My London Trip: Sept 20, LFW Fashion Film River Island Event

After my tour of Buckingham Palace, I dashed off to attend one of my London Fashion Week events.  The event, sponsored by London based high street fashion women's brand River Island, featured 3 London based designers: Zandra Rhodes, Zoe Jordan, and Mary Benson. Each designer premiered a short film that summarized their SS 16 collections. It was interesting to witness the collaboration of film and fashion. 

One of the main venues where this year's London Fashion Week was held was at the Brewer Street Car Park in the Soho district. (Car Park is a parking garage in British terms. I was mainly excited to see the look of all of the attendees, and there was little disappointment. The energy of the fashion week atmosphere is electric.  It was inspiring and exciting to witness the London fashion scene.  

Mary Benson

Eccentric Zondra Rodes

Zoe Jordan

Attendees at the Fashion Film event 

This cutie told me to stop snapping, but I couldn't resist!

My London Trip: Sept 20, Buckingham Palace

Dress: H&M, Shoes: Zara, Bag: River Island

Touring Buckingham Palace was definitely a memorable experience. Every even numbered day, the Palace holds a ceremony for the changing of the guards. Tourists from all over the world swarmed the  Palace gates to catch a glimpse of the guards parading around during the ceremony. I was fortunate enough to be right on the gate so I practically had a front row seat. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to photograph inside the Palace when I took the official tour of the Staterooms. Each room had a story and they were all as grand and magnificent as one could imagine. 

For the tour, I wore this chiffon maxi dress from H&M. It flows beautifully and the color is perfect for the Fall season. I paired it with one of my favorite finds in London, which were these taupe Zara ankle boots with an orange transparent heel. The patchwork River Island bag was the only purse big enough to carry my camera, so I had not choice but to bring it along. However,  I also like to mix match my accessories and pair certain pieces together that are unexpected.   

Buckingham Palace

Guards during the "Changing of the Guards" ceremony

Cliche Tourist photo with the phone booth 

London Trip: Sept 19., Portobello Market

Coat: Bought at Portobello Market, Dress: Timeless Boutique, Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via Nasty Gal, Bag: River Island  

During my London trip, I visited a couple of markets. Portobello market in the Notting Hill district was, by far, my favorite. I was on the hunt to find something that I would not be able to find in the states. It took less than a half an hour for me to spot this gorgeous one of a kind fringe plaid coat. I haggled the seller to knock 10 pounds off and immediately swapped my yellow Zara coat for my new outwear piece. It made my look a lot more interesting and it got several compliments as I walked through the rest of the market.  Its the perfect piece to add a splash of color and pattern to a solid canvas. 

It was difficult to restrain myself from dropping more pounds at the Portobello Market. I was also able to find most of my souvenirs for my family. There were so many interesting people and sites to see. Towards the end of Portobello Road, there were these houses lined up that made the prettiest pastel and primary colored palette, which coincidentally coordinated with my new coat. I had to take advantage of this perfect photo op moment. 

    

Birthday Suit

 Dress: Nasty Gal, Shoes: Aldo

Every girl needs that special outfit to celebrate that one special day of the year. I was on a serious hunt for the perfect birthday look and finally found this dress from Nasty Gal. Wearing white after Labor Day is not a fashion crime!  The simplicity of the dress allowed me to add pop of color with my shoes and even my hair! I encouraged myself to try something a little bolder with the color, but its just a temporary spray. I also added hints of gold accessories to tie the whole look together.

With my birthday around the corner (the 16th of September to be exact), I have had a lot on my plate. I have been mainly preparing for my trip to London, which I am extremely excited for! I plan to scoop out all of the amazing sites and people. I am of course planning to style watch as well, seeing all the different and forward street fashions! This trip will definitely give me inspiration and clarity, which is something I am needing at this point in my life. I am extremely blessed to be able to see another year and to see it in amazing city at that. I will document my whole trip on the blog day by day, so stay tuned!

Travel Essentials

Apologies for the delayed post. A lot of things have happened in the past couple of weeks and I needed to take a small hiatus from blogging. One of the things that I am excited for is that I will be going to Europe for the first time! I will be traveling to London for my for my birthday and during London Fashion Week from the 15th - 22th  of this month! I am extremely excited, but also anxious at the same time (for those who know me, this is nothing new.)

In preparation for my trip I have been shopping like crazy. I picked up some items that were essential to my travel: a selfie stick (don't judge,) a good book, and of course, the September issue of Vogue. While I am in London I definitely plan to explore and document my experience and outfits along the way! 

Stay tuned!

Pre Fall Favorites

Coat: Nasty Gal (sold out, but find similar style here), Dress: Phlo 

This past week I visited the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. I have always wanted to tour and shoot here. It is best known for its architecture, which is quite fascinating. I didn't get a chance to go inside, but there is so much to explore surrounding the building. 

There are different views of the city and areas with seating and foliage that disguise the grittiness of downtown. 

Now that it is August, Fall is creeping around the corner so I am in pre-fall fashion full gear! Suede is a trend that I've been noticing for the upcoming season. I prefer it over the typical leather because it's softer and not as stiff. This faux suede frock is the perfect pre fall piece. It is actually a maxi dress, but I manipulated the fabric to make it midi length, which I felt was best suited for my height in heels. 

Camel is a popular color during this time of year and one of my favorites to wear. It acts as a nude against my skin tone. Trench coats are alsot one of my favorite Fall styles.  I am a sucker for a stripe print, and this coat added the right touch of graphic detail. 

Photos taken by: Aja Hitomi

Canadian Tux

Denim Shirt: American Apparel, Denim Skirt: American Apparel, Crochet Bralette: Urban Outfitters (sold out, find similar style here), Shoes: Privileged (red sold out, but other colors are available), Sunglasses: Disclothesure 

A few things that Canada has given us Americans are: Drake, Justin Bieber, and the classic denim on denim trend known as the "Canadian Tuxedo." This classic look is one of my favorites and usually includes denim staple pieces that every woman should have in her wardrobe. Any denim top or bottom can be worn to achieve the "Canadian Tux." However, the more traditional way to wear this outfit is with a denim button up shirt and jeans. I decided to wear a skirt simply because it is Summer and it is hot! You can easily put your own personal style into this ensemble. I chose to play on the Canadian origin and add a Patriotic touch with the red, white, and blue bralette. The red shoes and lip added the right touches of color to tie the whole "tux" together.