Outfit for tonight: off to dinner in my pretty filigree dress

I was going to post this tomorrow but bf is taking his jolly time picking me up. Sheesh. Anyhow, I'm bored (and hungry) so before I start eating leftover halloween candy lying around in the house, I thought I'd post this now instead. hehe!

Here's my outfit for tonight. We'll be having dinner at bf's grandparents' house and dinner there is always quite formal.

Filigree black&white full skirted dress from forever21, brick red quilted leather clutch is a press item from topshop, and bakers brick red plat pumps. Also not seen in picture: large gold filigree earrings

Hilarious handbags of horror!

Dale Hrabi of radaronline wrote this hilarious article about handbags perfect for the halloween season. Basically he was surmising that um, the inspiration of certain bag designers are coming from old school horror movies. Funny theory, I know! but you know what... he might just be right. hahaha!

Take these bags for example:


Ruffled Bag With Chains by Be&D and 1932's The Mummy

Charm Hobo by Isabelle Fiore and 1954's Creature From the Black Lagoon

Sierra Fur Trim Shoulder Bag by Andrew Marc and 1984's Gremlins

You can read the entire article (plus more scary bag comparisons) here. I was literally falling of my chair laughing!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!



P.S. I'd also like to say happy birthday to my pretty friend carms! *kiss*

My new cult femme skinny jeans + bf's gladiator sandals + my french girls bangle

One whole day of doing nothing but lie around, clean my room and read fashion magazines is a gift. And I gladly gave it to myself today! Tomorrow is a different story though as I have to run errands for my mom during the day and attend a birthday dinner at night (not mentioning the process of getting ready before that). So whilst I was fixing my newly laundered clothes come late afternoon, I decided to try on my new culte femme skinny jeans once again and finally show you gals a picture.*wink*

Here they are (sorry for the dark pics, it was already late!):

old pink shirt from old navy, dark grey skinnies by culte femme (rustan's), nude peep toe shoes from bakers

I like that these jeans were made long for full scrunched effect and the material was very soft and stretchy. Best part is, it was a steal at P1,350! ( a far cry from the 11k jbrand denims that I so want but cannot afford at this time) Oh plus gray, my dahlings, is the color for fall. oui, oui! *nods head*

Anyhow, I also forgot to write about what bf got the other day when I *gasp* ended my shopping ban. Actually, it was I who picked them for him and he was kind of rejecting them in the beginning... Somehow though, I managed to convince him that they looked really nice on his feet. *heehee, nagging gf alert*

Here they are! A pair of black gladiator sandals from Traffic:



I've been wanting to get him a similar pair from gucci but these are better for him since 1. he doesn't take care of his shoes and 2. he doesn't take care of his shoes at all!!! (I still love him though) *wink*

Anyhow, here is the pair of similar gucci men's sandals that I wanted to get for him:

photo courtesy of gucci.com

Okay you can't really see it here but you get the picture! hehe!

Moving on, even though I didn't go out at all today I was still not able to escape the shopping itch. How did I shop you ask? Well, through texting of course! *giggle* I had asked my good friend Pao (the genius behind baublesbangle&beads) to reserve this handpainted french girls bangle for me.



I told you I'm missing watching them french girls! hahaha! ;)

Louis vuitton "superflat monogram": A genius work of art

I was looking around in youtube the other day and was surprised to find this cute 2003 ad campaign for Louis Vuitton by Mamoru Hosoda. I'm a child at heart and anything animated really catches my attention, plus the fact that it is louis vuitton only made me more curious! As described by the creator, it is sort of 'an updated alice in wonderland, in which a girl searching for her lost cell phone floats in a dizzying world of the company's logos'. The video is based on characters created by famed superflat artist Takashi Murakami (I know you all love your limited edition murakami lv's), and turns out to be quite charming.

The Louis Vuitton store featured in this video is the Omotesando in Tokyo, Japan.

However, as I was on the process of downloading the video, the term "superflat" made me a wee bit inquisitive so I googled the darn thing (see the comments in the youtube page). It turns out that superflat is a postmodern art movement founded by the artist Takashi Murakami. 'The central influence on the concept of superflat is the japanese cartoon culture of manga where enthusiasts are lured into a magical world that is divorced from reality'.

