Category: trends

Halloween done easy, simple and cute!

~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

I have been known to make a big thing out of Halloween costumes.  I participated in cosplay in the past as well as hand crafting my kid’s costumes every year.  There is nothing more fun than making a whole costume from scratch! But this year, I wanted to give myself  break.  No dyeing white pajamas green (my kid was the Riddler once), no fantastical complicated face make-ups (I was a sugar skull one year), and no accessorizing to the nines like I had in the past.  Just a really low-key, modest costing, costume requiring only store bought bunny ears. Boring? Not at all. I am going to don the ubiquitous rabbit costume this year, but as generic as this costume can get, I still wanted to make it cute, special and classy in my own way.  Halloween bunny costumes can get so garish and trampy looking…so I have to reign it in with my own version.

The reason I choose the bunny rabbit as a costume is that my boyfriend already owns a tail coat, a top hat, and a cape.  All he needs is a magic wand, and he’s a Magician.  And in the spirit of being an enthusiastic girlfriend who likes couple costumes (kinda), I decided I will be his white rabbit that he has pulled out of his hat.  So yes, we’re taking on the couple costume this year and walking down that road in dating.  Ha ha.  But really this is just going to be fun.

Materials for Costume:

  1. 1 set of store bought bunny ears: You could make your own, but it’s so much easier just to buy one for 5 bucks.
This is the only item you really need to buy, since making it may be difficult! Super fuzzy and cute!
This is the only item you really need to buy, since making it may be difficult! Super fuzzy and cute!

2.  1 Fluffy, furry white sweater/top–There was a faux merino wool trend last winter, so you can find one easily still and probably have one!

3.  White bottoms, tanks, pants, skirt…etc.  Just stick to clothing that is the colour of your bunny!

Optional: Extra furry material.  I lucked out this year and found a furry hat to cut up and make into a puffy tail, cuffs and neck tie. Can’t have a bunny without the fluffy tail!

It happened that I already had a furry merino sweater. So turning into a bunny was sweet and easy!
It happened that I already had a furry merino sweater. So turning into a bunny was sweet and easy! I did make the tail though!

Material for Face Make-up:

Being a bunny is great, because you don’t need to spend a lot on stage make-up and prosthetics.  Just use a good foundation, powder, shadow and line your eyes the way you would do a regular beauty make-up and add whiskers! Tip: Draw your whiskers not at your nose level, but slightly below, because that’s where the whiskers are on a real bunny!

This the the finished product! I feel that it was so simple, but still fun. And my boyfriend looked dashing as my magician.
This the the finished product! I feel that it was so simple, but still fun. And my boyfriend looked dashing as my magician.

 

My favourite clothings from this summer

~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

Summer has long been over, and I survived the hot searing rays, the sticky humidity, and smog in the city.  Now the Fall has officially moved in and made itself home.  A cool breeze is the daily norm, and everything feels calmer.  Now is when I wanted to look back and think about the fashion items I had that made the past summer not only bearable (summer is one of my least fave seasons), but also fun!  So here is my Top 5 list:

#4 My Little Distressed Denim Jacket

In Toronto, summer nights are still a bit nippy sometimes.  When going out to night time shows and parties, I always had my distressed denim in a basic fitted cut, not too cropped or long, but just right.  It went with everything.  I mean everything, dresses, shorts, rompers, pants, leggings.  And because denim is cotton, it was super breathable and comfy.  It also looked so classic and effortlessly stylish.  An all purpose cute denim jacket was my jacket staple.

Simple, cute, and easy to use. What more can you ask for in a jacket?
Simple, cute, and easy to use. What more can you ask for in a jacket?

#3 Basic Cotton Romper

I wore my cotton romper consecutively for days during the real hot times this summer.  It breathed, it was cute, it was functional, and only one thing to put on in the morning.  Fashion heaven!  I mentioned this romper before in an earlier entry.  This is the strapless $10 romper that I sewed straps onto to make it more wearable… I truly “heart” it.

Every day during the hottest days in August, I wore this thing. My kid was sick of seeing it. ha ha
Every day during the hottest days in August, I wore this thing. 

#2 Lacey Kimono

Feminine, and pretty, but casual.  An easy cover-up that didn’t add on too much cover.  This was my lace trimmed kimono.   Blush pink with ivory lace, it is neutral enough of a colour to go with everything, and light and airy enough to want to wear everyday.  If only relationships were this easy to coordinate….

