road tripping

So I think we've mentioned on our twitter or instagram that we drove about 10 hours to NYC to get to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. It was a majorly long trip but thankfully it was beautifully scenic and there was lots of deliciously cheap american fast food to enjoy (did you KNOW that McDonald's and Burger King are waaay more expensive in Canada?)



Unfortunately, we always time our drive badly and we missed our Chictopia Editor meeting in Brooklyn and had to rush to check into our hotel and then go straight to the Lincoln Center to make it to our first shows.


jeffrey campbell black velvet litas, H&M motojacket, aldo fringe purse, zenni optical sunglasses, urban planet skull crop top, sirens chiffon skirt

blackmilk dollar leggings, aldo wademan pumps, diy cross bodychain, aldo leather off-duty bag, old work blazer, rayban glasses

It was so much busier outside the tents this time around! Surely it was because of the amazing summer weather that we got. We went to back to back shows-- Timo Weiland and then Zang Toi. Apparently Rico Genest (Zombie Boy) was front row at the Timo Weiland show but we didn't see him because we were actually somewhere behind him instead of getting to be across from him :( I'll throw together some photos of both shows to post later on.

As we exited the shows, the sun had already set & we noticed that there was actually a runway show happening inside the Performing Arts building across the way. Crowds were just gathering in the open area and taking photos from outside!





Last time we went to New York, we decided to try some cool cheap eats & went to the Shake Shack to see what the fuss was about. It's an easy-going cafeteria style restaurant with the most delicious burgers I've ever had in my life. With sides of cheese-coated crinkle-cut fries and house made frozen custards and shakes, OH MY GAH.




That burger on the right, the SHACK STACK, is their normal burger PLUS the shroom burger-- a deep fried portobello filled with cheeses. WHAT. It's the best food in the world.



Thanks for the gift bags Timo Weiland & Zang Toi! :)
More updates soon! PROMISE!

Photos by Sylvia and Samantha courtesy of Chictopia

#totesamaze

HELLO WORLD. Apologies for the lack of blog updates from New York! Chictopia has us here & going to plenty of shows, so you can catch our quick updates on our instagram and twitter.

We've got a TON of photos already and it's only our second day here. Just to start things off, I'll share this one & hopefully more will be rolling out soon. Here we are sitting on P'Trique's lap in the front row of the Carlos Miele Runway show!


Who's P'Trique? ...


For our updates from the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Runways, check out the Everybody is Ugly Blog on Chictopia!

how to pack for a day at NYFW

I wanted to do a couple of posts leading up to our trip to New York for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week c/o Chictopia; If you don't know WHY we're going the original post can be seen here. The first thing I wanted to cover were my basics for packing my purse for a day of runway shows!

As bloggers, we are going to each show with the intention of writing about who and what we saw and providing you with tons of photos too. Here's what my bag & contents are going to look like for the next week:

PURSE - Aldo Off Duty "Bullocks" Leather handbag; just big enough to fit everything (except my camera) but small enough to be 'clutched'.
CAMERA - I've decided to sling it over my shoulder instead of keeping it in my purse since a) I have a badass camera strap now b) it helps to have it on the ready for those times that you encounter a celeb, model or super-inspiring blogger!
BUSINESS CARDS - Make your life easier & have some ready to exchange with people you meet! Include your name, title, the link to your blog or site and contact info. You never know who will end up meeting between shows.

SUNGLASSES - It's sunny in September still. Have your sunnies ready for the outdoors, but take them off in the building if you're not Anna Wintour.
SMARTPHONE - You've read the articles-- fashion shows just aren't as exclusive as they used to be. With livestreams and social media staying abuzz, it's totally necessary to have your smartphone in hand so  you can tweet, instagram, tumblr, or blog that new trend the moment you spot it walking down the runway.

NOTEBOOK & PEN - Great for taking notes when you're going to multiple shows in a row & might forget what you saw, or to jot down what music was playing. Also great for when you're interviewing others or exchanging information. (Some may say you could do this on your smartphone, but I can't live without my moleskine & sharpie!)

FOLD-UP TOTE - There tends to be a lot of magazines and schedules that you're handed once you get into the building at the Lincoln Center. You can also grab bottles of water, soft drinks and sometimes small snacks. As a courtesy, they give you these bright yellow bags provided obviously by a sponsor whose logo is emblazoned largely on it. These bags are great but they tend to, um, ruin every outfit photo after that. This year, I'll be taking something slightly cuter to stash my swag in.
LENSES - While a 50mm lens is great for those street-style portraits outside, it's SO helpful to have a decent zoom lens for the actual runway show. When you're not somebody, you're likely to be way up in the top of the bleachers or in the standing-room-only section. Grabbing a decent zoom lens will really help with getting a tight shot of some details when you're way too far away.
TOUCH-UPS - Blotting sheets to keep your face from looking greasy & lipgloss to keep those lips glossy :)

In case of a fashion emergency, I'll also be packing a blister-stick, some band-aids, safety pins and bobby pins!

