DECONSTRUT

INSTAGRAM | HOW I EDIT MY PHOTOS

October 3, 2017 5 Comments

Ahhh Instagram, my preferred finger scrolling, double tapping social media feed which tends to occupy the better part of my day; more so than any other platform I must say. Instagram has been getting a lot of love and hate (more hate than love really…) these past few months for the new algorithms. But despite these struggles from all the changes, I still love finding new sources of inspiration and creativity on that platform. What people are creating around the world is truly astounding!

Being a creative means that I’m a visual person, hence I spend most of my time on Instagram and work hard on honing in on that aesthetic. Now, some people would say that I care too much, and I do to an extent. I will admit that I spend too much time worrying about engagement but that’s just the nature of it when you want to use it as a business tool and it can get frustrating to see the bots and spam accounts ruining the hard-work a lot of people put in. I see this blog and my Instagram as an extension of my portfolio so I want to make sure its something that I’m proud of. With that hard-work I often have people complimenting me on my feed and photos and asking how they too can achieve something similar. So with that I thought it would be fun to share my top secret (not so secret anymore) tips on how I edit my Instagram photos.

DIY

DIY | TUBE TANK TOP

September 26, 2017 2 Comments

Worn with Zara belt, abercrombie shorts, rag & bone leather bag, DIY clasp necklace and DIY Gucci inspired sneakers

Inspired by the J’adior runway shoulders, the far set straps are popular with a nod to the 90s and help accentuate the decolletage; I wanted to create my version because as you all know, this girl can’t afford real Dior. Let’s DIY something similar with the help of an easy tube top-esque shape plus some carefully placed straps to achieve the exact same look! This is a pretty straight forward DIY that will add an incredibly versatile piece into the wardrobe. I love the contrasting straps as it helps with accentuating their unusual placement near the shoulders and opening up the chest area. Read on to make your own! It’s not difficult at all, you could even take a tube top and add your own straps to achieve the same effect if you don’t want to create it from scratch.

TIME | 20 mins

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | easy

DIY

DIY | PEARL DROP EARRINGS

September 19, 2017 3 Comments

Carrying the pearl embellished trend into the fall, this is a super cute DIY addition to the jewelry collection! I love ear jackets and earring extenders, so I thought it would be a fun way to incorporate the pearl trend in a similar fashion. I love the dramatic drop with the chain, and because its not permanently attached to any earring stud post or backing you can definitely wear these interchangeably with a lot of earrings your already own! I paired mine with one of my favourite earrings at the moment, which are my 360 Earrings in sterling silver from Mejuri.

If you don’t know about Mejuri, I’m here to put them on your radar. Based out of Toronto, this company aims to provide you with unique, hand crafted pieces of fine jewelry without the fine jewelry price. Everything is minimalistic and everyday wearable, which makes you want to keep it on forever. Its my type of jewelry for sure, ask any of my friends; anything fuss free, high quality and has a “goes with everything” vibe is right up my alley. I’m the type of person to not change her earrings for weeks at a time, and a consistent ring party bearer so it’s only fitting that I would be drawn to the gorgeous pieces created by Mejuri. They come out with new pieces weekly and I have to say, everything is on my wishlist (currently eyeing this)! So if you’re in the market for some quality gold earrings or sterling silver studs to go along with your pearl drop extenders, be sure to check them out! (Here’s a code for $20 credit if you’re interested!)

TIME | 10 mins

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | easy

Review

REVIEW | FASHION DRUG

September 12, 2017 4 Comments

RATING| 4/5 stars | Good dupe!

COST | $108.98 + $37.07 CAD shipping

I’m usually a shoe person. Never was really into bags until recently when my go to everyday bag has gotten to a new state of “worn-in”. Its almost time to retire my beloved Rebecca Minkoff bag and through that I’ve been scouring the internet to find a replacement. During that time obviously Gucci was a top brand that kept on popping up and I fell head over heels for their Dionysus mini bag. It’s absolutely stunning! What is also stunning (but not in the good way) is the outrageous price of the bag. This girl isn’t about to drop that much money on any bag, no matter how pretty. Now usually when something is out of my price range, the first solution would be to DIY something similar (hence this blog) but seeing as it’s a pretty structured handbag with some custom hardware, I figured finding a dupe would probably be a better solution. On this quest to find a golden Gucci dupe, I came across many YouTube videos talking of designer dupe bags and got sucked into this whole new world where you can get high quality dupes. Through that I magically landed on the Instagram Page of Fashion Drug and was immediately drawn in.

Fashion Drug is based out of the Netherlands and provides fashion addicts like myself well crafted items that look almost identical to their real designer sister pieces without the designer label and price tag. Just to clarify: A dupe is not the same as counterfeit. Counterfeit merchandise has the same exact logos and names of the brands, claiming to be a product of a brand (which is illegal and I do not support this) but a dupe, where they basically reproduce a design without trying to pass it off as a fake is different. Its quite a conflicting subject but my views on it is basically this: if someone if copying your designs, you know you’ve made it good. People don’t copy designs unless they are of value and trending. I was okay with purchasing Fashion Drug’s dupe of the Gucci bag because I knew that I would never be able to afford the real thing, also I most definitely will not be trying to pass the bag as an original Gucci. In most cases if I can afford the real thing I would buy the original item to credit the original brand and designer but in this case, Gucci is a whole other galaxy away. People shouldn’t be surprised to see dupes but it seems to be a big fuss when it comes to bags; to each their own but let’s carry on with the review.

