valentines day look and a bit of the 59th Grammys

 vintage dress, mags shorts, forever21 arm cuff/bracelet and heels, jessica simpson straw fedora, aizilim bracelet/cuff and heart necklace, LC Lauren Conrad bracelet, smashbox (in Ayala Centrio) choker

Valentines day outfit. So what do y'guys plan to do on this day? I've been meaning to watch about three or four episodes of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (Casefiles of Young Kindaichi)'s valentines day case...I'll probably do this tonight. I'll try to locate it on a streaming site for animes or I'm pretty sure I have them somewhere in my local hard drive/disk storage. 

Music talk: Yesterday was the Grammy's. How really good was that Prince tribute from The Time and Bruno Mars?! One huge highlight for the show yesterday, that one was for me. Adele's tribute to George Michael was pretty disappointing---the Grammy's really should have prepared something more for this as GM is pretty iconic to me as a pop music enthusiast and sometimes critic. I really like Lukas Graham but they should've been given a different segment to Kelsea Bellarini as I haven't been a fan of country music in forever outside of maybe Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood so they could show their own shine because, seriously, 7 Years isn't the only magnificent song from this band...there are a few others I like from them on their youtube channel. Twenty One Pilots winning the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Stressed Out had me over the moon granted this one was such a surprise win. I love about 3 to 4 tracks from their record, Blurryface so I had been so pumped for them and Lukas Graham being nominated in a number of categories. Katy Perry going political was also a thing for me however subtle that one was. Hmn...what else am I missing? I guess that's pretty much it. I'm not a huge fan of either Beyonce or Adele seeing as I hardly listen to mainstream pop. Criticisms on the Grammys yesterday: they really need to fix the sound problems they have which is present on a yearly basis---it messed up Adele's GM tribute and the Metallica and Lady Gaga performance among others; and hmn...I think it's high time the governing body behind the awards show let someone of a different skin color or race win, by this I mean Beyonce. The Beyhive has been thirsting/hungering for her to win some of the most coveted Grammy's awards like Album of the Year, Song of the Year and more, anyway. I think it would also be nice if they moved more of the pre-telecast awarding to the main show so there's a decent ratio of the performances and the awards. I'm sure I have a few others in mind but these two are the most I can name for now. Will I be watching the Grammy's next year? I'm not all that sure yet if technicalities like this continue but to be honest, the Grammy's is really the only awards show I watch year in and year out as I'm not that fond of film and tv show awards for some reason...this includes the Oscars that's happening in two weeks from the Grammy's. I watch a mixture of indie films and mainstream films so I don't really see the point of keeping tabs on awards shows. I should say the same for music as I listen to a mixture too but yeah...I still probably would not let things like the Grammy's pass seeing as I don't really follow the AMAs (American Music Awards) and more.

less than a dollar outfit

 vintage/secondhand thermal, jeans and bag; zalora heels; forever21 and aizilim necklaces and rings; smashbox choker; dad's sunglasses

Neutral everything and I do wear jeans...sometimes. Even if it's the ripped variety. Also, this might be the cheapest get-up I have to date. The top is one of two purchased at only 15 Php and the jeans is 10 Php...the total to those two would equal to even less than an American dollar when converted from the Philippine peso/currency. Only the shoes are, like, around almost a thousand Philippine pesos but that's another thing altogether.

It's been so cold and cloudy the whole day today I just had to go with anything long-sleeved but still cozy enough should there still be some humidity---and well, Philippine climate here in the southern part of it doesn't disappoint...it did get humid. And here I was thinking it'd be a bit more summery but it's still not... I miss the sun now. Like, the scorching heat type of sun I can live or survive on that most people I know here and everywhere else hate.  

makeshift silky wrap

 vintage maje dress, jessica simpson straw fedora, burlington (via robinson's department store) socks, CLN wedges, forever21 filigree cuff/bracelet, aizilim necklaces, smashbox netted choker 

The dress is originally knee-length. After knotting together a large portion of the satiny fabric up front and now it looks like a fairly-like wrap dress. The dress, due to the silkiness, has a luxurious feel to it when worn that it can be a piece to go on a night out in or even stay in on some weekends if one likes to. ...and I figured brown and navy blue would look pretty good together.

altered

 zalora skirt and heels, ninewest bag, never been kissed (robinson's department store line) tank, aizilim necklaces and rose gold cuff, vintage bracelet (gift from grandmum), smashbox (ayala centrio) choker

