Summer "Issues"

~ 🎶 Issues by Julia Michaels 🎶 ~

It’s Memorial Day long weekend which officially starts summer for my favourite fashion bloggers in the US. So, in the spirit of “keeping up”, I thought I’d post these never-been-blogged hotel swim pics in black ‘kinis.

Funny that here in PH, rain season has just officially started. And just this weekend, I had to once again empty out my bikini drawer and stash them clothing away for lack of beach trips in the coming months. Sad face. Lol. But we’ll never know what might just happen right? For once a certified kaladkarin**, always a “Karen.” *wink*

**From the Tagalog word "kaladkad" meaning "to drag", so "kaladkarin" would mean "draggable", which is probably a word now that Apple has made things draggable, that is, "easy to drag".

Wedding Season

Wedding season is upon us! Though as observed here in the Philippines that most weddings nowadays already come in December, I still know a couple of friends who will tie the knot this June. If you may still remember this post, I mentioned about this top from Zaful that’s just begging to be worn on a special occasion. So, if I have the time to attend this June, this is how I will wear it - with this maxi skirt of mine that is a certified “suki” outfit for weddings. 

I love that this maxi skirt simply delivers in the “pretty and romantic” requirement for a wedding attendee without being OTT (aka upstaging the bride, lol!). It was such a good investment piece as it is pretty versatile too. Check out how I mix-n-matched it for two weddings before here and here. This being a maxi skirt means I can put on a dressy stiletto during the ceremony and change to something comfortable if I wanna boogie on up during the party without being noticed. *wink*

Top: Here: Skirt: Mango; Shoes: Zara

Tokyo, Tokyo 🗾🇯🇵

Everybody (atleast in the Philippines) is going to Tokyo lately. Lol. I think it’s because of a budget airline's recent promos (imagine our airfare is cheaper than my coming trip up North here in PH :P).  But anyway, if you’re travelling to Tokyo for the first time, Japan guide offers a very good itinerary plan which made me think why I didn’t consult it on my first trip to Osaka 3 years ago. Here’s what our what to do/ see was able to afford in our short 4-day stint:

We arrived Sunday morning and met Felix at Shibuya and asked to meet him where Hachiko is. The whole day entailed a lot of walking covering the ffg:

Shibuya crossing. 🚸 Though I’m such a doglover, I found it too “touristy” to have a pic with Hachiko. Lol. But since I love pedestrian crossings so much, there’s no shame in this shot - the busiest pedestrian in the world. Haha.

Love hotel hill at Dogenzaka. 🏩 This was sure not part of the itinerary but the sushi place we ate at (yes to sushi-go-rounds) is located somewhere close to this place. For some reason, I always end up visiting red light districts in Japan just like last time in Osaka. Haha. But I liked this place. 😛

Omotesando. 🛍️ My Japanese students used to tell me that I will enjoy it a lot here. Lol. What makes them think I could afford a single stitch of designer bags or clothing here? Haha.

Meiji shrine. ⛩️ This is a shrine complex in a forest of about 70 hectares and we covered only what our already tired feet could take us. It was indeed lucky that we witnessed a traditional wedding procession during the visit. 👰

Harajuku.👺 Sadly, we didn’t see any cosplayers because it was almost night time when we reached the place. Luckily, we did find the yummiest cotton candy in here and this is where I bought the pink earmuffs and fur ball keychain (very Kendall, lol!) that matched my gloves in Mt Fuji and Kawazu festival look. :P

Moreover, it’s a pure coincidence that I bumped into Marc and James, who I made friends with during my trip to Maldives. Hi to both of you if you’re reading. Lol. 

Roponggi/ Tokyo Tower. 🗼 On our 2nd night, John wanted to check out the night scene at Roponggi but it seemed like we took the wrong side of the district. It was unexpected however that we spotted the Tokyo tower at night from there and walked our once again tired selves towards the lighted stature. We decided not to climb it up.

Mori Art Museum. 🖼️ Thanks to several celebrities who featured this museum in their stories prior to our trip, there were a lot of  cool stuff we saw in the museum and of course the city view was fantastic.

So many places still missed out but at least it's not impossible to go back again.😊 Arigato Gozaimasu, Tokyo. 🙏

Layering Commandments

Cold season may be over but that doesn't mean that we can't apply the art of mixing and matching through layering. After all, as much as we want to in all these sweltering heat, we can't go to work in just strappy dress and shorts right? We still have to pile on stuffs and find ways to look at our wardrobe in a new light. These tips below are lifted from the reference article below and these tricks are tested and proven by street style stars. So good they have been elevated to "commandment" status. So how do they do it? They...

1. Add a Belt. Layering bulks up (even if it’s just a trench coat) so you might wanna put a figure to that look by cinching a belt. Now most trench coats come with a built-in cincher, but since I haven’t met a leopard I didn’t like....

Dress: Apartment 8; Belt: Mango; Shoes: Zara

2. Make a turtleneck your #1 staple. This turtleneck is like my winter MVP when I travel to colder countries. It’s been with me for like 8 years now and honestly I think it needs to retire. Lol. In summer months though, we can rely on tissue turtlenecks (thin ones) to provide contrast under dresses, blouses or jackets.

Top: Unbranded; Coat: Here; Trousers: Topshop; Shoes: Mango

3. Try Mixing Textures. This styling trick adds a little intrigue to your look. Lace, faux suede and patent below, everyone?

