Christine Pienaar Photography
Blossom & Vine Floral

Style, Fashion and Interior Design

Visiting the home of personal stylist, with a sneak preview into my world.

My passion for styling and cleansing people’s personal wardrobes transpired the design of my own home… a small space where I managed to include all my favourite cottage décor items. My personal sense of fashion is simple and monochromatic. While not missing out on current trends, I included this concept within our home by transforming the basic builder-gray walls and strange sparkly-light fixtures into a cottage-theme design by using the same approach as I do with personal styling, creating something I love and feel comfortable in!

Desserts Noms By Mon

Beginning with the front entry, I selected a timeless monochromatic (favorite colour choice in my wardrobe as well) beige/white damask wall covering, a period white accent table and decorative mirror to create a dramatic, yet neutral tone within this small space. On the main floor, an open concept, is where I incorporated a small workspace corner to prepare my client story and styling blogs and other business duties.

It was important for us to have room to entertain, so I selected to a custom-built farm table which added extra space to the 9 ft island! Soft beach-tones from Benjamin Moore paint colours were selected for the living area that enhanced the white woodwork and cabinets in the kitchen. The island in this space has become a constant space to entertain as people our drawn to the comfort and easy access to the food!

When I shop for my clients, I always search for those small details that elevate the trends that clients are looking for. These small details also enhance the interior of a home and that’s why I updated the lighting to period pendant fixtures & Edison LED lights with a colour  coordinated Fuse faucet from Delta https://www.deltafaucet.com, an expensive item… but when my designer mom pointed out ‘You don’t have a problem buying designer heels but you have a problem buying a designer faucet that will last a lifetime?’ I thought.. well, that’s a true story and a good investment!

My home may be on the smaller scale with an open concept theme,  but we managed to create a unique dining space for six, large enough for hosting a dinner party or dessert party!! We were convinced we wanted a farm style table but when shopping we found the scale in size was 6-8ft! We found a solution by using a woodworker to custom make the same look in the perfect size!

A special reading corner was designed as well as a desk area… both becoming great space to spend blogging, researching and working on Mabelle Style Client profiles.

Brand: Mother Denim

Brand: Frame Denim

I feel like it’s been forever that the skinny denim has been the style of the season, over and over again. I’m not complaining,  as I do love a stretchy skinny and I haven’t been ready to embrace the boot cut since the late 90’s.  I’m happy to see this newest denim trend is something different, something new for me. I have personally never had such a wide leg denim in my wardrobe till this Spring!

My look below – I have purchased two different styles of wide leg this season from https://www.citizensofhumanity.com/ the denim looks can be worn casual with a cute sneaker, or dress them up with a clean high heal.  Also,  the sock boot is still going strong this season and can look great with a wide leg. Keep in mind most wide leg denim styles in the stores this season tend to be high waisted, make sure you tuck, tuck, tuck otherwise you can end up looking wide from top to bottom!

Once Spring/Summer fashion comes into the stores, without fail, you always find the ‘groundbreaking’ floral. As well as lots of white on white and natural shades. It was a pleasant surprise to see a pastel be one of the biggest trends this year. That pastel colour is known as lilac or lavender. If you’re someone who loves to online shop, go to your favorite site and search the colour option and bam, every item in this popular seasonal colour pops up!

For my personal styling, I found a lightweight lilac sweater from http://www.hm.com for only $17! The west coast tends to be chilly in the evenings which makes this sweater a great piece year round!

Suit: Hugo Boss
Shirt: Eton
TIe: Zegna
Shoes: Etro

My last fall shop of the season was for a husband and wife combo! The husband arrives for his shop in the morning so he is in and out of the mall before the chaus starts, purchasing his new wardrobe.  The wife on the other hand is with us for the entire day, as she thoroughly enjoys seeing her husbands new outfits and then has the afternoon to herself with the stylist!

For us, the nice part to styling a husband and wife together, is that we can ensure the outfits are compatible with one another. We don’t mean matchy matchy, more to the idea that they look like they are always going to the same party. For example, both have some great leather jackets and casual pieces as well as she has some perfectly fitted dresses for when he is in a suit!

One common area we notice with all the husband and wife clients is that the wives tend to remember and know how to keep the outfit combinations together once they get home! For the husbands that’s another story lol. They love the outfit grids,  they can always have a photo of the perfect outfit combination to keep them sharp.  To give you a glimpse into some of the amazing outfit combos from this past shop check out the photos below!

