the x out auction

To recap our previous post about X-Out, we were contacted by the people at Guthy-Renker to participate in a reconstruction project. They contacted a bunch of Fashion, Style and DIY bloggers to reconstruct a plain white American Apparel dress. The idea was to take inspiration from the bottle & the product's manifesto. All the dresses will then be sold via eBay auction & all proceeds will be donated to Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center.

The eBay auctions have just gone LIVE!

You can go check out what all of the bloggers did HERE and you can go check out our dress by clicking on any of the photos below!











So be generous & reach deep into those pockets to donate to Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center. Bid for this one of a kind dress now! :)

tutorial - rhinestone nails

Happy Monday guys!

I get a lot of friends and readers saying that they don't have the skills or patience for our manicures, but we've got a REALLY easy technique to show you this week. This isn't the greatest manicure if you're using your hands a lot but it's a great look for a special occasion if you're trying to add some bling :) Here's an easy nail technique for sticking mini rhinestones on!

Here's what you'll need:
- a base colour (I chose some generic pink, it has no label!)
- a clear top coat
- rhinestones (ours are just from ebay)
- a toothpick


Start with a base coat & a couple coats of your base colour


Then after your nails are completely dry, do a thick coat of top coat. This acts as your "glue" for your rhinestones, so you have to work quickly!


Take your toothpick & touch it to some clear polish


Now you'll be able to use your toothpick as a tool to pick up a rhinestone!


Make sure to touch the tip of the toothpick to the TOP side of one to pick it up


Then just touch the rhinestone to your wet top coat & press down firmly to stick it in place :)


Continue in whatever pattern you choose & reapply top coat as glue if it's drying too quickly.


I used the top coat to coat my nails (and to reinforce the glue) but it took away a bit of the facets of the rhinestones that gave them a nice shine. I would recommend adding topcoat along the sides of the stones, being careful not to smother them if you want to maintain that "bling"!



& there you go! Rhinestone nails!
They do manage to make it hard to pick up change from smooth countertops & the rhinestones would snag my hair sometimes, but the stones all stayed on for a full week (except for the ones at the very tips of my fingers!)

Are you gonna try these out? Or is it too much bulk for your tips?!

tutorial - colour block oxfords

Hey boos,
It's Thursday again & this week I went for a really ridiculously simple but cute DIY. I just had these boring vintage oxfords laying around & I really wanted to put them back into regular wear. What better way than to give shoes a new look right? I know that it's a bit nerve-wracking to DIY shoes sometimes because they can be costly, but do this to refresh an old pair!

Click on the pics to go to the DIY on Chictopia & like, tweet, +1 or comment if you've got a second!

mbfw fw2012 - on the street

It's been a couple of months since I spotted this, but I still wanted to share the excitement!

While we were in New York for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, there was one day when Sam & I were both surrounded by photographers. Not many of the photos have popped up online, but one really important one did... My legs were shot by Bill Cunningham of the New York Times!

See my legs up there in the center? Just above and to the left of a photo of ANNA DELLO RUSSO? YEAH. You can click on the photo to view it in full size.

I feel like that outfit didn't necessarily fit in with the theme of the photos, but the video explains more of why he loved it :) Watch the video on the New York Times Website here & check out my legs at 2:13. hahaha

To be honest, if he had caught me on the following day, this picture might have fit in a bit better ;)

tutorial - bralette top

So Sam & I have this term we use when we're bra shopping... an "outside bra".
This is our term for a bra that's cute enough to be worn as outerwear & we're obscene enough to actually wear bras as tops sometimes. We're thanking our lucky stars that bralettes are actually in style this spring because we can finally whip out our collection & wear them proudly on the streets. Not that we didn't before, we're just gonna wear them more.

ANYWAY, here's a diy on how to make a cute little bralette with an existing bra! YAY! This bra was basically dead to me but now it's gonna be a summer staple. Click on any of the pics to check out the tutorial.

Don't forget to comment, like, +1, pin, tweet etc. I LOVE YOU.

tutorial - scalloped hem

It's time again for a DIY on the Chictopia Blog! This week we went over how to make your own shorts into SCALLOPED shorts! WHOA! It's easier than you would think, so check it out by clicking on the pics below!

Check it out & be sure to +1, like, tweet & leave comments on Chictopia! Let us know what you think & if you'll try it :)

tutorial - baseball nails

Hey guys,
I know it's not #manicuremonday but we've got a special edition nail post today! I'm too excited to wait until Monday because today is the first Toronto Blue Jays game :) I've got a cute tutorial for nails that you can adapt for any baseball team's colours! It's a simple stamping technique with a baseball accent nail! Check it out:




What you'll need:
- base and top coats
- White nail polish for a base
- red nail polish
- a thin striper brush
- a konad stamping kit with a konad polish in your team colours


Start with a couple coats of white. Mine is getting chunky, so it looks ridiculously uneven. It doesn't matter too much though when you're stamping on top of it. Let it dry completely!


Grab your striper brush & dip into the red polish


Paint curved lines & then stitches (like on a baseball!)


Now grab your team colours & spread onto the konad plate of your choice. I used the gradient dots on m60.


Using your scraper tool, scrape off the excess polish


Then stamp with your stamper tool


& then stamp onto your nail! Make sure to clean the plate, stamper and scraper of any excess polish between stamping each nail.


Do the rest of your nails!


You'll notice that you've stamped your entire finger with the design, so just go in & remove that with a q-tip dipped in remover :)

& there you go! You can show your team spirit in a girly & cute way! LET'S PLAY BALL :)

toronto fashion week

We had the opportunity of catching a few shows this year at Toronto's fashion week! It was way back on March 13th that we trekked our way downtown & then popped into 3 shows that afternoon. We only had time that week to spend ONE day at fashion week, so we tried our best to get into as may shows as possible. We ended up seeing collections by Adrian Wu, Sid Neigum and Chloe Comme Parris.

All in all, it was a fun day of getting a lot of strangers taking pictures of our shoes (yeah, they didn't care about our outfits, just our shoes), catching up with our friend Carrie Jade and checking out what kind of fashion Toronto had to offer (both on the runway & on the street!)

Check out the pics of our day:











Adrian Wu FW2012:







lunch at a greek resto! holy yum.











Sid Neigum FW2012:






Chloe Comme Parris FW2012:












Did anyone else get to go to any fashion week events?