I have elderly South Asian parents with whom I’ve been trying to create healthy boundaries. With these past COVID years, I hadn’t seen my folks in person in nearly 3+ years.
This past week a lot has been happening with mentally preparing to return to work (I’ve been off on medical leave for much of the summer), something inside me was telling me to “call home.”
The Outfit I wore to visit my mum in hospital: Top from H&M; Skirt from Shein Sandals are Sketchers; Flamingo wicker purse is vintage.
I called my folks to find out that my mum and dad were leaving for the ER right at that moment. My mum had been having trouble breathing and was extremely pale; she could barely take two steps without struggling for breath.
My partner and I met them in the ER – although my folks have been in Canada over 40-years, their ability to understand and explain themselves in English isn’t very strong. So having me there gave them the confidence they needed and my mum the comfort of having a woman take her to the washroom, etc.
Hospital Fashion … if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.
It’s been an emotional rollercoaster, but happily with the care (the formerly known as) Toronto East General Hospital she is slowly recovering from several days of blood transfusions.
Happy to report that upon writing his my mum has been discharged from hospital and is back home in the care of 3 South Asian men: My Dad, My Uncle (her brother-in-law) and My 36-year old Brother. **sigh**.
Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as her care at home will be questionable, to say the least.
Here she is … my mum with improved health in her hospital bed.
When I visited her in hospital, I was able to give her a manicure and pedicure all the while listening to her go on and on about how fat I’ve become, and how uncomfortable it has been in a shared room. We visited her at home and were finally able to give her the side-walker and cane I bought for her pre-Covid. She’s used both and has shared how much it’s helped give her some independence again to confidently walk to the pharmacy and nearby walk-in clinic.
Anyways, as I struggle to be a “good daughter” to my South Asian mum … I’ve done my best to wear an outfit that both makes me feel and look good, and doesn’t get too harshly criticized by family members. Hope it provides some outfit inspo for you.
Top is from H&M; Skirt is from Shein and the Sandals are Sketchers.
I’ve been doing my best to shop my own closet before buying anything new. But sometimes, no matter how full your closet is, you still can’t find anything to wear. This is where Poshmark can help.
But sometimes, no matter how full your closet is, you still can’t find anything to wear.
Ever wish you could shop your friend’s closet? Now, you can. Poshmark connects you to people whose style you adore, allowing you to easily shop closets and boutiques. With over 80 million community members across the U.S., Canada, and Australia and 200 million items for sale, we know you’ll find something you love.
Have items just hanging in your closet? Home decor or new beauty items that you’d like to sell? We know the feeling. List items for sale on Poshmark in less than 60 seconds. Sell what you have in your closet so that you can shop for what you really love today!
Dino Purse, Dress and Duster… All found via Poshmark.
Canadians know how to make sure they squeeze out as much summer as they possibly can – cuz Winter is Coming and will last 8+ months of the year! 😦
That’s why we gotta make the most of the August Long Weekend!!!!
This was the first time I stayed in town. The streets of Toronto are filled with loads of party people and tons of Americans who come up for Caraibanna ! The weekend is dedicated to TONS of parties happening everywhere and the weather is usually picture perfect!
I was lucky enough to have some RMT benefit dollars to burn – so I grabbed a gf and we drove to Caldeon, ON to spend the day luxuriating at a day spa!
The Millcroft Inn & Spa had an outdoor terrace, indoor and outdoor pools, an indoor whirlpool, an Infrared Sauna, private men’s and women’s locker facilities with herbal steams rooms and showers.
It was the greatest!!!
Plus, they’ve got an award winning resturant – where we had lunch overlooking this gorgeous pond + waterfall. ❤
This was the 2nd summer in my life where I have come to peace with my body insecurities and donned a bikini (aka fatkini)! 🙂
Did ya read the latest in O, The Oprah Magazine? 😕 Who else is tired of being told what they can and cannot wear? If you want to wear a crop top — WEAR A CROP TOP. If you like it, wear it. Life is too short. Live your life and stop waiting on your weight! Be happy in your clothes and with your body just as you are NOW. ❤ ❤❤❤❤❤ #effyourbeautystandards #rockthecroptop #freethebelly #bodypositive
SPRING IS FINALLY HERE…with weather that matches. Finally!!!!
