Dr Martens Spring/Summer 2011 Preview

I was in sixth grade when I started daydreaming about getting a pair of REAL Dr. Martens. I was just getting into Nirvana and Hole. All the cool older kids at school were wearing them! To me, they represented rebellion and even if I was always a very girly girl, I always had this side that yearned to go on the wild side. This is exactly what these shoes represented to me at the time. I begged and begged and begged but it wasn’t until high school that I got to buy my first pair! With my hard earned babysitting money, I finally bought my very first pair of classic back Docs. I felt so cool wearing them day after day (I wasn’t always such a shoe addict!), pairing them with flowy dresses and huge jeans. My look was a cross between Joey Potter and All Saints and the boots meshed seemed to go with every one of my outfits. What I loved the most was the attention the boots got from the cute rebel guys at school (always a plus with teen girls! LOL).

I think you can imagine how excited I was when I received an invitation from the Dr Martens team to come and preview the new spring/summer collection at Candy Bar. I couldn’t be more pleased with what I saw: the classics in a wide variety of colors, some great print/patterns and fabrics and some great reinvented style…always with the docs touch. Every blogger in attendance had a real coup de coeur for the cute wedges and laced-up sandals available in shades of neutral (grey, black and tan). These styles are also a great alternative for the girls with bigger feet because you still get the edge of docs without all the chunkiness. I also particularly loved all the cute floral prints used for some of the classic style. You can check out below some of my favorites!

Chloe Sevigny's pair of Darcie Boots has always been a pair of shoes I lusted over but never imagined truly owning. They sure are a pretty pair of shoes but are a little too edgy for every day especially since the color I love most is the cranberry shade. They really are the type of shoes you base your whole outfit around so I could never really explain spending 150$ on them. I was so excited when the lovely Micki told me that I could go browse the Dr Martens website and pick out a pair which they would send to me as soon as possible. Fingers crossed, I searched the site hoping to find this particular style and couldn’t believe my eye when I saw it! Yes! It would finally be mine!

Billie Boutique: A New Look!

Almost a year day to day after the last Billie Boutique Blogger event, I was invited to rediscover the Montreal Boutique after its big move. The new store is absolutely amazing and just like last time the night was a great opportunity to mingle with my fellow bloggers friends and even to meet some new ones! We were served an endless quantity of Hors d'oeuvre, bubbly and pieces of the most delicious cake ever!  

Dress Vintage - Bustier Vintage - Belt Vintage - Tights Secret - Boots Dollhouse via Winners - Bag Vintage Chanel - Racoon Tail Radom Store - Hat Vintage London Fog - Necklaces Vintage

If you happen to have a good memorie, you might remember that I won best outfit at last year's event (so funny that I was up against my now co-worker and fellow blogger the gorgeous Laure). The price; a very generous gift certificate of 350$. Fast foward a year later, I still hadn't had the chance to go spend my price. I figured this event would be the perfect oppportunity to do a little shopping since I had all of my friends at my disposition to help me make the right decision. In the end, I chose a Graham & Spencer asymetrical black bead top in the most cozy cotton fabric that I will be able to dress up or down depending on my mood.  

The only sad part about the event, I couldn't get my hands on the fabulous Kréavie goodies they were giving away. For a true sugar addict like me, this is a real tragedy! ;0(

Top Graham & Spencer

Here is me trying on the clothes...pantless hence my reaction to being photographed!

All pictures by Julia C. Vona

My Cougar Boots and Me

I’ve never been a practical type of shoe girl. In fact, I pretty much survive on cute shoes whatever the price as long as they make my feet look good I’m one happy chick. However, since I’ve started my new job in September, it has slowly occurred to me that taking public transit when the weather is cold doesn’t really cooperate well with all of the gorgeous shoes I own. Cold/wet/freezing feet are anything but fashionable. It was with great pride that I took the mature decision that this winter would be the year when I would get myself a real pair of snow boots.

Couldn’t believe my luck when I checked my e-mail only to find one from the Matchstick team asking is I would like to participate in their Cougar boots try out. The challenge: Pick a pair of rain boot and a pair of snow boot to review (you can guess that this means these boots were given to me for free) on my blog.

When first look at the Cougar website, I instantly feel in love with the Moola style (a more fashionable snow boot with a very small stable heel) and wished really hard that they would be my new footwear of choice for the colder months. Unfortunately, The Moola pair wasn’t included in the options of snowboots I could pick from so I settled for the Ringo Star in black with patent details. As for the rain boots, I was really happy to see I could choose the pair I liked most which was the Regal.

Not a month later, I received the long awaited package complete with comfy hoodie sweatshirt (which I now sleep in every night), large mug (which I now drink my coffee front every morning because I have a thing for humongous mugs) and delicious hot chocolate. Upon first glance, I have to admit I surprised with how good the boots looked in real life not that I was expecting anything less but still, they weren’t my regular style of shoes!

