Boots Fit to Pillage In

Today's Sunday Shoe Story is a quickie, sorry guys and gals! I'm faaaar too busy doing other things to write anything witty, and honestly these boots speak for themselves. Very loudy I might add...

A Dragon's Scales

So apparently this OPI polish is supposed to be reminiscent of Aragon (an autonomous community within Spain) since it’s named “Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow Suede” and is from the Spanish collection. But me being the nerd that I am my brain started alternately screaming OMG AragornLordoftheRings (apparently the added “r” isn’t that important – sorry Tolkien) and OMG Eragondragons (apaprently “a” and “e” are the same… stupid brain). I don’t really know much about the actual real life Spanish Aragon (sorry high school geography), and honestly the gorgeous green colour reminds me of both of my references much more. The deep velvety green conjures up images of Aragorn when he’s in his ranger phase and doing lots of exploring through lush green woodlands, and also brings to mind the perfect shade for a dragon’s scales! Seriously OPI should have done a Lord of the Rings collection and named this polish after Aragorn instead of boring old Spain…


So far this is my faovurite green polish to date. It’s a pretty easy application (though it requires 3+ layers), and the matte finish is just gorgeous. And then you put a topcoat on it, and holy crap microglitter! I’m not showing any photos of it with a topcoat, because I adore the matte finish, but there are plenty of other blogs out there that have swatches of it with topcoat!

Forget Summer...

… I’m getting geared up for Autumn already! I can’t wait to wear all of my long-sleeved shirts, gorgeous jackets, and of course furry vests! That’s right, we’re trending fur this Autumn. Furry vests, furry boots, furry everything! We’ll maybe not furry shorts… that would just be weird…

I caught a fish! And it was THIIIIIIIIIS big!

In other news: I picked up the August issue of Vogue, and it’s so fabulous I can’t even comprehend. The colours are gorgeous, the trends are fabulous (and pretty much everything that I already have from years past haha), and of course Sarah Jessica Parker on the cover to make it the best issue in a long time! I can’t wait til the September issue, since it’s usually the huge fall one, and if the August one is THIS GOOD, then how good is the September issue going to be! 

A Beast of my very Own

“MUM! I want a dragon for my birthday!” the little girl demanded, “Nothing else will do! A BIG ONE. With scales and wings and it has to BREATHE FIRE!”

All my friends ask for ponies for their birthdays. Last year Monique actually got one, so now everyone is jealous of her for being so lucky. But not me. Ponies are boooooring. All they do is wander around the yard, and make a mess that you have to clean up (“You have responsibilities now,” your parents will say). You can’t even ride them when you get bigger, and they’re not very friendly.

I don’t care that everyone thinks that dragons are just stories in picture books and Scandinavian legends, I’m convinced that they’re real. There are house cats and wild tigers, and we have little lizards, so why shouldn’t there be extra-large lizards as well?

Anyways, I’m pretty sure I saw one the other night. I saw something, a large something, blot out the stars when I had snuck out to sit in my tree house. It was moving pretty fast, and it was dark, so I couldn’t get a good look at it, but I’m going out again tonight and I’m borrowing my dad’s binoculars.

In the meantime, I’ll keep bringing it up with my parents until I get what I want. I want my dragon, and I want it now. 

from here

We Have Stubbornness Issues

As Douglas Coupland so aptly says: all families really are psychotic. Not because of some misfiring brain neurons, but because every family is comprised of all kinds of people who are forced into each others’ presences because of blood and DNA. Could you imagine if you were forced to spend time with your entire high school English class? That’s how random a mix every family is. Why should we expect families to get along when it’s obvious that the fashionista and the science nerd just aren’t meant to see eye to eye? Some people just aren’t meant to get along. Don’t force it, don’t fight about it, just accept your differences and move on. In the long run, the family you make is the one that really matters. 

Compare and Contrast: D&G vs. Sam Edelman

Is it just me, or did Sam Edelman do a bit of copying when it came to this pair of pumps? They may have taken some liberties with D&G’s design, but I think that Sam Edelman’s version is actually better. Maybe the photo just doesn’t do the D&Gs justice, but the proportions of Sam’s pumps are just better. What do you all think?

Sam Edelman's "Xila" pumps

D&G maryjanes. photo from Bluefly

Summer in Italy

For a major label fashion house, I expected D&G to have a decent amount of nice nail polishes, but boy was I disappointed. They have some nice colours, sure, but nothing that stood out, and there was only one that was like any in my collection. Their bronze, called Desert (how creative…), looks pretty similar to New York Color’s bronze (another discontinued shade), so that’s the polish that I’m showing this week.