Now I know florals for spring isn’t a new concept or new fashion trend this year or any other year. 🙂
So, I tried doing the floral trend by mixing it up:
I’ve been trying my hand at mixing patterns more. Taking this floral dress and pairing it with a striped black and white cropped blazer really amped up this look, right?! I’m really digging the contrast.
In an effort to keep this outfit ‘work-wear’, I wore dark stockings along with my black suede booties. This was the outfit I wore to the office for my first day back from my big Asian Adventure (I’m working on those posts friends…stay tuned).
Both these pieces were thrifted finds as last year’s BIGDeal Toronto Sale (and the first time I’m wearing this dress ever). I’m not the biggest fan of floral patterns — but I really liked these colours on this white background of this dress.
Plus, being a peplum skirt it creates hourglass-come-hither style hitting the curves in all the right places …. that always gets a BIG thumbs up from moi!
How I Got The Look: Floral peplum dress & Stripped cropped blazer from Forever21; Black suede booties from NineWest
Dunno what sort of plan y’all might have this long weekend, but this might be a good Easter weekend outfit inspiration, hmm? 😉
What do you think of this look and the pattern mixing? Would love to know your thoughts in the Comments section below.
For other looks with this striped blazer click here and here.
Throughout history the first-lady has influenced fashion trends, however, none have had as much of an impact as Michelle Obama. Her clothing choices can result in stock prices for the clothing companies to rise as much as 2–3% for up to 3 weeks after she wears an outfit. Her fashion appeals to the people as she mixes more affordable brands like Gap and Target with high end pieces.
I personally really enjoy Michelle’s style choices. Try incorporating some of the first lady’s fashion into your own wardrobe. From exposed zippers to statement necklaces—Michelle Obama has championed many of today’s popular fashion trends making her a style icon.
What are your thoughts on the First-Lady’s style? Are you able to use any of the above tips and tricks in your own personal style? Let me know in the Comments section 🙂
I dunno about you friends, but January is officially Little Black Dress month for me. There has been WAYYY too much eating over the festive season … and this holiday weight is making me choose blacks over other fun colours in my wardrobe these days.
Lucky for me, I’ve got a lil’ Collection of LBDs that don’t nearly get enough of my attention all year round. So why not use this month to let them shine 🙂
LBD #1: Forever21+
Truth be told, I bought this dress as a Halloween Costume one year, when a girlfriend and I dressed as Robert Palmer girls. The best (and easiest) costume to pull off I tell ya.
What sold me about this dress was the different textures of fabric used. The top is this shiny poly-blend with a sweet little twist to the neckline which leads to off the shoulder sleeves, and the skirt portion is a ribbed cotton.
There is beauty in simplicity. I tried sticking to a head-to-to black … keeping the hose and heels black too. But in the end, I needed more — and that’s when this red blazer just kicked it up a notch.This giant pearl necklace is my absolute favourite (Your Big Sister’s Closet) – it just adds the perfect punch of sophistication to this entire outfit.
Do you have a favourite Little Black Dress? Where’s it from and how to you style it? Tell me your tips and tricks by leaving a comment below.
How I Got The Look: LBD from Forever21+; Red blazer from Jessica, Sears; Glossy black pumps from Payless; Sheer hosiery from Dollarama; Necklace from Your Big Sister’s Closet; Gold earrings from Ardene
Here we are….the last day of 2014! And thus concludes my first year of blogging! Yay!!! 🙂
Thank you for reading, following and commenting. If you’ve got feedback or ideas you’d like me to explore/review in the new year … let me know in the comment section and I’ll do my very best to tackle them as blogposts in the New Year!
There have been 170 blogposts, not bad for the first year! I only really got the hang of publishing and alerting various social media channels towards the later part of the year, so I thought I’d pick out a few of my favourite posts that were maybe missed, or hidden by Facebook at the time.
