#TrioThursday: Wicker

I’d like to think the world has finally reached its peak French Girl obsession with these bags of the moment. Straw, wicker, raffia – woven bags are officially everywhere! And they’re not just styled by the beach, you see! Have you seen a style influencer carry it with her winter wardrobe last season? Do you think they match? Probably not. But does it look cool? Hands down, yeah! :D

If you’re into anything vintage, by now you’d know that this is actually a seasonally-backward trend. French actress Jane Birkin was probably the inspiration for living this 24/7 fishing basket life. She styled it with everything (even with a cocktail dress at Cannes Film Festival mind you!). And I intend to do the same with my recently acquired basket bag from Mango. It has its advantages.

Everywhere I went, strangers from all walks of life, from the sales girl at the grocery, random people in the gym to the hotel receptionist in Jakarta, went out of their way to praise my basket bag. I honestly think it’s one of the reasons why those little girls donned in white telekung solat took a photo of me (as though I’m a celebrity lol) while passing through a mosque in Jakarta. Hehe.  

It’s that one bag I couldn’t pack away with my floppy or wide-brim hats as they go so well together as proven by the three looks below. Oh, and a floral dress. And you’re about to see more of it in my summer escapades. :D

Dress: Zaful (see here); Bag/ Hat/ Sandals: Mango

Dress: Rosegal (see post here); Bag/Hat: Mango

Dress/ Bag/ Hat: Mango

#TrioThursday: Sleeveless Trench

One of the transitional piece that always comes about during spring is the classic trench coat. Us here at Cakes and Styles will always be a proponent of this piece - especially the one in camel. See this post for reference. It's functional and can multi-task, taking from you from day to evening. But what about it's cousin - the sleeveless one? 

Well, as proven in three looks below for today's hashtag, the sleeveless option also offers the same versatility and polished effect but is so much better considering our weather here. Pair it with jumpsuit, floral pants or a printed dress..the possibility is endless. I'm pretty sure that this is just the first installment of this series. 

#TrioThursday: Red OTK Boots

Sometimes you have an occasion and you get a dress pair of shoes. Other times, a pair of shoe finds you first. Hehe. 

Ok, admittedly I stole that line from one of the bloggers I'm following. Lol. Coz I feel the same way about these over-the-knee pointed booties that I've been eyeing on since I saw them on Fendi's A/W 17 runway last year - those lipstick-red versions in super-slick leather that's also spotted on many street style stars and influencers. In my mind I have already rearranged my wardrobe around them so when I found them in Gamiss' gamut of shoe styles around late last year, I did not pass up on the chance to style it. And did you also know that they have size up to 43? So awesome! Lol!

The thing is, I was ready to wear them in my HK trip, but there were some logistics issues encountered so they arrived only a little over last week. :-/ It may be a bit hard pulling 'em off now that summer season is so on but I'm optimistic though that this will be trendy by end of this year so I'm safekeeping it. For the meantime, while here in Jakarta, these are the ways I would style it. What do you guys think?

Stiletto Heel Pointed Toe Over the Knee Boots

Beret: Zaful; Dress: H&M; Bag: Mango

Beret: Zaful; Dress: Dorothy Perkins; Blazer: H&M

Shirt: J Crew; Coat: Zalora; Earrings: Mango

P.S. All styling are by yours truly. This post was made in collaboration with Gamiss. You may use GamissChen to have additional 10%-20% off. :)

TrioThursdays: Trail Blazer

One night when I entered the gym and the sight of my crush greeted me in one of those arm machines, I still remember how his eyes were fixated in one item of clothing that’s hanging in my gym bag – my glen plaid blazer at work. Is it just me (haha!) but it’s as if I can already read his thought bubble about me “Oh, she’s that power woman at work.”

Okay, so maybe I’m just willing for him to think that way because unfortunately he still hasn’t talked to me (but I’m positive he will VERY SOON, haha!) which means he has zero clue about what I do except for the fact that I teach a dance class in the gym. BUT, it’d be wrong for him not to think so especially for some big shot like him in the journalism world. :P  Because, inasmuch as you know you like me babbling about my crush, I’m gonna segue now to today’s topic – blazers and its power association.

As Vogue said, you don’t need a complete suit to channel power - just a good blazer. A good blazer can take you beyond the usual 9 to 5 of interviews and presentations to looking polished even in the happy hours. You could tell how I’m such a proponent in my earlier posts like here. And while you know that it’s not the first time I tackled this plaid blazer trend, I’m reiterating now how this is such a “buy now, wear forever” piece that should be in your closet specially that blazers will be a major trend this S/S 18. So for fresher ways to wear it, here are my three latest looks for today’s hashtag. Enjoy :)

Look#1: Plaid and Floral

Blazer: H&M; Top: Topshop; Shoes: Missguided

 Look #2: Plaid and Pinstripes

Blazer: H&M; Top/ Skirt: Unbranded; Bag: Mango

Look #3: Plaid and Plains

Blazer: H&M; Top/ Boots: Mango

#TrioThursday: Side Stripes

Even way before, stripes have always been associated with sports. They are used in car racing, the black and white vertical stripes worn as uniforms by referees and of course there’s that iconic sports brand with their 3-stripes branding. As to when this all began still remains a mystery to me though. (I didn’t have enough time to research so would appreciate if you have the info. ;)

