Introducing Carrie L from "514 Street Chic"

What's your style?
Carrie L: Depends on my mood and depends where I'm at.

At work, I'm more conservative, but I love to wear ruffly, romantic shirts and skirts to bring a little zest to the regular office attire (that is so often associated with black and pants). But although I love shirts in the store and on other people, I rarely wear shirts because I can't be bothered to iron them, especially if they've got ruffles!

Outside of work, I love wearing leggings with long shirts and belts or blue jeans with funky, funny t-shirts.

And for going out for a night on the town, it's dresses dresses dresses!

Favourite designers?
Carrie L: I actually don't own anything from them, but I get lots of inspiration from Jean-Paul Gauthier, Chanel, Michael Kors.

Favourite celeb styles?
Carrie L: To name a few: Rachel Bilson, Reese Withersppon, the cast of Gossip Girl, Jennifer Aniston (don't care much for her as actress though--sorry),

Rachel Bilson

The cast of Gossip Girl (...yes, even druggy-looking 'Lil Jenny):

Taylor Momsen

Leighton Meester

Blake Lively

Favourite stores in Montreal?
Carrie L: Lots of stores! It depends on the occasion:

- For work clothes: BCBG Maxazaria, Club Monaco, Zara, Simons (Contemporaine and Icone lines mainly), United Colors of Bennetton, RW&Co, Dynamite, Mango, etc.

- For casual clothing: Love the shorts and casual weekend clothing at Club Monaco, the Twik line at Simons, simple everyday t-shirts and other at Le Garage, Lola &Emily, but otherwise a bit of stuff here and there...

- For shoes: I swear by Nine West and BCBG shoes, because of comfort and style. I love Aldo shoes, but I don't think my feet are quite the right shape for them. I love and dream of shoes at Chou Chou, and there's a store on de la Montagne (or Crescent) that sells Christian Louboutin's. I don't actually shop there or go in, I just stare at the shoes through the glass, like a kid in the candy store! I'm sure the shopkeepers must see me all the time ("Ah, not HER again!")

- For purses and wallets: I have an obsession with Matt&Nat and Samsara - both Montreal designers!

- For accessories: I just adore the accessories section at Simons, the earrings, belts, headbands at Forever 21, sometimes Dynamite has really elegant yet funky accessories.

- Other stores I love to visit and where you can find a lot of different things for different occasions: Stacey Zhang, Olam, Bubbles, Maskerad (on Mont-Royal Ave)... oh and so many more!

What are you loving right now?
Carrie L: Belts and boots--long thigh-high boots. Very super-hero catwoman like! But, I'm not sure if Montreal is ready for thigh high boots; it might be too red-light-district-St-Laurent-after-10pm for some... Ooh and I am really loving the resurgeance of the 'flapper' style ('30s) and old Hollywood black-and-white movie glamour--which I've always loved since I was a kid.

High boots - Jean-Paul Gauthier fashion show in Paris

A flapper inpired design from Jean-Paul Gauthier's fashion in Paris (for fall/winter 2009/10)

Old hollywood glamour - Another Jean-Paul Gauthier from his fall/winter show in Paris

Lust Item of the Week

Check out this Mackage leather bomber. I love everything about it! The scarf collar and puffy sleeves are so unique and a fit that is to die for! It looks like the kind of leather that smells so good you are going to be sniffing it all day long. (Mackage is a family run Montreal based company who specialize in outerwear for the "trendy" shopper. Many of their coats can be found at Miss Swiss ( on St-Denis and another on Mt. Royal and also at Simmons).  Check out their website: http://www.mackage.com/

The leather bomber is a staple for Fall. It can be worn over jeans or even a nice dress, to work or on the weekends. If this one is too pricey there are always cheaper alternatives. I have seen one at Forever 21 ( which just opened on St. Catherine) that is also cute and at a fraction of the price. 

Celeb look of the week - Jennifer Lopez

Sept 16, 2009, Washington D.C.--Jennifer Lopez and her hubby Marc Anthony held a press conference on Capitol Hill, following a meeting with some members of congress to discuss education in the Latino community and college affordibility.

One should always dress appropriately for the occasion. In this case, Jennifer Lopez needed to look sharp, smart and credible--and I think she did a great job at picking her outfit (assuming she picked it, and it wasn't a stylist!)

I'm not sure what she is wearing, but I can tell that the shoes are Louboutin!

Do you think her feet hurt?

