The best and worst of the 2013 Grammys

Let me start off by saying that on the morning on the day of the Grammys, my friend Alex and I trekked all the way to the sleepy-town of Plattsburgh to raid their Target and rid their shelves of the Prabal Gurung for Target "Love" collection. We left the house at the bright and early hour of 5:30 AM and were back in time for lunch with a trunk-load to declare. 

Needless to say, by the time Grammy hour came around, I was already in a zombie-like state, having gotten a mere 4 hours of sleep! Nevertheless, I pulled through the entire E! red carpet special to be able to deliver to you, dear readers, my best and worst of the biggest night in music. Come time for the actual show, however, keep reading to see how I fared staying awake. 

So here it goes: 

For those of you following my live tweet feed during the red carpet (@vogueepilogue), you already know that I was less than impressed with the choices of outfits. In fact, I much preferred watching the suit and tie-clad men (pun intended) roam the step-and-repeat area. 

However, I did manage to pull together my top THREE best (because I honestly could not manage to pick five good, let alone great looks), to which I will add three worst-est looks (to cut the list short). 

TOP THREE: 
(In order of bestest, to best)

Kelly Rowland:

That body, in that tastefully cut out dress just put had that absolute wow-factor that we all look for when watching the red carpet. She aced it in this Georges Chakra Couture number. 

Rihanna: 

I totally loved the fact that she pulled out her "Pon de Replay" circa 2006 weave, with the soft highlights and the pop of colour. The ladylike Azzedine Alaia piece softened her usually hardcore hip-hop star look. 

Beyonce: 

Although it may seem totally unconventional to wear just a jumpsuit to the Grammys, I think B pulled it off like a champ. The ever-in-style black and white monochromatic colour blocking Osman Studio get-up gets an A+! 

BOTTOM THREE
(In order of worst to worst-est)

Katy Perry: 

I think the dress could have had a lot of potential had the focal point had NOT been her abundant cleavage. This just made the Gucci piece look vulgar. 

 Jennifer Lopez:

Although I usually love J.LO's red carpet looks, this Anthony Vaccarello one just did not at all do it for me. The topknot reminded me of what my hair looks like right before going into the shower. And the leg slit.... Need I saw more? She was covering her vajayjay with her clutch the whole time! Come on girl, isn't that a sign?

Adele:

I am a Valentino obsessed fashionista. The fact that this dress is designed by the house almost brought me to tears. It looks like a bad 1970s comforter turned dress, and that's NEVER a good thing. From the print, to the length, the colour, it was just all wrong Adele. Not flattering in the least bit. 

Oh... And here is how I ended up (picture courtesy of my sneaky boyfriend) and yes I was rocking my new prabal kicks.

UP NEXT: Oscars baby.

Best and worst of the 2013 Golden Globes

IT'S ON! Award season has finally begun and I am filled with excitement for the sole reason of being able to critique the good, the bad and the ugly couture that will frolic the red carpets- all from the comfort of my own couch! 

The kickoff was this Sunday, with the Golden Globes and boy did I have a mouthful. I realized after watching the red carpet that all the witty comments I was muttering to my boyfriend would be appropriate to share with the "twitterverse". Because I'm an Instagram addict, I rarely go to my twitter account, but I decided that in the new year, I will take to @vogueepilogue to blabber on about every unfiltered thought (with respect to fashion... or not) that pops into my head during major fashion events. With that being said, make sure to follow @vogueepilogue!

To keep my opinion of the fashion on the GG red carpet short and sweet, I decided to give you my TOP 5 and BOTTOM 5, not including my big hit and big miss. So here it goes fashion freaks: 

BIG HIT:

Jessica Alba got it all right with this Oscar de la Renta number. The tone fits her skin colour perfectly and the jewels and bag are the perfect match. The hair and makeup are so tastefully done that the emphasis remains kept on the dress and dazzling jewels.

Top 5 runner-ups (in no specific order):

 

BIG MISS: 

Lucy Liu in Carolina Herrera absolutely bombed it. The size, the print, the colour- it's ALL wrong! A real eye-sore with barely any jewels or other accessories to compliment it. She just did not do any fashion justice with this piece. Sorry girl, but no can do!

Bottom 5 (no specific order):

Sidenote:

One thing that I noticed and that absolutely frustrated me (I didn't understand it) was the fact that both Marion Cotillard and Jennifer Lawrence were both wearing Christian Dior by Raf Simons, and had the same embellishment on their dresses! For a designer to dress two women for the same awards ceremony, in the same colour, with the same belt is absolutely ludicrous! This is one step away from being a faux-pas same dress moment. No bueno. Tisk Tisk Raf!

Happy New Year 2013- In my bag

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 MY DEAR READERS!

I am spending the holidays abroad, and while I had a "white Christmas," it can only be defined as such because of the colour of the sand I've been lounging on. While I have been taking the past few weeks off to recoup and refuel before the arrival of the new year, I'm taking back to the blog to give you an idea of what my checklist consists of for a successful day after the night before (talking about the morning after New Years Eve festivities of course).

In my world, there is no such thing as wearing flats or god-forbid going barefoot on New Years Eve. That being said, the day after calls for flats flats flats!!! My biggest pet peeve is seeing a lady walking back barefoot and drunk (drunk fine, but buy some heels you can last in girlies)! Prior to jetting off, I met with my friend Stephanie at Ponyride Distribution to take a peek at the new collections, and more importantly, the Yosi Samra flats (a literal god-send when you can no longer bear you heels, but refuse to walk barefoot).

