Balanced

 Since this Zara off the shoulder dress if very pink and very girly I wanted to style it in a way that gave it a little bit of "edge". I accessorized the dress by wearing snakeskin platform heels instead of nude simple strapy heel which would have made the dress feel even more feminine. I also added a diamond choker from Topshop. The diamonds fit in with the girly look but the choker is a bit more trendy and cool. 

Keeping it Casual

 There's nothing I like more than a long black dress, side swept waves, and a red lip but then dressed down with a bomber jacket to add a cool edge. 

Sophisticated Casual

I am a huge fan of all white and now that I own culottes I'm a huge fan of those too. They're super comfy but also look sophisticated. Even if I were to wear them with a t-shirt and running shoes the culottes would instantly make the outfit look put together. Culottes add instant 'chicness' to anything! 

 Blouse: Aritzia

Culottes: M 

Shoes: Topshop

Layering

 The beauty of layering is well...the layering part. Taking off and adding a layer to piece of clothing can completely transform the outfit. I wore my favourite vest with white pants (inspired by an outfit Doutzen Kroes wore to Paris fashion week this week) and paired it with a bomber jacket. With the jacket off the outfit is a bit more polished and sophisticated. On the other hand when I am wearing the bomber jacket the outfit takes on a more laid back - youthful vibe. Mixing a long vest and a bomber jacket isn't something totally expected but dressing up is all about getting creative and experimenting. 

Rodeo Drive

Obviously my favourite places in LA consist of Rodeo Drive and the Beverley Hills area in general, Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, and The Grove. What are the two things they all have in common? Shopping and good food. 

I went to Rodeo twice during my visit to Los Angeles a couple months ago. First to have lunch at the famed Nate N Al's, I got the Larry King Matzoh Brei. I guess Larry King goes to Nate N Al's pretty often. The second time I went was to shop around and was also the time my Sister showed me a pair of Tom Ford heels I'll never forget. They are crazy cool, please buy them for me. 

 Taken from my Instagram page @tarynpotasky 

Thompson Diner

I wore this all white ensemble this weekend to go to dinner with a friend at the Thompson Diner in the Thompson Hotel. What I like most about the diner is the decor inside - it has a 1960's/1970's look to it as do the rooms in the hotel which all have a mid-century modern design. 

I would say if you're in the King West area go eat at somewhere on King West don't look else where! All the food on King is amazing! 

May 21

Comfy Casual

This may seem crazy but every Sunday night I lay out all my outfits for the week. I started it doing it years ago! It may take a lot of my time on Sunday's but it is so worth it. It saves time during the week instead of picking out an outfit the night before school. For me the biggest benefit of laying all my outfits out on Sunday nights is that I have a variety of outfits to chose one in the morning to correspond with how I'm feeling.

Last night I went out with friends to watch the fireworks (Victoria Day) and didn't end up getting home till 1:30 am so I was way too tired to pick out four more outfits for the week so when I woke up still tired after only a few hours of sleep, I threw on this new comfy white pull over from H&M as well as leather shorts from Zara and my Topshop booties to keep with the more edgy look of the outfit. 

In the Mesh

I bought this mesh skirt from Forever 21 last year and since I've only worn it a couple of times, but it is actually quite versatile. It can worn casually with a T-shirt and a cardigan like how I wore it today or, it can be dressed up with a nice shirt and heels. For an even trendier look I think it would be cute with a blouse and leather leggings with a pair of heels. It's all about buying an item and making it so different each time you wear it. 

Knits and Whites

AGO - Jean-Michel Basquiat

Today I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) to see the Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit. I went into the exhibit not really know what to expect. Basquiat's style is very different from most other well known artists. Basquiat's style was dark and modern, painting in a graffiti street art style. His art is the kind of art that you question while looking at it because it is definitely not strikingly beautiful like a Monet or Van Gogh, You wonder why there is even an art exhibit dedicated to him. The reason why Basquiat is an important artist is because his art is interesting and has a message. As mentioned above he isn't like most of the artists we've heard of. Most of the works I saw today at the exhibit were focused around racism and police brutality which allows his art from the late 1970's and 1980's to remain current. 

