Monday 30 September 2013

Amanda Lindhout ~ A House In The Sky


Styleista had the privilege of styling Amanda Lindhout on her Canadian media tour for her book "A House In The Sky" that is currently #5 on the New York Times Best Sellers list and #2 on the Globe and Mail's best sellers list. She is always poised and stunning, see the looks below and where you can get them.

Sara Corbett and Amanda Lindhout in Toronto
Greta Constantine dress


Amanda Lindhout on CTV Toronto
Pink Tartan dress 


Amanda Lindhout on CTV Calgary
Judith and Charles ~ CORE Shopping

Amanda Lindhout on Global Calgary
Judith and Charles ~ The CORE

Me - Brenna Hardy, Amanda Lindhout and fellow Styleista, Phaedra Godchild 

Victoria Beckham dress from Holt Renfrew



Obviously Amanda is a beautiful person on the outside and if you can believe it or not she is even more beautiful on the inside. Read about her incredible life journey in her memoir "A House In The Sky" and if you have not heard her speak, you must! Her next appearance in Calgary is at the Purple Heart Gala on November 5th. Get your tickets now!

~xoB

Friday 27 September 2013

Trend: Tuxedo

The tuxedo trend is going strong! You can find a version of it at most stores for the F/W season. A few of my favourite stores to find some classic pieces are J Crew, Club Monaco, Aritzia, BCBG MAXGENERATION and Holt Renfrew.

My favourite way to rock the tuxedo trend is to rely on the piece you choose as your statement and pair down the rest of the outfit. ie. If you are going to wear a tux pant, try pairing it with a merino solid colour sweater, patent belt and a cobalt pump to spice up the colour. If you want to rock the tux jacket, it looks amazing with a pair of leather pants or waxed skinny jeans!




Trend: Tuxedo





The tuxedo trend is right on point for the holiday season...yes it is coming...didn't summer just end? Buy it, rock it and be glam!

~ Phaedra 

Monday 23 September 2013

Vancouver Fashion Week - Saturday Shows and Recap

I'm back from Vancouver and a whirl wind of fantastic shows featuring designers from all over the world converging on the stage at the Chinese Cultural Centre on 50 Pender Street to showcase emerging, established and award winning designs.

Vancouver Fashion Week (VFW) is the second largest fashion event in North America, falling right behind New York Fashion Week! Over 20,000 people attended this year including media, celebrities, buys and the fashion 'who's who'. Styleista was invited and unfortunately Brenna was unable to attend so I went to represent us and bring VFW to you, our loyal styleistas!

MY STYLE

My Saturday VFW Outfit: Skirt - Suzy Shier, Sweater & Necklace & Earrings - J Crew, Watch - Tissot

Cobalt Blue Shoes - J Crew

Clutch - Prada
View from the Media Lounge
With Founder and Producer: Jamal Abdourahman
I have known Jamal for over 10 years, first meeting him when I modelled in a few shows while living in Vancouver.


DESIGNER COLLECTIONS

2HB - Designer: Rick Hung
Hung originates from Hong Kong but resides in Singapore. 2HB looks to bring out the attitude, classiness and character in a person and help him project his fashion style in an interesting manner. His SS 2014 collection was very much inspired by Kurt Cobain and the anti-fashion of the early 90's.



KAMILA GAWRONSKA
Kamila Gawronska is based in Poland and has an extensive background in fashion and art education including multiple awards recognition. Of the night I would say this was the most sophisticated collection. She used textured patterns in bold silhouettes to create innovative yet wearable shapes. The tailoring was excellent and the clothing very contemporary.

Cape dress

Notice the pattern of the fabric

Sophisticated silhouettes

LILLA CSEFALVAY
Lilla Csefalvay hails from Hungary where she has won multiple competitions for her creativity, graphic design and fashion innovation. Her collection was very beautiful and appeared very time consuming. When I asked her how long it took her to make one garment she laughed and said "many many hours, days and weeks". Her collection is heavy on the texture and details. The garments are primarily made by ripping pieces of silk and chiffon and grouping them together to create the pattern.


Each individual piece is comprised of ripped fabric

Add caption

LAVA WOMAN
This is Lava Woman's third time at VFW, she hails from Korea and was a Versace intern. She was caught up in Customs overnight while on route to Vancouver due to her many travel trunks full of exotic furs and fabrics. The show was extremely theatrical and over the top.


CELESTIAL
Mexican designer Celestial used western wear as her inspiration for her SS 2014 collection. Florals, cowboy boots and leather was predominate on the runway. My favourite piece was the dress below made of thin strips of black leather.



CELEBS

Manu Bennett (Crixus, Spartacus) and Celina Jade from the TV show Arrow were in attendance and I got a chance to chat with Manu briefly. Manu was wearing local designer Valerio Moda's designs and when I asked 'how would you describe your personal style?' Manu laughed and answered "Stuck!" He then launched into a very descriptive breakdown about how fashion is so much affected by the social media, political and economic influences in the world today that he feels unsure of what to wear these days.  If I was to describe his style I would say rugged and urban.

Me with Manu discussing how our culture affects our fashion choices

Celina & Manu from the Arrow TV Series

STREET STYLE

I think that my favourite part of VFW was observing all of the various street style!

Front row with my girl Marley Holowach of Beyoutiful Beauty






All in all, this was a wonderful experience and a great networking opportunity! I will definitely be back for VFW FW 2014 shows with Brenna this time!

~ Phaedra



Saturday 21 September 2013

Vancouver Fashion Week - Friday, September 20, 2013

Hi fashionistas, this will be a quick post on last night's Vancouver Fashion Week activities full of pictures and a few comments! I'm off to some more shows this evening so stay tuned on Monday for a full recap!

Phaedra's VFW Style

Marc Jacobs bag

Aldo spiked bracelet, MK watch, J Crew links

Phaedra at VFW
Wacky VFW style

Statement maker

Chic VFW style

Young up and coming models: Hunter (L), Orion (R)

Menswear at VFW

That's all for now folks...see you Monday!

~ Phaedra