SAVING IN STYLE | My Made in Canada Mission at Le Château Outlet

I'm not gonna lie. When Le Château asked me to go on a shopping trip at their Le Château Outlet store, I wasn't sure what I'd find. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I am no label snob. But I wondered, if it weren't for my blogger job, would I normally ever shop at a Le Château Outlet? With so many of our stores falling to US retailers, I'm all about supporting Canadian brands. And Le Château's Made in Canada collection has made me a fan, so why not try the outlet? Challenge accepted.

Armed with a gift card and a mission to spend it, I head to my local Le Château Outlet. Just like Le Château stores, I find the hunt is always worth the effort. I bypass the prom dress section and head straight for the shoes, honing in on a gorgeous pair of Made in Italy leather sandals for $99.99 and genuine Spanish-made gold espadrilles for $49.99. I always get distracted by the shoes. My basic tees are in rough shape so I'm stoked to find perfectly drapey grey, black and white Made in Canada tees, all super soft and beautifully constructed. Yes to all 3, please. I add a fun knit polka-dot dress, a two-tone jumpsuit and some gorgeous checked pants (all made in Canada) to my fitting room stash.  I'm super impressed by the quality and fit, and end up walking out with the tees, the jumpsuit and the checked pants (which I loooove). While I definitely had to do a little hunting, it was totally worth it for these Made in Canada pieces. Um, and maybe 1 pair of Made in Italy shoes. Sorry not sorry :) 

Want to check out Le Château Outlet for yourself? Shop 24/7 online here or check out Canadian Outlet locations here, then be sure to share your scores using #SavinginStyle #LeChateauOutlet. 

Made in Italy heels for $89.99 plus some sweet summer sandals for $19.99

Love this shimmery silver clutch.

That perfect drapey tee every woman needs, only made in Canada.

A Made in Canada dotted dress. 

Mwah. Love this. 

A statement silver choker makes the cut

Checked pants: check. 

T.G.I.B.F | Your One-Stop Black Friday Guide

Roller Derby Girls. Bob Ayers via Pivotstar.com

Happy Black Friday my pretties! Hope you've got your helmets. Here's all you need to know (check back for updates throughout Cyber Weekend). Click on the pics for the fine print. Happy shopping!

Banana Republic

GAP

ARITZIA

REVOLVE CLOTHING

ZARA

MADEWELL

ALDO

ASOS

DANIER

HUDSON'S BAY

COS

CHAPTERS/INDIGO

JOE FRESH

RW&CO.

SEPHORA

ROOTS

LOLE

HATLEY

CLUB MONACO

OLD NAVY

BAUBLEBAR

SHOPBOP

ALL SAINTS

STELLA & DOT

FRENCH CONNECTION

NORDSTROM

ABERCROMBIE & FITCH

COACH

TORY BURCH

ANN TAYLOR

MASSIMO DUTTI

NINE WEST

RUDSAK

MACKAGE

TOWN SHOES

MODA OPERANDI

 

SPRING STYLE CLASS | 3 New Ways to Wear Wide Pants

via H&M

Originally posted in The CLOSET

There's no denying the staying power of the skinny. Some of you might not remember when skinny jeans blew up but I remember it very well. I was living in Toronto in 2005 when I started to notice women give up their bootcuts in favour of calf-clenching skin-tight jeans. I remember waiting for the subway, watching girls of all shapes and sizes get strangled by their new skinnies, thinking how super awkward they looked, and how I would never, ever intentionally choose pants that made my bum look big.

Of course, I gave in. We collectively figured out how to wear them right. We learned to balance out our super fitted bottoms with loose sweaters, long tunics and oversized cardis. We discovered in pictures how cruel white skinnies could be and how tan skinnies made it look like we weren't wearing pants at all. Stores finally started offering us varying styles of skinnies to suit our bods, from jeggings to skinny boots, with loads of stretch thrown in for good measure.  And while I swore I'd never go there, turns out skinny jeans are pretty much all I've worn for the past 10 years.

I'm not going to claim that this is the end of the skinny but there's clearly a style shake-up happening with the fashion pack right now. Cool girls everywhere, from Jennifer Lawrence to Kendall Jenner are currently opting for wider leg pants - think super flared '70s jeans, wide cropped culottes and flowy palazzos that make skinnies look SO last season. I don't know about you but I'm ready for some breathing room. They might look a little funny now but remember - we said that about the skinny, too. 

Read on for 3 cute ways to wear wide pants this spring. And breathe...

SHOPBOP | The Big Event Starts Today

When Shopbop had its Big Event last November, I finally fulfilled a personal fashion goal: I scored myself a Smythe blazer at 25% off. No regrets. My philosophy was (and is) that there are certain items worth the splurge, but if you can get that something you've always wanted on sale, it makes the score that much sweeter. 

As a Shopbop blogger, I'm thrilled to announce that The Big Event is back! The sale starts today and runs until Sunday, March 8th at 4:00 AM (Eastern Time) and details are the same as last time:

Save 15% with purchase over $250

Save 20% with purchase over $500

Save 25% with purchase over $1000

The best part? There are NO brand exclusions with this sale except for Stuart Weitzman (no biggie) so you can finally score yourself a SMYTHE, pick up a pair of Ray-Bans, get that 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli you've been eyeing and pick up a few other designer treats for your sister/mom/friend while you're at it. These items normally never go on sale. And remember, the more you purchase, the better the savings - so it's a great idea to team up with your friends on this one. 

Head on over to The Big Event HERE and (not to employ fear tactics here but...) find your favourites before your size sells out. I can't think of a better way to celebrate spring xx

HOLIDAY '14 | The Splurge vs. Save Edit

Photo courtesy Target

Originally posted in The LOOK

Ever get that feeling that you're in a time warp? One minute we're back to school shopping and the next - Thanksgiving, Hallowe'en, first snowfall, Christmas. Um, sorry, what just happened? Suddenly, there we are, white knuckled on the steering wheel, stealing parking spots from grandmas, sprinting through Target trying to score that last Zoomer Dino, pick up more tape (why does tape always go missing, btw?), and find more time. Can you buy time? If you find some, can you tell me where it's on sale?  

It's chaos. And since it's hard to think straight when our heads are spinning, ideas can be tough to come by. So, this year, I've decided to get a jump on shopping so I can enjoy every December minute. I've put together a list of the holiday season's most-wanted gifts to help inspire you while you're out shopping, too. And since, like time, our budgets are always stretched to the max this time of year, I've found splurges and saves for each perfect gift.

Time to put your slippered feet up, grab a glass of wine and remember your yoga breaths. It's not even December yet. You've totally got this...

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