I don’t do gold at all, but I’m really into bronze as a warmer tone of metallic. I love the shade of this polish in the bottle, and it’s gorgeously sparkly in the sunlight (stupid sun was hiding when I had to take pictures). The formula is also pretty easy to work with, and covers pretty evenly with two coats, though three is what I would recommend for lasting wear. 

you can see the sparkle better in the larger version of this picture!

Traffico Marittimo

At first glance the Dolce and Gabbana website looks like an unorganized mess. It’s randomly sized sections are reminiscent of a newspaper front page with too many headlines screaming for attention. But once you actually scroll through the page it’s actually not that bad to navigate. Each new collection and category has its own link picture, so you just have to find the image that you want. While this may seem rather haphazard, it can actually be very handy. When I was looking for more information on the Animalier line I only had the ad to work with (with no idea what the collection was called or whether it was for clothes or something else), so all I had to do was look for the signature red leopard print to find the collection.

Another benefit of the D&G site is that when you select the link image you want to explore it opens up a new web screen. You can have multiple pop-up pages open from the main page, so there’s no clicking back and forward in the toolbar to try and navigate between sections. Not ever leaving the main page definitely makes it less confusing when you’re going through multiple categories and looking for something specific!

Unlike most other fashion house websites, the D&G site is bereft of an intro video. Sure, I like seeing video clips the first time I open a page, but when you’re coming back to the page on a regular basis it can be annoying to be halted by a video that either must be played through or actively skipped through to get to what you want. Intro videos can also slow down the load time of the page (obviously they take up more bandwidth), which for an impatient person like me is unacceptable. When I want something I want it NOW, so thanks D&G for getting me into your page efficiently!

Overall, I’m giving the D&G website a 4.5 out of 5, and I would highly recommend checking it out. Not only does it have all the info on the latest D&G fashion, makeup, and fragrance collections, it also has sections devoted to D&G’s involvement with the AC Milan football club, and their foray into the world of restauranteering!

Animalier

Everyone knows I’m a sucker for animal print (does it get any flashier), so when my eyes alighted on one of the prints from Dolce and Gabbana’s eyewear line in the overly drab March 2011 Vogue I was stunned. Forget the eyewear (it’s pretty, but nothing to get starstruck over), I was in love with the model’s dress. Not only was it leopard print, it was RED leopard print. Coloured animal prints can either be a huge success or a huge failure, and I’m glad to say that D&G had done it right. I figured that even though I was intrigued by the ad, this was as far as my love affair with red leopard print would go. Like I was ever going to actually find anything even resembling it in fashion-backwards Kamloops, and obviously getting designer duds is a bit above my price range. And then Aina and I made an impromptu visit to Value Village after dining out one night, and what did I find, but a red leopard print velvet dress! I was lucky enough that it actually fit (I should probably get it hemmed a couple of inches because I’m short but whatever), and I just HAD to buy it. I don’t know when I’ll ever actually wear it out, but it became the inspiration for a D&G themed mini-photoshoot and this entire week of posts!

the original Animalier ad

I Can Always Use Another LBD!

Little Black Dresses never go out of style, so why not add another one to the collection? Loving the lace on this gorgeous frock from the D&G Spring/Summer ’11 Collection!

LBD by D&G

The Inappropriate Necklace

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,

“To talk of selling things.

“Of shirts, and shoes, and sequined skirts,

“Of necklaces and things.”

What are you supposed to do with gifts of jewelry after a relationship has ended? Especially when the item in question wasn’t asked for, and was a completely inappropriate gift? Returning it would be hurtful, but it’s just as painful seeing it among all the jewels you actually like…

Just a note of reference: my birthstone isn’t topaz. It may be white, but it’s no April diamond. The only topaz I want is the heirloom ring that’s part of my inheritance. 

The Boy Who Lived

Fashion obviously isn’t a huge part of the Harry Potter franchise, but I did notice that Harry Potter does wear a very specific type of shoe in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: CONVERSE! Yay! He’s not only an awesome wizard, he also has good taste in shoes J Luna Lovegood also rocks some Chucks on a regular basis, which doesn’t surprise me since Converse has some pretty crazy patterns that are perfectly suited to her slightly strange sense of style. Now if only Converse would actually come out with proper Harry Potter Chucks, instead of forcing us fans to make our own!

A Hint of Magic

My plan for this week was going to be a proper Ravenclaw style manicure (silver and navy stripes and such), but I figured that Icing “Thriller” actually suited the Harry Potter theme really well. Yes, I know that this polish is named after Michael Jackson, but I don't really like him, so Harry Potter yes. 


It’s a nice opaque black packed with multicoloured mini-glitter that to me says subtly magical! It covered nicely in 2 coats, and dried pretty quickly, so no complaints there. It was a bit of a tricky polish to photograph though, since the glitter is so fine. My camera had some issues picking up the glitter, and in non-sunlight the polish just looks black, but I think I got some decent pictures with enough sparkles in them!

see how dark it goes sometimes?

a closeup to catch the glitter!

