Midwinter Style

Chilly weather can be the fast-track to a fashion rut. Cozy boots, long coats and dark colors galore define winter style, but lately, they seem like external manifestations of severe seasonal affective disorder. That's no fun. I stumbled across two options for spicing up cold weather wear:

1. High-top sneakers: I could probably get away with wearing these to the office. For those who don't work in an environment where things like snakeskin-print trousers are acceptable, they're ideal for running weekend errands. Why? High-top sneakers are surprisingly great at enduring all sorts of precipitation. My Nike Dunks made it through three Chicago winters. Just add luxe touches like fur and leather to keep them from looking too grungy.

2. Khakis: If winter's mild (read: not Chicago, but maybe New York), khakis are such a cute and unexpected alternative to denim and knit tights. Pair them with a short wool jacket and booties. Plus, I feel like so much winter style has a black or navy palette—brown's a little more fresh. To avoid looking like you're confused and think it's still October, make sure everything else is a warmer, darker tone.

Which look do you like best? (I'm all about #1 myself).


[photo cred here and there]

Fancy Pants

Yesterday, I wore a snappy pair of vintage-print Diane Von Furstenberg corduroy shorts. (Yep). (You read that correctly). They're the sort of things that I always want to buy but never actually buy, although apparently, the chances of me saying no when they're hanging on a sample sale rack are nil. So they became mine, and naturally, I layered them over a pair of warm black tights. The thing is, I've never loved the look of tights under shorts. Personal opinion: the pairing looks inappropriate and a little off-kilter. However, I wanted to wear these shorts so badly that I would've put them on over ski pants. The kicker: the shorts didn't look terrible. I wore them ("they" in question being black with pink polka-dot clusters)(yes, you read that right)(no, I'm not blind)(come one, guys, Diane Von Furstenberg always creates baller patterns!) with black tights, a black silk tee, and black flats.

This brought me to my conclusion that as long as the color palette is subdued and the shorts are somewhat fancy (patterned, sequined, not denim), they're a-okay with tights. And then I saw the above picture, and now I'm dying to throw denim shorts over tights and top them off with a cozy sweater and an awesome pair of boots. It's like fashion schizophrenia. So help me: where do you stand when it comes to winter shorts?


[photo cred here]

Fair Isle Femme

Remember this sweater (on the left) from Stella McCartney's Fall 2007 collection? I do. Because I loved it, saw a girl wearing it in the university library, and promptly fell out of my chair. I've since recovered, but that doesn't mean I've stopped loving the look of quirky and oh-so-cozy Fair Isle.

My favorite part: the absence of rainbow hues means that Fair Isle can double as a versatile neutral. How genius is that? You could pair them with jeans and boots for a low-key outfit or jazz them up with a pair of brightly colored jeans. (The grey would be perfect with red, and for the pale beige on the right? Navy all the way). Steal the Joie sweater for a fraction of the Stella McCartney cost. No offense, Stella, but my wallet needs a hug.


[photo cred to style.com]

Dusit Thani's Family Tree

Dusit Thani Manila's Christmas Family Tree

By Dusit Thani Manila

 

What for you is Christmas?

It may be the gifts wrapped in fancy papers and ribbons or children’s carols. For some, it is the meal shared on Christmas Eve no matter how simple or festive it may be.

Here at Dusit Thani Manila, we believe that it is the spirit of giving. And we think that the best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each others’ arms.

And so, this year, Dusit Thani Manila gathers families from different walks of life and invites them to enthuse others by sharing values and traditions their families have been accustomed to. More so, provide an avenue where children of the next generation will be inspired to be a channel of blessings to mankind.

Through this project dubbed as Family Tree, join us as we endeavor to give this season a new and deeper meaning.

