(London) I love birthdays. The presents, the gathering of friends and loved ones, the texts, Facebook birthday messages, the fuss – but I will publicly admit that I hate my own birthday. Maybe I have a problem with aging, not that I am doing it ungracefully, but Forever Young is just a song and a state of mind.
With age, one thing that has definitely changed is my personal fashion sense and preferences. Now, I’d rather go for French Connection and not Gap – the last time I bought something from Gap was three years ago. I can’t believe it! Although I still shop at my old favourites, I tend to opt for Mango instead of Bershka, Acne instead of Guess Jeans and Rachel Roy instead of Zara.
For this post I wanted to feature one of the simplest recipes that is a great model for my late 20s dressing – which I insist should not let go of youthful playfulness while still being age appropriate.
(London) It is May and summer is upon most of the world except for London. Still rainy and cold, the city is stretching out my winter wardrobe to the max hence a post featuringe an outfit that is more Autumn than Spring/Summer.
I was on a trip to Japan recently and just being there is fashionably more inspiring than reading a million fashion mags. Everyone is stylish and there are plenty of individuals with unique style. There are the cookie cutter girls in their frilly dresses and high heels but hanging out in Shibuya, the hipster neighbourhood of Tokyo – as Williamsburg is to New York or Camden is to London, I saw plenty of people in relaxed yet statement making outfits. This is what inspired me to go Wang and buy an oversized sweater for the first time ever (I’m all about fitted clothes that look tailor made). The sweater I’m wearing here is super cozy and bought at Neon Soda in the iconic Shibuya 109 shopping centre.
I’m wearing an oversized sweater from Neon Soda, a denim button up shirt from HM underneath, dark skinny jeans from Uniqlo bought in Japan for a steal and my favourite wedges from Spring that I’ve worn here and here.
This photo was taken a few months ago when I first got my canon 600d and was snapping pics of everything! This manicure however is not ordinary so I am glad that I took a photo of it.
The kitchy paw print is a throwback to high school years (i guess i was a late bloomer) when I had just discovered nail polish and my steady hands to actually manage a decent polish job.
This is very easy to do and can be done with any contrasting colour combination. Just grab the brush, make a large dot in the centre and mini dots along one side for the toes. Here, I’ve used an Essie base coat and a Maybelline dark shade to create this design.
(London) Everyone has a favourite lip-balm or gloss may that be Vaseline, Chapstick, Labello, Clinique, Lancome’s Jucicy Tubes or whatever it may be. For me, it is Buxom plumping lip gloss. I love this stuff so much that I actually swear by it. Well, no, you’ll never hear me say “I swear on my Buxom lipgloss” but if I had to ever swear on something, I would pick this first. I love the gloss firstly because of the mentholyptus effect it has. It is instantly cooling and ultra moisturizing. The gloss is also long-wearing and last forever. It is very pricey in the UK and you can expect to pay around £25 for it although it is just $19 in the USA so on my last visit, I bought 4 just to stock up. That’s how addicted I am to this stuff. Never having believed that there could be any other gloss that would ever come near Buxom, I was pleasantly surprised to find a similar product from Too Faced.
The Too Faced Plumping Glamour Gloss has the same cooling effect as Buxom and similar moisturizing effects. The colour is not as shiney/gliterry but is richer and more velvety in comparison. It costs £15 at Boots so that’s a great alternative to the £25 of Buxom.
(London) On a recent trip to the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, London, I saw a great piece of art that involved a giant vibrating mirror. Taking the opportunity to experiment with the video function of my new DSLR, here’s a sample of the fun!
The video is not exactly fashion related, but if you’re interested, I’m wearing a pink merino sweater from Miss Selfridges, Silence + Noise Skirt from Urban Outfitters and over the knee boots from ASOS.
(London) I’m kind of obsessed with my pleated skirt as you can see in a previous post here and am currently fighting off wardrobe fatigue by wearing it over and over again. Here I went for a less girly and more androgyny effect by pairing it will loads of black, collared, rolled sleeves and power boots – my favourite Jeffrey Campbell Lita’s.
I’m wearing a Theory cropped jacket, my favourite pleated skirt and my Jeffrey Campbell Lita boots.
I wore a silk blend black shirt with cuffed short sleeve from Bebe and a studded belt from DVF under the jacket during the day – to balance out the über feminine skirt.
(London) Remember Jason who showed us how London gents dress it up and go preppy? He’s back to show us how they get down and casual.
Jason is wearing a Substance varsity jacket, Uniqlo Sweater, a pair of APC New Standard jeans that he’s had for 5 Years without washing them and the highlight of his outfit - Nike Safari AM1.
(London) Right in the hight of the holiday season in December, two fashion trends were all the rage in London. The Fur hat that I blogged about here and the pleated skirt. For about a 2 week period, it was impossible to walk down Oxford or Regent street without nearly physically colliding with a girl in a long or midi pleated skirt. I spotted one while Boxing Day shopping for a steal (only £7!) and snapped it right up. A little late on the trend wagon but this skirt is going to transition beautifully into Spring. For the time being while I wait for winter to wind away, I’m wearing it with over-the-knee flat boots and cropped sweaters.
I’m wearing a pleated skirt from one of those random shops in the mall (£7.00), a merino sweater from Miss Selfridges, skinny studded belt from DVF and flat over-the-knee boots from ASOS. My locket necklace is from the Canadian store, Mexx.
(London)APC is massive in London and I hate to admit this so publicly but I didn’t know much about the brand before I moved here even though it is decades old. This video I found on the Cool Hunting iPad app, which I highly recommend by the way, kind of gave me a brief history of the brand and its founder Jean Touitou.
