nice and shiny

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

I'm knockin' on the doors of yo Humma Humma

Back in 2003, I thought that black cropped leggings with a denim skirt was just about the coolest look ever! But times have changed, and not only is that look very unflattering (major leg stumping!) but by now it's tres outdated. Basically, the cropped legging just doesn't do it for me. I require all my leggings to be full length, which isn't easy as my legs are pretty long (oh, woe is me).

I have these pair of leggings with a really funky pattern but unfortunatly are cropped.Usually I would just cheat and stretch them over my ankles, but with these the fabric just won't allow. So to salvage these leggings I thought I'd do a little DIY...

I decided to put a piece of fabric over the knee area, to extend them and also to make them a bit more interesting. I like how they look like kneepads! I took pictures along the way as I was making them my camera is really screwed up and it deleted them! I don't know how that happens but it did, so here's a drawn tutorial for the project!

1) Grab those nasty cropped suckers and put em' on. Use tape to mark out where you want your "kneepads" to begin and end.
2) Take the leggings off and lay them flat on a table. Cut a straight line on the top tape line.

3) Measure the length between the 2 pieces of tape.

4) That measurement will be the width of your "kneepads". Cut 2 rectangles of fabric, long enough to go around your knees. Try to pick a fabric with the same elasticity (stretchyness) as your leggings.

5) Fold the rectangle in half (good sides facing in) and sew a straight seam down one side. Make sure it's not too tight or too baggy for your leg, it will depend also on the stretchyness of the fabric.

Take off the tape and flip your leggings inside out. Now pin the pieces togther all around the circumfrence of the knee area.

6) This picture is the best way to show where the seam should be. The pieces should be facing good sides together, then just them flat on the sewing maching and sew all the way around.

Flip them right side out and your done! I love them, they're very M.I.A, nu-rave. Which is all good with me!

I made a few mistakes along the way, but they still look decent in the end. It's not a hard project, but I'm pretty impatent so I tend to rush and be careless! So even if you're not the best sewer, you should definately try this out!

Check the new glasses! Didn't mention them before but I got them in Vancouver. So hot.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Time with my girl, I spend it well.

My overall Vancouver shopping experience was, well, quite short lived. I saw tons of cool stores I would have loved to visit while driving up and down downtown, but alas I only ended up with a few hours of decent shopping on the last day. I went to a few malls throughout the entire trip, but really, I don't consider that to be serious shopping. We spent a night in Whistler B.C., which is pretty much a snowboard/ski destination. It was little a little village full of shops and restaurants, but it's just my luck that all the stores were boarder gear and apparel. Lovely.

So for a lack of a more creative approach, here's the pictures of the junk I was able to acquire within my 6 day journey:

I bought this from a skateboard shop in a mall. I know I know, I can't beleive I found something I liked in that kind of store. I love the mint houndstooth pattern and the bubble hem. Plus it's a bit on the slouchy side to I get this cool, Japanese vibe from it.

These heels I found at Winners. Sorry for the blurry pic, but really they are sweet. I hope it's not a bad thing that my mom is in love with them...

This dress is way cool, I just had to buy two! Just kidding. It was on mad sale at H&M so I just got two instead of spending 30 seconds to decide which colour I liked better.

Heck yes!! Y'all know I love the snakeskin! Found this bad boy at Winners. What can I say it was love at first sight. I realized after that it will be super practical too as it can fit about 4 binders and a laptop inside!

I've wanted some plain white converse for a loooong time, so I scooped these up right away. They're actually a different style than classic chucks, a bit more like boxing boots. Sweetness!

Another Winners find. I have a tank top pretty much exactly like this as well, but all white. This dress has a little shimmer to it so it's got an interesting texture. It's also got this nice long zipper all the way up the back.

This lovely is from H&M. It's like a fancy crop top, perfect for layering with dresses. So pretty :)

And now, for my pride and joy. My favourite find of all..

...

Whoaaaa. Amazing right? LOVES IT! Teired, jersey fabric, layered, attractive pricetag, what's not to love? I found it mixed in with the boring buisness type junk at H&M. Boy am I happy I didn't just skip that entire section.

It reminds me of Marc by Marc Jacobs S/S 2007, with the neaural colours, yet funky Japanese look and feel. Anyone? No? Okay just me then.

And that's the lot of them!
Hope you enjoyed the show, come back soon!

But before you go, check me out rocking the new kicks:

Yes, yes, I do know I'm hot.

p.s.- If you didn't see the new icon on the sidebar yet, check it out! Yeah, there on the bottom. It's to add Nice&Shiny to your favourites list. C'mon, you know you want to...

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Just Like Chocolate

I'm baaaack. Back from Vancouver and had a great time. Unfortunatly I only had a day and a half for shopping because that's what happens when you travel with an all-male crew (a.k.a. my dad and brothers)! I still managed to buy lots, so I'll post my new junk within the next few days.

For now, lets all enjoy some beautiful shoes I've found. For the last few months I've really had my heart set on tough looking shoes. Feirce heels, chunky boots, the lot. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to search stores like Hot Topic and other "Alternative clothing" stores online. After about 10 minutes of clicking around, I found many gorgeous shoes that are within my limited budget...

Incase you didn't guess, click to make it bigger!

Here's where I found these lovely specimens:
Hottopic.com
infectiousthreads.com
therallyshack.co.uk

Now I just need some Goth Juice and I'll be on my way!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Pump up the volume, dance, dance

I don't know about any of you, but I am not someone who washes their hair every day. It gets way too dry and thick to manage after washing, so a good cleansing ever 2 days seems to work for me. The nice thing about after a wash is that my hair doesn't go completly flat, it actually has some volume. Thats a rare thing with my hair because it's all one length. I can't believe I'm too scared to even get some layers!

Well thanks to Kirsty, my flat head dillema has been solved. Thanks so much for this incredibly easy tutorial! My hair was so big afterwards, I looked like one of them amazonian chicks.

Hot.

This was after a little deflation, but it still looked nice and messy afterwards.

Friday, August 15, 2008

I'm Having Them

MAJOR ebay finds today, I want everything. Half this stuff would never fit me, but I'm a pro at squeezing into things... I'd make it work. I'm saving my money anyways because I'm leaving for Vancouver on Tuesday. I'm getting shaky just thinking about the 3 floor H&M there, and all the amazing recomendations pointed out to me by The Vancouverista. Thanks tons<3!

Here's my favourite picks on eBay that I found today. Don't even think of bidding on that white bubble dress, It's mine!!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Weather or not

Ohhh yes, finally a day that's not scorching hot nor blindingly sunny. I'm no vampire, but I do appreciate a little weather variation once in a while. Rainy days relax me really, otherwise I feel guilty for wasting a nice day by being indoors. Also, a change in weather means more outfit possibilities.

I'm thankfull now, but when winter comes around I know I'll be praying for sun!

Shedding my skin

I love snake skin. Actually, that's kind of an understatement. I'm obsessed with anything to do with snakes. Having them as pets hasn't exactly worked out for me, I've had 2 within the last year and they both escaped.

Yes, there are two dead snakes in my house somewhere as we speak.

So, instead of interacting with snakes, I guess I'll just have to wear them. As you can imagine, Christopher Kane's S/S 08 collection was heaven sent in my eyes.

I have so many snake skin printed things already, but my collection is growing and will continue to grow untill my closet is busting with mounts of snakey goodness (no real snakeskin, btw. Only faux!). I found this AMAZING secondhand dress while shopping for things to put on eBay. It's everything I could dream of: tent shape, long fitted sleeves, and of course... gorgeous snake skin print. I can't wait to create endless combinations with it for the colder months ahead.