$6 Joy

I share with you what could be the best thrifted find of all time!  This skirt was $6 from VV Boutique in Burlington. (Translation – Value Village).  Beautiful non?  I wore it to dinner with this $12 Forever 21 tank and $12 Forever 21 necklace.  My most perfect open toe black pumps were $60 from Zara.  I am too excited to wear this skirt into fall.  Oh, and the last pic?  Julie laughed at my funny face and dared me to post it.  How can I not?  It’s my $6 leather skirt excited face.  CM

Glorious Grey

My wardrobe is all over the place with the move so my mornings are spent rummaging through piles of clothing and random boxes desperately trying to get things together. It would be so much easier to buy everything new, but that wouldn’t really be budget-friendly. I decided to go for an almost fully monochromatic look with my Joe Fresh grey jeans ($19), shirt from Jacob ($30), and Zara blazer ($89). I have gotten a lot of wear out of this blazer so I don’t feel bad that it came to a hundo. I paired this ensemble with a skinny belt from Joe Fresh ($9), a pair of shoes I bought SEVEN years ago for $19. These puppies went in the garbage right after I took this photo – they just had to go. And my favourite part of the look is my grandmother’s purse that she bought and used only once – for my parent’s wedding. It’s in perfect condition and I love it.  JD

Queen Fresh

I haven’t gone grocery shopping in about 2 months now which is kinda bad. I’ve been grabbing bites here, there and everywhere as I run from meetings to events to my next adventure – I’m always on the go. I don’t feel too bad when it’s a healthy option but that’s hard to come by. I thought this baby warrior bowl from Fresh on Queen street would’ve made the cut, but it just tasted like grass and rotten tofu. Definitely not as delicious as the Craft Burger I had the other day or the spicy pad thai I tried at Red Room. Don’t get me wrong, Fresh on Queen is amazing and they have a lot of great options, but this one just isn’t the greatest.

I decided to forget about my lunch and do something a little more fulfilling — search for vintage cut-off jean shorts. And guess what? I found them! To be revealed at a later date. This is my strolling the street look. High waist, pleated pants are from Zara, fringe sandals are from Spring Shoes, crop top is from America Apparel – oh yes you read that correctly – CROP TOP! Loving the 90s comeback. My moto-inspired jacket is from H&M, purse was found on the street, sunglasses were my grandpa’s, and my pop of coral light weight scarf is from The Bay, or La Baie if you are French. JD

Thrifted Sister

We hit up a few vintage stores in Mirvish village recently and had some video fun while trying on a bunch of dresses and accessories. This store was super cute, but we can’t remember the name! You have to go down a set of stairs to get to it – does anyone know what it’s called?

Blue On Blue

Sometimes I like wearing a full outfit of the same colour. I found this top at a vintage yard sale off Queen street – it was just $5! My pants are from Zara, belt is from a clothing swap party and lace-up booties are from Spring shoes. Hope you are enjoying this weather! JD

Event: Strut for a Cure

We had a fabulous time at the Strut for a Cure event last Thursday held at the Berkeley Church on Queen East. We just LOVE that venue – it’s a true rustic gem in the city. We love the courtyard, old hallways, exposed brick, and the random treehouse beside it. So fun. This event originated a year ago in Barrie Ontario when supermodel Coco Rocha and her 11 year-old cousin Erika organized a charity fashion show to raise funds for a friend with cancer. The event was a success and made its way to Toronto for an even bigger and better soiree. The night featured the one and only Jeanne Beker as Emcee, a fashion show with designs by Todd Lynn, a concert performed by Dragonette, amazing DJs, and lots of fun times. If you’re into fashion, music, and contributing to a great cause, you should come next year!  

Inside the church

View from the treehouse

We met Cherry and Tamara who told us they are SDP readers! You made our night ladies :)

CM in an H&M Garden Collection dress, earings from NYC, and sky-high wedge shoes from Aldo.

I picked this dress up for $40 at a vintage store in Mirvish Village – right on Markham street at Bloor. There are a lot of great vintage stores and restaurants in that little nook of Markham street. Me loves!

We got a picture with the striking and down to earth Coco Rocha. She is perfectly tall and teeny tiny in the bod. It’s completely ridiculous that the modeling industry has been deeming her a plus size model as of late. That’s just so crazy I have no words.  She’s stunning, has an amazing runway walk, and seems like a very humble and caring person. Afterall she’s Canadian! JD & CM

Red Lemon

The colour combination of red and yellow is a bit bold…kind of like ketchup and mustard. I normally wouldn’t marry the two but I was inspired by an outfit I saw in Anthropologie’s look book (which is always amazing by the way). It’s liberating to wear an outfit that doesn’t contain any trace of black or grey.

I bought this top from Winners a while back and it’s one of those tops that I don’t wear often, but I know better than to get rid of it. This yellow skirt is from Zara and I really like the crisp shape – it instantly gives a polished look. My belt is from the GAP and it’s one of my all time favourites. Vintage sunglasses were my grandfather’s, and my jazz booties are from Spring shoes. Wearing this outfit has got me in the mood for street meat! For those of you that don’t know, Toronto is home to countless hot dog stands throughout the city and the dogs are amazing! I’ll let you know how my first dog of the season is….excited for lunch. Happy summer days ahead! JD

PS – here is just one of the many street meat hubs in the city. I wonder how many there actually are….

