Saturday, July 15, 2017

something simple and lazy for a saturday

ribbed tank, daiso. jeans, vintage. heels, primadonna ph. bag, apt 9 (via khol's, most likely). bangles, vintage and Dumaguete City souvenir shop. necklaces, f21 & aizilim.

Something simple (also, really cheap, like the jeans is only 10 Php and the tank, 88 Php...the tank being less than 2 USD when converted) and lazy for a Saturday afternoon in, binge watching a south korean drama.

I again meant to double post today but since I'm currently hung up on a drama and I'm trying to finish this by today or tomorrow, I won't be able to. That wardrobe dissection post will take longer to finish granted there's more photos of items to be included in there. It should be up by Monday at the latest. That post is long overdue according to my personal timetable for this blog.

Meanwhile, yes, something grey, cognac/light brown and comfortable for the Saturday afternoon. It's windy outside but still pretty humid. Rain is likely going to happen later.

 

Friday, July 14, 2017

two favorites

tank, bench ph. skirt and corduroy jacket, vintage. heels, zalora ph. clutch, gifted by aunt.

Two favorites are in for today's outfit: the corduroy jacket and the skirt. These two are the most reached for items in my wardrobe. As in, I reach for them and a plain top when in a hurry to go out at night or on some cloudy and a tad bit colder days. Hence, why the jacket is seen almost all the time on this blog.

Also, I'll finally post the wardrobe (basics?) dissection tomorrow. I was supposed to do a double post today but I haven't even fixed the photos on the folder I've designated for this one. I also have not finished taking photos of other items to be included in said post. 

Meanwhile, here's something I'm addicted to, music-wise:
On some parts of the song (the lyrics, that is), it gets emotionally heavy but otherwise, I love the tune. It's really groovy and the music video is epic. 

mood/currently listening to: Love Coach by ZE:A (kpop)

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

sometimes i get stumped at styling certain pieces too

tank, tally weijl. skirt, vintage. boots, rubi by cotton on via zalora ph. bag, gifted by aunt. bangles, vintage & Dumaguete City souvenir shop.

One reason why I avoid printed and varied colored clothing pieces is because I'm usually at a loss on how to style them. This tank has been posted about on this blog once because of exactly that. Thanks to the numerous black skirts I've accumulated over the years of thrifting and non-thrifting, I'm not as stumped anymore on how to style something like this. Ah! Separates (in mostly neutral shades)! They really are a lifesaver to have when one needs a certain, not-so versatile piece to style in a way that's not too over the top. I don't really style a printed top with a printed bottom unless both are of the same print or design. But one day, who knows? I might just break that one set rule of mine. I've known myself over the years to break and/or bend rules to suit my mood/liking at times...especially when it comes to personal style/fashion.

....and a new find from a couple nights ago or so for today's music recommendation: 
I've made a new playlist on the itunes that contains indie and mainstream pop, indietronica, indie synthed rock, some house music and named it accordingly. But because it's mainly comprised of tracks I find and end up being obsessed with for a certain time, I'm currently contemplating renaming it as "(my personal) obsessions". But I probably wouldn't. I'll think of something else to fit it... Err...now you know what kind of music I listen to when it comes to everything western music and some local (although I didn't include anything local on the playlist seeing as so few of them fit the style of the ones in this one...). Not even going to lie, I could put this playlist I made on eternal repeat or loop and I wouldn't tire of listening to its contents regardless of them, the contents, being a mess of sorts. The tracks in it can be classified as multi-genre-d that it has proven difficult to classify and divide them into the correct sub genres. All I know is their main umbrella genre is pop. Surprisingly the playlist doesn't sound too disjointed when transitioning from one track to the next. Usually, a mixed genre playlist gives off that vibe especially if everything in it is, well, random. If I focused more on mainstream pop than dividing my time between checking on that and the vast world of (mostly undiscovered?) indie pop, I don't think this would have been the case of playlist making... It's nice to have variety in music even if its mostly pop in the library. I'm looking forward to adding more to the playlist as I go on and try to discover---I do this by looking into the contents of playlists of different kinds (though I often linger in the deep house, tropical house and indie pop ones...) posted on youtube mostly---more music from indie artists and mainstream ones alike, local or not.

Monday, July 10, 2017

DIY Monday: tie dyed tank from a t

tank, a t turned (diy-ed) tank gifted by an aunt. cutoffs, gap. boots, rubi by cotton on via zalora ph. backpack, gucci (thrifted/vintage and most probably authentic). bangle, vintage.

