I’ve had a bunch of my Mom’s Holt Renfrew capes (circa early 90’s) for years now. They’ve just been hanging on my door waiting to be used…I think the last time I used this one was in first year when UBC hosted it’s annual ‘welcome’ party on Wreck beach (nude beach here in Vancouver). It’s perfect really. It’s like a luxurious snuggie (cape is made out of cashmere) that I can freely walk around the city in (and look relatively sane). I think being a smaller framed individual, layering can be your best friend, and I can’t believe I haven’t layered this more in previous years! I will admit: I was totally inspired to whip this out after trolling ASOS’s website for days and seeing nothing BUT capes!

So remember when I complained about the heat and the fact that I wanted to wear my fall clothes? Well guess what: someone was listening. The weather has turned almost overnight, very ‘Vancouver’. Dan and I had to hide under the bridge (apparently the go to place to shoot for us) bcause it was pouring like shit all day. Now I kinda miss summer. HAH! I’m such a brat.

Wearing vintage Holt Renfrew Cape; Urban Behavior blouse; Urban Outfitters hat; Alex Wang bag; Urban Outfitters leather pants; BCBG medel boots

P.S for you lovelies following me on twitter/thehautepursuit I DID not end up using my ASOS coupon because I heard a few too many horror stories about customs and packages getting stuck in limbo

Photos by Dan Fleming

Just two days of shots for my blog, one we were back in my favorite place in the city for food and pictures–Chinatown!!! It’s the only place in this increasingly concrete metropolitan that you still see some real character. Next, Tessa and I went out to Richmond right by the air hangars to take in the beautiful sunset and roaring jets as they flew overhead (747’s are fucking scary when they’re that close!). Enjoy!!!! Music by Fol Chen (Primary 1 Rework). I love this song by the way.

Video taken by myself, Dan, and Tessa

I’ve been buying a lot of lingerie jackets lately. Probably not the most practical–but meh! I bought this purple one from Salvation Army and am really enamored with all the silk, velvet, and shiny beads. There’s a certain whimsical quality to it, which makes me want to sashay and twirl around my room with abandon! Most of the pictures we ended up taking were me running around or flipping the back of the jacket as if it were a cape. Luckily for you, I’ll spare the masses from my embarrassing attempts at moving gracefully—this despite several years of ballet training! Heh.

So I want to thank everyone for leaving their comments regarding my last post, in which I ranted for a paragraph about my love/hate for fashion. I think it shows the real frustration that many people feel when it comes to this topic—I suspect more girls/boys would try new things if they weren’t so intimidated by trends/styles/what not to wear. I also want to clarify that I do like buying expensive things–it’s like a sick pleasure that I indulge every once and again. I believe that you pay for quality, so yes I have pricey hand bags and some accessories. That being said, I know where to draw the line and don’t own $1000 dollar cashmere sweaters or $2000 dollar dress pants For me, I often find the most beautiful clothes in thrift stores.

Wearing vintage lingerie jacket; Alexander Wang T tshirt; vintage DIY Levis cut offs; Talula belt; Sam Edelman boots; Alexander Wang bag

I bought this crazy victorian blouse about a few months ago and *almost* had to duke it out with a grandma to get it. I’m actually wearing it backwards because the front is a little too figure skater/white wedding for me. I don’t think I have ever owned anything so aggressively tacky–fake pearls, lace, mesh, ribbons–essentially a smorgasbord of bad-ness. But for one reason or another, I saw something redeeming about it…it’s shockingly pretty almost! hahaha

