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.

Silver and bronze jungle.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(Topshop jacket, t-shirt and sunglasses, Zara skirt, Asos heels.)

This outfit is inspired by the concrete backdrop of my city. The two shades of gray make a good contrast with printed coppery skirt, and reflects the coldness of an urban landscape. The round drop shoulder jacket and the tulip shaped skirt added softness to the shape. (My odd outfit analysis is induced by an art history reading overdose, bear with me.) You might have spotted this Zara skirt from your local branch or on blogs, for me it’s a hit-and-miss because on one hand the print and the colour are so adorable. But on the other hand it’s kinda saggy and the length’s abit awkward. In case you are pondering on this, I’d say pass on this one : ( Or you may spot it later on my closet shop : P !

I have to postphone the Fall essential post because I’ll be doing a collab with Sam. That’ll be so much fun as you’ll see the wardrobe essentials of two individuals with distinctly different style. So for those who wants to see my fall essentials, one more week, I promise. Happy Monday : D

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!

An official chill day.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(H&M jumper, unknown brand pants, Jeffrey Campbell heels and Monki hat.)

Lately I’ve been trying to write a bit but somehow I have the feeling that no one’s actually reading. I guess when it comes to a personal style blog, sometimes less is more. So that you can comment on my lovely red shoes (quoted from an email reply by Victoria Jin) without going through the writings in a painful manner. Alright, just kidding, probably if I write better you would enjoy reading it.

Okay, so my point is, I’ll just skip the writing part this time : P The outfit is pretty simple, a new H&M jumper paired with wide leg polka dot pants – which is available now at ShopStyleVoyager. I also put on my old bowler to complete the look. Yea I know, super lazy inside out.

A picture taken on a trip to the flower market for an upcoming blogger event. I can’t tell you what they’re for now, but it’s gonna be something really exciting. The colours are so beautiful together, definitely my new go to colour palette.

Have a lovely day!

Let me tell you something about Lomography.

First a big shout out to everyone @Lomography! Their efforts to engage bloggers and users are so inspiring I cannot begin to explain my excitements and appreciations.

The Lomography Sheung Wan gallery store was re-opened after a fancy makeover. ( Let me refresh your memory about the old interior here. ) Now everything is modern, bright and refreshing – though I still very much in love with the old one of its soft lighting and retro touch.

Sam and I, along with many HK bloggers, were invited to a mysterious party called Austria Calling. The party began with a presentation where they reacquainted us with the origin and ideas of Lomography with amazing photos and a lovely story of how it all started. So, basically, to put it in their own wording – What the hell is Lomography? As a long time fan myself, I was really inspired by the presentation to put away my DSLR for a moment and start the multi-camera-bearing actions all over again.

And just as if they could read my mind! We were then invited to a night time adventure and try out the new Lomography camera – SprocketRocket. I love love love the sprocket look on the images, seriously, how much cooler can it get : P It has multiple exposure function and super wide angle lens, and you only need the regular 35mm film to shoot with. It’s like all my favourite features  has come in one camera, plus the super cool sprocket look…. Speaking from my own experience, some of the lomography cameras, for example Fisheye and Colorsplash, gets a bit boring after a while because of its limited features. But I have the feeling that the versatile SprocketRocket’s gonna stay a favourite for quite some time.

A quick reminder to Lomography’s golden rule no. 8 &9.

8. You don’t have to know beforehead what you’ve captured on film…
9. …and you don’t necessarily have to know afterwards, either.

You can tell we’ve been very good bloggers to follow these lomography rules : )And even as pretentious as we bloggers are, we went all out with the crazy faces and quirky moves. Because you know, who cares? You’re not gonna see what had happened in a week or so. Sigh.

Thank you again everyone @Lomography, especially Justin, Edwin, Winki and Jodie – or whoever you are, Mustache girl. I’m so so looking forward to the upcoming projects! Props to the good work!

Bloggers in action: Sam, JJ, Jasmine, Daniel, Priscilla.
You can also click here to read Sam’s lomo party post  and here to read the wanderlister’s.

Have a great day : D

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

Stealing an old man’s job.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(H&M blazer and jewelry, Zara Shorts, unknown brand dress as top, Mesecca Coraline wedges)

Polka dots and burgundy color, pretty obviously choices for early fall huh? I guess those of us who live in HK should stop lying to ourselves about how fall is coming soon, cox it’s not. And it’s not gonna be here til late November. Having said that, as a blogger I urged myself to plan a little bit ahead of the weather and post early fall outfits. So that my viewers can get an idea and have more time to do the planning and shopping, etc. See, I care about you guys!

Back to the outfit. Don’t ask me where I got that top, I swapped it with a couchsurfer sometime ago – that’s how random my life is. The thing with the dots trend this year, is that the dots have to be BIG. Not the granny dots, the sophisticated Marc Jacobs/ Stella McCartney/ David Koma dots. It’s the first time in my life that I actually find polka dots attractive, no joke. And ofcourse, you can never go wrong with burgundy for fall wardrobe. And I’m absolutely in love with these Zara shorts.

As some of you might know by now, I’ve recently left my job at Midwest Vintage. It’s a pleasure working with such a diligent team of people. I wish everyone there the best, and it’s time for me to move on for good : ) I’m going to take a quick rest and dig into creative blogger collabs. But for now, I’m just gonna steal the old man’s job – I wish you can see his resentful stare : P

 The giveaway is now closed and I’ve picked the winner!

Adriana from Fatale Fille
Congrats!
Please email me your address and I’ll send it right away.
(I know there were some problems with my last giveaway. I’ll send it with registered post this time, I promise.
Don’t feel bad if you didn’t win this time, cox I’m planning on a series of mini giveaways!
Just stay tuned and keep trying!

Talk to you guys soon : )

Top as skirt and more.

Photographs by dear mom : )

(Topshop top, H&M blouse as skirt, Jeffrey Campbell heels and H&M bag.)

A streamline skirt with side slits  has been on the top of my wishlist for ages, and finally I got myself one – well, not exactly since it’s actually a top. Shirt as skirt is much discussed in the style community recently, my version is super simple:  simply tuck the collar and everything into a bodycon skirt – which is on its own a GREAT SLIP – you can get it from H&M. I cinched it up with a scarf to create this paperbag waist. The result is super flowy and feminine, and that’s exactly what I wanted.  I hope you like this little idea. Crystalof Watermoolen did a lovely article on the REAL Shirt as Skirt. Check it out here.

The amazing Carmen Chan has invited all of us to the Colonial Goods x G.O.D. x LKM exhibition launch party on Wednesday night. Colonial Goods has collaborated with G.O.D. and Lee Kung Man to re-introduce the iconic white T-shirt from the 60s. The idea is to bring back a garment of much heritage and showcase the traditional craftsmanship. Carmen’s photographs truly captured the essence of this project – simple, classic and refreshing. And I’m so happy that she’s making a breakthrough here in her hometown!

For more about the event and the product and Carmen’s amazing photography!!!
Go to Colonial Goods.

I didn’t take so many picture that night, so for a sum-up of the party,
Go to The Wanderlister Asia.

People in the photos above: Daniel, Priscilla, JJ, Tania, Carolyn and Denise.
People who were also in the party: Carmen, Geneva, Danielle, Valerie, Jasmine and more.
People who probably should have attented but didn’t: Sam  lol.

See you soon!