vintage: from ma's closet

A couple of years ago, I raided Ma's closet for all her old dresses. You see Ma has always been a jeans and blouse type of girl but on special occasions, she would go to her modista, Aling York to have dresses made. I remember as a kid going with her to one of these trips where she'd spend hours poring over catalogs for dress ideas. 



She can no longer remember which special occasion she had this dress specially made for. Ha! I love the color (old rose) and the pleating!



With Ma's (again!) classic shoulder bag. To take this look from the 70s to 2011, I decided to pair with platform shoes with socks (how current is that?!) instead of the expected pumps.



Socks + the wooden heels remind me of the Japanese slippers.
A little tip: often when we wear socks with shoes, we lose our feet lose their natural grip on the shoes and accidents can happen. I suggest that you buy those gel-type of inserts to make them less slippery. They also add extra cushioning on the balls of your feet.


I was wearing: Ma's dress, Ma's bag, Martina Pink platform shoes, socks from Commode.

layering for the tropics

All through the weekend, I was thinking about "long shirt, short vest" - something about the idea of combining multiple lengths that appealed to me. 


So I came up with this:

Ugh! I should not have put my hands in my pockets but sometimes when I have my pictures taken, I don't know what to do with my hands.
I originally intended to wear a pair of leggings with this but both pair I own are in the wash so I decided to just wear with this old skinny pants. I haven't worn this in awhile and I'm glad I re-discovered them. They fit perfectly and are comfortable.



I love layering. It gives an added dimension, a punch to the look. A vest is a great layering piece especially for us living in sunny Singapore.



Aside from the fit, I was also pleasantly surprised by how well the pants work with the boots! 


The theme of this post "long shirt, short vest" reminds of this song from Cake called Short Skirt/Long Jacket:




I was wearing: Black skinny pants from Coat's in Tangs, Zara top, denim vest, lace-up boots from Zara.

the pullover

I'm loving all the knitwear in Zara's November lookbook and I'm inspired by all the different styling. Unfortunately, most of the knitwear available now are the chunky ones for Fall/Winter, not really tropics-appropriate.




As I suggested before, even for us living in perpetual 30deg weather, we don't have to altogether forget our dreams of styling knit in many different outfit combos. The key is to find one with a lighter material, or pick up a cotton pullover! 



This one is just a light cotton fabric so it's comfortable even on extremely hot days. As usual, I picked up mine a few sizes bigger. 


I was going for I-borrowed-my-guy's-sweater look then pair with a feminine piece like this floral balloon skirt.



I normally don't seek out floral prints but I was attracted to this color combo - navy, browns and salmon.


I was wearing: Navy cotton pullover from Forever 21, H&M floral skirt, platform wedges from Romwe.

that 70s flare

Fashion really just goes around in cycles, doesn't it? (This is the reason I hardly throw old clothes out!)
For instance, flared jeans are so becoming fashionable again and I'm glad I didn't have this old pair from 2004 chopped off or tapered as I intended to do a few years back.



I'm so glad I didn't mess up with this pair! This pair just fits so well and length is perfect too. 
Decided to wear an old top from the days of the height of the peasant/boho (think Mary Kate bag-lady fashion on the pages of Teen Vogue) trend.



Look at my legs looking like they go on forever! Paired with my sky-high (but surprisingly comfortable!) platform wedges. Because flares should be paired with heels, no arguments!

To complete the bohemian theme, I used my leather mini pouch.

I was wearing: Peasant top from Kashieca (hand-me-down from my Aunt), People are People flare jeans, platform wedges from Romwe, leather bag from Athens, leather bracelets from H&M and Pull & Bear, DIY beads.

green + blue

So I obviously really love this tee based on how many times it has appeared here. I just love this shade of green and I'm still experimenting with other colors I can pair this with. 



For example, the navy perfectly complements the green.



This is also the first time I paired my ankle boots with a short skirt. I initially felt self-conscious about this because I don't have the longest legs and boots cut awkwardly can make my short legs looks even more stumpy. But I think ankle boots are good for this as they are not cut at mid-calf so there's still a lot of leg showing, giving the illusion of long(er) gams.


I was wearing: H&M men's tee, skirt from Forever 21, Zara ankle boots.

just in: cobalt blue pants

So I planned to drop by H&M yesterday at lunch to check out the Versace collection but it got pretty crazy at work that I couldn't take extra time off lunch. Decided to drop by the store at night after workout, the I looked around the women's collection on the ground floor. There were still some hooker sky-high heels left so I was hopeful for the men's collection. 


Looked around the men's on the 3rd floor and they were all gone! Aaacck! 


H&M did however put some of their old items on sale so I had a look around the store and found this pair of cobalt blue pants. I've been looking for a pair in this color (I found a pair on Topman) so I was glad to see this and marked down at $20! 



These are actually skinny/slim cut but I could only find a size about 2 inches bigger than what I normally wear so it turned into a boyfriend fit. 


Perfect with a simple crisp white shirt or striped yellow top. 

versace for H&M

The Versace for H&M collection will also be available in the Singapore store starting tomorrow at 8 am. I am not sure what the reception will be tomorrow but if the H&M opening day last September can be used as an indication, I expect chaos and long queues!


I am thinking of taking an early lunch to drop by the store. As I have mentioned here before, I've got my eye on a couple of pieces from the men's collection and I need to check them out in real life.



Jersey with silver rivets, $59



Studded shorts with pleats, $79



Tailored shirt with metal corners on collar, $79



Black and white printed pants, $119