DIY

DIY | TIE UP CROP TOP

September 5, 2017 1 Comment

*Worn with: Aritzia Babaton DEXTER Pants, Aldo Body Chain (similar), DIY Drop Circle Earrings, DIY Pearl Slides*

It’s already getting cooler out here in Canada but not so cold that I can’t get away with wearing a crop top still. Instead of pairing my crop tops with denim cutoffs, I like to pair crop tops in the fall with longer pants and throwing on a leather jacket. I was inspired by this top (similar) from Princess Polly and how Allegra Shaw styled it here with long pants and I just KNEW I had to have the tie style crop top in my wardrobe! It’s an easy dress up dress down style that is on trend and I can’t wait to wear it some more with layering some cute bralettes underneath. Read on to make your own!

TIME | 1-2 hours

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | easy

DIY

DIY | PERSONALIZED VOLLEYBALL

August 29, 2017 1 Comment

Summer’s not over until I say it is! It’s still the perfect amount of sun and heat to get in a couple more volleyball games before fall rolls around. One thing I’ve noticed is that everyone at the beach has the exact same volleyball. Sometime its easy to mix up the balls and it could so easily be solved with a little DIY magic. I decided to jazz up a plain white volleyball as a gift for a friend’s birthday and also in protest to all the same volleyballs out there. Here’s a quick and easy way to decorate your own volleyball to make it truly unique!

TIME | 15-30mins

COST | $

DIFFICULTY | easy

Travel

TRAVEL | KAUAI’S EAST COAST & SOUTHERN SHORES

August 22, 2017 1 Comment

The last installment of my Kauai travel series takes us to the Eastern and Southern shores of the Garden Isle. There is definitely plenty to see and to explore on both coasts. Though I did prefer the North and the West parts of the island more with their adventure appeal, but that isn’t to say that there isn’t plenty to do in the East and South sides of the island. We stayed in Kapaa, which is located on the Eastern side of Kauai and it served as a great home base as it was central to travelling to all sides of the island. One hour each way at the constant speed of 50 miles/hr, you just get use to island time and nothing seems like a rush anymore. Read on to see what’s not to be missed in the Eastern and Southern coasts of Kauai!

DIY

DIY | STRIPED CROSS-BACK SLIP DRESS

August 8, 2017 4 Comments

High summer is finally upon us and with that means scorching temperatures, which in turn means it’s time to break out bare shoulders and higher hemlines. I’ve been really into the simplistic cut of slip dresses and decided to create a DIY version with a striped fabric that could be worn in multiple ways. My favourite way to wear this dress is to have the straps crossed in the back then looped to the front to cinch in the waist. The other is to let the dress hang loose and rock the effortless look. This dress is perfect for those hot summer days and even beach town getaways so if you’d like to recreate this striped little number, keep on reading!

TIME | 3+ hours

COST | $-$$

DIFFICULTY | moderate

DIY

DIY | PEARL SLIDE SANDALS

August 1, 2017 7 Comments

Pearl embellishments seem to be everywhere this year, playing off of geometric shapes and minimalistic style. They influtrated blogger closets and must-have lists with the Miu Miu and the Zara pearl slides, and show no signs of stopping as pearl embellished jeans and denim jackets are also quite popular this season. Wanting to join in on this trend, I decided to recreate the Zara slides as the original ones from Zara did not fit me and were quite pricey for something that screamed DIY. As always if there’s a way to make it for cheap and personalize it to be unique to me, I’m all over it. Read on to see how you can recreate these pearl slides to rock for the rest of summer!

TIME | 3+ hours

COST | $$

DIFFICULTY | easy-moderate

Travel

TRAVEL | WESTERN SHORE OF KAUAI

July 25, 2017 8 Comments

Outlook on the Awa’awapuhi Trail, the sheer drops of the Cathedral Cliffs

In today’s post we go westwards to the sunniest and driest part of the Garden Isle of Kauai. A general rule of thumb and recommendation from locals we encountered, was to head westwards in times of rain or cloudy weather. The western side of the island gets the least amount of rain and tends to stay relatively sunny all year round. It takes approximately an hour to get to the town of Waimea from Ka’paa (eastern side of the island) via a car. It’s a beautiful road trip with beaches along the way, tall grass and the occasional look out as you drive on over to the western side of the island. One of the biggest landmarks out in the western side of the island is Waimea Canyon State Park. We liked it so much that we went twice so we could hike two different trails and do all the outlooks off of the State Park’s main road. I recommend arriving early to beat the crowds and the fog up at the peak lookouts, as parking tends to get quite busy and fog can obstruct views in the afternoon when the clouds rise up. There are quite a few unofficial lookouts along the roads, but be wary and don’t get too close to the cliff edges and explore with caution.

Apart from the Waimea Canyon State Park, there are a lot of beautiful coastline beaches that stretch for miles for everyone to enjoy. The most remote beach being Polihale Beach which exists at the very end of the road that traverses around the whole island. It’s a bumpy ride but you’ll be greeted with untouched sand dunes and Napali Coast cliffs with the rare person here or there as you explore this beach. Read on to see what other beaches and places are not to be missed on the western shores of Kauai!