Perhaps most of us do not realize it (some probably don't even care) but this cartoon-slash-ad indeed is a satirical expression of murakami and his peers! Here is another sentence that had me in awe.

'The insistent two-dimensionality of manga often results in an overall patterning of colors and shapes which provides a parallel space in which to escape from the pressures and expectations of society at large'.

I know this is starting to sound confusing. But it's quite mind-blowing that I now understand more clearly why the japanese so adore anime, takashi murakami, and louis vuitton. Gosh, there are people who share the same sentiments all over the world (I am one of them!).

All I know is this. When I'm depressed, bored, or tired, I just go inside a louis vuitton store (and gucci too. *wink*) and everything just seems to be all better. So what if half of the world will judge me by buying a ridiculously priced handbag? That bag is a dream. And I want to own it.

So, are you curious yet?

My "blogging personality"

I know I just started with this whole blog thing and am still quite the idiot with my poor html capabilities. But this quiz taken by susie of stylebubble intrigued me and I wondered what my blogging personality is.

Here is what I got:

Your Blogging Type is Artistic and Passionate

You see your blog as the ultimate personal expression - and work hard to make it great. One moment you may be working on a new dramatic design for your blog... And the next, you're passionately writing about your pet causes. Your blog is very important - and you're careful about who you share it with.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Goodness, that effing online quiz seems to correct! hahaha!

Friday spa date with myself + impromptu tagaytay overnight + my zara pick

I awoke on a lovely friday morning looking forward to a relaxing day at the spa. I took a quick shower (all giggly and smiley), put on my softest pair of acid-washed abercrombie cut-offs plus a super tattered cotton tank from gap, then headed on to the Total image day spa at the Celebrity sports club (which also has salon services btw). Nope, no outfit pic for that since I looked like a homeless beach bum (ala mk-slash-britney) since I did not want massage oil all over a nice outfit. hahaha!

On the way to capitol hills (where celebrity sports club is), I dropped off one my old denim pants for zipper repair (for some reason it got broken in the wash) at a local "couturier". I put that in quotation marks as this "couturier" is not exactly your pish-posh kind of a place but is one of my secret places for quick and easy trouser repairs. Every fashionista needs at least one secret tailor or seamstress for various things you know, and Mang Jun of Toppers happens to be mine. He is the head tailor and owner of this little place which I've seen develop through the years:


Toppers is located along katipunan and can solve all your trouser woes at dirt cheap prices. leave a comment if you need further help finding the place. ;)

Whilst Toppers has not failed me for more than 10 years already, I wouldn't suggest leaving that pair of sfam or true religion jeans for repair at this place. I'd be very scared too since the place is a bit ghetto and anything can happen. If you're thinking about where to bring your uber favorite pair of denims then I would suggest Mico (in powerplant or shangri-la). I have met mia u. and she is such a doll! ;)

Moving on, so i finally went over to the spa and asked for an hour-and-a-half-long shiatsu/swedish combination massage. Then as the masseuse was being called, I took a quick rinse at the shower and had a dip at the jacuzzi. I was then assisted to my small private room (the sun-moon-room it was called i think) for the massage. It truly was heaven I tell you!

Here are some pics to give you an idea of the atmosphere of the place:


spa waiting area

the hallway towards the private rooms

After the massage, I then told the frontdesk that I am following it up with a special footspa, pedicure, manicure, eyebrow threading, and l'oreal hair gloss treatment. I really wanted it to be a whole day affair noh. hahaha!

The footspa, mani, pedi and threading were all done perfectly to my liking. But then, as I was about to have the glossing treatment, bf suddenly calls me all panicky and rushy rush rush to say that john b. (one of his bestfriends and like, the prince of tagaytay hehehe) is forcing us (read: making pilit) to go to tagaytay for this event and that he (my bf) just couldn't say no. (I call john prince of tagaytay coz his dad co-owns carlo's pizza, mile-hi diner, cafe lupe, starbucks, and the soon to be open teriyaki boy at that popular gimmick strip by the highway hehe) And I, in turn, could not say no to bf since (*ding dong* flashback to the zara coat) I feel like I owe him and that I'd be a bratty bratty bitch if I said no. So I just held back my tears and slowly told malou (the beauty assistant) that I am cancelling the gloss treatment and hurrily went home after signing my bill. (*sob* goodbye relaxing day...)