The tank used to be longer as it's an XL or XXL originally but I cut it short to regular tank length (not so obvious here as it is tucked into the skirt) and then sewed its end close or something to that effect.

hints of boheme and some music talk that might be a constant now here

 benchPH tank similar here, Gap cutoffs, vintage belt, rubi via zalora gusset ankle boots, smashbox choker, sm department store heart & cross dangling earrings, secondhand (from grandmum :D) and LC Lauren Conrad bracelets, aizilim necklaces, diy braided headband

I lean towards the more boho side of the style spectrum than I'd care to admit. I'm suspecting much of it has to do with the fact that I reside in the most tropical region the world knows and that the city I'm in is also by the bay. Beach casual boho, style-wise then, I guess?

 with the secondhand corduroy jacket

The jacket is probably one of the favorite ways in which I'd dress casual things up to get ready to go out with. Well...since I don't have the jean/denim jacket equivalent...yet. I gave away one that came my way before and definitely regretting it at this time. I'll go hunt for something similar most likely in the thrift stores.

Music talk (this might be a constant here since I do love music as much as I love fashion...which means...by a huge lot): I'm not so sure if it's a coincidence that the one very east Asian (Jpop) record I'm listening to since the weekend is 1 Finger's One Dream 2. I don't think it is, knowing me and my preference for everything sunny and summery like this sun belt I've been touting since the early days of the blog---the dim dark days when it had a more bohemian free spirited girl title that matched my LiveJournal's. If you don't have this record, I recommend looking for it. It's so, so, so good I have, like, 4 of a total of 8 tracks on it on eternal repeat the past 2-3 days now. 

Favorites from this record include track #s: 2 サマラバ☆, 4 Dawn Night, 7 Try Again, and 8 ヤシの木~Sha la la~. These four? Really effective in taking the gloom away from the rainy season at the year's end...in the tropics. And if winter isn't your thing, definitely listen to these to get the tropical island cheery living feeling in. They're proving the most effective in warding away depression to me nowadays. Case in point, today: it's gloomy and about to rain outside but I have summer music on. I'm all well and good now.

I caught wind of 1 Finger thanks to their contribution to Kamen Rider Drive and Kamen Rider Ghost Chou Movie Taisen Genesis's OST. They sung the ending theme to the film and their performance of it in Chou Eiyuusai 2016 is quite good, too. One of my favorite parts from there. So I searched for that track to no avail and came across this record instead. Well...it was still a win-win thing in the end so let's leave it at that.

Yesterday's news of Fukushima and Miyagi in Japan being under tsunami warning watch made me nervous. This was after the 7.4 magnitude earthquake they had. Then later, the warning had been lifted, I was relieved nothing else like 2011's followed through. As a Japanophile living a few hours by plane outside of it, of course, I'd be concerned by this. It's a given.

an impromptu trip to the beach would be ideal right now...

 secondhand Pull and Bear tissue-like striped button-up, forever21 sailor shorts (from seasons past), ninewest bag, Rubi gusset ankle boots via Zalora, aizilim rings, necklaces and wooden bangle/bracelet, Smashbox net choker 

Ideal weather out right for a beach trip...an unplanned one on a Saturday inspired this one. I'm currently itching to go, unfortunately the good ones, mostly the beach resorts are an hour and a half away towards Balingoan, way past Jasaan from the city proper here. It'll take a bus ride to make it there, tops. That is if one didn't drive around here...yeah, I don't. I'm a not so good driver, to be honest, and city driving scares me to bits.

It's probably not ideal to wear this pair of boots, comfortable for walking around as they have been proving to be, around the beach but likely, I would...still. I am that...weird, it seems. But when I do get tired of the ankle boots and stomping around resorts/the beach with it on...this is going to ensue:

 ankle boots switched out with Zalora men's sandals

It would be so me to switch out staple ankle boots with Birkenstock-like Zalora men's sandals...

This is what those sandals look like up close:

Obviously, it already has telltale signs of how abused it has been since that fateful pool day with the bff in Xavier Estates Club and Country House...

And they're proving to be the easiest to wear on the way to run errands out. This adds a bit of masculinity to shapeless t-dresses I own in multiples I also grab as frequently as I do this pair of san...err...mandals.

It's the UAAP Cheerdance Competition on TV today. Nationally televised, as per usual. I'm opting out of watching, however. I don't know either. I only ever watched tv yesterday for one South Korean reality tv program and I've been tuning TV stuff out the whole week in favor of other things to do. I don't usually watch a lot of TV anyway. 