The underpass was eerily beautiful with random streaks of sunlight breaking in between the concrete blocks. To get to the actual bridge we had to walk through a very thick brush that was littered with junk and all sorts of drinking paraphernalia–likely a hot spot for local underage hooligans. While making the short yet treacherous trek to the other side, Dan was bitten through his pants by some super bug (I mean c’mon–through the pants?) and I was spared–despite wearing no pants. Thank you to Dan for taking one for the team.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about fashion blogger cliches–namely because when a lot of people meet me in real life they are 1. underwhelmed by what I’m wearing 2. shocked I can’t name drop ‘cool’ designers 3. more shocked that I don’t care. I like fashion. I like it a lot. I think it’s an incredible creative outlet and admire those people who can effortlessly do it season after season. That being said, I’ve never had this crazy desire (that I do for science or people) to learn about it. I think paying excessive sums of money for clothes is crazy (i was ogling things on net-a-porter the other day: $2000 dollars for dress pants?!?). I think being a snob about clothing is even more crazy. I think this is why I have a love-hate relationship with fashion. I LOVE beautiful clothes and shoes, but I hate this exclusive culture that surrounds fashion. Like really? Over something so frivolous? But this is just me, what do you guys think?

Wearing vintage lace wedding blouse; vintage Levis DIY cut offs; Sam Edelman boots; Alexander Wang bag

Photos by Dan Fleming

I just rejuiced my old ipod nano, which has the bulk of my music on it–including a huge ass collection of Queen–so be AWARE, a lot of future titles may be very queeny. As the title alludes to, I’ve been trying to break free of a lot of things lately: bad habits/negative thoughts/negative people/bad blogging practice. The last one especially. I’ve gotten a lot of questions about blogging and how to take one’s site to the next level. Because serendipity rules my universe, I’ve become pretty good at this sort of thing (who woulda thunk it?), and LOVE to help people. I wasn’t going to mention anything, but my mentor and I are currently working on a 5-chapter booklet on how to achieve just this. How to get people to follow you without asking. How to grow your site by virtue of it’s content. How to interact EFFICIENTLY on social media networking sites. Ok I’ll stop. It’s just REALLY exciting!

Now back to biznaz: I’ve had this tin-foily floral jacket for some time now that I got from my one of my fave vintage stores here in Vancouver (F As In Frank). I swear I’ve seen doll’s clothes made of the same material. It’s kinda neat…sorta different. Every time I try to beat the tacky vegas grandma out of my system, she re-incarnates herself in a flashy jacket. (Gah, that sounds rather morbid–I swear I love my real grandmas ) Why did I buy this?? Out of allllll the stuff I tried on? Hahahah. Who knows?

P.S. Please forgive me Miuccia. I got a little too carried away with my swallow infatuation. I think I may sell these out of PURE guilt.

Wearing vintage F as in Frank jacket; inside-out Guns N Roses tshirt; Urban outfitters faux leather pants; iOffer rip-off Miu Miu swallow print boots

SHOP UPDATED!!!!!!!! SHOP UPDATED!!!!!!!! SHOP UPDATED!!!!!!!!

Photos by Tessa Tham

I haven’t been able to function all too well with the recent heat wave. I was telling Tessa earlier that the only thing I can bother putting on is a tank top and cut offs. I can’t even wear real clothes in my apartment because we live on the top floor–so I’ve been walking around in my bikini! Oh! and as I mentioned on twitter, I made lemonade a couple days ago…it’s the perfect antidote to heat-strokey symptoms. I highly recommend you make it because it’s super easy. It was so delicious that I’m contemplating making my own passion tea lemonade at home. Can you believe those are almost 3 bucks???? Gah. But so delicious.

I think I’m going to sell a bunch of my rodarte x target/anna sui x target stuff, so if you’re an XS or S, get ready for some awesome deals! I’ll probably take pictures of them today…and post on Tuesday or Wednesday on the store.

Wearing TNA tank top, DIY cut off shorts, vintage ankle boots, Alexander Wang bag, 80’s Purple aviator sunglasses

Photos by Tessa Tham

Crochet is so timeless. To me it screams free love, indian summers, and general hippie-dom . I received this recently from my friend Elissa (aka the beautiful brains behind Shop Calico) and love it immensely…thinking that it might just bring me into fall and even winter layered over something more substantial than a bra (mwahah). I like the ease of sweaters and if I could, I would live in knits ALL THE TIME.

