus there are awesome DIY tutorials to help you create the look at home!

Is ombré passé? Talk to me in the comments!

xo

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Say No to the Sale Rack:

The retail industry has us wrapped around its finger; it’s the old Pavlovian trick – you see sale sign, you salivate (and buy). I’m terrible at rationalizing when I stroll into my favourite store and see an entire section devoted to sale items; I can’t help wanting it all. The biggest problem I have in the sale section is determining whether something fits correctly. More often than not, we find the perfect blouse, jeans, shoes that we must-have because of the sale price but realize that the fit is too small/too big. There are so many items in my closet that I’ve purchased solely based on the sale price and talk myself into believing that it will magically look better once I get home – it isn’t true. The item will sit in your closet untouched and each time you look at it (if you do), you’ll huff and puff about the poor fit. Save yourself the space in your closet for pieces that you can wear often and that fit you well! The next thing to consider is why items are on sale. Sometimes it is merely the purging of merchandise at the end of season to make room for the next but be weary of those sales where there is a plethora of one type of product. It usually means that particular piece isn’t performing because of poor fit or an overall disdain by the general public. That isn’t to say your style compliments the particular piece but I suggest trying it to make sure there are no defects before you shell out the cash.

Shop Less, Get Creative:

Every editorial you read about having the right basics is true; as long as you have patience and creativity. It isn’t necessary to be a slave to the trends because they are just that – trends – and they’ll be gone before you know it. Are you really keen on spending a lot of money on something super elaborate only to find yourself looking dated the next season? My closet is full of oxfords, cardigans and jeans but I always re-work different pieces to make it seem like I’ve got more. Buying a few trendy pieces each season is great for incorporating with your timeless pieces. My main problem is that I get bored with mixing and matching and opt out by heading to the mall and buying something new. This year, my intent is to put my Stacy London-ing to the test and style my little heart out.

Wear Athletic Gear in Public:

Image via Style Bistro

Fine, I don’t have a Birkin or Givenchy to make my athletic gear look super luxe but I do have plenty of athletic gear that is super stylish and colourful. My immediate post-gym reaction is to rush home without anyone seeing me – I don’t sweat too much and my après workout glow is quite pretty (without sounding vain), which is why I don’t know why I’ve felt that wearing my Lululemon getup in public was such a faux-pas. Nonetheless, I spend a lot of money on that stuff and it’s comfortable as heck – this year I am going to hang out in my running tights and tank because, they’re loungewear – right?

Use Fashion Bloggers as Inspiration (Instead of Sources of Envy):

Image via Keep Sitting Pretty

I believe I spent much of last year saying, “Ugh.. I hate her!” about many of the fashion bloggers from around the world. Where do they find the time to take photos of themselves everyday? Where do they get all this expensive stuff when they are “students”? Why do they get invited everywhere? Why do they have perfect hair? I think this was mostly because I had aspirations of being a “fashion blogger”. That pond is so concentrated that I don’t think I want to be part of it and if I did, I’d want to take a totally different slant on the term “fashion blogger”. In any case, before I read the newspaper, I have to check all my favourite style bloggers to see what they are wearing. I don’t think I’ll stop that this year, instead, I will use their awesome style skills and apply them to pieces that I already own.

Making resolutions is a wonderful thing – there is never a bad time to evaluate your habits and change them for the better. I hope that if you’ve made resolutions that you give it your best to keep them but if you slip up, know that it is totally okay and there is always time to restart.

Wishing you all the very best for 2013 – thank you for reading!

x

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Today I love fleece; in fact, I just bought a fleece liner for my Barbour jacket to keep myself warm once winter arrives. I have also found a new love for flannel – specifically, flannel oxfords. Once you get past the initial stereotype of flannel being worn under pieces like overalls – you can discover the many different ways to style it. Here are a few of my favorite ways (with examples from some of my personal favorite style bloggers):

1. Super Casual

I’m going to get real and confess that the only reason I thought to wear this shirt like this was because I bought it a little too small for my bust. Unfortunately that tends to happen a lot for me. Nonetheless, I like that I was able to wear a thin tank underneath and have it open – not only did it keep me cool while shopping in the mall with a sea of Christmas shoppers, but I think it sort of looks cool. Plus, it gave me reason to keep the shirt rather than give it away!

2. A Layering Piece

Image via Sparkling Footsteps

I’ve been seeing this a lot among the style blogger world; layering a flannel oxford with another oxford. I think it draws attention and adds depth to the outfit, especially when the bottom layer has a pattern exposed just a little bit. This is also a style that I am keen to try because as mentioned, I have made the mistake of buying oxfords that are slightly too small around the bust, which allows me to wear them under pieces that do fit. Layering is the best for the winter and you can shed pieces not worrying about whether you have something decent under the first layer!