& here it is all packed up:



So IN THEORY, I should look organized and composed but surely, in reality, I'll be clutching my bag in one had while trying to juggle some fast food in the other and tripping over my heels. My only saving grace is that it's Summer this time instead of winter & I don't have to deal with scarves, gloves, stoles and back-up boots! Phew.

straw stamped nails tutorial

Some gals complain that our techniques are sometimes too meticulously detailed & require too much patience and precision. This manicure is easy & it's totally okay for it to look messy! Check out our tutorial on the Lulu*s blog by clicking on the photo below!

DIY Givenchy Shark Tooth Boots

When we were first looking through the Fall/Winter Runway shows back in February, I spotted these WHOA boots in the Givenchy show. They're making quite the splash now that it's actually fall/winter soon... and for some strange reason, one day I just started making them. I didn't think it through or anything, I just went from sitting there thinking about my old shoes that I wore once for my best friends' wedding to cutting up pieces of leather to cover them with. Surely, this project is only for people who are completely insane so I opted for showing you my process instead of instructing you on how to do the same. So here begins my show-and-tell on how I made these ridic Givenchy column boots:


Here they are on the Givenchy FW2012 RTW runway. Photos from style.com


I started with:
- a pair of wedge pumps. You can use any shoes or booties that you want to cover
- some large leather pieces (mine were from a deconstructed pair of vintage leather pants)
- buckles
- some measuring tape
- fabric scissors
- goop glue (not shown)
- a sewing machine (not shown)

Start with taking some measurements of your legs. I measured the circumference at the top of my calf (12.5"), the circumference at the bend of the foot (16" not including the toe) and then the total length (18").


Then I cut a large quadrilateral shape with a height of 18", base of 16", top 12.5".


Then I sewed the piece (face to face) lengthwise to make the shaft of the boot.


Next I made the large tongue that covers the knee. I cut four equal rectangles with rounded corners. I sewed them together in pairs and then sewed each one to the top of the shafts.


After that, I had completed the basic shafts for the boots and just needed to add details.


The actual boots don't seem to have buckles at the top, but I copied the strip of leather on the original boot and added the buckle as a practical feature; since my leather was a bit softer than the boot leather, I needed the buckles to actually keep the boots up! I cut two equal strips of leather and attached each to the metal buckles. The strips were just a few inches longer than the top of the boot shaft.


Then, I carefully pinned each strap to the boot shaft making sure they were an even distance from the top of the boot all the way around.


Then using two straight stitches all the way around, I attached the buckle straps to the boot shafts.


Using a leather punch, I punched even holes on both the straps.


I also added little belt loops to hold onto the flappy straps.


Next, I decided to cover the toe cap with a suede finish (I spotted a couple of pairs on the runway with ponyhair toe caps and some that had suede vs leather combos). I just took a square of leather and started just trimming until the shape was about right.


To make sure the leather would sit tight, I flipped the leather piece over and pinned it along the toe.


I sewed right along the pinned line and then trimmed off the excess


Then I sewed a top stitch along the top edge so that the boot would have a sewn look even though I would eventually be gluing these parts together.


I stretched the leather over the shoe again and trimmed the bottom edge


Starting with just the tip of the toe, I spread on some goop glue and then quickly pressed on the top cap cover.


Then lifting the edges of the cover, I slowly applied a little more glue and pressed down the rest.


There! That's what the toe caps looked like covered with suede :)


So then we've got a completed boot shaft and a covered toe cap!


I tested by pulling the shaft over the shoe... and then trimmed the part of the shaft that the toe needed to poke out of.


Then taking the boot shaft, I started by gluing it on a part of the back of the heel and then also at the side of the shoe.


Finally, I grabbed the flappy tongue on the toe cap and glued it to the boot shaft (see why I top stitched it? :) )


And there it is! My version of the Givenchy fw2012 boot!

In the end, I'm glad that I got to rework a pair of shoes that I never wear-- but I'm still not 100% sure about how I feel about the look of them. They're a bit softer than the leather on the actual boots so I'm looking into how to harden leather with some waxing techniques. Other than that I think it might take a few outfit tries before I think they actually look "couture" on me & not like I stepped out of the game "Space Channel 5". So what do you guys think? Anyone crazy enough to try this themselves? Anyone saving up the $1600 for the real thing? And should I show my face at the Lincoln Center wearing my knockoffs?!