second skin jeans

Got this new pair of super skinny jeans from Blanco. I hesitated to try this pair as it's marked "super skinny" because my Body Pumped-quads could never fit in those, but I was drawn to that faded denim shade so I gave it a try. They turned out to be a really comfortable pair and I've been living in these jeans nowadays.

I love pairing skin-tight jeans with a bigger, oversized top to create a sense of balance. 
 

Seriously one of my favorite looks.

 

Also love the ripped detail. 

I was wearing: Super skinny denim from Blanco (Manila), Zara top and studded sandals from H&M.

modern boho

This is the only good outfit photo that came out of the series of shots. Anyway, this is my take on a modern bohemian look - floral dress with electric pleats paired with utilitarian uniforms of cargo vest and boots.

I was wearing: floral dress (Ma's own), Liz Claiborne utility vest, Bershka boots, belt from Landmark (Manila).

seeing red

My own take of the ~sexy librarian. Ha!

I find it a bit of a challenge to pair red with other colors - pair with white and hey, it's National Day!, pair with green and it's Christmas. 

 

So to be less festive, I paired with this floral blue button-down. It's a little bit sexy nerd, isn't it?

I was wearing: tailor-made pencil skirt, Stradivarius button-down, studded sandals from H&M.

 

hairband

On my birthday, Ma gave me this awesome polka-dot hairband from Zara. (Would have been extra nice it I had actually worn it while cruising the Islands for summer as I had originally planned, but, would have to make-do with this.)
 

hang loose

H&M really knows how to make loose boyfriend t-shirts. This is exactly the kind of loose-fitting top I love! It goes pretty much with anything - printed pants,like what I did here - untucked paired with pencil skirts and boots or partially tucked in with denim. At S$14.90, it's so worth it!

These printed pants, btw are just love!

 

...And, a little awkward pose in an attempt to show how lose this shirt is.

I was wearing: H&M boyfriend tee, printed pants from Blanco, court shoes from Charles & Keith.
 

the midi

Really starting to love Fall's new midi skirt length. As you know, I'm all about the pencil skirt, but I find myself gravitating towards the full midi skirt lately. Here are some of my favorites.

 
New Look Midi Skater Skirt from Asos. Find it here. Looks so good with my footwear of choice, the ankle boots. 

This gives me a Japanese style vibe. Full midi skirt in tartan check also from Asos. Get it here.
 Would also work with flat or low-heeled ankle boots. 

 

patchwork part 2

Last week, I showed you how I styled my new favorite denim patchwork jeans. For today's look, I'm still going for the casual easy look paired with a loose white button-down.

I was wearing: Zara jeans, H&M button-down top, Charles & Keith court shoes.

just in: September

As you know, I'm a sucker for boots - flat, laceup's, ankle - I love them all. So when I recently checked out the Zara store, I was drooling over all the beautiful boots this season. And so even when I was curbing my spending to prepare for the holidays, I couldn't help but pick this babies up.

I love everything about it - the dark burgundy shade and the shape is so beautiful. (It reminds me a bit of the covetous boots from YSL.)

 

That heel is perfect.

Acid wash skinny jeans from Blanco.

patchwork part 1

I bought these Celine-ish patchwork jeans at the last minute while I was in Hong Kong and I'm glad I picked it up because it's become one of my favorite, most comfy pairs I own.

For first look, I went casual and easy.

Paired with lightweight jumper and to add some spunk - leopard print pumps.

Next time, I'll be brave enough to do a denim on denim look with this. :P
 

 I was wearing: Zara jeans, jumper from Forever 21, Charles & Keith leopard print pumps.

an oldie but goodie

This is an old dress I picked up from H&M in 2010. Because of it's looseness, it's so comfortable to step into. For awhile, this was my go-to dress. 

I've recently dug it up out of my depths of my closet and have been wearing it almost regularly. I usually wear it with black leggings underneath which sort of gives it an off-duty ballerina vibe. 