When I reached the house I had to get ready and pack in a span of 30 minutes (stressful, i know) so I quickly stashed all my overnight essentials and chose what to wear. Since we were going to a sort-of rock music event, I opted for something very spunky. I wanted to match my new black nail polish too!

abstract purple and black long top from bisou bisou, dark tough jeans from bauhaus hk, patent black clutch from bakers, black leather sandals from rustan's

Anyhow, fastforward to tagaytay: we ate at carlo's pizza whilst the 'd sound event' was happening at the middle grounds between john's restos (I'm not quite so sure if that's the correct name of the event but there were lots of bands and people etc). We literally just popped in the event, took pictures, and greeted john's dad and then went over to carlo's pizza and ordered soooo much! Buffalo wings, quattro formaggi pizza, messicana pizza, seafood carbonara, mozzarella cheesesticks, creamy mushroon soup, tomato soup, vanilla milkshake, strawberry iced tea, and beer for the boys. (yes, I am now officially 10 pounds heavier but free food is just so hard to resist. hahaha!) Do try carlo's pizza gals! The food is really good, affordable, and has a breathtaking view of the taal volcano at daytime.

Here is a quick shot of one area of carlo's pizza:

We sat outside and this was my only view of the place. I'd look weird if I took pics of the front for no reason. hahaha! I wasn't able to take pics of the food too! Our friends attacked them before I could even open my cam case!

For dessert, I ordered mango panna cotta and for my cocktail, I had a large glass of ripe mango margarita which was really yummy (do try it gals!).


my half-eaten mango panna cotta from carlo's pizza

my ripe mango margarita from cafe lupe brought over to carlo's pizza

Then at around 3 am we then headed on to Villa Barretto where we were to stay for the night. (john b. also owns the place, so yup, it was free! *wink*)

Here are pics of our room c/o our 'gracious host' (hehe thanks dear!)


this room comes complete with aircon, cable tv, and refrigerator

the cozy look of the place from outside

The boys played poker until the wee hours of the morning whilst I locked myself in the room with my mega magazine that came with the free LV icons catalogue (you better get one baghags!) before dozing off. Then come saturday (after the sun has risen that is) we all ate breakfast at mushroom burger at around 11 a.m., before heading on home.

Here is a view of the entrance to Villa Barretto at daytime (taken as we left hehe):


Villa Barretto Hotel is along the right side of the highway around 1.5 km from the cafe lupe strip. Room rates are currently on promo as I heard. Perfect for a tagaytay get-away gals!

And for our international readers, here is a pic of the famous taal volcano of the philippines (which is seen from tagaytay) at daytime:

photo courtesy of lakbaypilipinas.com

We reached home around 3pm and drove my bf's cute little sister around magallanes for trick-or-treating. Geez, what happened to those days when kids had to walk for their goodies? hahaha!

Here she is in her little queen costume (perfect since she is treated as one! haha)



And before I end this post here is the coat that I picked from zara the other day. Which one did you think it was?



I just couldn't resist the very audrey hepburn style and the classic chanel houndstooth print. *wink*

I've been bad! the end of my shopping ban...

After a week of self-imposed shopping ban, I went to Powerplant mall and Glorietta mall this afternoon looking like this:

red dress from forever 21, peep toe flats from steve madden, wooden ocelot painted bangle by baublesbangles&beads, large hobo and pony hair ocelot purse (used as a bagcharm) both by coach

Anyway, the question is, did I bring home anything? You bet! ;) But still, everything was on a very limited budget and this was the only loot I brought home...

FYI: rustan's (the bag on the left) is manila's higher end department store that is probably closest to harrod's. I suppose everyone knows what zara is. hahaha!

Yep, two items only. I even had to bat my lashes for bf to buy the one from zara so originally I was gonna bring home just one bag.*giggle*

From rustan's I was able to get a super skinny pair of dark gray jeans from culte femme which I will take pics of when I get to wear... (I'm a bit worn out at the moment) But it was such a steal and the fit was very much comparable to j brand's.*wink*

However, I do have pics already of my newest zara acquisition as I took some pics whilst trying them on. hehe! I was initially going to sleep on it that's why I took these pics but since bf was *ehem* feeling supportive, I was able to get the one I decided i really wanted already! So here goes the storyline:

I was choosing between these 2 lovely things at the beginning:



The first one being a houndstooth swing coat of some sort with a very 'audrey hepburn' feel to it, whilst the second one was a plaid cropped casual peacoat with more of a young brit schoolgirl charm. I was confused at first as I wanted to get both but that would be too excessive of me, noh? So I promised myself to get only one. (I actually stayed there walking around the store for about 30 minutes, carrying both these coats in my arms!)