Jacket: Hugo Boss
T shirt: John Varvatos
Denim: Paige

acket: Armani
Shirt: Hugo Boss
Pants: Zegna
Shoes: Tods

Shirt Jacket: Wings & Horns
Henley: John Varvatos
Shoes: Tods
Denim: AG

Before Look: Online purchase ALC dress.

Have you ever ordered an item online in hopes it would be as amazing as it looked on the model? Then you receive it and it’s nothing but!  I think that’s happened to the best of us, especially when we find a sale item and can’t resist. Once it has arrived it becomes much less then a steller deal as it just sits in the closet forever.  I do think as a stylist,  there is hope!! Sometimes it just takes a little more thought and creativity to make that oversized sweater, to short of denim or whatever else you may have purchased look cool again. The look in this post shows a dress from one of my favorite brands, ALC, I had ordered online thinking what a deal, half price! When I received the dress in the mail it just didn’t fit, making me look wider and didn’t showcase any the areas I like to focus on with my personal style. What I did was play around layer jackets to give the dress a cool casual vibe or dressy night out look!
For all those random online purchases, there’s hope! Add belts, jewellery, or like me a jacket to make the look new again. It could even be a heal vs a flat or sometimes its just a quick visit to the seamstress to tweak that ill fitting area that the model didn’t seem to have at the online purchase:)

After: Casual Look adding denim jacket & booties

After: Dressy Look by adding a pair of heels & leather cropped leather jacket

Time to clean out the worn sweaters and shop for new ones!

Current state – Lots of bottoms and denim in the wardrobe!

Thankfully we have yet to see the heavy snowfalls that took us all by surprise last winter! But we have seen a lot of rain this past month as well as some crisp air, which has been perfect for sweaters and layering!  The client story we’re sharing on the blog today had a shop filled with just that, perfect layering pieces and an introduction to some new brands! She has been shopping with Mabelle style for 10 years, having both closet clean outs and shops seasonally twice a year. We started this season off by going over her current wardrobe which has a lot of bottoms, as seen in the above photo and some great tops! For this shop we needed to update her style with everyday sweaters & layering options. Even though she didn’t need new bottoms she never shy’s away from a new pair of denim, we introduced her to Mother Denim a brand pretty new to the Vancouver market! She loved the fit and ended up going home with two pairs!

Recently we did a men’s personal shop for fall! This client has been a regular, shopping with Mabelle Style for coming up four years. We went through his closet beforehand and cleaned out lots of worn out bottoms and basics as well as shoes. During the personal shop we made sure to  update those worn out pieces as well found items to create full outfits going into the chilly weather. This client loves t-shirts which meant we need to find some great layering pieces to give more to the t-shirt style. We ended up with a cool mid weight Hugo Boss blazer that was a knit blend – not only a perfect weight for Vancouver weather but it won’t wrinkle when travelling! We also purchased 5 updated jeans/pants, three new shoes and plenty of tops. Check some outfit photos below to see his cool style for this fall.

Christine Pienaar Photography

Summer has come to an end but the weather is still showing that it’s not fall yet, that’s forsure!! WIth that being said sometimes these transitional times of year can become challenging to put together outfits.  It’s to hot for sweaters and coats but not warm enough to keep wearing those summer dresses!  A look I put together recently to accommodate to the season was a See By Chloe knit dress (perfect weight for light breezy days) and a pair of booties. Who doesn’t love a good pair of booties! I picked up this style ‘Clinger’  from http://www.stuartweitzman.ca one of my favorite brands for year round boots.

Shirt: Aritzia
Belt: H&M
Shoes: Louboutin

The past two seasons we have seen a lot of shirts becoming dresses! From sweatshirts and t-shirts to a poplin blouse all the tops are now being worn in a bit baggier style and a little longer length. This trend is versatile from day to night all by playing with the perfect shoe. Ankle booties, pumps and over the knee boots for fall create a chic look out of a loose, oversized top!!

Want to know more about the shirt dress look? Ask us, the personal stylist experts and we can tell you how to get the look!

Coat: Zara
Denim: Citizen of Humanity
Shoes: Christian Louboutin

One of the more popular trends this season has been a bold print.  Think of a print you would most likely see on wallpaper or even drapes! Trends seem to be coming from inspiration in the living room and now moving into your closet! The vivid prints and color have been focused more on a layering piece vs your entire outfit. Lightweight maxi or kimono style coats found on designer runways to H&M. Lots of options at variable price points. I picked up my kimono style at Zara for $69! It was the perfect piece layered over neutrals.

Photographer: Christine Pienaar