Toronto Cityscape

There are so many cliché images out there of New York, Paris, and London. Poster stores, framing stores, Homesense, Target, Winners, you name it. Although these three cities are amazing, I’d rather hang images of the city I live and breathe on my apartment walls, not somewhere that I have been a just handful of times.  That’s why Christine and I were attracted to the exhibit entitled Toronto by Adam Shax at Lakeview Restaurant, as part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. When I moved into my latest apartment, I decided I wanted to buy images of Toronto to hang above my couch, but did you know they are next to impossible to find? You can’t buy them anywhere – which made me want them even more. I ended up purchasing old Toronto images from the Toronto Star online, but they are not nearly the same as what we saw here….

Lakeview Restaurant, Dundas West

Massy Hall, Victoria Street

Lula Lounge, Dundas West

Velvet Underground, Queen West

The images were so vibrant, colourful and glowing! They look so animated and almost like illustrations…if you weren’t familiar with the venues in real life. Massy Hall looks so elegant, Lula Lounge screams colour, and I’m actually shocked at how good the Velvet Underground looks. I walk by it weekly and it’s not one of my favourite places because of its dingy and dirty vibe, but Shax manages to make it look beautiful. Impressive.

I wore a mix of vintage and new finds. My classic Levis red tab jean jacket and purse were both thrifted gifts from BFF for my birthday. It’s pretty cool to have a friend that knows what vintage things you like. Striped tights are from H&M, Jazz booties are from Spring Shoes, and my floral dress came from a clothing swap party. How many photo exhibits have you hit this month? Take a closer look around, there are amazing photos everywhere for the month of May!

Interesting Facts: 1) Lakeview Restaurant is open 24 hrs a day to satisfy your late night hunger pangs. And 2) there were many scenes filmed at Lakeview for the movie Hairspray with John Travolta! JD

Mom Style

At our childhood homes over Mother’s Day weekend, we both found ourselves rummaging through old photos, finding images of our first style influencers – our mammas! There are traits you cannot help but take from your mom – some you don’t like, and others you adore. We both love our mom’s sense of style and love looking back on the way they dressed is so cool to see. It shows a lot of who we have become….

JD’s mom. Here’s my mom on one of her many trips in one of her many self-made outfits. She had a top similar in style to this and decided she wanted one in red, so she made this one by simply tracing the pattern of the store-bought top. She then cut two squares of the red material and sewed them to her white shorts, or did they call those hot pants? not too sure. In any case I love this! Way to be creative!

I liked this photo as well because I would definitely wear an outfit like this. high-waisted, wide leg jeans, with a cropped blouse, and sunglasses. Simple. Great silhouette. Notice the helmets in the background — my parents went out on mopeds and I think someone fell off or crashed. haha. Thankfully no one was hurt.

CM’s mom in 1978.  My Mom had the ultimate boho-chic style.  Most of the pics that I looked over had her in floor length, floral print dresses and chunky plat forms – something that I would wear now!  I love this pic and it may be that my inspiration for the middle part is from her and not Gwyneth Paltrow – I will attribute it to her!  Her eyes look brown here but they are actually the brightest, sparkling blue I have ever seen.  I wonder if her necklace is still around…

I am unsure what year this was, but this pic was taken in Banff in the mid-70s.  How chic is her ski suit paired with mirrored aviators?  Have to hunt those down as well.  CM

Where The Wild Things Are

Knowing I was going to pack up all my Winter coats this weekend, I decided to rock this faux fur number in my concrete jungle one last time.  Julie refers to it as my “Wild Thing” jacket and I think she is dead on.  I found it last summer at a flea market in Owen Sound, Ontario and I just love the bulky sweater-like arms.  It was priced at $5 and I snatched it up before anyone around me heard the sellers price.  The only problem is that it had that flea market smell and was quite dusty. Dry cleaning charges are the same for faux fur as they are real fur.  I was dinged with a $55 bill.  Ouch!

My messenger bag was a purchase made at the start of my first year at Western.  It is from Roots and so far it has proven to be timeless.  The classic leather brown belt is also a University oldie and it is from American Eagle Outfitters.   Goorin hat is from their men’s collection but that suits me just fine.  Leggings are from Zara on Bloor and boots are from Aldo online.

Have you seen the movie yet?  I just loved it! CM

I WEAR PANTS

I seem to always have problems finding pants which is probably why I never wear them.  Honestly, I wear no pants.  I wear skirts.  When I wear dress pants to work (approximately once every 2 months) my co-workers ask me, “what’s different?”.  IT’S PANTS!  They never seem to fit right but when I tried these on at Zara on Bloor Street I had to get them.  Do you envision outfits from one piece of clothing? Upon this purchase I knew what I wanted the perfect white blouse to pair with them.  After scouring the usual Bloor Street retailers, I hit up Value Village in Burlington and found this top for $3.99.  A match made in heaven.  Necklace is also from Value Village in Burlington at $6.99 and grey, suede pumps are from Nine West. 