So what did you think I ended up getting? Perhaps I should post which one it is tomorrow to keep the suspense! hehehe.

Anyhow, after that difficult decision-making, bf and I decided to eat korean food at Kaya express in rockwell:



where we had one order of bulgogi, one order of sizzling spicy squid (i forgot tke korean name), 2 bowls of rice, 2 side orders of kimchi, ripe mango shake, and beer.

bf was already holding his bowl of rice when i took this, hehe! I'd already started eating too then I remembered to take this pic.

I was too full to walk anymore after finishing my food so we headed on home.*sigh* This post made me realize how nothing beats a great day of hanging out at the mall with your very own hottie boyfriend.

Well, unless of course you're with your hottie shopping girlfriends! haha!

A mixture of neutrals + disappointment with topshop shang + outfit

A couple of days ago, shopcrazy’s cherry the manic shopper wrote an article about throwing neutral colors together in an ensemble. Basically she talked about mixing shades of brown with black (as well as navy & black for that matter). Thing is, I found it quite surprising that this is becoming the rage just now. I’ve actually been doing it for years! Well, it’s about time that manila fashionistas step out of the box that’s been created by some kolehiyalas from the early 80’s. hehehe!

photo from shopcrazy.com.ph

I’ve always loved how the color brown looked against my skin and so that has always been a staple in my outfits since I was like, 13 years old (talk about being a nene, hehe). Also I never saw anything wrong mixing them with black. Another one of my favorite moves is mixing a light shade of brown with dark brown. I think the combination looks so rich! (that is, when done correctly of course) Look at this dress worn by Rachel bilson for example:



Doesn’t it look pretty?

I just really love the color brown I guess. Well, gucci and lv monogram made me fall in love with it even more! *wink* Plus, seeing those french girls mix all sorts of dull colors in Paris really gave me a lot of ideas on how to do it through the years. (calling my high school girls, its about time we go back to europe! I miss watching them french girls. hehe!)

Here are a couple more ideas care from our pretty “it” gals:

lindsay lohan, hilary duff, jessica alba, and kate moss


nicole richie, mk olsen, sienna miller, and mk olsen

So, being a ‘pioneer’ *ahem ahem* of this trend in manila, I am encouraging you gals to give it a try! hahaha! Other interesting combos would be gray and brown, as well as dark plum with navy blue. Like I say, if ya can’t go to europe, why don’tcha bring europe here? Hehe.

Warning: those who are scared of mixing brown with black (or any other color for that matter) for fear of committing a fashion faux pas, end up looking like this:

no, I don’t hate jessica simpson, I actually do love her! it’s just that I came across too many of these chocolate wardrobe crimes as I was looking for pics for the collage above.

Not a pretty sight isn’t it? The key is to work well with particular shades and to balance the outfit together. If it doesn’t feel right, ditch it! There are no rigid rules in fashion, but if it feels terribly wrong then it probably is!

Moving on, as I have posted earlier on, I went to shangri-la mall to check on the newly renovated topshop branch which ended up as a major disappointment since the place did not change at all except for its whiter walls.


sorry for the blurry pic, it was taken with my crappy phone as I didn’t want to look like a tourist. hahaha!

And here I thought the place would end up looking quirkier, or more “english”, or at the very least a wee bit more spacious! But no, no, no. *sigh* I guess topshop moa and powerplant still remain my favorite branches. I wonder when the day will be that we'd get to see topshop stores that look a little bit like the ones in Europe.



I guess not in a while huh?

To end this post is my outfit yesterday as I left for the mall:

black vest top from topshop, brown houndstooth pleated shorts from forever 21, faux croc gladiator belt from h&m, wooden ocelot bangle from baublesbangles&beads, brown leather pointed flats from steve madden, speedy 25 lv monogram bag by louis vuitton. also not seen in picture are my enamel brooch and anchor shaped brass earrings from topshop.