Top: Zara; Belt: Topshop; Skirt: H&M; Shoes: Mango; Sunnies: Here

4. Play with Prints.  Mixing prints is one of my favourites as you can see in one of my earliest post here.  Stripes on stripes with a leopard. Because I can. 😉

Vest/ Belt: Mango; Dress: Plains 'n Prints

5. Use the shoulder shrug.  Because shoulder was the body part du jour last year and there are a lot of ways you can wear your jacket to make you cool. 😎

Jacket: Mango; Dress: H&M; Shoes: Converse

6. Think in 3s. Because if it’s a little colder, you just wanna add something to make you warmer. Cape to the rescue!

Cape/ Top: Mango; Skirt: Zalora; Shoes: Nike

7. Layer a blazer over casual tee. This simply takes the slouchy or sporty out of your outfit even if you’re wearing trackies for work. 🏃

Blazer/ Shirt/ Sunnies: Mango; Pants: H&M; Shoes: Zalora

8. Wear long sleeves with everything. Because it allows you to look at your dresses in new ways. 👗

Top: Unbranded; Dress/ Shoes: Mango; Bag: Here

Reference: The 9 Commandments of Layering Like A Street Style Star

Tinted

Eclectic. This just happened to be one of my favorite words and one that perfectly describes the style of the 90s.  Trends from the early aughts is so diffused that we see a lot of revival of it today. From Britpops to R&B to grunge - there's a lot of influences to choose from. Of all the resurging 90's styles though (choker, slip dresses, sheer, velvet and many more lol) I'd have to say that this would be my most favorite - the tinted sunnies. 

First seen in Johnny Depp's movie in 1998, yellow tinted sunnies are having a moment now. I couldn't stress enough how I'm such a huge fan of using sunnies to complete a look especially I know nothing about eye make-up. 🙈 And these babies look so cool in this color. What I particularly like about this pair is how I can sleep on the way to work with them on. They don't cause fatigue unlike the others I'm using. And as I am researching on the reason behind that, I now learn that different colors for sunnies aren't only for fun but because they serve different purposes. Awesome! Read it here. Lol!

So with the added benefits of eye protection and coolness factor, what's not to love with these yellow aviators? My favorite thing to wear with them? LWDs or little white dresses as you'll see in the gallery below. :)

Dress: Zalora; Jacket/ Sunnies: Mango; Shoes: H&M

Vest/ Sunnies: Mango; Top: Zara; Skirt: Topshop; Shoes: H&M

A Velvet Layer

Not exactly a big fan of velvet but it was last fall/winter’s fabric du jour and I reckon getting the sumptuous fabric in a few stitches (aka a bustier as seen below) would be good for adding a textured layer to an outfit. Having said that, here’s how I wore this top I got from Zara in the past months. J

Top/ Skirt: Topshop; Bustier: Zara; Shoes: H&M

Dress: H&M; Bustier: Zara; Skirt: Bugis in SG; Shoes: Mango

Top: H&M; Bustier: Zara; Shoes: Keds

Blazer: H&M; Top: Dorothy Perkins; Bustier: Zara; Shoes/ Pants: Zalora

Disney Sea

I wish I can say right now that we thoroughly enjoyed our Disney Sea adventure. We heard a lot of feedback from friends who had fun in there and being a unique attraction to Tokyo alone makes it a must-visit in the city that we even booked our tickets in advance. 

But the Sakura happened. And our short stint in Tokyo means that the Disney sea visit will have to suffer. With Shizuoka being about 150km away from the city, it's a shame that we were only able to reach the attraction around 4PM (which made for a great photo-op at the fountain globe entrance). :P

The park is enormous and the crowd is always something to consider which is why you'll find a lot of articles on how to make the most out of your visit. But it seems like there's one thing they never mentioned if you're visiting in the winter months - Disney Sea doesn't provide outdoor heaters in the area. Which is odd because I've been to other theme parks like Everland in Seoul on a winter season and whenever I needed warmth, I just had to stand under one and feel better in a bit. In PH and SG, industrial fans are provided in the queue area because understandably, it's a must. Which makes me wonder why this wasn't considered here.

Granted, I wasn't in my most sensible winter outfit. Hello, mini skirt and fishnets. Haha! But still, even my friends couldn't stand the 7-degree weather then. We tried to make the most out of our visit by trying a few rides at the Arabian coast and when the sun was down we found the perfect hideaway at the Mermaid Lagoon (probably the only theme with indoor queue and rides, haha!).  There was still so much unexplored (we couldn't stand the shows in the public viewing area because it was really numbing cold) so I guess I'll just have to say that I'll visit you again one day, Disney Sea. And until you have the heaters provided, it'll probably be in other season. :P By the way, my fishnets worn are provided by Gamiss.

Large Loop Fishnet Pantyhose

Hat/ Sweater/Skirt: H&M; Jacket: Mango; Shoes: Chinese Laundry

Gone Fishing

While it's true that this trend has been springing up one way or another from season to season, in 2016  we saw fishnets in new and unexpected ways. From a simple pair of tights, the trend has evolved into a versatile layering piece. Fishnets under ripped jeans, anyone? (See my post here). And if you are in the news, Gigi Hadid has just elevated the trend into the red carpet! And in Met Gala nonetheless!!!

Now that it has reached a key layering piece status, other pieces in fishnets have entered the mainstream too in different iterations. Elegant dresses in fishnet styles that will make you forget all it's "trashy connotations", white fishnet tops and tights, and now as what I will feature in this post - fishnet in swimwear. 😅 Check out this piece I wore while spending the Labor day holiday in my Tita's farm in Nueva Ecija. 

Hollow out Black Two-Piece Swimsuit

This piece is actually a two-piece one-piece. A what? Haha. It's a bodysuit that is fishnet style on top and fully covered bottom. I love that it comes with a separate triangular bra top that I can mix and match with other bikinis. And as seen here, you know that we can always get more mileage out of our bodysuits. Right? 😉