Dan and I wandered over to this literal wasteland at dusk and precariously tip-toed around the muddy/mushy ground. I must say I love the contrast between newly built, overpriced condos (directly to the left of us) and this swamp that seemed to capture my imagination as soon as we drove past it. This city is changing…and changing at such an exponential rate that it makes me want to say ‘remember when this used to be…….’ Or maybe I’m just getting old? No. Never. Young forever. Hahaha

Wearing Vintage Crochet sweater from Shop Calico; DIY shorts; Sam Edelman boots; Alexander Wang bag; Rats to Riches faux fox tail

I swore to myself that I wouldn’t buy anything *new* unless I really, really loved it. Well, apparently I love this little quilted jacket because I found myself visiting Aritzia 4 weeks in a row, touching it, trying it on, and then reluctantly putting it back on the rack. I’ve become so incredibly cheap that I’m even uneasy when it comes to spending money that isn’t mine (HELLO giftcard!). I gave in after yoga on Friday. Maybe it was the hunger. Maybe it was the slight fatigue, but it’s mine now…and I’m thinking my gut was right: this jacket belongs to me. There’s a certain whimsical way about the jacket that I just don’t have in my closet already. (I can justify anything…and yes ‘whimsy’ is a valid reason)

You know when your hair gets so long and heavy that you can practically do nothing with it? Well I think MY hair has gotten to that point. I braid it and it falls out. I tie it in a bun and it falls out. I leave it straight and I look like Wednesday Adams but minus the cool. I want to color my hair and get the tips really really blond. And probably cut off like 6 inches.

I recently discovered this blog courtesy of Yenny from Studded Hearts and basically sat in my chair cataloging all my future tattoos. So freaking addictive! Do you guys have tattoos? Where and what do you have? I have a heart on the inside of my left wrist. It means nothing. I want a triangle outline next, a flock of birds on my side, and maybe something under my boob.

Wearing Little Moon by Wilfred (Aritzia) jacket; wilfred (Aritzia) tank top; Urban Outfitter leather pants; Alex wang Brenda Purse; Rats to Riches faux fox tail; BCBG Mendel Boots

Photos by Tessa Tham

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Ok so I’ve started video-taping my jaunts around Vancouver, because I love video and want to learn more about how to make vlogs. This week’s posts, but in MOTION! Hope you guys enjoy it Have a great weekend! Big hug.

It’s no secret I’ve been living in my military jacket for the last little while. I love all the pockets and random patches of velcro for badges and of course the little green Canadian flag on the right arm. Tessa and I wandered down to Chinatown to check out an area that she saw a while ago. I love Chinatown so much. I mean minus the random urine odors that seem to assault your senses when you least expect them, it’s a great place to chill and do some tourist-y photography. It’s funny that we came down here because my grandfather (who just came back from China) was telling me about growing up in this neighborhood and the crazy shit he and his friends would get into–namely the massive turf wars with caucasian youth. When my grandfather Ken regales us with these stories, it just makes me think of how fleeting youth is. One moment it’s all you know and then the next you’re grown up with kids and cars and dogs. Eeek!

I decided to pull out my emma cooks because well….in all honesty, they have been tossed to the back of my shoe rack doing nothing but collecting dust. They also have a strange divet in the front that I can only assume was meant to facilitate easy walking, but instead gives the wearer an almost falling-over-the-edge sensation! Otherwise, yes, TOP SHOP hit the spot with these beauties.

I’m heading out to New York again in about one month. Exciting news to come about why I’m going! But above all I’m stoked that I’ll get to enjoy the experience with all my new friends that I’ve made over the year (you girls know who you are )

Wearing army surplus khaki jacket, Wilfred (by Aritzia) tank top, Kova & T liquid leggings, Emma Cook x TOPSHOP platform creepers, Christopher Kane x TOPSHOP bag, Talula (by Aritzia) fedora hat

Photos by Tessa Tham

New things added to my store weekly so make sure you stop by and take a peek!!!!!

SHOP|SHOP|SHOP|SHOP|SHOP