Dress Tiger Giant - Trench BCBG Max Azria - Tights Secrets - Knit Hat Thrifted - Scarf H&M - Bag Vintage Chanel - Racoon Tail Random Store - Faux Leather Gloves Ardène - Rain Boots Regal Cougar Boots

After wearing both pairs for at least a full day, I am now ready to give you my full review. All honesty, no bullshit!

The Regal boots are definitely my favorite pair of the two. They are the closest to my usual style because of their motorcycle look (they kind of remind me of my old pair of Frye). I couldn’t wait to pair them with cute skinny jeans and even floral dresses. After wearing them on 2 very cold days this fall, I can attest that they do keep your feet very warm. However, because I have very big ankles, I was quite sad when I realized they are a bit snug at the top so much so that I couldn’t really fit a pair of jeans into them.  Also, that tightness makes them a little bit uncomfortable when I wear them for a long period of time. Basically, these boots are a great option for those with smaller legs.

Coat Le Chateau - Flannel Shirt Vintage - Jeans Old Navy - Scarf Vintage Cashmere - Belt Vintage - Winter Boots Ringo Star

Now, onto the Ringo star boots! They are cozy, they are warm and they look stylish but they really make legs look a lot bigger than they really are. When trying to choose an outfit to wear them with (yes, I tend to base my entire outfit around my shoes) I had a really hard time finding something I thought complimented me best. Let me be honest, they make my legs look really big! It probably has to do with the huge fur lining which is amazing for keeping you warm but not so much for making you thin...or just normal. I was a little disappointed but they will still be very useful for days when the weather is terrible…like yesterday. LOL

All in all, I am still on a quest for the perfect snow boots (think I might actually buy the Moola) but I would actually recommend the Cougar boots to somebody with skinny legs (Anik from Montreal in Style wears them incredibly well!!). Hope you appreciate the honest review and I want to give a big thanks to the Cougar team. I will wear out those Regal boots that is for sure.

English Rose: Loulou Magazine Beauty School Challenge!

A few weeks back, I was invited by the Loulou magazine team, along with two other fashion bloggers known as Elizabeth from Chic Heroin and Cindy from True North Style, to participate in a really fun beauty challenge. So it was with great joy and in really fun company that I accepted the beauty school challenge of learning how to do a celebrity key look with the help of Loulou amazing makeup artist.

While I was personally asked to recreate Carey Mulligan’s peach skin and rosy cheeks, my two fellow blogger where asked to reproduce Blake Lively’s hair and Megan Fox’s eyebrows respectively (NTR: I don’t think the Loulou team could have picked better celebrity matches for the girls!!).

You can read all about their transformation here (Elizabeth) and here (Cindy). You can also see a few behind the scene pictures on Stephanie’s blog Le Cheap c’est Chic who was our fabulous shoot coordinator.

Check out each of the girls video tutorial right on the Loulou site right here. You can also see three of Loulou’s staffer learn how to reproduce Beyoncé’s glowy skin, Kim Kardashian's smoky eye and Christina Hendricks's red lips.

Now on to the tougher part of the challenge, after learning all of the makeup artist’s tricks I was asked to redo the look at home.

Here is my best try! What do you think?

Not so bad uh!

To recreate the skin look, I used:

• Quo Total Perfection Face Primer (or you could use any normal moisturizer); to give your skin a natural glow!
• Benefit’s erase paste in Fair; to erase any imperfection…and believe me I have a few! (I took a little more time than usual on that step just because it is such an important part of achieving the perfect complexion look!)
• Annabelle mineral powder in Natural Ivory (very little…just to set everything in place).
• Tarte blush stain in Flush (to create a great base for my blush to stick to)
• Annabelle mineral blush in Hush (great pigment for when you want a bolder look since you can really layer it on)

Overall, it was a very fun experience especially since It gave me the opportunity to finally meet some bloggers I had been following for quite some time (can you believe I was actually one of Elizabeth’s first comment on Chic Heroin!!). We had a very fun diner the night before at La Salle à Manger where we chatted about fashion (and lots of it) and every other blogger thing you can imagine. The food was delicious and I believe I am still dreaming about the oyster plate I shared with Stephanie! Tummy heaven!


Big thanks to the team that was involved in beautifying us especially Stephanie and Rosalie! Thanks to Loulou Magazine for thinking of me…what a big compliment it was to recreate Carey Mulligan’s porcelain complexion!

Mustard fields and autum skies

Dress Forever 21 - Crochet cardigan Thrifted from the lost luggage sale - Necklace BCBG Max Azria

Day dreaming of the warm summer air...
Rain rain go away, sunshine here to stay!