Beginning Saturday night, last weekend, I was bitten by the DIY bug after puzzling over how I owned one too many t-shirts from random events (like benefit walks, family events and more...) and not enough tanks and such to keep the daily humidity and heat at bay. This shirt which is really cozy, by the way, was one of the many I'd ended up cutting, sewing a tiny bit and customizing to the length and cut of my liking. There are a few others that met my scissoring and mediocre, at best, skill of running and/or back stitching. There are also still a few others I haven't decided what to do with yet but I'll eventually get to customizing them with the scissors, as well as the needle and thread. ....maybe later.
I would have liked this t a bit more destroyed and the print faded in the pretty vintage-y way but this will do for now. It might reach that through more washes. At least, to me, it's so much more wearable now for the day and sleeping in. I like clothing that's perfect for both and tanks, cropped and not, are that for me even though I like ts as much.

I'm currently in the process of making braided headbands from the excess t fabric to gift this year to girl friends and more.

DIY Mondays should be a thing, no? Well, then, just occasionally as I don't really DIY stuff as much.

Friday, July 7, 2017

rainy day outfit number 1

dress, from Hongkong (I don't remember which factory outlet store it came from...). corduroy jacket and boots, vintage.

If this blog had a hall of fame where a certain piece I wear in its photos can make it to based on the number of times they have appeared here, this corduroy jacket would have made it there. This jacket has appeared in this blog one too many times to count. It's no doubt, a personal favorite. Since the time I gave away my denim jacket that could have been the IT piece here, this will have to do instead. 

It was raining this afternoon so this is rainy afternoon outfit number one. Everything worn here I've already talked about in previous posts so I'll end clothes talk here.

I spent a good portion of this afternoon reading the fashion industry news posts on Ohnotheydidnt. Note: I'm only a lurker on ONTD, not a commenter/poster and I occasionally only really go there for updates on...stuff. There were a couple of such fashion industry news posted there: True Religion filing for bankruptcy and a new Vogue UK editor shaking things up in the way the magazine is run (and starts off by firing one long-time staffer/editor among others). 

True Religion...I'm not really knowledgeable in the jeans/denim part of the fashion industry seeing as I don't own a lot of those. I'm pretty familiar with True Religion from the ads on fashion magazines. If memory serves me right, they advertise on Nylon and I think, Vogue US as well. I don't own a pair of TR jeans however, and nor have I gone into a store of theirs when with family in the US (SoCal). When it comes to jeans/denims, I'm really more of a Levi's girl. Gap's is okay too but the one or two Gap jeans I own have been turned into denim cut offs so I have no full opinion on their jeans either. Regarding this, and although I'm not a fan of the brand (the ONTD comments say a pair from the brand is expensive, selling for more than 200 USD each so it's only natural that I'd skip...), I say I feel bad for the retail jobs that's been lost since this happened.

No lies, I'm excited about how Vogue UK will turn out with the shake down from up top. Based on the comments on the ontd post on this, it looks like it's going to be good and worth the anticipation. I own about a couple of back issues of Vogue UK and to be honest, I haven't been a Vogue UK fan in terms of fashion magazine contents. I'm not much into Vogue US and AUS either and I have back issues of those, too. I can only find about 1-2 articles in an issue that's worth reading when I flip through those I have and other times, there's nothing worth reading. Those three tend to be really bland in terms of contents. US Vogue also tends to have quite a ton of ads the whole magazine feels very...overwhelming. French Vogue seems to be the only one worth getting into since the 00s. I'm really more of a Nylon reader/fan and Teen Vogue. Other than those two, I'd like to try Australia's Russh and stick with the Japanese fashion magazines (Vivi is a favorite!). Well, we'll see how Vogue UK's shake up changes things in terms of its contents and the magazine's relationship with their readership base. I'll try to look for back issues of it in the Booksale when I can since the new ones often cost a lot when bought here from Fully Booked or National Bookstore, hot off the press.        

Thursday, July 6, 2017

skirt (shorts, denim cut-offs) & t kind of gal

t, forever21. skirt, vintage. bag, gifted by a classmate (from years ago). wedges, primadonna philippines.

If there are jeans and t girls, I'm the skirt(& shorts/denim cutoffs) and t girl equivalent. The main reason for this is Philippines climate. Temperatures range from 27-28 degrees celsius this week alone in the city I'm in:
The range of temperature here makes the city seem a lot cooler than in the metro up north (Manila). In the metro (NCR/Manila), daily temperatures for the week reach up to 31 degrees c. Regardless, because Philippines is an island nation in the Pacific, it's always better to be safe than sorry in terms of daily dressing up. I ascribe to this default uniform not because I hate jeans/denims but because it's too hot to actually wear one most days of the week.  Jeans just don't seem to be a feasible everyday item to wear around here. Thus, most of the jeans I own have been cut off... If I need to wear something that covers the legs more, I'm the type to spring for the trousers or the faux trousers that actually are leggings. They're so much more comfortable to sport in this heat. 

