Is it possible to have a comfortable yet stylish shoe? Yes it is! I discovered You by Crocs this afternoon while I was walking arond Queen West looking to see if the shoe stores have something comfortable yet stylish (absolute essential for me!). Boy was I in heaven! Whoever thought that comfort and beauty can be merged into three new pairs of shoes (seen above – I bought a second pair of the pink shoe in black)? I’ve been hearing about this line of Crocs for a while but had hesitations to try them because of Crocs’ reputation for being terribly FUGLY yet comfortable. Many people swear by their comfort, however, and while many I know compromised their aesthetic sensibilities by wearing the ugly plastic clogs, I decided to try other and the stylesout. I could swear by their comfort because I wear my Patricia’s on a daily basis (and yes, this meant COMPROMISING the look again)!

The first thing I noticed about these Crocs is that they are so light. I tried the black wedges on first and I was amazed – no, shocked, actually, about how light they were. Wow… I mean WOW! The size 6 (their smallest size) was still slightly big on me, but heel padding/liners from Foot Petals should solve the problem to secure my feet in. I tried the pair of flats and they were even lighter than the wedges! And they were CUTE! ADORABLE! I was IN LOVE with them! I had to get these shoes!

The best part is, I never had to pay the regular price for this. If you are in downtown Toronto, the Queen West Crocs store (located in Queen and Spadina, East side) is having a HUGE sale– some You by Crocs styles went all the way down to as low as $29.99! I basically got 3 pairs of shoes for the price that I would pay for 1 pair of those Clark Artisans on regular price!

Now my only gripe about the YOU by Crocs line is that I wish they had better aesthetic design. I think the general comfort/function design is wonderful, but the shoe styles are very hit or miss. I would like to see more classic and trendy styles. I would like to see more interesting visual designs. Perhaps then, they could probably get the fashionistas in the world to notice.

With regards to how I will use these shoes, I will likely be wearing them daily: to work, on weekends, walking around… But in special occasions or if I want to opt for a more classic look, my Nine West shoes are my go-to shoes (since pointy toes suit me well). I probably won’t wear these babies in the winter either because I don’t think the soles can grip ice. Well– it’s not like they specified that their line is for winter anyway.

I will keep you all posted on how I do with these babies. I’m really excited and I can’t wait to walk around them tomorrow!

PSMy apologies for not having written. A lot has been happening lately and I’m just trying to sort things out and plan things out for this blog. Yes, there have been more spoils, but I believe I’ve reached a point in my life where I have to somewhat hone this major decision I’m making. I will try and devote some time on this blog, but I still need to solidify where I am going with this! Thanks for your patience!

I could not pass up this deal on HauteLook. I purchased both of these Sweet Pea tops from them. They were around $17 and $15 respectively. I couldn’t believe how low the prices dropped! Sweet Pea has a lot of cute prints, but I decided to get these two solid colours because I just cannot handle very much prints on my torso unless offset by vertical lines. I’ve always felt that prints only emphasized my thick waist more.

Notice also that both tops are very drapey. The black top has a neckline that I know is flattering to me and a drape that just skims the BLAAAARB. The purple one is a blouson so it definitely skims the BLAARBBY belly and emphasizes my small hips, which I like.

Overall, I paid just slightly over $40. What a steal!

Image by Beyond the Rack. Modified by MsKatiekat.

I picked up a pair of these beauties in Scarpino at Queen West on Friday. They were on sale for $80 and they did not have a lot of shoes in my size left. I had to get it as I fell in love with these shoes. They were also available in black, but red shoes just are my weakness. I thought I scored a deal and I walked away happy, wearing the pair immediately on my way to my boyfriend’s that night…

… until this morning, I saw that the exact same pair was on sale at Beyond the Rack for $39! You could imagine how frustrated I got with that! I had paid over half the price of these shoes… on sale!

It wasn’t the end of the world for me anyway.

I also purchased a couple Sweet Pea tops from Hautelook for $15 a piece. I should’ve blogged about it on Friday to show pictures, but I wasn’t able to. I will definitely take pictures when I receive them.

Anyway, that’s my Sunday Morning Blarghing… I haven’t eaten anything and I need to do my new traditional Sunday Tim Horton’s run. Till next time!

It’s been a while since my last post! A lot has been going on recently and I have not had the time to squeeze in an article or two. I have a lot of ideas, but often times, the ideas escape me. I should probably invest in a designated blog notebook so that I do not forget.

Anyway…

I cycled to work today and I find that I enjoyed it. I had to be at work earlier because I had a 10:30 deadline on a project, so I wanted to make sure I had at least an hour of work to allot. I decided to hop on my beautiful bike which I lovingly nicknamed, “The Countess” or “La Contessa.” It was a nice ride this morning – very relaxed as I rode against the breeze. I did not break a sweat, which is a common concern for me when I cycle as I sweat too much and too easily.

