zhangling❤photography

I say this practically every year but fall is really my favourite fashion season. I love all the seemingly endless possibilities that come with layering and being able to play with different textures and materials. Oh, and all the rich colours! There's so many fun ways to pair fall tones. Unfortunately, fall in Ottawa can be cut short by a cold front that takes us pretty much directly into winter. As much as I enjoy certain fall favourites (like light coats and leather jackets), it's really important to have solid transitional pieces that work well across both seasons so you can get more wear out of your items. Vintage camel coat (borrowed from mom) Forever21/H&M chunky scarf (borrowed from mom) Lilac cashmere sweater from Babaton Vintage Levis (thrifted) BP booties from Nordstrom Fall favourite: Vintage denim There's something so casual and chic about the washes and cuts in vintage denim that goes so well with the fall colours. A lot of blue denim or ev...

I can't believe that tomorrow will be December! Where has the month year gone?? I'm equal parts stunned and excited because I love the winter holiday season. One of my favourite things to do is holiday shopping. A lot of folks get stressed out by holiday shopping but I really enjoy it! The malls are all decorated and festive and I treat it as a treasure hunt finding meaningful and fun gifts for my loved ones. In the spirit of Movember (awareness month of men's health and moustaches) and to help prepare for the gift shopping ahead, I've put together some gift ideas for men as my product shoot for this month. If these shoes look familiar, they are indeed my vintage Batas featured in previous outfits here  and here . Both the shoes and gloves pictured are actually mine/women's and not Nick's/men's because Nick's shoes are too big to fit in frame. And this matters because my photo shoot set is super ghetto -- see setup photo below: yes t...

Ahhh I'm so glad I'm finally publishing this post! I've been planning and trying to work on this for so long (basically right after  2017 Fall Fashion post ) but following more of the intentional structure of my 2018 Summer Fashion Trends post . So again, I have three trends that I've enjoyed through the varying stages of fall -- and actually, I believe would work well into winter too! Just pop on a thicker coat or parka and done. So without further ado: Trend 1: Mad for Plaid All plaid is pretty trendy but I've been seeing glen plaid (grey monochrome plaid) in particular everywhere this fall. From blazers to dresses to skirts to pants, I've been seeing this pattern in all mainstream stores (Zara, Dynamite, Forever21, etc.) Glen plaid pants from H&M Bustier bodysuit from Dynamite Leathers sleeve blazer from Danier Heels from Aldo My pants are actually from last year December, another one of those purchases that sat in my closet for a long t...

There's this ongoing joke amongst my girlfriends that I'm not meant to wear nail polish. Every time my nails get done, they're chipped almost immediately -- regardless of the formula, number of coats, whether I got them done at home or at the salon, etc. Once, Carlie went bowling right after we got the same manicure and her nails stayed intact after, while mine chipped in the car ride home. Sigh. Recently, I tried shellac nail polish for the first time, and after hearing all the testimonies of how it'll last for weeks and never chip, I was cautiously optimistic. Trying to be hopeful but also paranoid that I'll be the one weirdo where shellac doesn't work. Fortunately, it did! I went with an all-occasion, pink-nude and I was sooo happy, I couldn't stop touching or admiring my nails. I felt so put together, so lady-like, so  polished (badum-tss).  Needless to say, I've now decided I will always have nice nails because they're such a small thing b...

Last weekend, I attended my very first beer festival -- Beau's Oktoberfest out in Vankleek Hill (between Ottawa and Montreal). It was a really fun time and I'm already looking forward to next year! With beer on the brain plus a few cans of Sapporo in the fridge, I started brewing up ideas for this month's product shoot. background is authentic happi coat that I brought back from my trip to Japan! "the Avengers shot" - A.K. the samurai shot A bit of background on the photo shoot: my first attempt at shooting was during a power outage and so in editing the first batch photos, I had the weird feeling something was off. I quickly realized that I was missing the condensation/frostiness on the can and glass that conveys the message that the beer is cold. Frustrated, because we gave away basically everything in the fridge so it wouldn't go bad during the power outage (which included the rest of the beer) I ranted to my friend Charlotte. Coincidenta...