Chapter One

I am what you would call a noveau fashionista - kind of like noveau riche, where you are still looking to fit in with the born fashionistas. In fact, throughout high school I would call myself a fashion schizophrenic - I alternated between sports wear, baggy clothes, and dresses. It wasn't until I met my future sister in-law that I even really cared much about how I look - I wore what I felt like, when I felt like it, and to hell with what everyone else thought about me.

I gradually began to improve my look towards the end of high school, had a bit of a set-back with my early university years (trust me, the student look of ultra casual, sloppy backpack 24-7 is flattering on no one), and now am back and growing strong in the fashion department. I have had about four major influences in my fashionista ways:
1) Laura, the most stylish young woman ever to grace the streets of Vancouver
2) Shoshana, my sister-in-law who is never afraid of trying new things and is the sexiest person I know
3) Alison, my friend, and a grad-student turned New York bar manager, who even while working in her lab managed to retain an adventurous flare to her wardrobe which is all her own
and 4) Last and most importantly, Stacey London, the host of my 2 year-long addiction, "What Not To Wear", who has helped me discover what looks good on my body type, and sparked my first-time serious interest in fashion

Currently, I am a graduate student at the University of British Columbia and continue to rebel against the student staples of sneakers and backpacks. I am know for my obsessive high heal-wearing ways and bringing chic back into the lab. I would call my present style part flirty-feminine, part edgy-chic, part urban-preppy.

Motivation for this blog has come from the brilliant publication Lucky Magazine, because of the down-to-earth and everyday-attemptable styles that have helped both refine and inspire my look. I hope to embolden fashionistas-to-be with my top picks and must-haves from my favorite stores and the pages of Lucky.

Until next time,

The Reluctant Fashionista