I figured since I found an outfit that works on a bike that I would start recording these outfits and blogging about them. This is a reminder that perhaps I should not give up on commuter cycling, and that it is possible to be both utilitarian, safe (I wear a helmet, thankyouverymuch) and chic on two wheels. I have a bit of a love and hate relationship with cycling, but we will get to that in a second, for now, I will talk about the first of the Commuter Cycling Outfits series.

The Outfit

• t-shirt: H&M – my new go-to place for t-shirts because for some odd reason, my ridiculously large BLAAAARB does not look as large in them. And the cotton feels nice, light and soft too. I only wear dark coloured t-shirts for the simple reason that I have the muffin top from Hell.
• capris: Joe Fresh Style. Most of the time, their stuff doesn’t really fit me and it often saddens me because their stuff is very inexpensive (sometimes questionable quality though). However, these jeans fit me like a dream – probably because of the spandex content. It’s actually mid/natural rise: approximately 9-10 inches and that falls just below my belly button. As much as possible, I make sure that the jeans/pants that I wear for cycling are a little higher in the rise so that I don’t scare people with my asscrack. I want to be chic, not hoochie.
• flats: Nine West. These are more go-to basic pair of flats. As usual, I added a Foot Petal in the insole. My only gripe about these shoes is that when I cycle, the sides of the shoes rub into my foot. Not so fun afterwards.

So this is pretty much a very basic t-shirt and jeans outfit that can be easily accessorized with anything. If I had not left my purple flowery scarf at work, I would’ve worn that. The red polka dot vintage scarf works as well. If I can only find skinny jeans that actually do not give me a muffin top, I would probably own more pairs of those, as well as more dark-coloured t-shirts and tank tops. I just love the versatility of this!

Shoes and cycling
As you probably may have noticed, I live in my wedges and flats. I barely wear heels for the main reason that I live in Downtown Toronto and I’m either traveling by foot or by bike. When I cycle, I mainly wear flats or flip-flops (because I grew up wearing them). Occasionally, I would cycle in wedges. Are they more difficult to cycle with? Not noticeably, but I have to make sure that the outer sole is not made of a slippery material. I’ve cycled in heels before, but again, I make sure that they do not have slippery soles. So really, shoes aren’t a huge issue for me when I cycle. It’s really all about the comfort level. Besides, to me, I want to be able to wear my heels whenever I want and cycling in them is far more comfortable than walking all day in them – but that’s just me.

My love and hate relationship with cycling
I’ve never identified myself as one of Toronto’s commuter cyclists.. This so-called Bike culture is so popular here that it’s almost trendy to ride a bike everywhere. I have never really been influenced by these avid cyclists to begin with, because my reasons for cycling is almost too ridiculous I even laugh at them.

First, I like finding ways to “reduce” the time I need to go to the gym. Sure, I can always walk from point A to point B at a brisk pace during my daily commute, but there is always the TTC to rely on when I’m getting particularly lazy. With cycling, there are no excuses. You bring your bike to work or wherever… you absolutely have to bring it back home with you – unless of course, you really don’t care about leaving your bike anywhere at the risk of it getting stolen (La Contessa is a $700 bike – NO WAY IN HECK am I leaving her just anywhere). But yes… I am a lazy person deep down and sometimes am unmotivated to go out for a run or to go to the gym or some sort of yoga or dance class. At least with cycling, I’m sneaking some exercise in.

Secondly, cycling takes me back to my childhood. I used to cycle everyday and go wherever I pleased. Cycling was my own symbol of freedom as I depended on myself and nobody else to take me around. It is really a beautiful memory for me, and despite my occasional hatred for Toronto cycling, I still feel so nice and free when I am on my bike.

Now why love and hate? Well first off, I love the health benefits of cycling. I love the feeling of propelling a mechanical device and knowing that I am getting a sort of health reward while doing it. Just the overall feeling of cycling is nice – but then again, I am an Aries and I thrive on being in constant motion. I love the independence cycling offers. I love how I do not have to rely on public transit or taxis to get me around. I can just ride my way to and from various places without problems. I also love how my bike is almost an extension of myself. I chose the Trek 7.2 FX because I like the option of being able to ride faster and more aggressively and yet still have a good looking utilitarian bike (which seems to be what I am all about: good looking and utilitarian!). Extra bonus that my bike is a shocking electric blue with white “pixelated” flowers – it totally suits me.

