One Woman’s Trash…

September 20, 20162 Comments

Baby’s first denim jacket!

One of the things I love about my day job as a second-hand clothing buyer is having amazing – sometimes one of a kind – clothes fall into my lap, figuratively and quite literally. Take for example this vintage Wrangler denim jacket and page boy hat; two pieces I knew I would like in my closet after seeing others wear similar ones, but pieces I would likely never actively seek out on my own. Thing is, neither of these things are essentials (is anything other than one of something ever essential though?), so they become something left to fate…if I happen upon it one day, certainly I’ll purchase it (as long as it’s not too expensive), but if I don’t, that’s okay. However, I am damn pleased these two came into my life, especially this denim jacket. I love this jacket! Love it. To be honest, I’ve never even owned a denim jacket. I’ve tried on my fair share of them in my life, but I never truly fancied any…until this one. The second I saw this one, before even trying it on, I knew it was what I had been holding out for – the indigo colour, the 70s cut (to the best of my knowledge it is from the 70s), the slightly worn, however sturdy denim…it’s just the best. I hope to be able to carry it with me throughout my life, so it kind of baffles my mind that someone decided to give it away. But as they say…one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure and whatnot.

Let’s Talk About It

September 9, 20169 Comments

Okay?

I’m going to be pretty honest with you guys and talk about how I’ve been struggling with my body and appearance for awhile now. I bring this up because while I wanted to write about how much I love this gingham set from Mod Dolly, and how lovely I felt while wearing it and biking around on this day…as I look at these images, I feel frustrated with my body and initially didn’t want to share these beautiful images Zach took.

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For the better portion of my life I’ve been happy with my weight and physical appearance. To be honest, I’ve been well lucky in my life to never struggle with weight gain or feeling like I was “fat” or hating the body I have. That’s not to say I didn’t have what I feel is normal insecurities as a teen (although, it really shouldn’t be or feel normal) – wishing my breasts were bigger or that I had an hourglass figure…basically just being more physically attractive to the opposite sex (boo!!!), but I never felt like I wanted thinner legs or a flatter stomach or smaller arms…until recently…those thoughts come up a lot now.

Being a dancer from a very young age I’ve spent most of my life, near daily, doing an incredible physical workout that felt like no workout at all. I never even had to think about that stuff because the thing I loved most in the world was also keeping my body fit (well that, and genes). However, more recently I haven’t been dancing as much – there just hasn’t felt like time and through that, from what I can gather, I have gained a little weight. It’s hard for me to know if what I see in the mirror is what others see, or if my mind is seeing and telling me falsities. The thing is, for most of my life I have prided myself on never worrying about calories or weight gain or issues of appearance – somehow seemingly ignored all societal pressures in that respect – and now suddenly I feel like a girl I never wanted to be…suddenly I feel like the girls I felt sorry for (that’s well pretentious, but I’m trying to be honest). I’m doing my best to be healthy about the way I am dealing with these feelings – I’ve been trying to eat healthier, drink a ton of water, bike everywhere and do pilates every other day, which honestly, has been making me feel really great. However, it feels embarrassing to talk about this or admit this, because I know there are girls out there who wished they looked like me, just like there are girls out there that I wished I looked like. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? Wishing we all looked like someone else, or lived the way someone else does, or have what someone else has. I don’t know how to rid ourselves of those behaviours or thoughts. I have no answers for that…there isn’t a workout for those thoughts, now is there?. But I do want you guys to know that however my life or anyones life looks to you, everyone has their shit. No one feels all that together or happy with themselves. For me, it has always felt comforting knowing I am not alone. So I speak about this for you, but also for me. Our world feels so perfectly curated now that when people are just acting like actual humans who are okay with their flaws we think they are pioneers…and that’s sad to me, but it’s also something I absolutely want to be a part of. I’ve obviously got my insecurities, but I want to actively talk about those things because those are things that we can share in. We can’t all share in a perfect home, or landscape, or hair, or wardrobe, but we can share in being humans with feelings, those are inclusive, and those are things that need more air time.

-WHAT I WORE-
Top & shorts set c/o Mod Dolly | Shoes: Dr. Martens | Hat: vintage via Common Sort | Choker: handmade
Larkspur Vintage | Let's Talk About It

*photos by Zach

Beauty: Styling a 60s does 20s Messy Bob

August 31, 2016August 31, 20164 Comments

Yes, I got a haircut…

I realized I forgot to mention that here! I did share my haircut (that I got a couple weeks ago, actually) on insta and snapchat (pushyspence), but not all of you may follow me there, so it was a bit silly of me not to share it here as well. Better late than never I guess.

