Gleaming velvet.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(Zara green velvet top, Topshop skirt, H&M shirt and boots.)

Sorry guys, it’s been like a week without new posts. It was raining for a while but now we have officially entered the beautiful fall : D I can feel the cool air running through my palms, leaving behind a feeling that is so satisfying but somehow unsettling. But we all know that this is gonna be the one month in a year, when life is beautiful no matter what.

Layering a shirt underneath a short-sleeve top is what I’d like to call the “librarian” look. It’s something I tend to avoid because with the wrong combination of textures, it will look extremely geeky and old-fashioned. It would take something heavy and chic like velvet to bring this look together, and I found just the right item in Zara yesterday!

As I was strolling down the street, I noticed how people stare at my half-way tucked in shirt. Though I do think a little bit of messiness differentiates fashion bloggers from runway models, I couldn’t help but dwell on the line  from The Picture of Dorian Gray – She tried to look picturesque, but only succeeded in being untidy. Hmm.. whatever.

Oh, and thank you for those who voted for the Asos outfits! Love you all : 3

New hair and a new fishtail.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(Asos fishtail skirt, Romwe vest courtesy of Sam, H&M cardi, Monki clutch, Pull and Bear flats.)

I cut my hair! Can you see that? I know it’s not a dramatic change, but hey, one step at a time.  Somehow the experience of going to a hair stylist resembles that of visiting a dentist: The interrogative question – What have you done to your hair/teeth, young lady? – which induces a lot of guilt, followed by a 4-hour treatment and a post-treatment trauma. This kinda explains why I haven’t visited a hair salon in 17 months : P You guys know me,  I’ve had this long hair on one side since I started blogging. I was a but intimidated by the idea of changing my hair up. So DO tell me what you think about this!

I’ve always wanted a fishtail skirt, but it’s an incredibly old-fashioned thing to put on, and whoever does that is running the risk of looking Paula-Tsui-ish – no offence here, she’s no doubt a great singer. I ordered this from Asos.com, and I have to say that I’m really in love with it. I have relatively narrow hips. The shape of the skirt kinda put emphasis on the hips and gives me a fuller bottom, thus a more feminine figure. I know many girls in Asia struggle with wider hips, but I guess if this post doesn’t help you with what you should wear, it at least gives you an idea of what to avoid ; )

I figured a flowy top and a draped cardi would look very feminine and comfy with the skirt, and that’s exactly the mood I’m going for lately – as you can see. Thank you Sam for lending me the top, I really really like it!

Vote for The Style Voyager’s Asos outfit!

Photographs by the one and only Carmen Chan

I can’t quite explain how a peaceful tea party turned out to be a best-outfit-competition. But I guess that’s the only way to engage all you lazy asses. So, without further adieu, I present you my tea party costume outfit. As expected, I went for statement pieces from head to toe, hopefully you don’t find them outshining each other.

A brief outfit breakdown – Chinese opera inspired extended sleeves top – I found the best way to wear it is to tie a loose knot with the sleeves at the back. It weighs down the drama and gives the look a very romantic finish; midi length pencil skirt with colour blocking – this should be a mid-calf length skirt but on me it’s almost ankle length. I seriously can’t care less because the colours are beautiful and the shape so very flattering. The brocade platform sandals are gorgeous and relatively comfortable to walk in; and how can one stop staring at that long polka dot clutch? Excuse my fox though, he just want to have some attention.

So are you convinced to vote for me, huh? Blink blink.

I’m just kidding : ) Go ahead and vote for the outfit you like the best, and win a £250 cash coupon to shop at asos.com! It takes only a few steps to vote so don’t get lazy on that. The competition lasts for 2 weeks. Don’t forget to check out everyone else’s blog and comment and rate!

Now click on the items to view individual piece!
I’ve spent 3 hours mapping the html, so at least click on it!

ASOS x HK Fashion Bloggers Tea Party

All photos by the one and only Carmen Chan except the last one.

Let me tell you something first. A few months ago Asos contacted us for a standard affliate programme, asking us to put a banner on and in return earn a percentage from others’ purchases. I told Sam and Denise, in a blogger meet up, that it is stupid. (Sorry for being honest…) But asos has kept the options open and the creative genius Sam replied to that ever-so-standard email saying “Really?! Can we propose something else?” And it kicked off our 4-month communication and preparation with Asos. I can tell you that ALOT efforts are involved, ideas, time, physical challenges – I’m referring to weight lifting in particular, HK bloggers had accomplished a very unlikely task. See how creativity and persistence has made everything look so much better? Thank you Asos for being so open-minded and supportive!

What is it all about?

The original idea is to have a few HK fashion bloggers gather together for a afternoon meet up and tea sharing – beautiful food, beautiful decorations, bird cages, traditional China, a crazy amount of flowers and many more. The idea is to combine a relaxed and beautifully decorated backdrop to show off the clothes. At the later stage of the preparation, local creatives Carmen Chan and Nathan Wong were brought in for the post production. And thanks to that our efforts have been translated into pictures and moving images. Now watch this amazing video shot and edited by Nate and his crew.

Credits of the amazing video goes to Nate and his crew – Spade, Dion, andd Brendon.

Beautiful home courtesy of Tania : )
Special thanks to Vero Chocolate and Cafe Loisl for the delicious cakes!

I was a little overwhelmed by the preparation and didn’t actually spent much time enjoying myself. But I’m sure others did and the action of clicking on their stories is highly recommanded!
A pair and a spare, Fashion Hedonism, Sam is Home, Superwowomg, T Like Bubble Tea

What is next?

What’s up next is that everyone of you is invited to participate and win a £250 asos cash coupon? Tempted? Read my next post to see how to get it!