The hotel also invites all in-house and dining guests as well as Facebook fans to cast their votes for "liking" the best Christmas Tree, where cash prizes will be donated to the top three winning entries’ chosen charity. Voting is from November 15 to December 25, 2011. 

 so please, vote for the Llamas Tree:

(which me and my former classmate - yes, we're graduates now! - had been cooking/designing for the past few weeks now :)

 

(like the tree here)

 
with Aivan Magno and the Llamas' :)

 

The Christmas tree write-up

  
Me and Aivan posing in front of the Yao's Christmas Tree. One of my favorites so far :)
 
me and my makeup-artist friend, Elaine Ching posing in front of the Villar's Tree.

and since i'm a lazy blogger, you could read more about the event at Aivan's blog (and yes, i stole some of his pictures too :), here: http://aivanmagno.blogspot.com/2011/11/fashionably-late.html

Little Bit of Leopard

I'm of the camp that when it comes to leopard, less is more. However, I've seen women who can pull off a leopard cardigan or even a pencil skirt. In its own right, the latter looks fantastic with a classic collared blouse and a good dose of confidence. Where do you fit in? Are you a little leopard lady or a lot?


(photo cred to 1, 2 and 3)

Pegs for our next shoot.

Touch of Gold

The simplest way to transition bright summer colors into fall? Pair them with subdued neutrals, like charcoal grey. Charcoal grey is a natural shoo-in for me. It's a) my favorite color and b) one of the reasons I'm looking forward to fall. Instead of being overplayed, though, it looks surprisingly modern when paired with a bit of gold sparkle or a rich, buttery yellow. All a light sunshine-hued jacket needs is a warm grey scarf to make it ready for this season.

(photo cred to 1 and 2)

sustainability

 PLASTIC COVER DRESS

just a little DIY project for our graduation photo shoot.

 

that turned out to be snow queen slash L.gaga

xoxo

(ps. i just posted something cos my friend reminded me that i had a blog :) been too long!

Easy Chic

I adore this Clémentine Levy fashion story for Grazia Italia, shot by Vanessa Jackson. It seems so perfect for the summer-to-fall transition, with dark colors and easy tees and simple jeans, dressed up just the right amount with a great pair of loafers. (Full disclosure: I hate loafers. Give me a pair of ballet flats any day.) But I definitely want to steal the effortless chic that Clémentine sports here. It's not that I'm over summer, per se, but why bother trying to figure out which sundresses are sheer and which aren't when I could just slap on a pair of not so see-through pants? Is this laziness or just a personal style preference?

Nudes & Neon

And my new favorite pairing is...

                        Try a tasteful pochette in classic Tiffany blue     +     Rachel Zoe dress

(if you're a little more demure)

                           Pair an eye-popping fuchsia clutch            +             Dolce Vita dress

(if you're afraid of just about nothing)

Now I just need a bright, neon bag. I'm thinking a

Claire Vivier foldover clutch in in a vivid royal blue is just the thing.

[photo cred to 1 and 2]

The Club

My first full week of work made me realize that I still dress like a girl who just graduated from college. A ribbed tank may have snuck into my outfit on a desperate Friday, around the same time I discovered that while I own piles and piles of jeans and casual tees/tanks, they will do me no good at the magazine. So we decided to cool things down for a bit. There were tears involved, as well as promises to visit on the weekends. I love you, jeans and tees. I'm your girl!

However.

I got over the separation pretty quickly when my mother and I went to Club Monaco. Hello pale lace, swingy silk pleated skirts, soft tanks, and one stellar embellished-tee-that-is-completely-work-appropriate-I-promise (I couldn't go cold turkey). I adore the fall lookbook, which is all warm neutrals in wispy fabrics and retro, ladylike silhouettes. And with a student discount (cough cough cough cough cough maybe I chalked my student ID cough cough), I can't go wrong. How was your weekend?

Garden Party

I'm crushing on just about everything in the summer Anthropologie catalogue—I've never felt such a desire to sit outside and drink lemon water (or lemon verbena lemonade, anyone?) while wearing something light and feminine. Now that I'm done with class and have no excuses for rolling out of bed, throwing on a tee and dark jeans and calling it a day, I swear I'm going to put in more effort. I'm a sucker for this bracelet and that pleated top.

