an ivory shapeless not-so-mess

love lace insert balloon sleeves dress, zalora (in blush). heels, zalora (old). leaf necklace, forever21. bag, gianni bernini.

This zalora dress came with the two-piece swimwear set from Something Borrowed from last week's orders. It's as magical as I dreamt it would be in real life. Confession: I've actually been eyeing this one for so long from the site but only bit when the price went down to about 700 Php. It's currently perfect lounge piece for me now. The sleeves' wrist opening can be tightened but I somehow prefer it undone. It keeps the dress magical that way, giving it the illusion of being, well, shapeless. The inside is fully lined so nothing shows. I have a feeling that apart from being a lounge piece, this will be sort of party or get together dress for me this last quarter of the year, too. Well, we shall see with that...

Lately, the days are getting shorter. It's technically fall in other areas, I suppose but here, to us here in the tropical belt, this signals the long countdown to the Christmas season. I guess I got this dress at the right time to wear for the colder, not really that chilly days.

Is it time to start looking for dresses for parties here and there now then? I suppose so. I'm not sure if I'll be doing that, however, as after acquiring this and the two-piece swimwear, I'm most likely abstaining from buying until next year. I'll make do with what I have in the wardrobe like I always do again. Maximizing the use of everything in a pretty limited wardrobe is creatively, resourcefully fun and at the same time, quite thrifty. Nothing new to me as it's what I'd been doing for awhile now.

Moving onto fandom everything I miss updating about: my pop music mood today is Cream's Change album released last year. The title track is really pretty cute...err...very fun everything. I'm a huge fan of Cream's singing half, Minami, as she spent a part of her childhood in Hongkong and is fluent in English and Japanese at the same time. Needless to say, I have the album on constant repeat slash loop on the itunes as of this moment...here's a snippet of said really fun title track (the remix here is alright but I like the regular album version more for some reason...hmn...):

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.

friday weekend

(photos by Candice Calonia, collages by me)

Me thinks you'll have to click on the photos to enlarge. Outfit details are already on the first collage.

Today was afternoon chai tea latte with the best girl friend; frolicking around SM...well, outside of it, anyway, and tonight is for just chilling to music.

Music talk here (this corner might've been missed...lots...well, I miss it anyway): Has anyone listened to the new record from Jpop boygroup/boyband/dance and vocal group, Da-iCE? Next Phase is a really solid album, by the by...I could say it was even better than their previous two. Paradive, Bond and Two as One have become my favorites off of it and news is (as told to me just now by a good friend on twitter), the full music videos for the latter two are out on their Universal Music Japan channel. Inner me just went 'yay!' I'll check those two out in a bit. I've been bopping to those three, especially the former two (and Fantasy) for the past few days now. Here's Bond's full version to bop to, tonight:

 

....and I am probably off to watch an anime or two tonight. I have yet to finish a Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo movie/episode special based on a light novel (Opera house murder case 3, if I'm not mistaken). It's that or I'll binge watch any anime of the horror genre I can find on a streaming site tonight. It is Friday. I've been...uh...reconnecting with my inner aniota (anime otaku) recently that I've kept at bay for eons now. I'm still really picky on animes to watch lately and often times, I just keep away from it because, like in the case of Kindaichi, it doesn't really follow the manga to the t anyway. I usually only watch classics though, except Sailor Moon's because I can't stand its 90s anime---I am of the opinion that Sailor Moon Crystal trumps the 90s anime because it follows the manga closer than the 90s anime ever did and I'm a known humongous fangirl of the manga...effectively owning a copy of its first volume bought from Barnes & Noble around late 2015 to early 2016. As for the newer manga serializations and hmn...animes...I'm only interested in Twin Star Exorcists...but more the manga than the anime. I'll get to reading this shounen series when it gets closer to its end. I don't think the manga artist and writer has started with its climax/last arc anyway. It seems to already be midway however. But for the record, I don't really consider myself an aniota. I just watch these things casually: just when something interesting of this sort comes into my radar. I don't cosplay---halloween costuming-up, I'd do, however---nor attend anime expos either.

