Athleisure

Once again I know I'm quoting an article here but according to a recent study, the fashion industry is hurting because of the increase of popularity of casual wear. Athleisure (a fashion buzzword apparently from last year), as the name suggests, is a "gym-to-office" trend of clothing which is a result of more people embracing a healthier lifestyle. Well, you know what to expect right? Tank tops, jogger pants, sneakers and yoga pants for casual wear. Though I'm strongly against the last one...

Anyway, speaking of sneakers, I got myself these Stan Smiths as a nod to this trend. A gym rat I have always been but not a sneaker type of girl. I still remember how it started though - from Chucks to New Balance to this pair that somehow launched my #sportyfriday wears at work. That one day where comfort prevails over fashion. :P

And about my jogger pants? I've always been proud to announce if some clothing here aren't mine (translation: my brother's). So yeah, I'm guilty again. It's from this line of clothing that he's sort of endorsing so they sent him several pairs. It's just too comfy to resist and I actually wear them for dancing sometimes. Perfect example of gym to office clothing. Haha!

Jacket: Mango

Top: Maldita

Pants: Outkast

Shoes: Adidas

Sunnies: SunniesStudios

Borrowed Button-down

For someone like me who regularly borrows a man’s button-down (my brother's), I should have noticed it already before. But as it is, I had to chance upon a Business Insider’s article (yes, a Business Insider! Haha!) to actually learn this trivia. And then it hit me that one time I think I stopped and got confused while buttoning up and then simply shrugged it off.

So, have you ever noticed why men’s and women’s shirt buttons are on different sides?   Okay, wives who styles their hubbies must know this already. As for girlfriends, go check your beau’s shirts. Lol! So, according to this,

Mens’ buttons are on the right side because men have always tended to dress themselves and most men (and women, for that matter) are right-handed.

Womens’ buttons are on the left side because years ago (say, during the Victorian Era), the women that could afford fancy clothing with a bunch of buttons would rely on maids to help dress them. So, if a servant (most of whom, naturally, would be right-handed) is going to routinely buttoning up a shirt/dress for someone else, that servant is going to prefer to have the buttons on their right side (which would be the left side of the garment).

Ooh, I love trivias like this. Haha! So, for this post's gallery, I'm featuring this pale blue buttondown that I usually borrow from my brother and how I've styled it in the past so far. 

Blazer: Mango

Buttondown: Lacoste

Skirt: Topshop

Shoes: Dorothy Perkins

Bag: Marks & Spencer

Sunnies: Unbranded

Buttondown: Lacoste

Dress: Dorothy Perkins

Shoes: Dorothy Perkins

Buttondown: Lacoste

Top: Aeropostale

Jeans: Mango

Shoes: Dorothy Perkins

Third-Piece Rule

Last month, I came across an article about some retailer companies in the US that encourage employees to be more stylish at work by applying this rule.The third-piece rule is something that is apart from your top and bottom but is not the shoes too. Then what is it?

After putting on the basics, one must think then of a layering piece to add that interesting element in the outfit. True, it can be an outerwear or an accessory. And later on, in our fashion styling class, I would learn it to be called a "focal point." Focal point as my instructor would simply define it, is that center of attention of your outfit. But must it always be an outer layering piece?

The first thing that came to mind when I read that article is this ensemble from last December. What I lacked in photography though was made up in the caption. "Three-parts black" as I have used to be specific.  The lace details of the dress underneath is too subtle but considered obligatory for a bardot crop top.

Yes, I am making the lace detail the focal point of my ensemble. And yes, sometimes the third-piece rule doesn't have to be an outer layer but an intriguing detail that leaves the looker a question, "Is it a part of the top or the skirt?" Now I got their attention. :P

Dress: Warehouse

Top: Topshop

Skirt: Asos

Shoes: Zara

Roooaaarrr!!!

"I've never met a leopard print I didn't like."

One of the outdated fashion rule is to never mix print on print. I believe it was created before for some aesthetic reason but as we all know, rules are meant to be broken.

As quoted above, I love myself a leopard print. But a leopard on leopard? That's just double the fierceness if I dare say. I was really excited when I first visualized this look in my head but hesitated when I first tried it on a regular "dress rehearsal" that I had to abandon the idea completely. It was just too strong for my eyes then.

I gave it another try the week after and, in the words of my fashion styling instructor (yes!!! breaking news, I'm studying :D), "for some supernatural reasons, it worked." Lol! I just had to keep everything else minimal (aka stick to black).