Love the bell sleeves.

 

And the asymmetrical hemline. 

 

I was wearing: H&M dress (old), leggings from Cotton On, Charles & Keith court shoes.
 

inspiration

 
I saw this Fall look featured on Refinery 29 and I thought it's a great idea (except for the shoes. No thanks!) on mixing pencil skirts with hoodie and parka.

While I enjoy Singapore weather, it's images like this that makes me sometimes wish that we enjoyed four seasons to give us opportunities to experiment with layering. 

While I was in Kos last Winter, I was drawn to the casual Winter looks sported by the teenage boys - hoodies layered with parka or leather outerwear. I loved the volume and mix of textures they created. 

We can still use such inspiration by pairing sporty top with a dressier skirt or topping a pencil skirt, loose blouse with a thin parka.

if i were

Since it's the fashion month of September, I could totally wear this at a Fashion Week show. 

I just fell in love with this top the moment I saw it. I love the subtle Oriental print and these bell sleeves are awesome. 

 

Showing you how flouncy the sleeves are. The printed pants are eye-catching and pairs so perfectly with black. 

I was wearing: Top from Zara, Blanco (Athens) printed pants, Charles & Keith court shoes.

i'm blooming

Remember this? I have been using Etude's I'm Blooming Anti-Sebum face mist for a few weeks now and I'm lovin' it.

I spray once after I wear all my make up in the morning (as above) and once again in the afternoon. Being out in the sun at lunch, my face had a tendency to melt but with this, it feels much less oily and icky. I also leaves a cooling sensation after spray with a powdery finish so I don't even need to re-touch. This is definitely a little piece of heaven in a bottle.

the midi

I'm sure you've probably seen Zara's Fall Lookbook by now. I'm loving Fall's new length - the midi - seen from everything to leather balloon skirts to my favorite, the pencil skirt.

Totally reminds me of this old mustard number gifted by Cuz that I tried out here
 

I haven't worn this in awhile but I think it's time to dig out of the closet. But taking cue from Zara, I might lose the too long, clunky top and pair with a simple tank and sandals.

music and me: edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros

It's the return of Music and Me. I've been discovering a lot of great new music lately since Spotify has launched in Singapore. My best discovery are Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, an indie-folk 12-man band that includes a infuses gospel and folk with melodious and sing-along inducing harmony. They give off a very travelling minstrel vibe. 

The band members themselves have very interesting fashion sense.

The group's frontman, Alex Ebert with his signature Jesus locks, testament beard and loose white caftan and pants combo. Jade, the female vocalist favors 50s style flowy dresses.

Home, my favorite, reminds me of hot summer days, running around the beach eating watermelons and my favorite boy (who's celebrating his birthday today.) "Anywhere we go is home".
 

What better way to recall those summer days but with long, flowy white dresses! Here's my interpretation of Edward Sharpe's music.

 

I was wearing: Zara white summer dress, DIY denim jacket (pilfered from Rensky), gladiator sandals from Melissinos (Athens).

travel outfit

Just a selfie to show you what I consider my optimum travel outfit. Taken from my recent trip to Hong Kong.

My ~fanny pack to hold all my valuables (cash, passport, phone), backpack to hold all the bulkier stuff like water, snack, book (cause I never leave home without!), map, etc and the comfiest pieces of clothing and shoes I own! It continually puzzles me when I see tourists who know they will be spending the entire day sightseeing and yet choose to wear heeled sandals, party dresses (it's perfectly acceptable to wear a dress but a jewel-toned taffeta dress and I came across this more than once?!) and a clutch. *SMH* 

I was wearing: Loose tank from Cotton On, Forever 21 skinny jeans, Nike shoes, backpack from H&M Men's and belt bag gifted from Moro Mou (Athens).

haul from Hong Kong

Last month, went on a short trip to Hong Kong. As you know, Hong Kong is just as much a shopping capital as Singapore so I spent some time in my trip to check out the shopping scene. 

