Salvatore Ferragamo Reveal!

I bought a pair of Ferragamo shoes when I was in Vegas. These are my second pair of designer shoes, the first being Dior black patent cannage-print pumps. I genuinely love designer shoes but I don’t normally buy designer anything because I prefer to either spend my money on other things, like good food, or save it for more important things, like a down payment for a place of my own.

I am really excited to show you these shoes because I rarely buy designer, and not because I am a showoff or whatever. I worked really, really hard towards the end of last year and this year from December to April and even got really sick in February due to exhaustion and lack of sleep and food. I got these shoes to reward myself for my hard work and to push myself to work even harder at my new job. These aren’t super expensive like other designer shoes, but they do represent my blood and sweat, and the effort I’ve put into my work.

Now… revealing my new Ferragamo patent leather Vara pumps in the colour Bisque.

I didn’t own a pair of nude shoes before these, and when I saw them at the Ferragamo boutique inside Caesar’s Palace in Vegas, I knew I must have them. Varas are not as plushy or padded compared to Varinas, which are the classic style flats by Ferragamo, but these are still super comfy because of the approximate one inch heel. Also because these are patent leather, the shoe is harder and will require more time to break in. The material is 100% leather, including the bow, which are normally fabric on more traditional styles of Varas or Varinas.

The Bisque colour is a perfect nude for my skin tone because it is not too yellow and not too pink. They make my legs look elongated and slimmer, which is ideal. I also like that the bow is leather and not the traditional fabric because I feel it makes the shoes look more luxurious.

I have yet to wear them yet because it had been raining nonstop since I’ve been back and I didn’t want to ruin them on the first day of wearing them. I will post up an outfit with them on when I get around to wearing them.

So, what do you think? =)

Las Vegas Shopping Spree!!

In continuation of my Vegas posts… here is my haul from my trip! Surprisingly, I didn’t actually buy too much. Almost all of the stuff I bought was for work which made easily made it justifiable. Everything was also pretty affordable as there were several friends & family sales going on while I was there. The outlets in Vegas were also very good for finding fantastic deals. I did splurge on one thing though, but I will talk about that later.

You probably already know I am absolutely infatuated with BCBG blazers. I had two before this trip, and now I have four. They are really well made and are cut nicely to fit my body shape. They are slightly stretchy, which makes them very comfortable to wear as they mold to your curves. One major feature that I love about them is a strip of stretchy cotton/lycra blend material that extends down the length of the back of the sleeve. This allows for easy bending of elbows but still keeping the shape sleek and fitted. From the BCBG outlets, I purchased two blazers, one is a more trendy, fitted style that is lower in the back and slightly dips down in the front. The other is a straight, boyfriend-style blazer, with a satin strip near the hem.

I was also obsessed with Ann Taylor on my trip. I hear so much about Ann Taylor on Extra Petite and coincidentally, they were having their Friends & Family sale when I was there, which allows you to save 40% off your entire purchase. I ordered four tops (top right and bottom three) and a pair of basic black suit trousers (not shown). From Max Studio Outlet, I also bought this gorgeous flowy top. I love flowy tops like this and this one looks amazing when wore.

Of course I could not leave Ann Taylor without purchasing a pair of their Perfect Pumps. I got a pair in black patent leather. These definitely do not disappoint; they are easily the most comfortable pair of high-heel pumps I own. Even though it is patent leather, the leather is super soft and molds to the shape of my toes. The sole is also nicely padded, which makes it easy to wear. I got them in a size 8.5, which fits perfectly on me.

The heel is 3.25 inches, which is about 8.26 cm. Even though they are a little tall, they are still very comfortable. I was very tempted to buy more! The only complaint is that stock varies by store. I found this pair in the Ann Taylor store inside Venetian, but I visited about 3 more Ann Taylor stores but none of them had this colour. Some other colours available in store that I saw were regular leather (none in my size, pretty much all sold out) and lizard print in light beige and black.

Now… a little peek of what I splurged on, which I will do a separate post about later! =)

New finds at Zara!

Sorry for being MIA for the past nearly 10 days. After work kind of slowed down, I caught the flu, so I was home sick and tired the entire week of being away from work. Since my brain was kind of fried at the same time, I didn’t know what to blog about so I just didn’t blog. Like I mentioned in my last post, I do have several new and excited things I want to talk to you guys about, but you will just have to wait a few more days to see what they are =)

In the mean time, I went shopping today and found some new things at Zara! Zara is slowly becoming one of my favourite clothing stores now that Esprit is closing their stores in North America. The clothes at Zara are chic, modern but still wearable for every day, whether for work or for fun. The new Zara Spring/Summer collection, which is just arriving in stores, basically screams ME. The main collection is comprised of mostly clean neutrals with a designer flair. I’m seeing a lot of Chanel-inspired pieces which I am loving.

