Royal Blood…easily my favourite duo

The British rock band was formed in Brighton, England in early 2013 and consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher. Not the most conventional band with just the bass and drums but this two-man show is producing an extremely heavy sound that leaves you wanting more.

I remember hearing the band’s first hit single “Out of the Black” on the radio and quickly going home to download the entire album whether I had to pay for it or not. The song was so powerful. The lyrics were so provocative. Their sound reminded me of another of my favourite bands: Queens of the Stone Age, which is why I wasn’t surprised when I read that Joshua Homme is a major influence for Mike’s vocals.

I couldn’t afford to buy tickets to attend Royal Blood’s first show in Vancouver and decided to enter to win tickets to the Uninvited Guest to see the band play a private performance at Armoury Studios on May 22, 2015. I couldn’t believe it when I received the phone call from CFOX announcing that I had won the contest. I immediately contacted my best friend and partner in crime who didn’t even know who the band was at the time. I encouraged her to listen to a couple of songs on the band’s self-titled album, which was only recently released. She called me back shortly after and was super keen to come with.

When we arrived at the recording studio in downtown Vancouver it was recommended we wear earplugs for the duration of the set. Naturally I declined because I would rather blow my eardrums than miss out on a single pitch of sound. This band’s thundering rock and roll makes you want to crank the volume and scream at the top of your lungs or if you’re daring enough – hurl yourself into the mosh pit.

I was in shock after hearing this dynamic duo play live in the recording studio. It was incredible the amount of sound that could come from these two individuals. The band’s performance was phenomenal and their choice to play a set excluding their debut-hit single was smart. Every single song they’ve produced is one worth listening to. They even played my favourite song “Little Monster”.

After they finished playing we had the chance to meet the band and I’m not sure what came over me but I gave my phone number to the lead singer who I’m fairly certain I watched toss it into the garbage shortly after. What did I expect?

I was determined to witness the two perform again and was patiently waiting for Royal Blood to release a follow up album and to tour again. I hoped the subsequent album would be as sick as the first. The talented duo released their much-anticipated second album: How Did We Get So Dark? June 16, 2017 and I had the pleasure to see the band perform once again at the Commodore on August 8, 2017. They put on an amazing show that left the audience screaming for more. I knew from the beginning that Royal Blood was going to be insanely successful. I mean they’re currently touring with Queens of the Stone Age.

Favourite look of the season

In my previous post “Checks Please” I talked about my newly purchased Little Moon – Malva Pants, which I picked up just last week at the Aritzia located on Robson Street in downtown Vancouver (in case you were wondering).

I admit I went shopping after class Wednesday because I was feeling so overwhelmed with stress during the week which I’m certain was caused by all the final projects and exams I was worried about on top of being exhausted from working 30 hours over the weekend as per my usual routine. I needed some retail therapy.

At first I admit I experienced a mild case of buyer’s remorse or cognitive dissonance (as most shoppers do) due to how much money I had just dropped at Aritzia so I left the tags on everything and kept the receipt so I had the option of returning the merchandise if I decided it was necessary (unlikely).

Although I’m sure my bank account and credit cards would disagree with me keeping everything I purchased at Aritzia I decided to treat myself as a graduation present. In fact, my graduation ceremony at Blanche Macdonald was earlier that day.

The new outfit totally uplifted my mood. I knew the upcoming weekend was going to be another one spent working from Saturday to Tuesday and completing homework after my shifts and at least I was looking forward to wearing my new 1970’s inspired ensemble to work.

I received so many compliments from the girls at work and from customers. I even spent part of my shift being photographed in a dreamy pair of Azzedine Alaia boots which are now featured on Turnabout’s Instagram page @turnaboutluxuryresale.

The reason I love the Malva Pant so much is that they fit perfectly. They’re quite high-waisted by not too tight in the waistline and are very flatting from behind as well. I can’t stand when pants are baggy in the butt or in the crotch. The shirt I am wearing is the Wilfred – Desiree T-shirt in the colour Cairo Gold.

