Loft 82 - Granville St pop up shop

I walked by this pop up shop along Granville - it was next to Brandy & Meville and Spank.  

This particular burgundy jacket caught my eye and I ventured in.  Retails for $188

The employees had a soft opening of the store and the grand opening was the next day.

The store is very fresh and rustic yet modern.  

I love the jewelry in the store.  They were all very dainty.  

I really like the bow necklace on the far left

The dangling jewel necklaces and the tree branch necklace were adorable.  

The necklaces were fairly priced at $15 - 35

Lace and sparkle.  How elegant. 

Cozy knits

I really like the far left riding pants.  Priced at $68.

The store will only be here till sometime in January. 

 I saw so many pieces that I liked and I'll be sure to come back for something.

Blanche Macdonald Annual Fashion Design Show 2012

Intialed and I made our way to the Blanche Macdonald fashion show.  

What I'm wearing:

Forever 21 peplum jacket (similar), Wilfred lace tank, J Brand Agnes jeans (here), Ferragamo flats (here) and Balenciaga giant city bag (here).  For Initialed's outfit, please visit her blog.  

We snacked on cupcakes from Bake Sale Baking Co.  The red velvet was our favorite! 

Blanche Macdonald was offering 25% off their beauty products that night.  

We noticed the beautiful face lace - I think they were stickers or maybe temporary tattoos for your face. 

We mingled with the guests and spotted some familiar faces of some noted Vancouver bloggers.  That's where I bumped into The Starving Stylist.  I love his sense of style.  The photos on his blog are always beautifully taken.  You can tell his photos were methodically taken - even though the photo may be of random accessories are strewn about, the photo looks luxurious and artistic.

The set up of the fashion show was simple and beautiful.  It was a dark runway flanked with rows of clear "ghost chairs"

Photo credits to brentdjc

The collection was created by the 2012 graduates of Blanche Macdonald.  My camera was not very good so I did not have any good photos of the show.  I did manage to take this one.  I love the tattoo placement on the model.  

The following photos are press photos for Blanche Macdonald by Dela Cruz PR

These were my favorites of the show:

 

Vancouver Fashion Week S/S 2013

I went to a Vancouver Fashion Week show a couple months back in September. 

I'm wearing the same outfit as in the Rachel Roy event 

because I went straight to VFW right afterwards.

I attended this event with Style Love and Oh So Vonnie.

It was great seeing some familiar faces in between the breaks of the shows.  I love attending Vancouver Fashion Week for the hectic atmosphere, the creativity of the clothes, the background music, the flashing lights, the media taking your photo (if they considered your outfit was stylish enough), and the  slender models walking the elongated runway.  I feel like I'm in my element.  The essence of a fashion show resonates well with me.  Therefore, I will make the effort to attend VFW at least one day of the week, for a few hours if I have to.  

My outfit for that night:

Forever 21 peplum top (similar) and skort (similar), ASOS clutch (similar), Christian Louboutin heels

My colour combination of mixing neon with black was a hit.  

So much in fact that the colleague of the producer's assistant coincidentally paired neon with black as well.  The two of us had our photo taken together prior to being directed to the seating area. 

I did not take many photos of the collections since my camera does not out put quality photos like a DSLR.  So most of my photos were blurry.  The collections for that Friday was: swimwear, bohemian chic and grudge avante garde.

Don't forget to entire my Annual Blog Giveaway contest for a $100 Visa gift card.  Deadline is Thursday November 22, 2012 at 11:59pm.  More details here. 

Update: Personal Blurb, Shopping Haul and Purchase Rationales

Hello readers!  It's great seeing you again.  

I fell off the face of the map again because I'm back at school full time.  I had never taken 8 courses at once and it has been mentally draining.  I have neglected a lot of things like going to the gym, my actual friends, blog friends, blog events and work industry events.  I miss it all.  

I know I probably have lost some interest in my readers because of my inconsistency but I'm here now.  Thank you all who have checked up on this blog every now and then - it means a lot to me.  Even though it's just a hobby, blogging about fashion and beauty is a great escape from being a regular person.  I love sharing my love for fashion with you all and I'm glad you enjoy browsing through my fashion adventures.

Thankfully school has slowed down a bit.  Now I can do and go to things!
Here's my plan for the weeks to come:

• I have been invited to a fashion show next Wednesday with a blogger friend
• I have some beauty products to review: from Kiehls and H20 
• Make a post about what makes a blog successful 
• Make a post about my work out routine and eating habits
• Make a post about holiday gifts for your girlfriend at different price points
• Make a post of my favorite blogs to visit and why I like them so much

I recently got a new phone and have Instagram now!  

I switched back to an iPhone from my Blackberry Torch.  

Follow me above: My username is Kerribabe18

I haven't been shopping much or going out much because of school.  So one day, I felt like I deserve a reward.  I've been getting pretty good grades lately (surprisingly considering the lack of time I have to study for these exams).

I had always wanted a nude pair of Salvatore Ferragamo Varina flats to accompany my black ones I purchased.  After 6 months, Holt Renfrew had finally received some in nude.  Unfortunately, the price had increased by $40 since the time I got the black ones.  