Go Canada Go! The biggest news worthy thing I remember happening in 2014 is Team Canada winning gold, beating Sweden 3-0 in men’s Olympic hockey! Canada dominated moving into the finals! And at 6am on this Sunday in February bars everywhere opened their doors to die-hard Canadians who support our athletes by drinking beers and cheering at big screen TVs with complete strangers in unison. And to join the hoopla I dedicated an Outfit Of the Day to the win 🙂
Although I often write about fashion – What I Wore – I try to also focus on lifestyle too – What I Did while wearing it. Just as seeing someone who more resembles your body shape wearing an outfit you never thought to try yourself, I write about my adventures at trying something new in hopes that YOU might try it for yourself as well. There have been several specific LIFESTYLE posts around activities I’ve tried such as:
BollyFuze – Now What? a Bollywood dance based workout designed to get you up and moving! Each class runs an hour-long, blending together elements of Indian Classical, Modern Bollywood & Folk dance with main stream fitness techniques that gives you a full body workout. Best part – BollyFuze is designed for all levels, ages & abilities …and with the energetic beats of Bollywood you totally trick your body into getting fit with hip-shaking-fun!
Yoga I personally hadn’t practiced yoga in nearly two years before I found Studio Blue. I was super nervous to go back into the classroom with a bunch of wafer thin bun-headed girls, wearing nothing but LuLuLemon pants and sport bras that matched with zero sweat on their perfectly manicured eyebrows and likely full make-up faces (Why are People Afraid to Try Yoga?) But once I got over the initial ‘scare’ it yield a ton of benefits …. AND I even arranged for a PPMeow! $30 Pass EXCLUSIVE to YOU – my blog’s readers & followers 🙂
Swing Dancing I officially got bit by the swing fever bug at my first Rockabillie Concert… I signed up for classes the very next day. I’ve blogged about my very first swing lesson – describing myself as a hot mess. It was tricky at first, but week after week I felt more and more confident of the steps, felt myself improving and I couldn’t for class to learn the next big move. And now, honestly I dunno what I did without this fun dancing outlet in my life!!! There have been a number of different blogpost related to swing dancing … I love it so… simply type the words “swing dancing” into the search bar within the blog and you’ll find them all friends 😉
There have been a ton of outfit posts so I’ve created my first Flipagram to capture my faves ….it’s even set to my personal theme song:Golden by Jill Scott 🙂
Thank you again for reading, commenting, following and supporting Petite Plus, Meow! There are some exciting things in store for me and the blog in the upcoming months – as I’m declaring 2015 to be THE YEAR OF TRAVEL in my life. Stay tuned friends.
Wishing you a fantastic New Year’s Eve tonight, and may 2015 be our best year yet! xo
Earlier this month the Toronto Vintage Society gathered together to celebrate all things MERRY, KITSCHY and BRIGHT by turning the Cadillac Lounge into a winter cabin!
But what the heck do we mean by “Kitschy”? Good question!
“Kitsch”, according to Wikipedia, is; (/ˈkɪtʃ/; loanword from German) is a low-brow style of mass-produced art or design using popular or cultural icons. Kitsch generally includes unsubstantial or gaudy works or decoration, or works that are calculated to have popular appeal. Click here to read and see more about exactly what this means 🙂
The Event:
$5 at the Door got you entertainment galore!! 40s/50s themed decor and suggested dress code with Best (and kitschiest) Dressed prizes to be won! Along with vintage cocktails flowing all night and home made treats, handmade kitsch and vintage chachkas for sale!
The Cadillac Lounge transformed into our Kitschmas Cabin
The Toronto Vintage Society never does anything half-assed …. always FULL ass! 😛
Not only were we able to transform the Cadillac Lounge into a wintery holiday cabin, there was all kinds of fun entertainment all night long to get everyone into the festive spirit no matter what your ‘thing’ was. There was even a Nail Artist: Strawberry LIPs n TIPs creating one-of-a-kind holiday art one nail at a time!!
Loving my amazing Rudolph nail art – outstanding!!!
This party was non-stop entertainment which included…vintage vinyl and holidays classic movies played all night long by our very own DJ Tarana Pete…
DJ Tarana-Pete spinning vintage vinyl & holiday movie classics
PLUS Performances by ELVIS and his burlesquing alter ego – Blue Suede Sue. Then the adorable Miss Kitten Monroe.
Me with the talented Tia Brazda and delightful Kitten Monroe
AND performances by the Tia Brazda Swing Band with her hit song Christmas in Mexico!! Take a listen and get yourself a copy… Tis’ the season for this catchy toe-tapper of a tune 🙂
Ooooh…and there was plenty of swing dancing too!!!
Me with my skirt all a-twirl!
As you can see…..We PACKED the place! It was a spectacular night!!!
I’m pretty sure I managed to sell raffle tickets to every single person in here!
And to top it all off…..we even had an amazing Winter Wonderland of a photo booth setup with SANTA!
