FASHION Magazine

Nothing satisfies our shopping addiction more than investing in versatile pieces. A tailored pencil skirt easily makes the list of guilt-free purchases. With a variety of colours and styles to choose from, there’s really no excuse for not experimenting with this flattering sartorial staple.

The value of a pencil skirt is perhaps best realized in its ability to take you from day to night. Whether you prefer a classic black midi skirt such as the Calvin Klein style Rooney Mara recently pulled off, or a fun embellished one such as the Burberry Prorsum knee-length skirt Blake Lively dazzled in, the sleek form fitting design combines an office-appropriate length with a nightlife-appropriate wow-factor. Our September cover girl Olivia Wilde knows how to wear a pencil skirt. She recently stunned in this red-checkered A.L.C. midi skirt, giving us all a lesson in print. Wilde paired her skirt with a black leather top and metallic clutch confirming that the styling possibilities for this must-have piece are endless.

While we may have tackled the cozy-casual look last winter, taking on cottage style in the summer can be a task a tad more difficult. The cottage lifestyle is all about freedom and relaxation, so it’s no question our style should reflect the same characteristics. The last thing we want is to look prim and proper while lounging on the deck, right?

With the July long weekend fast approaching, we want to make sure your wardrobe is ready for the countryside. Whether you’re heading up to your family cottage or hanging out with friends at a campsite, we have tips on how to retain your everyday flair during your time away from the city. So before you throw on your favourite sweats or give in to the flip flops, read what our ladies from the Style Panel have to say on how to put together an effortless chic look at the cottage this season.

Job interviews are nerve-racking, to say the least. Aside from prepping answers for a myriad of potential questions, you’re also wondering what to wear to a job interview that will help leave that lasting impression. While the answer may seem clear for typically corporate office jobs, the options become a little more open-ended with creative and freelance occupations.

We may not be able to help you with your interview responses, but we can definitely aid you in the wardrobe department. We want to make sure your outfit is ready for battle, so we asked Style Panel to help inspire us with stylish, yet professional job interview outfit options.

As the weather gets warmer and the hemlines get shorter, the wedding invitations start rolling in. That’s right: Summer wedding season is upon us once again. And while we love an excuse to go shopping, how to dress for a wedding is a question us bona fide wedding attendees are still having difficulty answering.

How does one find the perfect balance between demure and daring? A wedding, after all, is a multi-generational affair that demands a timeless, and semi-conservative look. No pressure. For the bride-to-be, the wedding day is her day to shine. So how do you, the guest, make a statement without stealing her spotlight?

With spring in the air (fingers crossed), we can finally take out those pastel colours and floral prints that have been itching to come out of our closets to bask in the sun.

Trending since last fall, monochromatic tones were seen both on the runway like the cozy furry collection of Alexander Wang’s Fall 2013 Ready-to-Wear collection or on street style favourite, Miroslava Duma in her all white ensemble. Transitioning to spring, could we bring this monochrome trend into warmer season or are we already nostalgic for the colder days? Not just yet!

With some designers already showing off their take on the monochromatic look with primary colours in their Spring 2013 collections, we decided to turn to our Style Panel for a second opinion on what they have to say about the spring monochromatic look and how they plan to work this look this season.

Avoiding the black-on-black ensemble, many Style Panel members played with cooler colours for the spring season as their choice for their monochromatic look. While Mo Handahu from Lion Hunter and Melissa Knight from Miss Melissa chose cobalt blue for a brighter and bolder look, Gabrielle Lacasse from Dentelle + Fleurs experimented with different shades of mint for a fresh spring appearance. Utilizing different patterns, prints, and textures, these girls definitely know how to put together a chic monochromatic outfit for this spring season!

Question 48: What are the best ways to pull off the monochrome look? Read the answers now! »

So far, 2013 has been a mighty test of our patience. While spring may have officially begun a month ago, Mother Nature has kept us waiting with bated breath for any real show of it.

And when checking your weather app before leaving the house no longer ensures you’re prepared for what awaits outside, it’s time to get creative with layering by mixing winter essentials with summertime accessories. Because we, much like everyone else, struggle with perfecting the subtle nuances to transitional dressing, we asked our Style Panel for a little help.

Our two newest members of the panel, both showed us how to make an airy maxi skirt an essential for the transition from winter to spring. Lyndsey Forest of Over My Styled Body paired her skirt with a heavy army-inspired jacket and camo scarf. Her combination of an ultra-girly skirt with a menswear jacket offers some end of winter inspiration for all of us. Meanwhile, Jennifer Pistor of Prairie Girl in the City matched her black maxi skirt with a bright pop of neon and floral shoes, inspiring us to get ready for spring.