How perfect are the navy pleats for an appropriate (but not too obvious) Fourth of July ensemble? Plus, you can wear a style like that anywhere, from a casual barbeque to late-afternoon drinks with friends.

[photo cred to anthropologie.com]

The French Converse

I've wanted a pair of Bensimon sneakers ever since I read that they're the French girls' Converse. That's the best marketing ploy ever —just throw the word "French" in front of anything and I'm sold. French fries? Check. French toast? Yep. French braids? So pretty. French kisses? ...I don't kiss and tell. But yes.

I was exceptionally loyal to my beat-up, classic red Keds until last weekend, when they managed to bore a hole through my ankle. It was a highly unpleasant experience, and ever since I dedicated my column in Prep Talk to the merits of a cool, laid-back pair of kicks, I've been gazing lovingly at this pair of Bensimon vintage sneakers (available here):

Hello, lover. It's like Carrie Bradshaw with her Manolos, but for the lazy girl who wants neither to try too hard nor stumble into a gutter on her way to class. My issue (I always have an issue) is that although grey is my favorite color, the black pair is tugging at my heartstrings. I can't decide. Help a terribly indecisive girl out — which do you like?

[photo cred here]

About Last Night

I'm dying to show you pictures, but I'm torn (they're embarrassing). My camera fizzled out an hour or two into the crush party and I failed to get a proper photo of the dress. However, I did snag an embarrassing mirror picture with my cell phone to show my handiwork to my mother. First, here's a vaguely respectable photo of myself and my roommates (the theme was Get Your Game On, and, from left to right, we're White Sox fan, Sporcle, Princess Lolly from Candyland, and Jigglypuff), in which you can see my new haircut:

I LOVE IT. The layers are a little funky at the moment, as the stylist completely failed to acknowledge that I wear my hair with a side part (even after I mentioned it) and instead, cut it with a center part in mind. I'll get them to behave eventually. I've had several variations of short hair ever since seventh grade (pixie, bob, grown-out bob, rinse, wash, repeat), and I feel so much more like myself without having eight pounds of wild and uncontrollable curls on my head. Plus, when your grandmother says you look like a "sexy hussy" and doesn't mean it as a compliment, you know it's time to snip.

Here's a picture of the dress, the notoriously MySpace-quality one that gives me horrible flashbacks to high school. I decided that if I Tweeted it, I'd might as well post it here:

Unfortunately, I'm sorry to report that Jigglypuff lost an eye in last night's festivities. Then again, I misplaced my dignity, so I'm calling it even.

Crush Party

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed that I've been spending an awful lot of time sewing. My Italian grandmother was a seamstress and my dad sutures gum tissue for a living, so I'm not terrible with a needle and thread. For my sorority's spring crush party, called Get Your Game On, everyone dons a pair of sneakers or an oversized jersey. I thought about it. It bored me.

And then I realized that I should purposefully misinterpret the meaning of Get Your Game On and apply it to one of my most beloved pastimes: Pokémon. To be specific, I'm dressing up as Jigglypuff, because she's fairly well-known and easier to recreate than, say, Ampheros. (I'd be embarrassed, but I can pin this on the Asian half of my gene pool). So I bought an adorable dress at American Apparel (though I still loathe Dov Charney), picked up a few scraps of cloth and got to work. Here's the nearly-finished product:

I just have to stitch the details on and adjust the placement, but it's not too shabby, right? I promise I'll post pictures afterwards. Plus, I'm getting a haircut this morning (finally! I decided on a grown-out, shoulder-grazing bob with side bangs), so throughout the next few days, Mellow Fever is going to be inundated with amusing photos of the shoddiest quality.