Purchase here

I intended to only pick up these flats that day....However, I walked by Balenciaga and I saw it...  

The perfect shade of blue bag - it was a deep teal turquoise.  I've always been on the look out for a beautiful blue coloured bag.  I was considering getting the YSL Cabas Chyc mini in blue but it was hard reserving this bag at Holt Renfrew so I gave up.  

I ended up purchasing the Balenciaga giant city 12 in Lagoon with rosegold hardware.  It's a Fall Winter 2012 colour.  I can't capture the true colour of the bag.  It's a mixture of the stock photo on the official website and my photo that I have taken. 

Purchase here

In retrospect, there are a lot of people who may not understand my hobby in designer shoes and purses.  The idea of it may seem insane.  Then again, I don't understand the perks of collecting stamps or building Gundam models.  Everyone enjoys different things.

Overall, there are 3 factors that I consider when purchasing a shoe or a bag:

1) The "cost per wear" ratio when buying designer items.  

• Yes, the shoe is $440 but I wear it all the time. For example: about 4 days of the week for 9 months of the year.  $440 / 144 days in a year = $3 a day.  That's nothing.

2) Appreciation value of certain brands/models.  

• Chanel and Hermes have 3-4 price increases a year ($200-500 increments).  So these brands (for purses) are great investment pieces given if you take care of them well to resell in the future.  My Chanel flap has doubled in price since I last purchased it.  

• Louis Vuitton monogram or any monogram brand purses depreciates easily (about 50%) and even more if the purse is not near mint condition.  However, Louis Vuitton prices so increase as well ($100-300 increments) but only once a year at most.  My Louis Vuitton Trevi pm has increased by 25% since I last bought it as well

• Yes, I could have 20 pairs of $20 flats instead of one pair Ferragamo flats.  But my closet would explode so I rather have one really awesome pair of shoes than 20 okay ones.  

3) Your financial state.

• If you are a living beyond your means, purchasing a new purse should be of the lowest priority.  Money should go towards paying tuition, rent, food, and car first.  

• Buying a designer item should not be something you had to move mountains for to save up and it should not make a big dent in your bank account.  

These are just some factors that I live by to govern my purchases.  My rationale for purchases may be different than yours and that's perfectly fine if they do not match mine.  

New Shoes - Air Jordan 7 Raptor

I got sneakers!  It's my first pair of Jordans.  

I never thought I could pull off this look but if Kim Kardashian can, perhaps I can as well.  Kim Kardashian still incorporates designer bags, trendy structured jackets and dark attire with her sneakers.

Here's an outfit I put together with my new sneakers.  I got it in the little boys size (youth size 6 which is roughly a women's size 8).  

Jordans match nicely with Chanel.  Who would have thought!?  

In this photo I'm wearing:

Love Culture leopard skinnys (similar), Talula sweater, Lululemon petal power jacket (here), Chanel M/L flap, Jordan 7 Raptor (here) and Nets hat (similar).

My boyfriend and I have matching Jordans.  I think it's such an awesome idea.  He has a big collection of Jordan sneakers and he has always wanted me to incorporate this in my style.

Now I have 3 different styles: Swag, Dressy-Casual and Celebrity Status.

Air Jordan 7 Raptor (here), Salvatore Ferragamo Varina flats (here) and Christian Louboutin Iowa Zeppa 120mm (similar)

Here are some pictures of celebrities wearing the Jordan 7 Raptor

Rihanna

Kanye West

Kim and Kanye have matching sneakers, the Air Yeezy 2 which is near impossible to get and is about $2000+ on eBay. 

As you can tell Kanye West has been a big influence on her style since they have been dating.  I found these photos through Google of her style evolution.

Her old style was more colourful, with form fitting attire, with voluminous curled hair, with emphasis on sleek tailored jackets and she woresky high Louboutin heels.  I'm glad she's moving away from the too tight dresses.  However, I'm sad that she's shying away from feminine trendy colours - mint, corals, blush pinks, etc. 

Currently, her style is more avante-garde, sophisticated, with some hip hop influence, with laid back straight hair and with darker tone clothing.  I love her body grazing dresses, her love of peplum tops and incorporation of leather fabrics.  I'm not a fan of her unflattering pants/dresses and the random shoes though.  

Her style is still pretty similar as before: clean lines, sleek outfits, monochromatic and designer shoes/purses.

Rachel Roy at The Bay

I went to the Rachel Roy meet and greet at The Bay with some fellow bloggers.

I love the grey tweed dress in the middle of the display.  One of the sales associates was wearing it during the event and it was super stylish. 

Rachel Roy's collection featured many multi-coloured knit items for the upcoming winter season.

Metallic and jewel toned dresses were a highlight in her collection.

Love the combination of plum purple, teal turquoise, and rusty cognac colours.

Ethereal nature jewelry pieces.

I had a quick chat with Rachel Roy about fashion.  She is even more gorgeous in real life. 

I love her knuckle rings (it's going to be very trendy this season).  They are basically rings that are a few sizes smaller but create an even more dainty effect.  

Oh So Vonnie and I at the event.  

For more info on Rachel Roy's collection, visit her website for more details.