I made sure I don't leave HK without checking out Monki, that H&M clone also from Sweden. While they had a lot of cool stuff, I only ended up buying these lovely wireless bras and the polka-dotted retro bikini top. I was also happy I managed to finally find a handbag! (I will show this in a better photo from an outfit post.)

This jersey is a lucky find from Mong Kok's Ladies Market. The market itself is full of fake goods from the latest it-bags to denim, etc. I gave those a skip but the shops to check out are those apparel shops along the street. I believe their items are imported from Japan and if you are patient enough to go through racks of floral and gaudy-printed clothing, you'll find a gem. Like this jersey that I got for HKD300/SGD10! Can we all say Isabel Marant sporty-chic!?

 

Also got these Chinese charms. The blue beads symbolize "good health" and the red string is for "good fortune".

 

These Zara jeans are a last-minute buy. I still had HKD300 leftover which is too small to change back to SGD so I looked around at the HK airport for something to spend them on.  These patched jeans are on sale for HKD199! They remind me of Celine. Paired with white tee, statement necklace and flats=casually cool. :)

bright

I woke up to a dark, gloomy and rainy day. To counter this, I decided to wear something bright!

When I picked up this neon pink girly skirt, I had this idea to pair it with men's tee. You know, to balance it off. 

And I think I finally found the perfect men's tee to pair with this in form of this boyfriend top.

And as usual, I applied my favorite partial tuck to avoid the shirt being too loosed.

I was wearing: Boyfriend tee from New Look, H&M skirt (old), Charles & Keith court shoes. 

on beauty

Great new skincare finds that I wanted to share with you. 

Behold my Miracle 3! From L to R: Clean Face Tea Tree Oil Mild Toner from The Face Shop even the scent is mild and so good for my skin. For Beloved One Whitening Vitamin C Essence. At first I was iffy to try a product with a cheesy name like dut. But one day, I found myself in Sephora searching for a replacement to Face Shop's White Face Post-acne serum which they discontinued. I was initially looking at Philosophy but the Sephora lady suggested this to me. After one month, I noticed it's effects - my skin felt so soft and more importantly, I'm starting to see that post-acne spots are slowly but surely fading. But, it's more than just fading post-acne scars but also focusing on evening out the skin tone. My skin just loves this! Finally, For Beloved One Sunscreen. Being exposed to the harsh tropical sun can take its toll. ( This baby is partly responsible for the slow even-ing out of my skin tone.)

Etude House's I'm Blooming Sebum Control Mist. I just picked this up so I will keep you updated how effective this is. My skin is oily and being exposed to this hot weather is not doing it any favors. In the middle of the day, I literally feel my face melting (even though I don't really put on piles of make up!). While I am tempted to just wash my face in the middle of the day, it's not always possible and this face mist claims to offer instant cooling and leaving a powdery finish after spray. Heard some good things about this in beauty blogs so hopefully this will work for me too. 

Finally, my little indulgence is this YSL Lip Gloss. I normally just wears it on its own which leaves the lips with a soft, glossy finish. My new favorite!

birthday gifts

Love this beautiful printed top from Zara, a birthday gift I picked out (;P) from Ma. What's not to love - it has an interesting print and an oversized fit that works so well with my pencil skirts. 

 

Here I am pairing it with one of my favorite skirts. Love the proportion that a voluminous top and a pencil skirt creates. 

 

Also debuting my new haircut here. (Though I still miss my curls.)

Another birthday gift from Ma is this polka-dotted, silk bandana (again self-picked :P) also from Zara. I just fell in love as it reminds me of long summer days or lazing about in a yacht while cruising the Mediterranean. Ha! 

If I get tired using as bandana, this Fall 2013 campaign from Miu Miu offers a re-purposing idea:

 I was wearing: Oversized top from Zara (gifted!), pencil skirt from Rockwell (Manila), Charles & Keith court shoes.