Every year the summer rolls around I crave the middle part.

It was cool in areas without the sun so I threw on my Zara trench.  CM

Who’s Fresh?

JD’s Fresh! or at least trying to be in my Zara trench coat.

Taking a pretend stroll and loving the weather in my ultra comfy basic black heels from Feet First. A wise $99 investment for lasting in heels 10 hours a day.

Leg kick!

Something caught my eye in the distance…

Parachute day! I used to love parachute days in elementary school….how fun was running under a brightly coloured piece of material? So simple. So fresh.

This skirt from Joe Fresh ($19) is an amazing anchor piece and gives me the freedom to wear it a million different ways. That’s key in building your wardrobe. If you can wear it a ton of different ways – buy it! My nautical inspired top is from H&M; scarf is from the Port Colborne Thrift Store ($2); belt came from a clothing swap party($0); and these sunglasses are my vintage Angelo Damiano aviators. I wanted to buy the new Joe Fresh trench coat this season because it was just a classic, perfect trench in an amazing quality fabric for just $59! insane. But I picked up the wrong size to try on and when I went back to the rack (one minute later) the size I needed was gone! You gotta be fast with Joe. People are die hards and they steal everything the second it lands in store. What’s your favourite Joe Fresh find?

Abbot Kinney Blvd

A Sunday stroll, a bite to eat, coffee in hand, and lots of gabbing is how I recently spent some quality time with the bff on Abbot Kinney Blvd – an amazing street in Venice, CA.

I love Christina’s style and this is a perfect example of budget fashion – her sunglasses are from Target ($7), slip top is from a vintage store in Vancouver, cotton skirt is by Rittenhouse from One of  a Few in Vancouver, and shoes are by Clark’s from Freedman shoes (on sale) – they’re slightly on the grandma side but still chic, and more importantly comfy for her poor fallen arches. I didn’t take a close up of her feet because she has really beautiful toes, and some of you might be really jealous. Belt is Forever 21 ($8), and her purse was her grandma’s and is very special to her :)

Gjelina (ja-lee-na)

Intelligentsia

We strolled on over to Gjelina’s for brunch which was a cool spot with delicious food. Service was a bit slow but we were in no rush so it didn’t matter. I should have taken a pic of my sandwich – it looked so good and was a 9.5 on the taste-o-meter. We then went to Intelligentsia for coffee and spotted Toby Maguire, his wife, and baby in tow. He was quite striking in person – I liked the beard he had going on. The sun made the day just perfecto. 

Budget travel tip: I’d also like to tell you that over 4 and a half days in LA I only spent a whopping $330. Nuts eh? I used my Aeroplan points for my flight and paid $145 on taxes only; and the other $185 was just spent on food. I think the key to being a budget traveller is to not shop! Personally I’d rather shop before my trip and go with outfits planned, than go with nothing and waste sun and beach time trying to find something cool to wear when really, we have a lot of the same stores.  If you must buy something, you should make it one special purchase – something you can’t buy in your home town. Just my opinion. JD

Valentino for Valentine’s Day

When I have the time, my hunt for trendy treasures brings me outside the city.  The thrift stores in Toronto are so picked over that I normally leave empty-handed yet, those in the suburbs have the promise of at least one great find.  One occasion brought me to a Value Village in Scarborough where I made, quite possibly, the greatest thrift store find OF ALL TIME.  As I walked through the shoe section last Saturday these Valentino’s, in the classic red colour, practically leapt off the shelf directly into my hands.  To my despair, they were 1.5 sizes too small for my giant feet but they fit perfectly on the footsies of my good friend Jess – a true Cinderella story!

CM

To Market We Go

Hells Kitchen Antique Market

The Market NYC

Handmade leather tassel keychain from The Market in Nolita

The Brooklyn Flea

Christine and I recently took a little weekend trip to NYC. We ventured to three great markets that we recommend if you’re into vintage, crafty, and unique finds. First stop – the Hells Kitchen Antique Market, at 112 West 25th Street. There we found cool purses, records, and a lot of antique furniture. Second stop was The Market NYC in Nolita at 268 Mulberry St. This one is located in a random old gymnasium. And finally, The Brooklyn Flea! (my fave) located in Dumbo directly under the Brooklyn Bridge. There we spotted Kiki Dunst looking at vintage bracelets, ate some lobster bisque, and finished the day with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. What a great day. Can’t wait to go back. JD

My Boots My Bag

Had a good night over drinks and eats at old Annex favourite Insomnia, but felt like I had nothing to wear when I was getting ready, so I busted out my favourite boots. Nubuck leather Cole Haan boots with Nike Air soles. Don’t let the Nike Air part fool you – they’re not the most comfortable of the bunch…they’re high! In a cool greyish blue colour they make an all black outfit a little more interesting. I like being tall. My coat is by Rudsak and bag was found on someone’s front lawn in the Queen West hood. True story. JD