3. For the Office

Image via Classy Confessions

If you work in an environment where “business casual” is the dress code – this look is absolutely ideal! Wearing your comfy flannel oxford with a pencil skirt is so chic. I especially love that Megan added a beautiful statement necklace to contrast the casual shirt.

4. Glam! Glam! Glam!

Image via Atlantic-Pacific

Blair is the Queen of the style bloggers (in my opinion) – and this specific outfit is one of the reasons why. A flannel oxford with a tulle skirt? Firstly, I would never think to pair the two and secondly, she also does the layering thing with a chambray shirt underneath. There isn’t much more that I can say about this outfit except that Blair proves that experimenting with textures and casual/formal can work (and work beautifully).

These are just a few ways that you can spruce up your flannel oxfords. Need not forget that wearing just the oxford with some jeans and fun accessories is just as nice!

Are you a flannel lover? Tweet me some interesting ways that you wear your flannel!

The post Defend the Trend: The Flannel Oxford appeared first on HelloGiggles.

Just so we are all clear – this is what Katy was wearing that night:

Image via Us Weekly

I went out last weekend and bought a pair of Spanx; I had to research where in the city I could find them, which wasn’t particularly difficult. I stood in the hosiery department for a good twenty minutes wide-eyed and incredibly confused. I should add that at this point I was also sweating and anxious because of all the holiday shoppers around me. In any case, I settled on what seemed like a legitimate pair – the packaging read: “whittles the middle, tames the tummy” –  I think that was what I was after.

The package beckoned me from the shopping bag but at this point I was a little scared to open it; would they do anything for me? Would I see crazy different results – most of all, would my body look like Katy Perry’s without Spanx? Later in the week I found the opportunity to wear them; under a pencil skirt to an early morning meeting. At first I felt like I was trying to fit my legs and torso into a pair of jeans that were just too small – then I recognized that the purpose is to suck it all in. Sure, my little pouch was tucked in slightly but the discomfort of wearing them really taked some time to get used to. By midday I felt a little more comfortable but certainly was not keen on spending the entire day in them alas, they were off by 2PM.

So what is it about shapewear that has women crazed?

Here’s where I stop complaining and actually start defending:

You want to look amazing at special events. Isn’t that why almost every celeb you see is wearing shapewear? Naturally, there is a fine line between wanting to achieve perfection and wanting to make your outfit look the best it can! My pencil skirt looked just fine without my Spanx but as soon as I put them on, I did notice a difference and I didn’t think too much about how I looked in the skirt. I’m certainly going to wear my shapewear to all the holiday parties that I plan on attending because I won’t be self-conscious (about my outfit) when eating those extra few bites of cake.

Coco Chanel was against all the corset nonsense and ended up being the most iconic woman in fashion. So listen, if you’re not into shapewear – don’t subject yourself to the discomfort! Personally, I’m happy to have to the option but likely won’t be wearing my Spanx all the time.

Are you a fan of shapewear?

P.S. I know I should start getting some decent photos taken (the selfie-in-the-bathroom photo is just not doing it).

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I have such a wonderful collection of lipsticks, glosses and pencils – the problem is that I opt to only wear nude shades (otherwise known as vaseline). This is mostly because I am unable to apply a color without it bleeding all over my face and looking like a clown. Frustrated, I huffed and puffed into Sephora to beg one of the consultants to help me with my makeup woes. The fix: lip liner. The thing about lip liner, however, is that when I think about it, I see this:

The makeup goddess explained that there are invisible lip liners that act as barriers for the color, which meant that instead of trying to match liner to each color, you can just wear the invisible stuff – mind. blown.

Now that we’ve cleared that up – go forth and embrace the bold lip ladies.

Here are a few of my favourite bold lip beauties from around the Internet:

Photo via Style Bistro

Taylor Swift is the princess of the bold red lip; she always looks flawless. She always has the most immaculate color to compliment her fair skin.

Photo via Jessica Roger

Jessica has mastered the dark lip for the fall; she can take a casual/biker look and turn it into an evening look maintaining the dark lip. I love that she isn’t afraid to try a dramatic color for daytime. I’m going to admit that she is the reason why I finally went out and bought myself a dark bold color.

Photo via Jennifer Cowan

Jennifer has made the red lip her signature – and why shouldn’t she, it suits her! If you follow her on Instagram, you’ll see that there are many photos where she’s sporting the bold lip and I love that she keeps the eyes (and rest of the face makeup) at a minimum.