.. and why do I hate cycling as well? The preparation. I have to ensure that I have my helmet and all my lights with me before I zip out of the house. I have to stash my purse into my pannier messenger bag (which is absolutely cute, by the way). I have adult ADD and I don’t always remember all these preparations, which almost frustrate me to no end. And in addition to wearing a helmet, my cute pixie coif would be a lot messier and somewhat annoying to fix (I am lazy). Also, I dislike how sometimes my clothing is limited. No mini-skirts on a bike unless you’re really comfortable flashing your goods out there. I can’t wear pencil skirts. And I HATE HATE HATE getting sweaty. I swear, I sweat too much for a woman that sometimes I question whether I really am one. And you know that sweat on cute clothes doesn’t exactly look very classy. I hated how I always looked like a mess in a bike. I always envied those beautiful Toronto cyclist girls who always look so put-together… but then again most of them don’t have helmets on.

Now the part I dislike about cycling the most? Toronto streets are UNSAFE for cycling – at least in my opinion it is. You never know what driver will clip you next, and often times, I find that the drivers are inconsiderate and often see cyclists as a nuisance. And when an accident happens, guess who gets the blame? And what about the space on the road for cyclists? That’s quite a small area to work with. What, 1 meter or 2 meters long? And not to mention having to deal with parked cars near the sidewalk and having to watch out for doors knocking you over! I am particularly cautious of this because I was sent to the emergency room once already because I got doored by a strange man named Draco! Oh and I forgot to mention streetcar tracks. Have you had your wheels caught in between those buggers before? I banged both my knees on a streetcar track accident once and it was sore for a month. NOT fun at all.

If you don’t like wearing helmets so much, why do you wear them?
… because it DOES save your life! If I were to choose between my vanity and how cute I look on a bike versus wearing a dorky helmet for my safety, I would choose the helmet. Why? I will tell you a story:

A good friend of mine was going probably 50+ km/h down a steep incline. On her way down, she crashed and hit her head. She passed out and suffered a mild concussion. She had a helmet on. Had she not worn a helmet during this crash, she would’ve died.

So there. This is why I wear that dorky helmet. Because it could save my life and allow me to have my hopes and dreams accomplished. I guess you can say that will be the only compromise I would ever make while riding a bike. I could wish, hope, and dream that this city would be like Copenhagen where everyone’s chic on a bike. But because we’re not seeing that anytime soon, I think a helmet would be a fair compromise…. for now…

You’re probably wondering… “What kind of CRAZY person gets excited over a new ironing board cover?” I do!!! Pressing/ironing is such an essential part in sewing and in clothing care in general. I bought an old ironing board in a garage sale for probably $2 but it had a very worn out cover. Pressing and ironing was difficult on that thing, so I figured I’d look for a new cover.

… and then I procrastinated… and procrastinated…

I barely ever iron. Most of my clothes are knits or styles that are either no-iron or designed to look “crumpled.” Since I started taking up sewing however, I needed to find a decent ironing board cover for my projects.

I got this one at Winners for $10. Pretty cute huh?

I fell in love with this fabric as soon as I saw it. It is 100% cotton, and apparently from Japan. Wow. I was amazed at how beautiful it looked. I asked the saleslady how much it cost and I was even more amazed to find out that the fabric cost $6.99/yard. Wow! I’ve saved a few websites that sell Japanese fabric and they at least cost $12/yard. For me to find this was a steal!

I did end up getting some poly/cotton fabric in hot pink and white as well as black jersey knit. All of them for $1.99/yard. I am so amazed. They have a decent selection of fabric in that store and I would say they are pretty good quality – much less expensive than Fabricland and the staff is so approachable.

For the curious, I went to World Sewing Centre on Queen, west of Spadina. I highly recommend this place for a fashion student or a sewing beginner who is just trying to get to know their fabrics. Their prices are so reasonable and it is no wonder they get a lot of student customers! I believe their hours are 10-6 on weekdays, 12-6 on Saturday and 1-5 on Sunday. I was even happier to find out they were open on Sunday!

I received many compliments today as I wore this dress. Surprisingly, I got this dress on eBay sometime in 2008. It’s from Bizz, one of the brands being sold in Anthropologie, one of my favourite stores. The moment I saw this dress on eBay, I knew it was mine – black and white with ornate embroidery? Come on… it can’t get any KatieKat than that…

(and with that statement, I guess I do have a clue about my personal style)

I wore the dress with my trusty Clarks Artisan sandals, though later in the day I switched to my magenta Crocs Patricia because I was anticipating to walk home in that horrid heat (but I wussed out). I really need to find comfort sandals/wedges that are equally as comfortable as my Clarks because I do dress up on a regular basis and I would, as much as possible would like to get shoes that are as beautiful as they are comfortable.

Heatwaves
On a totally unrelated note (well, perhaps it is related in some way), today was sooo hot! I decided to stay inside the office for the most part except to grab a soy vanilla latte (I had a brief moment of annoyance that downing a latte made me feel better). I started thinking about clothes and fabrics that will work in this heat. Many women were clad in dresses today, and I thought it was an excellent idea to wear in the heat considering that it’s one piece and very comfortable. I thought about different fabrics and cuts that could be good to wear during the hot weather yet still be appropriate for the office. I have some ideas in mind, so I may just be using the hot pink gauze I bought last week.