I tried on three items today, the first is a dress that I have had my eyes on since last summer. Zara releases their famous tulip dress in new designs each season, and for spring they’re released a really cute baby pink women-material tulip design. The back is no longer a straight, horizontal neck line, but rather a slight V that goes down to the middle of the back. While I prefer the previous straight design, this one is pretty cute and can be worn both for a dress-up event, or with a blazer for a quick dress-down.

I also tried on two blazers. The first is a white cotton material that is kind of puffy, and the second is in the same material as the pink tulip dress but in a grey-blue colour. I really liked both of them (I LOVE blazers, I always seem to be wearing one in any outfit), but the prices were pretty hefty so I didn’t end up getting either of them.

In the end I only walked away with the pink tulip dress because I tried it on with my BCBG cream blazer and I absolutely loved it. I hope to get the other two blazers if/when they go on sale as well. The quality of these items weren’t fantastic (I prefer BCBG blazers) but the style is nice and something I can see myself wearing often.

Raincouver necessities… new wellies!

Vancouver is also known as Raincouver during the fall/winter/spring when it rains almost every day pretty much until April. This year has been particularly tame as we’ve jumped right into winter and skipped most of the autumn rainy periods. However this does not excuse myself as a fellow Raincouver resident to not own any rain gear.

I owned rain boots in Kingston but they didn’t last long due to me wearing them in sub-zero temperatures every day (my Uggs simply did not hold up to the snow that seemed to be perpetually melting). Both of them developed small cuts in the rubber that allowed the water to seep in. After I moved back to Vancouver, I just never thought of buying rain boots because of the amazing weather that we’ve been getting all summer long. Before I knew it, it was rainy season and I was in panic mode. I managed to hold off the purchase of rain boots by wearing my suede boots and avoiding puddles, but I knew this day had to come… so come Cyber Monday, I finally purchased them.

I purchased the Equestrian Bit Solid Black Rain Boots by Dav. I’ve been trying to avoid the farmer look so these are perfect for me. Thanks to Vonnie for sending me the link or else I would have never found them, and on sale too!

I love them, they look nothing like rain boots!

They are very nicely padded with fleece and cotton on the shaft and soles so they are warmer than normal rainboots. The problem I have though, is that they are very heavy and bulky. I also do not have big calves but these fit almost too perfectly around my calves that I wouldn’t be able to wear them with anything too thick. I didn’t have this problem with the rainboots I owned in Kingston (or with any other boots) so it means that the shaft is too narrow on these boots. I’m a size 6-8 (US) so anyone bigger than me would not be able to fit in these.

You can see Emmy Rossum wearing them, looking super stylish.

What do you think?

Boxing Day Haul!

Boxing Day is the Canadian (and British) version of Black Friday. Shops discount all of their items on this day and it is also a great time to stock up on Christmas products for the next year. As per my usual tradition, I got up at 7:00AM to be at the mall by 8:00. I had made a mental list of stuff I wanted to get, but sadly they were already sold out by the time I got there, crazy right?! I was able to get my hands on some other things that I love so I’m quite satisfied with my haul.

This year I purchased mostly work-appropriate clothing. I’m kind of in that stage of life where work takes priority over everything, so this was also at the top of my list of items to buy.

I purchase three items from Banana Republic, my go-to place for work-wear. They were doing 50% off last ticketed prices on all sale items, which is when I picked up a jacquard pleated skirt in store. The price for this skirt after the discount wasn’t that good, but I still bought it because I love the jacquard print on the skirt.

I ordered two of their non-iron shirts off of their website on Christmas night as the sale was just staring online. I absolutely LOVE their non-iron shirts as they fit very well around my curves and the fabric is very soft and feels great to wear. I haven’t received these in person yet so here are some stock photos. I ordered one in a dark plum and another in a pink stripe.

From Esprit, one of my favourite clothing brands, I ordered two lace items from their De.Corps line. The first is a lace dress that I fell in love with the first time I saw in store, but didn’t purchase because the price was a little high. I love everything lace and this dress is perfect both for work and for casual nights out, or media events (I am lacking in outfits in that area).

The second item is from the same series: a sheer lace top. This is a little sheer for work so I will wear a tank top underneath it. The quality is good and on par with other Esprit products. I love the lace bands on both this top and the dress.

I purchased two basic turtlenecks from Jacob. I didn’t take photos for them because they’re just basic turtlenecks. I picked up one in a knit grey, and another in a stretch cotton black. These will be great underneath blazers in the winter as turtlenecks are my go-to shirts in winter.

In addition, thanks to my awesome-sauce blogger friends in the UK, I managed to get my hands on two more items from Guerlain’s holiday collection for half off: the eye palette and the Rouge Automatique in Flirt d’un Jour, my first Rouge Automatique! Thanks Vicky!

Lastly, Murale was doing a customer appreciation event where they take $40 off your purchase of $100 or more. I took this opportunity to purchase a couple of beauty items, including eye cream, some dry shampoo and this…

Did you buy anything during this post-Christmas/Boxing Day sale?