And yes, finally got around to fiddling with the hair and braiding a small portion of it somehow. A nice change for the usual down and messy 'do.

tiny bit of yellow cheer during the rainy days

 Gap t and buttoned cutoffs, vintage belt and hoodie (Ann Taylor Loft), Rubi gusset boots via Zalora, Smashbox net choker, aizilim necklace and rings (latter not clear/visible in the photos)

Found this shirt in a forgotten bag of clothes from so long ago while trying to see what else I can do away with so others can make full use of them much more than I have. A lot of things I own currently need new homes. I'm putting a lot of these older things I have, that I hardly used, on sale on ebay between this month and the next. It has been kind of irritating that I have given a lot of stuff away last year and I still ended up having a lot more...that I hardly used. Much of this I'd have to blame the maternal side of the family that's in the US. They're mostly 3 women (aunts) and the grandma and being women, they looove to shop when they get the chance to. I'm partly kidding here as I love them so much either way. Haha.

Either way...hmn...there's fun in styling something so old and hardly used when you dig them up from the deepest depth of your seasons' old clothing storage. This might also have contributed to why I only have isolated shopping trips or binges now and then for the past two or three years or so now...

Speaking of shopping, a brief spiel of it and how I've been going about it lately here: shopping for me has been about...say, just twice or thrice a year for about two or three years now. I don't really shop a lot anymore as opposed to how I did almost daily while attending graduate studies in Silliman University in Dumaguete City. I shopped a lot more than I do now when I was in college, too. This is mostly because the thrift shops are in close proximity to the schools I attended way back when. I guess I just came to a point where I'd had enough of owning a lot of things I use once then discard to the deepest depths of my wardrobe storage. I'm currently making it my life's mission this time to build a wardrobe of stuff I use frequently...for lounge and casual since I seem to be an expert on that. I still like the idea of owning a lot of clothes to last me a lifetime since I do love clothes but one thing I'd really like to have the most is a more edited closet/wardrobe because...isn't this always the goal to our getting into and loving fashion in the first place? Well, unless you're the kind that just love shopping for the sake of shopping (or stress relief) and hardly cared about personal style or fashion but otherwise, yes, that, exactly.

Back to the shirt one here. It seems this blog has been seeing a lot of stripes...I still have a few more I'd like to make use of here...okay, for real, just one now since this is done (not saying I won't be wearing this piece a different way here again one day however because I know I totally will... and like the next normal person, I have the tendency to overuse momentary favorite pieces so...). Stripes...they're being a constant in the wardrobe and have been relegated to my definition basics. They just are so, so fun to wear with everything.

socks and electric blue pumps experiment

 secondhand t dress and curdoroy jacket; Zalora heels; ninewest bag; forever21 long leaf necklace, hawk ring and etched bangles; souvenir shop bangles; vintage bangle; Smashbox (in Ayala Centrio) choker; aizilim rings; random stockings/socks

The inspiration for the socks experiment with pumps is from the second issue for this year's Vivi. I don't think I succeeded in this one, however, as the socks are looking more and more to me as calf-length stockings. I should probably look into hunting down some legit really soft, sort of thin socks in grey, black, brown or navy to make this work. I imagine scrunching the top part of calf-length socks of this sort to make this look much better than...this result.

I'm not really a huge fan of pumps nor do I use those often and might have had around one or two pairs in this lifetime---one used for school way back when, another for some sundays out. This one just struck out to me in Zalora, while browsing around their sales or their outlet for something to brighten up an otherwise dull get-up. Something that isn't really a bag or a purse for another way to do the pop of color in an everyday casual outfit for whatever with. I bought these one size larger than my original size (I'm a US 7 to 7.5 originally) as they were the pointed tip kind. And I've had nightmarish experiences with that kind after purchasing them in my original size. Nope. Never again. Either way, I'm only using this pair occasionally. Pumps are pretty boring to me outside of maybe airport wear and some semi-formal to formal wear which is why experimenting with wearing them with socks was a welcome distraction. 

The t dress is something I've had since forever. A lucky thrift find that's easy to grab and wear when I'm feeling lazy (which is, no surprise, almost all the time). Mum might have been right in saying this one as resembling comfortable regular sleeping wear sometime in the past when I wore this in a different way to a family and friends dinner. The remark never stopped me from reaching for this when I want to get dressed fast to go out however. This has been what started my penchant for t-dresses. I continue to amass those until now for easy grabbing and wearing...and going out. There are already a few from the Zalora brand, F101 I'm itching to get but don't have the funds to, yet. Next time.