Are you a fan of the bold lip? Share your favourite colors with me in the comment!

x

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J Crew marked down their toothpick jeans at the end of summer and buried in the sales rack was a pair of white denim in my size! We had a few family gatherings during labor day weekend and I wore my coveted new pants everyday because I know my Mom was really not able to scold me just yet. I’m not normally someone who wears white pants because I have a terrible opinion about my legs in white (I think this is from a terrorizing experience of white tights during my ballet dancing years). Conversely, the J Crew jeans were perfect.

Labor day came and went and I was left longing to keep the jeans in regular rotation in my wardrobe. I believe I wore them twice in September, washed them and left them in the bottom of my denim pile (with a pair of powder pink denim).

Last week, one of my coworkers showed up to the office wearing white denim and I initiated a conversation with her asking whether she’d received any flack for wearing the light jeans. She wasn’t surprised I was asking and explained that she had a few people question her fashion judgement but ultimately shrugged them off.

My definitive answer to this topic is: wear what you want – whenever you want.

If Pairing white denim with a chunky knit and a great pair of boots does not take away from keeping you warm throughout the winter months, then what is the problem here? Winter white fashion is here to stay so give up the square thoughts of only associating white with the summer months. I’m going to enjoy my newish favorite jeans all year long!

What do you think – are you a winter white person or do you reserve the light colours with the warm months of the year?

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As soon as the calendar hit September, I tried my luck with sweaters but it was still too mild (yes, I ended up sweating profusely). The best part of autumn is being able to layer so preppy, cashmere sweaters are the staple in my wardrobe. It was surprising to see models, bloggers and editors at New York Fashion Week sporting graphic sweaters that otherwise insinuate “frumpy style”.

Photo via Chloe Zhao

Russian beauty, Elena Perminova, does not have one bit of frump to this outfit. Juxtaposing the grunge cut-offs with her couture necklace, Elena makes this outfit look fashion week-worthy for sure.

Photo via The Fashion Spot

Miroslava Duma chose to wear her graphic Balenciaga sweater as a dress – because why shouldn’t she?

We aren’t all able to pull of the looks that these girls do outside fashion tents however, I promise that there are ways that you can style the cotton sweater:

To Work:

Pairing a graphic sweater with a smart A-line skirt and professional heels allows the sweater to pass the office uniform rules.

A Night Out:

You’re invited out and all you want to do is keep yourself warm but still look super chic. Pair a graphic sweater with a cute mini-skirt and some knee-high boots, which dresses you right up. Adding sparkly jewels always takes an outfit from daytime to evening.

The Weekend:

I’m still hesitant about wearing just the sweater with jeans mainly because I continue to feel like I should be mindlessly walking my dog in the park. Layering a graphic sweater with a collared blouse underneath maintains some prep but still keeps the rest of the look casual for weekend brunch and/or errands.

Is the graphic sweater a fall trend that you are willing to try in an edgy way or are you sticking sweaters where they traditionally reside: with the sweat pant?

Happy Autumn y’all x

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Now this blew my mind – how (and when) did the woman who swore by one metal at a time decide to invest in a ring with not only gold and silver – but rose gold, as well? I left it alone for awhile. Then I noticed her rocking a new timepiece. It was this exact one:

Needless to say, my days of being quiet were over.

I confronted my mom and accused her of being a fraud, of being a hypocrite – fine, I didn’t accuse her of these things, but I asked what the deal was. She explained that if a piece of jewellery is sold with the two (or three) metals, that it was okay to wear. This made no sense to me. I did notice that her new and wild way of accessorizing came subsequent to her separation from my dad, allowing her the freedom from her yellow gold wedding band.

This anecdote has gone a lot longer than I anticipated.

I’m a fan of yellow gold. It could be my Indian roots (I was gifted with many pieces of rich yellow gold as a child). Nonetheless, yellow gold costume jewellery always beckons me and for many years I avoided silver. Then I got engaged and noticed that none of my yellow gold seemed to look decent with my sparkly white gold ring – this was a problem. Suddenly I understood what my mom tried to explain to me those years ago. I found myself scouring my closet for clothes that complimented silver and began wearing my silver watch again.

For the past two years, rose gold has littered its pretty self back onto the pages of fashion magazines – did this mean I needed to make another investment? I didn’t. I wear my rose gold with both yellow and white gold and I think it looks great.

Verdict: matching metals is so 1980 – have fun!

My watch usually dictates the direction the rest of the day’s accessories but I no longer have a problem wearing my wedding band mixed with different colors and metals – heck, I sometimes wear yellow gold rings on the same hand!

What do you think of mixed metals? Yay or nay?

x

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