The kimono trend is dying down, but this lacey piece was still a cool cover-up during the summer.
The kimono trend is dying down, but this lacey piece was still a cool cover-up during the summer.

#1 Awesome one-piece bathing suit, second hand.

I am not a huge fan of bikinis.  To be honest, I don’t think it is flattering on any body type or shape.  For me, it’s the lack of support/material of a bikini that makes it a flawed fashion item, and just basically an excuse to show skin. And unless your body is “perfect” (nobody has the perfect body though) any gal can basically feel like crap the minute she puts one on and looks in the mirror.  So when my boyfriend sprung a Labour Day beach trip on me with little notice, I scrambled to find a cute one piece suit, while the trends are pushing the “bikini” idea on girls.

For those of you that don’t live in Canada,  swimsuit season ends in August.  After that, you are left with swim wear duds (mismatched or tacky-looking).  I needed the suit soon so I couldn’t turn to online shopping.  I went to every store that sold swimwear, but couldn’t find a cute, affordable one piece. This was a nightmare that plagued me until the day before the trip when I found the cutest one-piece ever at a second hand store in my neighborhood. It was also only $15.00 and an American Apparel brand.  I liked it for its funky colours and simple design, typical of what makes American Apparel clothes great (if they only were more affordable).  What a find and what a miracle!

Such fun colours! Tangerine red, and navy blue, haltered and just super fitted and cute. I really lucked out on this bathing suit find...
Such fun colours! Tangerine red, and navy blue, haltered and just super fitted and cute. One peices don’t have to look matronly.  🙂

What clothing pieces were you most pleased by this summer?  Because this season is so short here, and summer fashion has all the fun pieces, the sun dresses, skirts and shorts…I really have to make the most of it, and I feel I did!

How I wear bold bright eye shadow colours without looking too 80’s

~ Emmie Reve ~ 1 Comment

I don’t know too much about the 80’s.  Obviously because I wasn’t really around for them, but from photos, movies and shows, I know this much is true.  They liked their electric coloured eye shadows, and acid wash denim.  Also, they liked big permed hair do’s, no, am I right?  Anyways, not that that was a bad look during that era, but trying to pull that off these days is hard because you look like you’re in a time warp.  I noticed today’s make-ups are more neutral in colour.  Lot’s of tans, bronzes and browns. And if there are colours, they are also rather neutral. More like mauves of purple, pink and peach.  Light pastel blues.  But nothing too out there.  Or if they are more visible, it is the smoky grey look.

I recently got tired of this pretty, quiet eye make-up trend and wanted to make some noise, make my eyes pop and wake up a bit so I found this eye shadow set online and immediately wanted it.  It had all the bright fushias, tarty-purples, and electric blues that most eye shadow palettes shy from.  Ironically it was called the “60’s” era collection of colours, but they looked more 80’s to me.  The only bad thing with wearing bolder colours was that if I was not careful, my eyes would look too loud and not classy.  In a retro-prom-queen gone wrong kind of way.  I had to wipe off some of it the eye colours the first few times I wore it to tone it down.  Garish looking is not too desirable in an eye make-up even if I did want to shake things up a bit.  So a better way is this:  Break up the colour on the lid by using a few colours.  I put the neon colour just in the corner, and wear a more neutral shade on the middle and inner lid.  After laying two colours on your lids, erase the lines with a blending brush, smudging all over to to create a gradient.

Three colours is all it takes to do an interesting rainbow effect on your eyes!!
Three bright colours is all it takes to do an interesting rainbow effect on your eyes!!
Use a really soft blending brush! This is a must. When wearing bright colours, nothing looks good if you don't create a gradient by blending colours during a transition.
Use a soft blending brush! When wearing bright colours side by side, harsh transition lines break the illusion. Smudge the lines all over with a brush.
I am trying to show you guys the finished result in this photo. Can you see the three electric colours I used, and it doesn't look garish...yay!
I am trying to show you guys the finished result in this photo.  I used a bubblegum pink in the inner center lid, a bold fushia in the outer lid and lined the bottom lid with an electric ultramarine blue.  Not too garish, but still fun.

Finish the look with liquid liner and line eyes subtly.  If wearing bright eyeshadow colours, it is loud enough without big graphic eyeliner on top of it. The bottom lid gets attention too, with a dash of electric blue, just in the corners…and voila, I can wear bright colours and look expressive, not dated.  Add mascara and false lashes for extra drama! (optional)