A similar attire would be appropriate for an office job in Montreal. Personally, I would opt for a dress that is less tight around the behind--I think you can guess why! But then again, to some extent: if you've got it, then flaunt it!!!

Also, her makeup is perfect for daytime and makes her look sharp and professional. The makeup is kept in nude shades (lips, cheeks, eye shadow), and the makeup around the eyes (eye liner) is kept light, not too dense. This makeup look is good to be worn everyday to work (except maybe the fake lashes, cause that would just be a lot of hassle in the morning!)

Can you believe this is the same woman whom, 2 days earlier, looked like this at the MTV VMA awards?

Like I said, one should dress appropriately for the occasion!

New York Fashion Week

I have been dreaming about being front row at New York’s fashion week (Sept 10-17) and being able to see the newest looks since forever. The celebs who attend are usually able to select their choices in advance for Spring 2010, which is how we see them sporting these looks even before they hit the stores. Among the many designers present: Max Azria, Michael Kors and Tory Burch which are usually looks that many Montrealers can sport. This city has a certain style that is unique with European influences due to stores like Zara and Mango. I personally would have loved to be at 3.1 Phillip Lim.

As Montrealers, we unfortunately have to be practical about our fashion choices. The weather here does not always allow us to wear all the different looks out there. However, we still manage to look good despite the cold by adding beautiful cardigans, blazers and trenches. Another solution is to use leggings/tights under dresses or even shorts. But I guess if you’re a real fashionista, then you'll just brave the cold in style! High heels in snow works for me!

I have posted a couple of pics of my favorite looks and designers.


Milly-by Michelle Smith

Love the necklace on model and the dress. Great line of clothing that can be found at Abe & Mary's in Montreal



Oscar de Renta-Classic black and white

Not to sure if this exact dress can be found any where in Montreal, but BCBG has similar styles.



3.1 Phillip Lim

The bag is gorgeous and everyone needs a red bag! Also check out those shoes!!!

JBrand and Boy Meets Girl Sale in Montreal

There was a JBrand Jeans (http://www.jbrandjeans.com/) sale from the 10th to the 13th of September on Meilleur street (in the Chabanel district). All of us girls from "514 Street Chic" went to the sale on its opening night. I can't say that the sale was amazing, BUT there was a wide and thorough selection of jeans, which is the main reason we went to the sale! They had all the most popular styles, in all sizes and colors.

Here's a sample of jeans from JBrand Jeans:

Pencil jeans - JBrand; as seen on Ashley Simpson.

Love Story - JBrand; as seen on Kate Moss (to die for colour!!!)

Skinny Jeans - JBrand; as seen on Vanessa Hudgens.

Sabby V bought a pair of Pencil jeans in black and Skinny jeans in dark blue. BleuXu bought Cigarette jeans in faded grey, with yellow stitching. She wore them to work on Friday with a yellow cardigan and leopard scarf and looked fab!

I bought the Skinny in blue and Love Story dark blue. The Love Story jeans have been seen on many celebs and I fell in love with them when I saw them on Kate Moss in the picture above! Sabby V also owns a pair of Love Story's, that she purchased at a previous JBrand sample sale).

JBrand jeans are extremely comfortable and easy to wear all day and all night. They are made with stretch, and so there is ease of movement in them when worn. One tip we can offer everybody is to get their jeans one size smaller because, as with many jeans (if not all), they stretch after being worn. For myself, I wish I'd gotten the Skinny in one size smaller! They stretched out a bit after I wore them once, and now I have to wear them with a belt. Otherwise, it feels like they are slowly creeping down my hips, with the crotch piece feeling like it's at my knees (okay, an exaggeration, but never a fun feeling nevertheless!)

Another tip, if you're going to wear denim to work, we suggest dark jeans without tears (so NOT professional if you have a tears going up and down your legs and/or behind!). Trouser jeans are also good for work. The Pencil, Skinny and Love Story would all be appropriate for work, and can look uber professional if paired with the right-smart top!

The trends for this season are blue-black jeans, denim leggings, and torn jeans. As well, the boyfriend jeans is still in. Basically, this season, all denims goes!

The prices at the sale were good, given that JBrand jeans are designer jeans and usually go for at least double what they were selling for at the sale. The samples jeans (size 25) were even less expensive, and a great bargain at that!

Unfortunately, at the time I write this, the sale is now over. But good news is: there's one every season! We'll keep you posted for future sales!