See Shopping Consignment to view this outfit paired with the Alaia boots.

Check in for more Fall outfit inspiration later this month!

 

Shopping Consignment

There are many benefits to working at Turnabout. One of them being the opportunity to learn about all different designer brands, secondary lines and getting to see so many unique and fabulous pieces on a daily basis. Working as a consignment buyer we also get first pick of everything that comes in, which is massive.

Shopping consignment is becoming tremendously popular in this day and age simply because not everyone has the budget for shopping high-end designer brands, especially living in an increasingly unaffordable, expensive city like Vancouver.

Shopping consignment is also a form of recycling. Rather than tossing out your gently used or even unworn clothing & accessories you can cash them in and put the credit towards buying new clothing to revamp/update/enhance your wardrobe without breaking the bank. “Pickers” shop thrift stores and consign as a source of income.

More people are realizing how buying fast-fashion in particular is so wasteful and terrible for the environment and I believe in the future there will be a major movement towards having a more minimalistic wardrobe and shopping consignment to reduce the amount of apparel and accessories that get disposed of and ultimately end out in a landfill along with other waste.

See Turnabout’s “What We Believe” for more information…

Below are some of my favourite designer items from @turnaboutluxuryresale and if you look closely I am featured in two of them (without my face showing though).

 

 

Checks Please

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As I’m sure you are aware checks are a major trend this season. They’re everywhere: on the runway as well as in stores at every different price point from designer to Zara.

I recently visited the Off-White store that only just opened up in Vancouver less than a year ago to check out the most amazing checked jacket that comes in a very large/exaggerated black and white houndstooth checked pattern (houndstooth is absolute my favourite) and I’m pretty obsessed with it. Too bad the price is $2,830.

Next I visited Aritzia to check out the assortment of checked blazers and matching dress pants and fell sort of in love with Aritzia’s Fall/Winter collection, in particular, a pair of cropped, wide-leg pants from Aritzia’s label Little Moon. Their rather 70s inspired and come in two different colours: Caramelized/Black and Red Rust/Tannin. I picked up a pair in the Caramelized/Black. Love these as well as the Wilfred – Margaux Blazer (as seen above) in the mini check tannin/black which is now unfortunately sold out completely.

In addition, to the Off-White checked blazer (which I didn’t purchase) and Little Moon – Malva Pant I found the perfect pair of Lanvin houndstooth checked pants, which are high-waisted and tie at the top. I knew I had to have them the moment we received them at Turnabout (South Granville) which is the consignment store I currently work at. Regardless of their price of $160.

Stay tuned for more of my favourite checks and fabulous finds at Turnabout.

 

YSL…probably the most I’ve ever spent on a single t-shirt but fuck it…

I currently work at a “luxury resale” store that sells some pretty expensive shit but at more affordable prices. Being the shopaholic I am, at any given time I will have my eye on a couple different items we have in, patiently waiting for the price to drop down. Unfortunately this doesn’t always work in my favour and a customer beats me to it before I get the chance. Like these Fendi sunglasses I missed out on a couple weeks ago…but that’s another story.

Anyways, I had my eye on this Yves Saint Laurent cropped t-shirt that retails for around $600.00 and was priced at $189.99. Even though this price was obviously way better than retail I still could not justify spending almost $200.00 on a single t-shirt. However this amazing t-shirt eventually dropped down to the lowest price which was $85.50 which I would still consider to be slightly over-priced but I had to have it. I feel like being a girl, particularly one who is obsessed with fashion and possibly has a slight shopping problem, we always find ways to justify our spending. In this case, I had earned $40.00 on a gift card for my store as an incentive for reaching our daily sales targets and was able to put that towards this purchase so the total I paid was approximately $50.00 which I would consider a win!!

There you have it – a way to buy designer on a budget.