Panellist Deanne McRae went a little nineties with her transitional look, wearing thigh-high socks, a full-skirt and leather jacket to add some warmth. And where McRae showed a little thigh, panel members like Cee Fardoe and Cara McLeay went barelegged and braved the last few moments of winter exposed in style.

Read on for more tips on making your wardrobe work as we transition out of winter (fingers crossed!) and into spring!

Question 47: What are your tips for transitioning your wardrobe from winter to spring? Read the answers now! »

If we haven’t made it clear, we love denim. Aside from its epic wearability, the material keeps revamping itself each season, fueling our obsession with new prints, washes and construction. On the Spring 2013 runways, we saw denim take on especially creative forms—from the pearl trimmed denim tube dress at Chanel to the denim jumpsuit worn open over a crop top at Rebecca Taylor. In stores we’ve spotted new patterns, waxing on jeans and the closet staple: denim cutoffs. No matter how you feel about jean, it’s about time to embrace the look. It’s a forever thing.

We’ve previously asked our Style Panel to show us how to dress up our jeans and how to refresh a tired piece that is hanging in our closet, but now they are back again to tell us how to make denim new again for Spring.

For those who gravitate towards neutrals time and time again, embracing colours can be quite the challenge. Greys, blacks and whites are safe choices but for Spring 2013, clothing is coming up colourful and we’re ready to get risky with bright pieces.

Selecting the best colour for your skin tone can be a challenge and a variety shades must be tried and tested before finding the right palette that not only flatters your skin but is also on trend for the season. For Spring 2013, colours were bright and many designers opted to show primary tones like at Michael Kors and Stella McCartney.

Because we’re all about embracing the trends as they come, we asked our Style Panel contributors to help us out with how they found the best colour for their skin tones and their favourite ways to toss some bright pops into their outfits. Boy, can they do wearing colours justice.

Investment pieces mean different things to different people. To some, it means a piece of clothing that you save up for, buy every so often, but love forever. To others, it simply means a classic piece that never goes out of style, fits well and can be worn in a multitude of ways.

This week, we asked our Style Panel to talk about their favourite investment pieces that they plan on wearing this spring. None of the answers were too surprising, the styling however, was top notch as always.

The Style Mogul’s Christina Cravero likes to invest in a statement shoe every season. She likes to make a big impact on an outfit with her footwear. Stephanie Sterjovski’s gorgeous white blazer definitely renews our love of winter whites. Who says white can’t be worn after Labour Day? Krystin Lee of Suburban Faux-Pas shows off her high-low look. Her top, purse and sunglasses were all investment pieces, but she lets us know she is on the hunt for more: a vintage Chanel brooch, a pair of Christian Louboutins and an Hermès bangle are all on her list.

New panellists, Zoe Smythe of Zoe’s Fashion Feed and Nicole Wilson of Dainty Girl, each went for an item that they feel will be worn often this season. Smythe, a footwear designer living in New York City, loves vintage and thrift shopping so it’s no surprise that she chose a vintage Panetto necklace. Wilson, a fashion loving blogger from Toronto, chose a classic Kate Spade handbag in a bold pink colour. But knowing the above, we don’t doubt this piece will be a classic in her wardrobe.

Question 41: What investment pieces will you be wearing this season? Read the answers now! »

Or jump to: AMBER DESILETS, LONDON | BARBARA ANN SOLOMON, TORONTO | CARA MCLEAY, VANCOUVER | CHRISTINA CRAVERO, TORONTO | IVA GRBESIC, TORONTO | JACQUELYN SON, VANCOUVER | KAYLA SHORT, HALIFAX | KD FAUSTINO, CALGARY | KRYSTIN LEE, TORONTO | NICOLE WILSON, TORONTO | STEPHANIE KOCH, KELOWNA | STEPHANIE STERJOVSKI, TORONTO | WHITNEY COSGRAVE, LOS ANGELES | ZOE SMYTHE, NEW YORK CITY

For as long as we can remember, stripes have been in. Whether associated with a jailbird’s uniform or Coco Chanel, those good ole lines have proved themselves versatile. And while stripes are many things, we wouldn’t have thought modern—until Spring 2013.

Breathing yet another life into the everlasting trend, designers including Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs and Dolce & Gabbana sent stripes down the runways in their own varied brands of sporty, sixties-inspired and painterly. On the dressed-up end of the spectrum, Oscar de la Renta and Raf Simons at Christian Dior splashed stripes across floor-length gowns and metallic party dresses.