Too Busy Being Twitchy >_>

OMG IT’S HERE! FINALLY! THE LAST HARRY POTTER MOVIE! I’m probably too busy being twitchy and anxious about seeing the film tonight, so no proper post today! Just lots and lots of screaming inside my head!!! Tonight can’t come soon enough!

No One Wants to be a Hufflepuff

Which is why none of us bothered to dress up as one… Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin are way better!

Expelliarmus!

hands-free bags are perfect for the travelling wizard.
mine is by Christian Dior

the grey and navy colour palette softens the stripes on this hoodie

Aina got too enthusiastic and levitated me...

observing like a true Ravenclaw

it doesn't get any more preppy than a stripey Yves Saint Laurent tie

lumos

playing hide and seek

Expecto Patronum!

channelling Remus Lupin in a loose fitting cardigan and tie in Gryffindor colours

trying to reflect my spells with a quickly shouted "protego" charm

a true Quidditch fan: her shirt reads "Snitches be Crazy"

see, I told you she got too enthusiastic with her levitation charm!

never insult a Slytherin, as they might just hex you!

argyle sweaters are warm and cozy, but can get stuck in the wilderness...

preparing for her next Potions class with Professor Snape

she wanted a new pet so... serpensortia!

playing dead like the sneaky Slytherin she is

practicing her reducto spell

plotting her next evil venture :)

The Deathly Hallows

In real life I would totally choose the Cloak of Invisibility of the three Deathly Hallows, but the Harry Potter store’s replica is not up to my standards. So instead I choose the Elder Wand! There’s tonnes of Harry Potter swag out there, and I would happily have it all, but I would rather love to have my own wand.

You’d best hope I don’t put bars on your window, Ronald Weasley!

Hello kittens, I am trés sorry that I’ve been missing in action for the last week, but I just haven’t felt like being coherent. I’m not going to get into it, there’s just a lot of stuff going on in my life that I’m trying to deal with currently, and some enduring problems that just won’t just bloody go away. Whatevs. Onto the theme of this week!

So as anyone in the waking world should know, the final Harry Potter film is being released this Friday (FINALLY!) and I am kind of twitchy with excitement! I already did a rant about Umbridge earlier, so I’m not really going to write a rant about Harry Potter itself. Instead I’m going to tie one of my favourite parts of the wizarding world to something that’s been ticking me off in real life.

One of my favourite scenes from the series is when Harry gets rescued on his birthday by the Weasley brothers via their father’s illegal flying car. It’s such a funny scene (what with Uncle Vernon falling out of the window), and I really like the idea of a flying car.

On the other hand I’m really not a big fan of people who can’t seem to drive properly. I don’t consider myself an aggressive driver, but since coming home for the summer and driving around quite a bit (to work and to the mall haha) I’ve found myself experiencing some pretty major road rage. People can’t seem to follow the basic rules of the road. It’s really not that difficult to read what the speed limits are (there’s signs duh) and to keep up with traffic, yet not break any speed limits. I usually drive a little bit over the speed limit, but I’ve noticed that there are constantly people speeding past me in a huge hurry to get somewhere. Seriously, there’s no need to be excessive. My kid sister learned this lesson the hard way recently and had her car impounded for a week for her poor behavior. I did nothing but laugh when I heard this. I’ve always known she is a reckless driver, and now the whole world has proof! HA!

My other pet peeve is about basic road etiquette. When you’re making a turn, use your signals. How else is everyone else supposed to know where you’re going, and that’s the easiest way to communicate with other drivers. When you’re in a merge lane, MERGE DAMNIT. It’s not called a merge lane for nothing, and it’s probably a good idea to at least attempt to get into the other lane before you run out of road. The main lane of traffic does NOT have to yield to the merge lane, so don’t expect them to just get out of your way at the end of the merge lane. That’s not how it works. If you want to merge, then put on your blinker, which in driver-speak means “I would like into your lane, please excuse me,” and usually someone will let you in. If you wait til the end, it’s rude to just expect to be allowed into the other lane and is the driving equivalent of budging in line at the grocery store: ie people aren’t going to like it.

Ugh. People need to learn to drive properly. It’s not that difficult! I wish there was a way to report bad driver behavior where it would actually have consequences!

The Great White North

Since I featured a red polish for this week’s polish post, I felt that it would be fitting to wear a white pair of shoes for Shoe Sunday so that the entire Canadian flag was covered. I have plenty of pairs of red shoes as well of course, but I have other things planned for them.

Featured Shoes: Roberto Vianni “Denise” wedges