If all else fails and nothing of the anime variety ends up piquing my interest tonight other than the Kindaichi special/film...I'm going to get into one or two indie or indie-ish movies I've been keeping on storage for a while now. This is to rectify the failure of the bff and my plans to watch a movie in the cinemas this weekend. We wanted to watch Asa Butterfield's The Space Between Us but only one cinema is airing this and what's even more disappointing is, it's sharing the same theater with Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Yoga which I have no interest in watching. ....not really a huge Jackie Chan fan here. Also, The Space Between Us, only airs twice, from 5 p.m. until almost 8 in the evening and around 9 until 12 midnight. We really can't be bothered to stay so late to catch this one. Maybe next time...

boy-dressing, 1990s, and boybands

 vintage plaid shirt, aeropostale cutoffs, zalora heeled pumps, necklace as bracelet from aunt, aizilim rings, forever21 necklace/choker

rubi via zalora ankle boots

Mary-Kate Olsen and her 2008 plaid shirt + cutoffs get-up inspired this one based on what I've seen browsing around Olsens Anonymous anyway. Seriously speaking though, this oversized flannel is pretty comfortable and warm enough to keep the cold of the night at bay. December usually spells cold nights, warm mid- to early-afternoons for us here that's only a few meters below the equator. I could think of a number of things to do in it which includes sleeping and it's something I'm about to do in a bit. I have yet to test drive taking it out in leggings or a pair of cutoffs/shorts and tights however. I'll do that next time. It never really is cold enough to wear this thing out randomly in that comfortable off-duty combo.

The plaid shirt is, without a doubt, a men's shirt as it has a racing event info print at the back and a patch---not really visible in the photos---saying the same thing on one sleeve of it. I thrifted this with a denim button-up a couple of years ago or so, if memory serves me right. The two are about the same size. ....and by this, you could also easily tell its shirts like this that comprise 1/4th of my wardrobe. Err...yep. I have a lot I use to dress like a boy with. Hah. It's something I'd expect from someone who grew up around 4 brother-like figures majority of the early 90s which was also the height, or at least it was here, of boybands. Okay, so who here, around that time ('til the mid 90s, 1995-1996 and/or 97) were fans of the Backstreet Boys and N'SYNC? Unfortunately...I was a Boyzone (an Irish boyband) fan first, that time, with one girl friend from early elementary school. RIP, Stephen Gately. The girl friend and I squabbled over who gets him once upon a time when the question of 'who is your Boyzone bias/favorite member?' comes up. My environment growing up as exhibited here dictates the way I dress or in the least, has influenced it. There's definitely no going back for me from here. It doesn't really help either that I'm a huge fan of some Japanese boy groups *cough*Da-iCE and now FlowBack*cough* and young, mostly up and coming Japanese male actors in tokusatsu. And no...I've never been really a fan of One Direction...well, save for their first album because, in my opinion, that was the only one I found to be the best from them... I usually prefer Asian, specifically Japanese multitasking lyric and dance male groups...mostly anyway.

Androgynous dressing...hmn...let me mull over it some more...
 

And speaking of the boyband fever which I think is never going to die in this...err...continent (thank you, East Asian---J, K, and C-pop gods!) anyway, and that which I will refer to now and then in this blog...