: D

Tease tease tease.

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great National holiday!
I’m sharing with you a homemade teaser for an upcoming event which all of you are invited to participate. Can’t tell much now, but make sure you will check back on October 3rd for a lovely surprise!

Special thanks to all HK bloggers who worked together to make this work.
Let’s get the party started!

Some thoughts on minis…

Photographs by dear mom : )

(Topshop mac and top, Zara skirt, heels courtesy of Joy & Peace)

About a year ago I realised that mini skirts are not my thing. The reason being with my height (5″3) has limited the length of my legs, and no matter how thin I get, within my healthy weight range ofcourse, my legs are still relatively short. (Feeling quite comfortable in my Size 8 body I also don’t see a need to loose weight.) I used to think by wearing something short and thus showing more legs would help the situation. But quite the opposite, mini lengths reveal just about how much I have! By realising that I gradually switched to midi and maxi lengths, and started to feel more and more uncomfortable in minis.

Well, it’s not exactly right either to avoid mini lengths from now on. Just because we are girls and we like to change with no particular reasons, we can’t help but wanting to switch things up. I came up a formular that’s quite useful for myself, hopefully for you too, and that is -to always layer something longer that would reveals the front part of your mini length but covers up the rest. Not quite getting it? Just image how boring and powerless I would look without my super mac!! Don’t worry this is no rule, I’m still sneaking in and out in my short shorts. Just when it comes to dressing up, minis are really not for me. I know for many MINI IS THE RULE. So how about just giving midi and under-the-knee length a try, you may know what I mean immediately : )

Happy, uh, mid-week?

PS: For someone who might be reading… D0 you see the cool stuff under my trench coat???
Okay, in case you’re not already a fan, go to this blog, it’s hilarious.

I’ve got daisies all over me.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(H&M dress as top, Topshop skirt, Jeffrey Campbell heels, Asos clutch, Zara Scarf.)

The last time I’ve put on this much flowers, I was probably about 5 years old, performing for my kindergarten talent show. Because my mom adores androgynous style, my childhood and teenage wardrobe was filled with minimalistic menswear inspired clothes that are usually in the colours of  black, khaki, a very ugly blue and a even worse green- which I’m not going into details with. Lace and florals and such were pretty much abscent.

You know when they say if you’re kept away from something in a younger age, you will seek for those more in adulthood. (I believe there’s a proper idiom for this expression, but since English is not my native language – which I cannot stress enough, I can only put it this way. If you guys know the proper expression for that, please please please let me know I’m very eager to learn.) My point is, quite ironically, a lack of creativity and femininity in my teenage years might have inspired me to start this blog at all. And I often find myself drooling over super feminine cuts and details when it comes to clothes. I know a friend of mine who has the exact opposite situation. When she was a kid her mom put her in all these princess dresses, and now she ONLY wears pants. How ironic is that?

Okay, now back to the outfit. I said goodbye to my H&M 3D flower dress, and cut it into a cute crop top. I love the flower details and was bored with the cut. I think now it works great with a high waisted pencil skirt – one of my must-haves for fall. And yea, that skirt looks very familiar, no? (hint: Sportmax fall – I love that collection!) Well no, it’s by Topshop : P I had to a get one size bigger because it was sold out in only a few days! The lace details are just adorable and the colour so vivid. I hope you like this early fall outfit, and I’ll talk to you soon!

Caramel covered strawberries with cream and chocolate sauce.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(H&M Vest and dress, Asos leather clutch and heels.)

Uh… blogging at 4a.m. makes me crave for sugar, therefore the title of this post. So if you got into this page by searching food-related terms, big apology here. This outfit was inspired by the beautiful and delicious colour palette of Lanvin’s fall collection- bright reds, champagne, toffee and chic black and white. I love the softness in these shades and when put together, they are always in harmony. A similar colour palette from Brioni’s Spring 11 collection caught my eyes since last year, and I just couldn’t help myself but looking for these lovely shades.
I got everything from early this year except the toffee coloured sleeveless trench. I think you can still get it in H&M by the time this post is published. I hope you’ll have a great weekend and a heavy dose of sweets : P

Lanvin fw2011
Photo source: Style.com

Decent exposure.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(Topshop shrug, bralet and pants, Jeffrey Campbell wedges, H&M bag, Zara scarf.)

First of all, I don’t want to upset you, but the shrug and the bralet and the pants are all from last year : ( Sorry guys, I hope the idea still helps : ) As I told Crystal in her EIU article Dressing Tips for Petites, wearing something sheer in neutral shade will help to elongate the body. However, you may feel uncomfortable showing too much skin, so the trick here is to wear a pair of high-waisted pants to keep a visual balance.

I remember reading an article from The Economist‘s quarterly mag Intelligent Life about the decent (skin) exposure for living and working in a city. The rule is to always show 3/8 of your body. For example, if you’re wearing sheer top, go with opaque long pants; if you’re wearing shorts, go with a roomy top; if you’re wearing sheer top and shorts all at the same time, boots might be the best option to make yourself  feel decently covered.

What’s your decent exposure?
Talk to you soon!

New jewels.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(H&M shirt, necklace and cuff, Topshop skirt, vintage sequin heels.)

Trying out the new season’s jewel tone with this simple outfit.
And.. the inspiration section is back!

Lanvin fw2011; Givenchy fw2011; Preen fw2011; Brioni fw2011; Stelle McCartney fw2011

In love with Brioni’s all over amethyst with a touch of gold on the statement necklace, but even more so with Preen’s complementary color scheme. I think purple/amethyst is the easiest choice for jewel tone beginners as it goes well many neutruals and is making a comeback almost every other season : P