Working Girl

Tomorrow is my first-ever job fair, and as it happens, I forgot my perfect grey J. Crew blazer at home. I don't own anything that would necessarily count as business attire — I would instead take the liberty of describing what workplace-appropriate dress I do wear as "business attire's little sister who wants extra Tabasco in her Bloody Mary and reads the style section before the front page of the NY Times." 

So I'm taking a page out of the Chanel Fall/Winter '11 show, a look that's buttoned-up but still chic. I'm wearing a knee-length (see! Totally appropriate!) tiered black pencil skirt, a cowl-neck-inspired blouse, and my grey suede J. Crew pumps. And tights (sigh, in April) because I must (read: the career counselor woman told me I had to). This ensemble isn't necessarily buttoned-up, but I'm wearing all neutrals and those godforsaken tights in an effort to compensate for my shameful lack of power-woman blazer. Really, I need my mother, who always waited for me at the bottom of the stairs so she could order me to go back up and roll my school uniform skirt back down.

Wish me luck!

[photo cred to 1]

Slender Shoulders

Full disclosure: I have the flattest chest known to mankind, so plunging necklines and whatnot don't usually do the trick when I want to show a little skin. I love the effect of these casually cut-out shoulders — they're subtle and sensual, the skin-revealing equivalent of locking eyes and sharing a small smile from across the room (as opposed to grinding up on a dude and assaulting him in a beer-fueled haze). Maybe I'll sacrifice an old tee for the cause. It seems like it requires a cool factor much greater than anything I could muster, though... what are your thoughts?

[photo cred to Chiara Ferragni via Musings in Femininity]

Lora

our second look,

Lora....


she's half-human, half vampire... our modern day setting Laura for our redesigned play project, "Florante at Laura".

so now it's pretty obvious that our version of Florante is also a vampire :)

i only had the morning to gather things from my closet that day cos i forgot to pull out items from my friends too. i initially wanted her to wear a red gown for the vamp-vixen appeal, but the only gown i had here was Grecian, so we went back to being emo instead... :)

it's funny how Sunshine's look has changed dramatically with the dark, heavy makeup and Gothic accessories.

Outfit and all accessories are from F21. Lacey gloves, my friend's own.

Faux Colorblock

I don't read tabloids and thus, have no idea whether or not Lindsay Lohan is drunk/sober/in jail/not in jail/painting her toenails/dating her cat. Though I loved LiLo in Mean Girls and The Parent Trap, I generally have little to no interest in her and her style. However, I'm obsessed with the pseudo-colorblocking that she pulls off in this particular photo. I always tuck my top into my skirt, and I'm surprised to see that it looks so polished and elegant while untucked.  At first glance, I even mistook it for a dress. Naturally, I had to give it my own twist.

The untucked top works best because of the material — I'm guessing Lindsay's is silk or a silk-blend — one that's a little more formal than your regular tee, longer (for layering), and with a looser cut. I adore this one by Theory. I also think a not-so-skintight skirt adds to the effect, which is why I picked a style in a shocking pink hue from House of Fraser. When the top is layered over it, it creates the seamless effect that resembles a colorblock dress while offering the freedom to play with the colors and proportions. I'd accessorize with spare details: these Rag & Bone wedges, a pretty gold necklace, and pair of Nina Ricci aviators. Now about that top...

[photo cred here]

Pops of Fuchsia

I've never been able to like fuchsia enough to own anything in the shade, aside from a hot pink trenchcoat that I absolutely adore (but I only wear it in the rain and with black so that the color gets diluted a bit). But I love the look of a eye-popping, neon pink, especially when set against an otherwise neutral ensemble. Any combination of black, white, camel, and pink? Oh yes. To me, it's the best way to incorporate the color without looking like you've been doused in Pepto Bismol. Fuchsia gets a little more grown-up when it's paired with classic neutral stripes or soft camel hues. I'm currently hankering after this Kate Spade tote to brighten me up for spring.

What do you think of hot pink?


[photo cred to 1, 2, 3, 4, all via Musings in Femininity]