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I thought today I would also share with you one of the ways I have been styling my bob. It’s funny, you’d think having short hair would be less maintenance, but actually, it’s been more maintenance, at least for me. I did very little to my long hair each day – I could always just get up and go – but now I have to do something to it or (like my boyfriend lovingly called it) it will look like “mom hair”. Prior to getting this haircut, I had pinned and looked at tons of images of gals with the cut I wanted so I would be able to reference that when styling it myself. Because really, you can ask for a haircut from an image, but you certainly cannot expect it to look that way unless you learn to style it. So this is one of the ways I have been styling it, which is a traditional 60s does 20s bob style, but a bit more messy because sleek hair scares me. Larkspur Vintage | Beauty: Styling a 60s does 20s Bob Pre-style: Because I have pretty straight hair that doesn’t love to do anything (except the opposite of what I want it to do), I have to will it a bit to get that dishevelled look. To make my hair more malleable and tousled looking, I spray some salt water spray (well this one is actually a salt-infusion…whatever that means) evenly throughout my damp or dry hair. Salt water spray just helps to give you that kind of beachy feel and look to your hair. Larkspur Vintage | Beauty: Styling a 60s does 20s Bob Styling: Parts of my hair do actually naturally curl into my face, but other parts don’t, and since I’m not all that good with a round brush/blow dryer combo and since I don’t wash my hair everyday, I’ve been using my flat iron to get my desired look. Sadly, my amazing flat iron that was given to me as a gift like 11 years ago (thanks Mel!) finally bit the dust last week (it was honestly so good! it lasted 11 years for goodness sakes!!), so I went out to the drugstore, doing very little research, and bought the Chi Air Expert – it has been working well so far, but I doubt it will be 11 years working well. Anyways! I seriously digress! Styling! Parting my hair and starting with the bottom layer, I take a section of hair, pull my iron down it and guide it towards my face at the bottom. I do this all around my head, pulling down a new section, until everything looks nice and curled into my face. I still style my fringe this way, so I won’t repeat that here. Tip! Make sure to only start turning your iron toward your face near the bottom, otherwise your going to have much too much of a mushroom look. Unless that’s what you want. It’s your life, of course. Do what you want! Larkspur Vintage | Beauty: Styling a 60s does 20s Bob Finishing touches: At this point my hair is pretty sleek looking (oOoOo scary!) since flat irons have a tendency to make everything look perfecto, which is both a curse and a blessing, really. So from there I’ve been using a matte hair wax (which is Zach’s and I don’t remember the name. Sorry!) or this Fructis matte cream (that is branded as surf hair, which I find annoying, but I still bought it, so you tell me!). I use a little of the wax or cream, rub it into my fingertips to warm it up and then twist parts of the end of my hair with it, tousling it here and there, all throughout my hair (like a Dr. Seuss rhyme, apparently)…this is where you can manipulate your hair the way you want to achieve your desired messy look. Larkspur Vintage | Beauty: Styling a 60s does 20s Bob And, c’est fini! Surprisingly, this doesn’t take all that long. The other way I have been styling my hair (which I will share later) takes a little longer, so I’ve been doing this one more frequently.

Do you have a bob? Tell me the ways you have been styling it! Thinking of getting a bob? Tell me about that too, in the comments below, as always 🙂

Coffee Time

August 29, 2016August 29, 20169 Comments

…Comfort time

Working at Starbucks when I first moved to Toronto 8 years ago is likely the reason coffee became a regular part of my morning routine (or afternoon, if I have a bit of a lie-in), and it’s now rare I go a day without having a cup. I often frequent local cafes – The Abbott, Capital or Boxcar Social – to grab a cup or make some at home (if I’m being honest, Zach usually makes it for me…). Sure, caffeine addiction may be a real thing, but it’s not the adrenaline and general awakeness coffee leaves me with, but the comforting feeling it brings me that keeps me coming back to it.

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And just like coffee is a comfort to me, so is an outfit like this. It’s such a simple one, but this type of outfit always make me feel alright. I’ll be the first to admit (that’s a weird saying. I don’t know that anyone is the first to say anything anymore) that I often have days where I am having trouble putting together an outfit or thinking I am happy with the one I chose and then realizing once I am at work that I just don’t like it. But this type of outfit – button up a line mini, comfy tee/blouse and loafers/oxfords – always brings me a sense of re-assurance and comfort. It’s nice to know what those outfits are for yourself. On days when you are just not feeling it, it’s good to know what to put on that takes little thought and time, and always gives you that ‘alright’ feeling.

What are those outfits for you? Let me know in the comments below!

Comfy Clogs

August 10, 2016August 10, 20163 Comments

Maguba! (say it, it’s fun!)

Fitting that just yesterday I was talking about comfy, good looking shoes, and then today I’d be sharing these Maguba clogs. I don’t feel I need or often agree to talking about gifted items here, but when I say I was right prepared for these clogs to kill my feet and they didn’t, whatsoever, I was pretty blown away and knew I had to let you guys know about them.

Having comfortable feet is pretty important to me, especially now that I spend most of my days on my feet looking at clothes (I’m a clothing buyer for a local shop, in case some of ya’ll didn’t know). I often wear flat shoes or very shorts heels, so I was a bit nervous to wear these all day at work. My first thought right before putting them on was, “well my feet are way too effing wide for these.” Wrong. The leather has some give and allowed my feet a comfy spot inside (I do have really wide feet though, so I did have to fidget a bit with the leather on the toes to wiggle my feet in). And then I thought, “okay fine. but these are going to kill the balls of my effing feet after awhile” Wrong. Not even a bit. I spent the entire day in these shoes and my feet felt just fine by the end of it. Maguba definitely has my seal of approval…for whatever it’s worth. I hope if any of ya’ll are thinking of getting yourself a pair of clogs, you think of Maguba, not just because the name is fun to say (MAGOOOBA) but because they make great shoes that are customizable, so you are sure to get just what you want. And who doesn’t like getting what they want?!

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The rest of the outfit feels very Canadian tuxedo, which I kind of love (I am Canadian, afterall.) But you know what I’m loving more than a Canadian tuxedo? Cropped kick flares. I now own three pairs – remember what I said about obsessing over one thing? Ya, that was kick flares at one point – but I’d love to find me a pair of black high waisted babies, so if you have any recommendations, please do tell!

-WHAT I WORE-
Shirt: F21 via Common Sort | Pants: Gap via Common Sort | Scarf: vintage | Clogs c/o Maguba
Larkspur Vintage | Comfy Clogs