I am amazed at how vivid this photograph came out! I think I’ve figured out the perfect time of day and the camera settings to shoot my spoils and outfits from now on!

These are my weekend’s purchases. My friend, Phoebe and I went shopping along West Queen West last Sunday and these are what came out of it in my end. I mentioned that I wanted to check out 69 Vintage for some stuff because I heard some good things about them from a few Torontonian fashion bloggers (that I randomly searched in Google). That was where I got the bright red scarf. I instantly fell in love with it the moment I saw it. Phoebe picked up a beautiful vintage floral scarf that she wore immediately after purchasing.

The only problem I have with scarves is that I don’t know how to wear them. I own a $5 scarf from H&M and I never knew how to tie them. Perhaps I will spend some time surfing the web for scarf-tying methods later.

The dress, I picked up from Body Blue. The dress was on display and I immediately expressed how much I loved that dress. Phoebe encouraged me to try the dress on, despite me wanting to cut down my clothing spending and focus on trying to sew garments instead. $50 for a dress is quite a steal so why the heck not. As soon as I put it on and looked in the mirror – wow. It was the perfect fit. The hemline is just above the knee and the neckline is perfect.

Things I noticed

• Wow. I am a real sucker for florals. Not just any florals though – they have to be unapologetically bright, preferably in a dark background
• Red is my colour.

I did swing by a Winners after work earlier today and was about to purchase a really cute floral cami that pretty much would go well with almost everything I have. Despite it being $17, I decided against it. Maybe if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. I should really focus on trying to make stuff for myself.

I get regular emails from HauteLook, because I’m a girl that has slightly high class tastes but to not want to pay the price tag. So this morning, I opened my email and was curious about this brand called, Bahay Bags. My first thought, “Hey that sounds Filipino” (I was born and raised there, came to Canada at 13 years old). I was browsing through the bags and saw familiar material and a familiar aesthetic. “Oh my goodness,” I thought, “This must be made by Filipinos. I googled them… And soon enough I was right!

HauteLook is selling them for a discount and believe me I want some! I am not normally a purse person either, but come on! This is my birth country we’re talking about here. And the bags are amazing and I would love to get my hands on them because this is a product conceived by a Filipino!

I will probably sleep on it and order a bag by the end of the weekend. I need to work out if I can financially do this. But maaaan… I looove them!

So seriously, if you want to grab some of these soon, join Hautelook!

So it’s Friday and every Friday, I’m in a shopping kind of mood. Originally, I was supposed to go to the Grand & Toy in the Eaton Centre to look for Filofax (I will get to this in another post). However, being the ADD person that I am, I got distracted. Arrgh. Am I not supposed to be on a budget? I figured I had paid the bills and I had stashed a number on my savings. I had some leftover. Ok perfect. I can spend a bit – but wisely.

I walked into Smart Set and found this lovely lovely top. I immediately fell in love with it, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to work for me. So I tried it on… OMG…. It’s gorgeous It’s a flattering neckline on me (and I love beautiful necklines on clothes) and it’s very very BLAAAARB friendly! The top blouses over the belly and fits tight on the hips, which I want to highlight anyway. Wow. I had to get it and it was on sale for a whopping $27!. Score!

The second item isn’t as clear in the picture but is the best steal ever. It is a linen/viscose blend shawl cardigan from Mexx. It drapes beautifully on the body. I got this for $50, and I believe it was originally $80. Again… SCORE! I’ve been looking for a flattering, good quality shawl cardigan for those cooler spring and summer nights (or days at the office where the AC is too darn high!). This was a really great find and will definitely be worn to the threads!

Some personal style observations while shopping:
Please note that my style observations work for anyone with a similar bodytype: Short torso, thick waist (not quite apple shaped, but not a huge difference between waist and hips), busty, small hips but ample thighs, long limbs though slightly flabby arms.

• I gravitate to floral prints a lot. And I mean a lot. I especially like anything that has very vibrant colours such as magenta, red, orange and yellow. I tend to prefer these prints in dark backgrounds so that the colour is more vivid. I like clothes that affect my mood and make me feel happier and bouncier!
• Certain necklines work on me. The Vee, The Sweetheart, and the deep U-neck.
• Empire-waisted dresses and tops make my waist look small. Because I am very short-waisted, my natural waistline is actually closer to the under-boob area. When I cinch there, I look a lot slimmer.
• I am a sucker for ruffles and lace – in dark or vivid colours.
• I CAN rock the Retro 40’s look, for as long as the waistlines are raised and the necklines are sweetheart necklines.
• I can live in jersey dresses – for as long as they are flattering.

So at least now, I can come back here from time to time to have a look at these notes. Anyway, I’m off!