Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #96 Wellington Boot

I'm slowly trekking towards owning everything in Nina Garcia's book The One Hundred, or at least everything in there that works for me. My newest and most happifying* acquisition is my new pair of wellies.

First, some background information on my history with rubber boots. I love rubber boots. I love wearing them, I love looking at them, I think they are some of the cutest footwear a gal can own. And they are important in climates where it sometimes rains! Or where it rains a lot! There is something very satisfying about sloshing through particularly deep puddles on one's way somewhere knowing that one's feet are staying warm and dry.

However, I have a problem with the standard pull-on rubber boot. You see, due to a rare, hereditary muscle disease called Thomsen's, my calves are quite large around. Pull-on rubber boots never fit me. They always scrunch up in a weird way before they go all the way up.

I was bemoaning this to The Boy in the summer, when he mentioned Ilse Jacobsen's boots. He told me that they sold them at Vanilla on Elgin Street between Cooper and Somerset (I'm sorry, but they don't have a website). And he told me that rather than pull on, they laced up.

Well, being the frugal girl that I am, I couldn't very well justify going out to buy a new pair of rubber boots right away, as my pink boots from Zeller's were still doing the job just fine. But once they started to leak last month, and I mentioned it to The Boy, he promised me a trip down to Vanilla as soon as we got the chance.

The day before we went, I called to make sure they had them in my size. They had one pair of the white ones left (the colour I was craving), and lo and behold! It was in my size.

We went to Vanilla, I slipped my feet inside, and I fell in love.

They fit a dream. They went over my jeans. They were woolly and warm inside and felt just like a hug.

ON MY FEET. Best hug ever.

The boots are made with natural rubber in Hornbaek, Denmark, by hand. They are a quality boot. With warm socks, their heavy tread should be able to get me through most of the winter.

Have I mentioned that I love these boots? (Also: love The Boy for the present.)

*Yes, I know "happifying" isn't a word, but I made it up because of how much I love these boots.

Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #2 Animal Print

All photos, Andrew Alexander Photography.

I have loved animal print since I was a kid. It was the eighties. My mother was horrified. But man, did I ever want leopard-print everything.
 

In high school I had a leopard-print belt and headband. I wore them with a black turtleneck and tight black jeans (what would now be referred to as "skinnies"), and I thought I was the chicest thing in the school.

I have to admit, most of what I own in the way of animal print is in the leopard variety; it's my favourite skin pattern (followed closely by zebra).

Oh dear. Those shoes are too big. It's hard to be a stylist for yourself!

Hooray to Nina Garcia for acknowledging that animal print is chic (of course, only in the colours that nature intended and only in small doses)! Now I can prove it to my mother!

Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #72 Red Lipstick

What woman doesn't love red lipstick? Even if they claim not to, there is a glamour and a cachet associated with it, and if you think you can't wear it, you envy those who can.

In my ongoing Nina Garcia's One Hundred series, number 72 is red lipstick. It seems I can't go to the drugstore without walking away with another one. And Sephora? Forget it. I am constantly on the lookout for the perfect matte red lipstick for myself.

Of course, Garcia is a name-dropper, and some of the ones she cites are Chanel Red No. 5, MAC Ruby Woo, Clinique Angel Red, CoverGirl Really Red, Lancome Red Desire, Anna Sui Rouge Chine, Mary Kay Red Salsa, Elizabeth Arden Slink, NARS Fire Down Below, and Trucco Blood. I have tried most, if not all, of these lipsticks, and not one has worked for me. 

The thing with red lipstick is that there are so many factors that figure in to which one is right for you—the shape of your mouth, your skintone, your hair colour, your preferred wardrobe, and so on. 

I have found my perfect shade: Revlon Matte Lipstick in Really Red. Runners up include MAC's Liza Red (part of the Liza line from a bunch of years ago, sadly discontinued—you might get the same colour out of Lady Bug but the finish is different) and Kat Von D's Painted Love Lipstick in Hellbent. 

However, I wouldn't have gone anywhere near the Revlon lipstick ten years ago. My skin and style in my mid-twenties could never have carried off such a heavy, matte red slash of a mouth (no matter how much I wanted to channel Diana Vreeland). I was relegated to wearing more sheer, glossy reds, which didn't compete with my clear skin and bright eyes. (Oh, how I long for those days...)

If you are on the search for a signature red lipstick, fear not! The ideal one for you is out there. Much like shopping for the perfect pair of jeans, you have to try, try, and try some more. And if all else fails, take me with you!

Nina Garcia's One Hundred: #23 Cosmetics Bag

Nina Garcia (of Project Runway notoriety) has written several books (The Little Black Book of Style and The Style Strategy come to mind), but my favourite book of hers by far has got to be The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own.


Inspired by the renovations to her apartment, Garcia wrote a book about the pieces she kept going back to in her wardrobe. The staples, if you will.


I have some of the pieces listed in this book. I don't have a lot of them. But in my efforts to become more stylish, I am definitely looking at this book as an invaluable resource.


And of course, I'm going to blog about my style adventures, attempting to bring my list from some to all. (Over time, of course. There are some serious cash outlays in this book. In my opinion, worth every penny.)


So, number 23. The cosmetics bag. Of course, Garcia talks about owning high-end luxury ones (she counts four Prada cosmetic bags in her arsenal), but for me that just doesn't work. I bring my cosmetics bag with me absolutely everywhere (thank heavens for my Lug bag), and a pretty Prada (Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Tod's) bag would just get ruined in my travels. For that matter, a simple LeSportsac or MAC bag would quickly be spoiled. So it's free giveaway bags for me! My current one is a plastic number from Clinique's last giveaway at Sears.


Of course, it doesn't matter so much what kind of bag it as much as what's in it. Let's take a look at Garcia's list, shall we?

1. La Roche Posay sunscreen 
2. Kiehl's lip balm 
3. Guerlain bronzing powder 
4. Nivea Sun Oil spray 
5. Kerastase Hair Drops (Which appear to no longer exist?)
6. Mario Badescu Drying Lotion 
7. Helena Rubenstein Force C Cream 
8. Maybelline Great Lash mascara 
9. MAC eye shadow (I have to say, I'm not a fan, give me Smashbox or anything else, really.)
10. Bobbi Brown Long-Wear eyeliner 
11. Tweezerman tweezers 
12. Shu Uemura eyelash curler 

Which is all well and good, if you've got tons of bucks to spend on a basic cosmetics kit, but if you're anything like me, you don't. So, here's what's in my makeup bag. (I feel oddly exposed, sharing all this...)

1. Avon Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15 (most days this is all I wear as a base, at least in the summer)
2. Urban Decay Primer Potion (This product is my #1 must-have. Hint: when you think it's gone, cut the bottle open and there's a lot more left inside! Scrape it into a little pot and you've got twice as much as you thought.)
3. Avon Ideal Shade Concealer Stick 
4. Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator in Natural (Freebie!)
5. L'Oreal True Match Roller makeup (Which I hate, and use with a sponge instead of the roller it came with. It's just dreadful, and takes forever to get right, but I'm such a cheapo sometimes that I can't throw things out if I can make them sort of work.)
6. Revlon PhotoReady Powder in Fair/Light (Which is awesome.)
7. Avon Pro Brow Enhancer in Black
8. Revlon ColorStay Liquid Eyeliner in Blackest Black (For the signature cat eye, of course.)
9. Clinique High Definition Lashes mascara in Black (Freebie as well! But I love it so much, I would buy it.)
10. New York Color Blushable Creme Stick in Berry New Yorker

These items are supplemented with whichever eye shadow and lipstick I decide to wear on any given day.

Wow. I feel super-exposed.