Style and Fashion

A guest post by my sister Larissa Dundon about love at first sight.

The new year is all about wiping the slate clean and looking ahead. A time when you dream big and convince yourself you’re actually going to complete that cleanse. I made New Decade resolutions at the beginning of 2010, which means I’m covered for another nine years. So I asked a few of my favourite Vancouver bloggers to share their fashionable resolutions with us. (You can find part one here and part two here.) Below, Anya Georgijevic, Melissa Knight and Alicia Quan share their thoughts on mama’s wardrobe, sewing buttons and small closets...

Anya Georgijevic of I’m the It Girl

Over the Christmas Holidays, I grabbed a whole bunch of my mom’s 80s floral skirts and tops. They feel very Dries Van Noten even though the resemblance is, most likely, accidental. Sewing was her hobby and on her trips to Russia, she would pick up gorgeous hand painted cashmeres and silks. My goal is to take them to my tailor and make the pieces work for me. It’s always tricky because my mom was 5’9″ and probably size 8/10 and I’m 5’6″ and size 4/6 but having something originally created by my mother is so much more valuable to me than buying things off the rack.

Melissa Knight of Miss Melissa

So my New Year’s fashion resolution is to stop attempting to “fix” items of clothing on my own and finally go to a tailor.

I guess that means I’ll have to admit that my sewing talents end at sewing on a button, won’t it?

Alicia Quan of Alicia Fashionista

My main goal is to keep my closet organized. I’m moving in April and won’t have as much closet space (I know, my heart breaks too).

This includes not as much shopping as I did this year, and that if I am adding something, then something else may have to go.

Thanks ladies! Here’s to a stylin’ 2011!

What better time than the new year to reinvent yourself and your wardrobe? And who better to have some inspiring resolutions than some of my favourite style bloggers? (Catch up on part one of this three-part series here.) Below, Lisa Wong, Olivia Lovenmark and Jessica Deitcher wax fashionable on moto boots, YSL bags and closet space…

Lisa Wong of Solo Lisa

For 2011 I’m going to wear lipstick, pretty patterned blouses, and lace tops more often. Eclectic accessories like patent oxfords, moto boots, quirky earrings, and dramatic necklaces will counterbalance the ladylike vibe and keep outfits from feeling too twee and prim. Oh, and note to self: look to other girls with bangs and long hair—like Zooey Deschanel or the ones on The Sartorialist—for stylish inspiration on how to channel a timeless vibe while looking fresh and contemporary.

P.S. In other non-fashion-related news, I also want to cook more.

Olivia Lovenmark of Style Struck

I’d like to commit to myself a few things:

1. That I will move to a new and bigger city. I’m currently dreaming of Toronto.

2. That I will do a full closet clean out, enough of those teen-year-stragglers, a.k.a.low-rise flared jeans.

3. When I do the laundry and bring a big bag of fresh clean clothes into my apartment, I will put said clothes into the closet, rather than leaving the bag on the floor for later.

4. Ownership of a YSL bag.

Jessica Deitcher of Fashion by Night

Instead of deciding that my uncontrollable shopping habit is actually the problem, I always believe that my lack of closet space is the dilemma. Inevitably, I make countless trips to Ikea to buy yet another shoe rack, use the back of every chair in my apartment as a “coat stand”, and leave clean laundry in the dryer until previously occupied hangers become available. Madness.

I believe in New Year’s resolutions, once opting not to eat hamburgers for a year, another to stop biting my nails. But this year I am taking a more fashion-conscious pledge that will hopefully curb the cited problem above. “For every item I buy, I discard one I own.” That will definitely solve the lack-of-space predicament, and alternatively keep my wardrobe up to date. I am not sure how it will control my shopping tendencies… but that wasn’t the resolution anyway…

Thanks friends! You’ve inspired me to sort out my closet. Tomorrow, three more bloggers share their plans for 2011.

We’re counting down The Anthology’s ten most ridiculous of 2010 — all the wedding dresses, stylin’ curlers, late discoveries, wonderful WIZERDZ, cheese-loving graffiti artists, Joshua Tree impressions and ridiculously heartwarming outpourings of support. Which brings us to number three…

3. You knew these would make the cut — the most ridiculous “before” shot ever belongs to these beauties. Yes, they’re acid washed MC Hammer pants. And yes, they were a gift from my friend Melissa who had them sitting in her closet since they were actually cool. And yes, after a little tailoring they actually became wearable.

P.S. Sometimes I wear these while I tweet.

Tis the season to shop for others. Tis the season to shop for others. I’m hoping if I repeat it often enough, it’ll stick. I’ve never been very good at buying for other people. But you know who is? Courtney Starheim of C Star Events. Event planner and gift-giver extraordinaire, she shares with us her picks for the hostess with the mostest.