Now listening to/playing (mood): FlowBack - Come A Long Way

The dance video for this one from the guys wouldn't show up on the youtube search on here so this audio will have to do...I think. The former is definitely a must-see. If you're a jpop fan or even just someone who's curious about music and gimmick from this male group, you can look into their music and dance videos on youtube. They have a pretty good sound, different from my favorite Da-iCE but still comparably good, all in all. 

rainbow black

 tally weijl dress, ralph lauren sport shirt (similar), rubi (via) zalora ankle boots, vintage chanel clutch, aizilim necklaces, rings and wood cuff

Swapped the clutch for a bigger vintage leather bag to contain a box of four Human Heart Nature stuff to give out to people for them to try out and this was the right Christmas outfit to go out in and party at an aunt's house. Family business thing, yep. This tally weijl dress was begging to be outed somehow this season and I finally saw to wearing it out in some way that its not just a strapless thing. I'm...not really that fond of wearing strapless dresses and tops unless they were the really beautiful bandage types that need no reinforcement from shirts or tanks? I don't really know either. Haha. I'm normally more of a spacier up-top, and if possible, everywhere else person. 

It's that time of the year where I DIY my yearly planner instead of getting it from, say, the Coffee Bean...well, not because I'm a cheapskate, maybe, partly that but mostly because for the past two or three years now, this has been practice for me. I like it when I can combine the personal journal, ideas notebook and planner in one carry-all notebook than having a planner with a compartmentalized template that's separate from the other two. Such a thing keeps me from cluttering bags I carry around with me when I go out. What I also really like about this is I have the freedom to put whatever I want on the planner-ideas notebook-journal-in-one thing. Pictures/snaps included.

I'm currently catching up to where Doubutsu Sentai Jyuohgers are already (episode 40, still in episode 19 right now). Preoccupying myself with this while waiting for more episodes of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid because being kept hanging per week spells torture for me. Also currently keeping tabs on the Jdrama, Last Cop because it has my favorite young actor from Kamen Rider Drive: Takeuchi Ryoma. I watch Kdrama on tv on and off so I only follow select Jdramas now as opposed to following a lot before. Tokusatsu is mostly the only thing I really watch...slightly religiously however. 

Did anyone else miss my random music talk corner here? Just me? Okay, then. Here goes: I feel like I've been listening to a lot of things with Steve Aoki today but it's just really two tracks (one with Adam Lambert as main vocals, another with Walk the Moon, see below). I'm not even much of a Steve Aoki fan where my tastes on edm DJ-producers go---I usually lean towards those that specialize in deep,tropical house...mostly. I just have this on repeat because I'm a fan of Walk the Moon. Yep.

Now listening to/playing (mood): Steve Aoki & Boehm - Back 2 U feat. Walk the Moon

denim that's not jeans

denim dress from Bangkok, zalora heels, ninewest clutch, DIY headband, aizilim bracelet/bangle and rings

Possibly the only way I'm found to wear jeans. The dress's straps were falling apart so I had to have them chopped off but otherwise still one of the better denim stuff in the wardrobe. I don't often wear much strapless stuff unless there's occasion to, though. I'm fond of topping them with shirts most of the time. Might try that one with this next time for a more casual, worthy of going out randomly for tea or whatever look. The dress is pretty comfortable enough I rolled around in it on the floor by the stairs (my dubbed working space as of late) for a good fraction of the late afternoon yesterday while working on stuff on the laptop.

Music talk of the day: who's heard of Tove Lo's Lady Wood record by now and loved how it started with Fairy Dust as intro? So, so good record, by the way, as expected of her after the awesome thing that was Queen of the Clouds (this still keeps me high in the clouds when I listen to it plus it gives me that feeling of rolling around fluffy heart shaped clouds somehow...haha). The track Cool Girl speaks volumes to me and Imaginary Friend is just all out self-love appropriate. Also, weirdly, Lady Wood reminds me of wood nymph---which isn't really what she meant when she sung it on the titular track but w/e---which is what this outfit hints of. It's never been a secret I love Tove Lo so much *insert tons of hearts here*.

Kind of missing Bangkok, like I do Hong Kong, and the shopping there. I wasn't able to go around there as much on my own as I was stuck with the aunt and her friends/colleagues way back when. Pattaya was rad though. I'll go back one day...on my own, I guess...or with a girl pal so it won't be as lonely? Well, yep.

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.