It's the suede skirt again. I'm a serial repeat offender when it comes to a number of my favorite pieces. This skirt is quickly becoming one of those thus the second time wearing this here, on the blog.  I haven't really added anything new to the wardrobe since a couple or three months ago's trip to the local thrift stores with an aunt. So I'm currently making do with what I own. I do have a few new things on the racks (all thanks to the aunts and the grandmum in California!) but it usually takes me long to decide when to take their tags off and actually wear them. I tend to wait for the right occasion to be able to wear newly acquired pieces of clothing and accessories. I avoid the habit of frequently, impulsively shopping this way. (Note that I was an impulsive shopper since the college and graduate school years and have since learned to reign the urges in to stick to a strict budget and a leaner, more functional wardrobe in the process.) I can last about a quarter of the year to a half, not shopping for anything new to add to the wardrobe unless they're needed. I can stretch the no-buy period to a year but I really wouldn't nor would I advise doing so.

The staples post I was supposed to do since eons ago? I'm working on it... It should be up by next week if I can manage to take photos of everything I use on a daily basis. I already have about 27 or so items photographed so I'm getting there. It's basically like what my loose wardrobe capsule looks like when dissected and grouped into certain clothing categories.

Enough clothes talk. I may have come to terms that my hair is forever a mess and forever will be such a mess. This is second day hair with spritz of DIYed surf spray and no hair brushing...at all, unless you count my running my fingers through it before shooting these photos, just to roughly fix it. I don't think I'll be able to save it from being a mess as it has been so since I played with bleaching it blond late last year while with relatives in Long Beach, California. Since then, I've been maintaining it by bleaching it at least twice when I can. This is just the longest I've gone not bleaching it as the roots in the photos indicate the jet black is growing out again. I'll have to get it bleached again somehow next week. I have no intention yet of going my natural black way again---maybe next year, when I get tired of the blond/lighter shade but I doubt it. I feel very me in the lighter hair shade at the moment.

I haven't talked fandom (in this case, mostly jpop music) in a while. I'll just leave yt clips here of music videos I'm currently addicted to/obsessed with:
 
I'm currently drowning myself in everything summery jpop these days... (give me more, please? and thank you!) Da-iCE's Kimi Iro's full-length music video needs to be released soon, by the by. They'll have to do so in their vevo page on youtube one day. Until then, this, on loop will tide me over until the single is officially released. It's not summer here in the tropics/islands anymore---wet season is in but the days are still hot and humid so still summer? I don't really know either but that's pretty normal here---but these releases make me feel like it still is and that, in itself, is enough. Summer is my favorite season so I'm pretty spoiled now due to my faves' summer music releases and, of course, the year 'round climate.

Anyone else releasing summer bops? No one else? Okay then.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

a dusty rose number

dress top & hat, what a girl wants (may this local-ish brand R.I.P....). slip dress (inner dress), vintage. clutch, from an aunt. wedges, primadonna philippines/ph. bangle, vintage. 

The dress/vest thing is the last tagged item I own from the local brand, What a Girl Wants that closed about two years ago or so. (RIP, WAGW. /cries.) I should probably wear this one out more often. It's not ideal for the rainy season---we've had rains in the afternoons this week and it's threatening to rain at the moment---but it's fine for the sunshiney days. I'm still thinking of ways to wear this dreamy dusty rose-colored (I love this particular shade of rose!) piece out. It goes past the knees when it's not held around the waist by a belt as in when worn this way but it's pretty freeing without the belt as it is with the belt. I'm going to have to look for a better belt to fix this up with. I used the navy blue one from another dress for this and that set is up for auction on my ebay. I feel like something in deep brown or a lighter shade of brown will make this outfit attempt work better the next time.

....and I have a date to the cat cafe with the best friend tomorrow. Yay~ Fun~

Photobucket is acting up and may well be on its way to its death slash self-destruction, by the way, so I'm using Google Photos now to host the photos on here with. I'll alternate this with Flickr, I suppose. That is, until I find another image hosting site that's similar to really early, highly functional and convenient Photobucket. Suggestions, anyone? PB is currently charging about 400 USD just so its users can continue to hotlink photos from their accounts on said site---something people with sane minds are just thinking: 'no, no way, nuh-uh'---to their blogs, websites and more and since then, I've given up on it. 400 USD annually is too much to pay for just such simple service, in my opinion. I'm likely not the only one not liking where the direction PB is going... But whatever, it's all up to PB's management now.