Very rarely do I step foot out of the house without a pair of my foldy-flats in my purse. That's what I call the Yosi Samra shoes because they are so convenient and practical- they take little to no space and they're cute to boot! At the end of my meeting with Steph, she so graciously offered me a pair of Yosi Samras that I would be able to bring with me to the beach; a style I had never purchased for myself: leather flip-flops in a neon pink with a striped grey and white sole. Love them!

Therefore, the day after abusing your feet in your sky-high stilettos, give them a break and rock those flats- I know I'll be flaunting my fun flippy floppies!

On another note, for those also hitting the beach on New Years day, make sure you have a beach bag full of the essentials. I personally don't like lugging around a big bag with me all day (although I own many), so I usually end up just grabbing a clutch. This year's beach clutch of choice is a fun and flirty one from Kate Spade. I snatched it while doing Christmas shopping (for other of course) at Holt Renfrew. The contents of my clutch will be most likely be the following:

• Sunglasses: not necessarily for the sun, but more to hide those (designer) bags under your eyes and to shade yourself from the light of hell the propagates your endless hangover headache. 
• Advil: lots and lots of it (every 4-6 hours worth, actually)
• Coconut water: a healthy way to refuel on electrolytes- ladies, the bikini body still needs to be preserved at this time. 
• Flip flops: as previously mentioned.
• Headphones: maybe not for blaring music in your ears, but rather to block out the voices and sounds that make your head keep pounding. Trust me, they can double as ear plugs. But pick a fun pair like the ones my mom gifted me for Christmas (see below). 
• Oil-free sun tan spray: protect your skin from the rays, but don't refuse to catch a tan while napping on a sun chair!

Kate Spade Clutch- $98
Yosi Samra Flip-Flops- $40
Versace Sunnier- $220
Clarins Sun Spray- $32 and $30

Where you can find Yosi Samras in the 514:

• Billie
• Easpace Pepin
• Olam
• Sox Box
• Blue Marine
• Skandal
• Walk In
• Little Burgundy (in the S/S13)

Wishing you all the best in the New Year- may all your dreams come true and all your goals be fulfilled! Much love, always, G. XOXO

My debut in Clin D'oeil Magazine

As some of you may or may not know, this past summer I scored an internship at Clin D'oeil Magazine. The experience I garnered while working there and more importantly, the fun I had getting to learn about the world of magazine editing convinced me that I am on the right path to my dream career. 

Towards the end of my internship, the editor-in-chief of the fashion department gave me an offer that I just couldn't refuse. Every issue has a section called "mode labo" where the editors of the magazine pick a Quebecers who is "in" fashion to do a photo shoot and article on in conjunction with a boutique that matches her style. To my surprise, they picked me for the December issue! Of course, I had that "I almost made it in the fashion world" feeling and was overcome with pride.

Within the next month, the photo shoot was staged to take place at the most lovely little dress boutique on St. Viateur street, called Editions de Robes. This store specializes in vintage and even some current designer labels, while they even carry their own label made up of fine fabrics hand-picked by the store owner, Julie Pesant. I even left with two dresses: a Tibi peplum number and one of their custom dresses made up of the notorious red Valentino fabric (there's nothing I love more)!

The shoot consisted of two segments, the first being a video shoot for the iPad version of the magazine where the store owner and her in-house stylist picked out the outfits. The second portion of the day was set around still shots of outfits that I styled myself and that showcased my own personal style. 

A full day of glam later, I was pleased with the results. All that was left was the anticipation of waiting for the magazine to come out.... Three months later!!!

When I finally got it in the mail, I was so excited to see that my guilty pleasure and childhood idol, Celine Dion, was gracing the cover! Apart from being misquoted here and there, I am very happy with the result and proud to showcase it with you all!

For those interested, the magazine is on stands now! Get a copy and let me know what you think!

PS: I'M ON PAGE 30!

Make me up, Guerlain!

Last week I was invited to attended an event at the Guerlain Beauty Institute on Greene Avenue to preview some products and get my makeup done by one of the brand's famed makeup artists, Maxime Poulin.

Upon my arrival at the chic boutique, I was greeted most hospitably by the staff with some bubbly- my fave! Sitting pretty on a stool, it was time to get my face painted. Maxime Poulin went above and beyond, starting by cleansing and moisturizing my face with the Guerlain products that catered specifically to my skin type.

The preconception I had was to let the master do his thing without my input, but was adamant on doing something that I wanted. So I decided instead to make this makeup session into a learning experience- I asked Maxime to play around contouring my face, because that's something I have always wanted to do, but have repeatedly failed to master. And that's exactly what he did! In the mix, I got to learn about the benefits and features of the many Guerlain products and, of course, ways to use them in order to reproduce the amazing contouring that Maxime did on me.

I purchased some items before leaving and even received a cute little travel clutch filled with samples, specifically catered to my skin needs.

Thanks again to Maxime Poulin, Vibi and the team at Guerlain- looking pretty always feels good!

What I wore: Robert Rodriguez top, JBrand jeans, Browns boots and my Celine Luggage Tote.