The stripes detail is interesting because of our item in feature today – the track pants. It has got me thinking how even without the gartered hemlines, latest iterations of this trend come in side-stripes and wide-leg cuts but still look very sporty. And speaking of reinventions, back in the 90s, you’d only see stripes paired with trainers (hello Mel C of Spice Girls! Or check out Brit Brit’s Hit Me One More Time). But with the rise of the athleisure trend, street style stars are rocking the look with heels, statement bags and with feminine touches of statement earrings. This post will feature three looks on how I styled my pairs (a sale item I got from H&M *wink*) for today’s hashtag. Because trust me, if a comfy trend like this is taking over, we must take advantage as long as it lasts. :)

Top/ Pants: H&M; Bag: Mango

Top/ Pants: H&M; Bag/ Shoes: Mango; Earrings: Zaful

Jacket: Mango; Top: Terranova; Pants: H&M

#TrioThursdays: Splattered

Blame it on my relatively tall stature but I’ve always found maxi skirts easy to wear. For me, it has its advantages like (1) no pressure to wear high heels with them (2) no pressure to check as well if legs are waxed lol. 

I've had this splattered skirt from Bugis in Singapore for years now and it's monochromatic pattern never lets me run out of ideas in styling them. You've seen it first fresh in 2014 here and have since then saw a lot of styling here. The skirt also made it to Paris coz I figured the material would do well for the chilly weather. And without any particular theme (aside from the skirt itself), here are the latest three ways I wore 'em for today's hashtag post.

Top: Zara;  Bag: Mango; Shoes: Zalora

Top: Apartment 8; Shoes: H&M

Top/Bag: Mango

#TrioThursday: Ring My Bell

Thursdays are for three ways to wear and also for throwbacks. What about throwbacks you mean? From the focus on shoulders last year, the trend ended up on voluminous sleeves which is as you know a nod to the influence of the 70's. The look is still going strong as of late and one advantage of the bell sleeve trend from the off-shoulder is that you'll never have to wonder if this is work-appropriate. Lol! Here we take a look on how I wore this Mango top to different days at work. :)

Top: Mango; Skirt: Zara; Belt: Dorothy Perkins; Shoes: Zalora

Top: Mango; Skirt: Apartment8 Clothing; Shoes: Zalora

Top: Mango; Skirt: Zalora; Shoes: H&M

#TrioThursdays: Mint Dress

Can't believe I've had this pretty dress from Zaful for almost a year now and it took that long to make its way into the blog. :P 

I love dresses but separate tops and bottoms are still much preferable when it comes to styling options. The challenge in dresses is creating a sort of "new look" out of them by using different accessories and so far here's how I've styled this mint summer dress in the past. I'm bringing back this series I started in my previous blog where I feature an item and present how to wear it in 3 ways. I know it's already Friday 🙈 but please forgive this late post as Brit Brit in Manila happened last night. Check out my IG for stories. 😉

1. For a weekend look, I paired it with my fave straw hat and lace-up sandals.

Dress: Zaful; Hat: H&M; Bag/ Shoes: Mango

2. For more work-appropriate look, here it is with a sailor-print striped blazer and strappy heels.

Blazer: H&M; Bag: Mango; Shoes: CMG

3. Casual Friday got me experimenting and converting it into a dress over pants.

Dress: Zaful; Sunnies: Mango; Shoes: CMG

Of Whites and Weddings

It’s June! Can you believe it??? Five months of 2015 have passed!!! And as I do my reflection on this sixth month (a WEDDING month nonetheless!!!), I can’t help but have mixed feelings over the fact that two of my longest-running guy friends are getting married this year. Lol!

Since I don’t wanna delve on the current affairs of my heart (or the lack of affairs thereof, lol!), let me just babble about the exciting new chapters in my friends’ lives. The one happening this month is going to be in Canada so there’s gonna be some sort of a transatlantic reunion of friends which hopefully I can be a part of. And the other one is sort of promising because there’s some kind of unusualness to it.

It's unusual because they just met this year, got engaged two months after (the official proposal of which I became an accomplice in Seoul) and getting married by the end of the year. Whenever I tell this story to some guys, they all think he’s or they're crazy. But I’d like to believe that things like this happen and that I will have my own soon.

So while I am waiting for my time, let me just post this ensemble I concocted that has a kind of wedding-y feel to it. Because after all, what better way to represent a wedding month than all whites and laces? ;-) 

Blazer: Mango; Top: Mango; Skirt: Miss Selfridge

Sunnies: Mango; Necklace: Mango; Shoes: Miss Selfridge

And since I really have a backlog of outfit posts here, I have decided to add two more white on white looks using the same skirt as above. :)

Top: Folded & Hung; Skirt: Miss Selfridge; Shoes: Aldo

Necklace: Mango; Belt: Meg; Bag: Mango

Top: Cotton On; Skirt: Miss Selfridge; Shoes: Marks & Spencer

Sunnies: Ray Ban; Bag: Accessorize; Necklace: Zalora PH