Click here for the full TVS Photo Booth album — each picture just jumps off the screen with happiness and joy!
If you didn’t make it out to the event, you can relive the fun – prepare to smile your faces off 🙂
Dancing went on until the wee hours of the morning …. AND there was even karaoke in the backroom!!!
Collage-o-Fun captured by my iPhone …
I’m not gonna lie, due to all the liquid courage (who knew apple cider and rum would be such a delicious combination) I may have gotten up on stage to belt a tune or two. There is evidence of this on someone’s phone…dun dun dunnnn 😮
What I Wore:
Photo Credit: Val Soo
I picked up this Alika Circle Polka Retro Dress during Tatyana‘s BOGO event – yup…BuyOne, GetOne FREE!!! This dress comes in a variety of solid colours that are just as lovely. But I really, really, really loved this black, white and red polka-dot pattern. And was determined to xmas-ify for THIS holiday event!
With an amazing lattice style around neckline and sleeves you really don’t need any accessories to jazz this frock up! The waist features a bow at the center that leads to its full circle skirt. There’s a three-eye-hook closures above the back zipper…which requires a buddy’s help, at least in my case 🙂
The Alika Circle Polka Retro Dress WITH crinoline
The dress on its own is quite lovely with the full circle skirt. But it gets even for amazing with a puffy red crinoline underneath! Plus, it hides any additional lumps & bumps that may have resulted due to vintage cookie eating the weeks before….click here to see what I mean. 😉
And I’m happy to say that EVERYTHING I’m wearing in this post came from Tatyana Boutique on West Queen West, in Toronto. To read more about Tatyana’s new Toronto location click here.
As lovely as everything looked all together, my outfit was incomplete. It was missing the much needed “Kitschy” factor.
AND THEN THIS HAPPENED…..a fabulous Poinsettia fascinator!!! Hand-made by the crafty curator of TVS, Miss Jacquie – isn’t it amazing? Totally helped perfect my look for the evening’s event! 🙂
Handmade Kitschy Poinsettia Fascinator …. I’m told that there are some available for sale at Damzel’s East location, FYI 😉
Earrings from Your Big Sister’s Closet; Hair flower made by Jacquie Jeffery
And ….TA-DAH! My vintage kitschmas look was complete!
Blurry end-of-the-night selfie
Extra Bonus to those reading this right now!!! Tatyana Boutique will happily give you 15% off until December 31st by mentioning this blogpost friends >>>>
Here we are – 2nd last outfit post in our special Holiday DoubleFeaturecollaborationwith Cassie of Style Cassentials.
The female tuxedo was seen on various designer runways, it’s also a look that’s been adopted by many celebrities on the red carpet. It is a great alternative to the cocktail dress for evening-wear.
Today we’re focusing on Tuxedo Glam! 🙂
Photo credit: Val Soo
By total fluke, turns out I had silver stud earrings that totally matched the studs down the lapel of this blazer! This cute little top-hat fascinator was a fabulous find at this year’s BIGDeal Toronto Blogger Consignment Sale.
Photo credit: Val Soo
I’ve had this tuxedo blazer for a year now, and have only worn it a handful of times for fear of spilling food on it and the dreaded dry cleaning bill it would result in. My sparkle heels added a touch of feminine glamour to the monochrome colour palette of this tuxedo look. It would be extra sleek if I went black on black or white on white tuxedo. But I really like the classic black n’ white combo.
When looking at how to wear tuxedo trend clothing, go for slim cut trousers and fitted blazers. Making sure your pieces are fitted to give you that tailored look when trying to pull off tuxedo glam. 🙂
How I Got The Look: Jessica Simpson bone n’ black lapel jacket + Thrifted black taffeta dress + Guess sparkle heels + sheer black hosiery + Top hat fascinator from BIGDeal Toronto Sale
Cassie’s floral pants make me crazy with floral envy!!! Loving the ivory tuxedo top & black tuxedo jacket. Head over to Style Cassentials for all the details on Cassie’s look or visit her Facebook page here.
Cassie of Style Cassentials
What do you think of the tuxedo trend? Do you have any tips for how to wear the tuxedo trend? Let me know in the Comment section below
And just in case….if you’ve missed a few from thespecial Holiday Double Feature? Not to fear…
Blurry end-of-the-night selfie
PPMeow! 