For today’s Style Panel feature, we asked our gals how to wear stripes now. Is it possible to think out of the box where fashion’s oldest trend is concerned? As ever, the answer was a resounding yes. A Fashion Love Affair’s Cara McLeay went the Dior route, dressing up stripes in with a dress and tweed blazer combo. Miss Melissa’s Melissa Knight paired her bold and graphic skirt with her feminine floral blouse. Even though her skirt is bold and striped it is black and white so she smartly used the skirt as a neutral to allow the pairing to work. Curvy Geekery’s Mo Handahu went all out wearing three pieces with stripes in one outfit. Her pale tone-on-tone pants ground the look allowing her striped blouse and sweater to play off each other.

Question 39: What are your favourite tips for how to wear stripes now? Read the answers now! »

Or jump to: ALYSSA LAU, EDMONTON | BARBARA ANN SOLOMON, TORONTO| CARA MCLEAY, VANCOUVER | CHRISTINA CRAVERO, TORONTO | IVA GRBESIC, TORONTO | KASSANDRA CAMPONI, EDMONTON | KAYLA SHORT, HALIFAX | KRYSTIN LEE, TORONTO |MELANIE MORAIS, EDSON |MELISSA KNIGHT, VANCOUVER | MO HANDAHU, HALIFAX | STEPHANIE KOCH, KELOWNA | WHITNEY COSGRAVE, LOS ANGELES

While it would have made you a downright prepster back in the ‘80s, a high collared button up or sweater has become de rigueur for fashion statement making nowadays. Championed by street style stars like Man Repeller Leandra Medine and Taylor Tomasi Hill alike, a high collared shirt is even more statement making with the addition of a blinged out necklace worn overtop. And while it sure looks great when captured outside the tents at fashion week, we’re bringing it down to earth for you, with 6 great tips on how to wear a collar necklace, delivered by our very own Style Panel.

As always, our panellists’ tips are varied as their looks. KD Faustino suggests making the look pop by wearing a collar necklace in a contrasting colour to your button up shirt or sweater. At the other end of the spectrum, Stephanie Koch chose to stay within the same cobalt blue colour palette when pairing her collar necklace with a varsity style sweater. Meanwhile, One Chic Mom’s Iva Grbesic put a preppy twist on her own outfit, but recommends trying collar necklaces in a bunch of different ways to see what works best for you.

Question 36: Can you share some tips on how to wear a collar necklace? Read the answers now! »

Or jump to: BARBARA ANN SOLOMON, TORONTO | KASSANDRA CAMPONI, EDMONTON | KAYLA SHORT, HALIFAX | KD FAUSTINO, CALGARY | KRYSTIN LEE, TORONTO | IVA GRBESIC, TORONTO | STEPHANIE KOCH, KELOWNA

Fur. You can’t mention the word without stirring controversy. Is a fur coat more important than a living animal? For many, wearing fur is a question of ethics. For others, it’s a question of aesthetics. And while valid points exist at both ends of the spectrum, fur has once again become trendy. Following Prada’s bright and quirky statement of candy coloured rabbit tail accessories for Spring 2011, colourful dyed fur re-appeared at Oscar de la Renta, Peter Som and L’Wren Scott for Fall/Winter 2012, not to mention again at both Prada and Miu Miu for Spring 2013.

And while it might be an out-of-bounds option both morally and monetarily for many, we challenged our Style Panel to teach you how to wear fur—real, fake, vintage or otherwise—to make one heck of a statement this season.

Just as we expected, out Style Panelists’ opinions were as varied—from Sandy Joe Karpetz’s “insatiable passion” for vintage fur to Alyssa Lau’s choice to never wear the real thing—as the tips for how to wear fur—from Kayla Short’s simple fur parka trim to Jacquelyn Son’s navy faux-fur cropped jacket from Zara.

Question 35: Whether faux, vintage or real, show us how to wear fur. Read the answers now! »

Or jump to: ALEXANDRA NIKOLAJEV, TORONTO | ALYSSA LAU, EDMONTON | AMY NELSON, CALGARY | BARBARA ANN SOLOMON, TORONTO | CHRISTINA CRAVERO, TORONTO | IVA GRBESIC, TORONTO | JACQUELYN SON, VANCOUVER | JEN TAM, VANCOUVER | KAYLA SHORT, HALIFAX | KRYSTIN LEE, TORONTO | MELANIE MORAIS, EDSON | MO HANDAHU, HALIFAX | SANDY JOE KARPETZ, EDMONTON | STEPHANIE KOCH, KELOWNA | STEPHANIE STERJOVSKI, TORONTO | WHITNEY COSGRAVE, LOS ANGELES