A few of the things I found most interesting about Jean-Michel Basquiat are 1. He and Andy Warhol were good friends and 2. He was assigned to paint at a gallery where he was supplied heroin to help spark his creativity 3. He died at his studio in 1988 of a heroin overdose shortly after Andy Warhol's death which pushed Basquiat into severe isolation and depression.  

Jean-Michael Basquiat, 1983

Here Comes the Sun

I really was not expecting today to be a great day. I woke up at 5:30 am and could only sleep on and off after that till 7:30 am when I got out of bed. (Okay it was 7:40). As I went to brush my hair I had trouble getting the comb out of my hair...because there was toothpaste in it. Brushing your hair with toothpaste + being really tired = not a positive outlook for the rest of the day. 

Once I got to school and went to pick up lunch at a small Italian place up the street the day started to turn around and get a little better because I traded my negative outlook to a positive one and knew I had better things to do than think about my sticky hair. 

Mass Exodus

I had the pleasure of attending Ryeron University's annual fashion show, Mass Exodus. The fashion show is put on every year by the fashion design and communications student. Design students are assigned to design a small collection for their personal brand including five looks. The show is also North America's largest student run fashion show. This years curator, Jeanne Becker had the difficult job to choose the top few mini collections to be shown in the Mass Exodus press only show. Whether you like each designers collections or not, you cannot deny that each design student has great talent.  

Bomb Squad

I've been loving bomber jackets for about a year now. Last year I got a bright blue floral one from Gap which I was obsessed with, then my sister got a black bomber from H&M which has disappeared from my house mysteriously so I had to go get one of my own from Topshop last week! I've already worn it a few times and it's only a week old! 

Turns out bomber jackets are very versatile and can be worn with anything from jeans, "dress up sweats" like the ones I wore Here, to pencil skirts with heels al la Kimmy K. 

Here are a couple other looks which I have worn a bomber jacket with

Look One

Look Two

Hair Cut!

I'm finally part of the lob club! 

Little Black Tie

In November I got a navy dress from Zara that had a neck tie which is what I really liked about the dress. The neck tie is what also made the dress a little bit different to style. I had always wanted to try the classic french twist hair style but if done with that dress I thought I would end up looking like a flight attendant. Instead of going for the french twist I channeled my favourite fashion decade, the 60's. I wore my hair straight parted to the side with a "pouf" in the back, and a very bold smokey eye.  To accessorize I wore the short dress thigh high boots. I had the front of the dress shortened in the so that a little bit of thigh was visible so the boots didn't just look like heels with tights. I didn't look like a flight attendant at all!

Now here is the sad part ...

I was doing laundry last month and as the inexperienced laundress I am I shrunk my dress into a weird fitting tight shirt. Since my favourite part of the dress - the neck tie was still okay I cut it off the dress and voila I wore it today with a T-shirt. 

A blurry photo of this now shirt
Zara 

Sweats

I own three pairs of sweat pants. One pair is a yoga style pant from the Gap Body collection, another pair is a really comfy pair from Juicy Couture and the other is a really stylish pair from H&M. I love this jogging pant trend. The pants are so comfy of course and there are so many styling options. I've dressed my joggers up by wearing them with heels and a matching black and white shirt topped off with a leather jacket for dinner with friends. I've also worn them very casually with a simple pullover a booties. 

02.25.115

I'm so bored of winter. Spring anyone? 

Gone Shopping

Saturday I went shopping for my Prom dress. I had found a Jill Stuart one I loved about a month ago and then found another one from the brand La Femme. The dresses were both completely different which made deciding which one I wanted to buy even harder. 

Once I tried both dresses on for the second time there was no question about which dress was the dress. 

I guess you'll have to find out on May 28th which one I chose ;)  

From India

Several years ago my neighbors who were an elderly Indian couple traveled to India and came back with a few things for my family. One of which was this by black and gold scarf. We all loved the scarf but no one ever really wore it. In the summer I came across the scarf again and stole it from my Mom. 

Now it's mine.