I guess this just proves another point I knew all along. Leopard is a neutral. I've seen it worked on numerous occasions and in different pairings. I guess this is what our ancestors were thinking when they decided to use animal hides for cover (well, practical reasons aside of course!) Aaah, too many takeaways from my styling class. Expect more of that in my future posts. Tata! =)

Dress: H&M

Skirt: Apartment8 Clothing

Shoes: Marks & Spencer

Bag: Charles & Keith

Sunnies: Flea market in Osaka

The Scalloped Edges

Warning: Cheesy post

As mentioned in my last post, I love myself a good night market find. One good example is this gray midi skirt I got from my trip to Taipei one month ago. I have been looking for a nice ladylike skirt in this hue as a result of a recent realization about gray's versatility.

The skirt is made of cashmere fabric and has that scallop detail at the waistline. I wasn't even thinking about this red crop top with the same scalloped ends when I bought it but there they were - looking like the better half of each other.

Wear it on a Valentine week (RED!!!) and expect a single girl to come up with hugot lines. Seriously, if these scalloped clothes were able to find their way together then what prevents me from finding my own perfect match someday? 

My faith in love has just been restored through fashion. How is that even possible? Lol.

Top: Apartment8 Clothing

Skirt: Night market in Taipei

Belt: Unbranded

Shoes: H&M

Necklace: Zara

Seoul 2015

Anyong Haseo! =) Fresh from Seoul, Korea I thought I'd share my travel OOTDs here. The weather ranged from 6 to 14 degrees in daytime but went to atleast -1 degree at night during my stay. 

If Olivia Palermo is the queen of mixing high-end and high-street fashion, then I'd love to emulate her example by mixing high-street and unbranded. Hehe =P Perfect examples would be the gallery below. With that, I'd like to highlight my bag purchases from night markets.

I appreciate high-end structured bags and I do see the point of investing in them. But what with a limited budget, I'd rather take the eclectic approach than invest on a single expensive bag and organize my style around it. That's just not me. Enter these bags into the picture.

One glance and for sure I know you can tell which brands they are trying to copy. The blue one here below which can be mistaken for that French tote is from Taipei and my very recent shoulder bag in the last photo (from a movie titled Guesthouse, lol!) was bought in Gangnam market! They're from both local brands in their respective countries and something I'd prefer than buying a replica (cough cough China! lol!). Roomy, structured and affordable. Now that's my kind of bag. =)

Jacket: Topshop

Top: Terranova

Skirt: Night market in Taipei

Boots: Chinese Laundry

Scarf: Landmark

Specs: Flea market in Osaka

Bag: Night market in Taipei

Coat: Unbranded

Top: Terranova

Shorts: Reebok

Socks: Forever21

Shoes: Adidas

Sunnies: Aldo

Dress: H&M

Shoes: Chinese Laundry

Mini bag: Dorothy Perkins

Bag: Night market in Seoul

Sunnies: Flea market in Osaka

White & Gold Jumpsuit

So I wore a blue and black ensemble to a wedding last month and guess what? It’s totally white and gold. *gasp* Lol! Seriously I don’t get the buzz about this ugly plain dress that went viral last week. I couldn’t count the times I rolled my eyes whenever I’d see it in my news feed. And if you've been living under the cave, then I'm not hyperlinking that story here. Lol! The thing is, some people hated it themselves and yet they’d post something about it in their timeline which is like WHUT?!?! If they hated it, they should’ve just avoided mentioning it altogether noh?

Hey, look who’s picking on the topic right now. Lol! Well, I just found a perfect intro for this dress I wore to a relative’s wedding at Fernwood Gardens exactly a month ago. It just so happened to be a white jumpsuit with gold sequined details infront. And there’s no optical illusion here guys, it’s really white and gold.

A photo of a there-I’ll-say-it FUGLY dress that can polarize the internet. What’s happening to the world? I’d rather talk about the mystery of Lupita Nyong’o’s stolen Chanel dress or Ciara’s frock at the Grammy's that earned a like in my Instagram post (read it here). But hey, if there’s any takeaway from here – we learned about differences in individual perceptions, optical illusions, wavelengths and illuminations. Right??? NOOOTTT!!! Lol!

Jumpsuit: Dorothy Perkins

Bag: Mango

Shoes: Marks & Spencer

Watch: XOXO