But of course it’s a mixture of neutrals! *natch*

Gucci by Gucci

Those wonderful people at gucci sent me this email about the new gucci book to be released on november 1.



It's quite a tease because I have been so looking forward to having this book but decided to rest those um, 'urges' due to the hefty price tag. As you recall, I am in a dress phase right now and buying this book will take money from my very limited obsession fund. In addition to that, I am also trying my best to save for a bag this december or january. So no gucci by gucci book for me.

Well, hopefully i'll be able satisfy myself with just a peek at the pages the next time i head over to greenbelt 4.*wink*

It's here, It's here, it's here, it's here!!!

Two weeks ago, I asked my mom to get this super cute tunic from forever 21 which I saw online. It was just too adorable and unique to pass up! *giggle* It's a purple and orange mixed-print floral chiffon long top which can also be worn as an itty bitty dress. It has this old school 60's carefree-and-pretty attitude about it and I just knew that I would die if I didn't get to have it. So I begged begged begged dear mama to look for it! hahaha! Well, she found it and now it's finally here! *I'm in love*

Here's a pic I took with it. I know it doesn't look that appealing but the website had a waaay better picture! (It is now out of stock at www.forever21.com and I'm actually kicking myself for not taking a screen shot of it from the website, hehehe!)



And here I am trying it on as a very short mini dress and (the safer alternative) with black ankle leggings from topshop:



Don't you think purple and orange look so cutie together?

Well, I need to get ready as I'm off to the newly renovated topshop at the shang!


toodles! ;)

Some nostalgia, some sweat and a whole lot of brotherly love

Since I am on a sembreak, I've been thinking about doing some form of exercise which hopefully will turn into a regular routine even when school returns. Lord knows how unfit my body currently is, so goodluck to me right?! hehe! Anyhow, I decided to go jogging with my little bro drew at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center yesterday. Drew (he's actually a senior highschool student so he is not that little anymore) happily agreed and suggested that we jog at the elevated indoor track oval since it is cooler and has regupol flooring. (what is regupol you ask? I honestly don't know either. hahaha!)

As we entered the campus, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic. I spent four whole years walking and driving around this place... It's truly the best university here in manila. hehehe!


sorry for the slightly blurred pic, the car was moving as I took this. :)

The Moro Lorenzo Sports Center--


is located inside the Ateneo Campus and is said to be one of the best sports facilities in the country.

The indoor track oval where we jogged is a 200 meter run per lap.



See that boy running? That's drew making his 15th lap. I, on the other hand, stopped after my 8th.(pathetic, I know) But unlike drew who's part of his highschool track and field team, I am nothing but a very unhealthy stylemaker. hahaha! Hey, give me some credit. I freakin ran 1.6 km!!! And that was without fainting on the gym floor too. (I fainted in my room after everyone left me alone. haha!)

After our jog, drew and I decided to walk around the soccer field beside the gym as part of our 'cooldown' routine. nax! yes, little bro is a mini-trainer now. *snicker*



Whilst doing this, I decided to try my hands at nature photography and took a picture of this beautiful yellow-orange butterfly...



It's quite ironic because despite its lively color, this butterfly is dead. We found its lifeless body at the floor of the oval (sad, noh?) and decided to bring it back outside before it's beautiful wings gets crushed by an unknowing nike-donning foot. I cupped its dainty body in my hands and laid it under a tree to rest.

Anyway, after a while, my baby bro robbie suddenly popped up in the field. Turns out that the driver passed for him somewhere before picking us up. So he ended up sharing our little walk as well. Wow, family moment everyone. hahaha!

Here he is, modeling for me. Haha, yup he is not really a baby but a high school junior. I truly am in denial of these boys' growth. :)

After our walk, we all decided to try out the new small resto named Juggie's (after the character in Archie's), which had really cute poptate malt shop interiors--



but not-so-great food. (The little devils devoured the food right away so no picture!) That was basically the end of the day for me, haha! I was really too tired to do anything else afterwards.

Well, this post wouldn't be complete without the outfit of course! But don't laugh at my super uncool exercise gear, these have been with me since college ya know.

fuschia gym top and black gym leggings by everlast, blue sports bra by nike, dkny socks and nike air max rubbershoes