Greyscale

Finally, my homesick tripod made its way home (after spending the past few weeks at my parents' office) and so I was able to take these outfit shots yesterday. One thing I really don't want to do is for the personal style part of this blog to go under--after all, that is how all this started--and it felt great to finally put this up. I was supposed to head to Vietnam last week, but because of a terrible debacle with the Department of Foreign Affairs, my flight got rescheduled; I was super sad because I was really looking forward to seeing my sister.

Luckily for me, she sent home a couple of shirts and this one was my favorite--originally it was a round-neck and those usually don't look good on me; on my teensy, tear-drop frame|I end up looking like one of those gym bags with strings that you pull so that it shuts like a mouth. So anyway, to remedy that I cut the collar off and turned it into a boat-neck top, I think it looks pretty cute. :D

Wore: shirt, a gift | jeans, Freego | shoes, Centropelle 

 Also, my old black Freego pants finally gave out (after 5 years of loyal service) a couple of weeks ago when I fell down the stairs at our printing place--tsk, tsk. Now, when I say I'm a creature of habit, I mean I'm a creature of habit: I thought I ought to get myself a new pair maybe in a different style but I found myself heading over to the Freego section of the Metro Department Store in Town Center and buying exactly the same type, size and color pants. They're wonderful, thank you very much.

TGIF, everyone and thanks for stopping by! ;) More posts to come!

Stitch It Up

I'm not sure how to feel about the lighting in our garden, nowadays. Since we've had the roof re-vamped it's been extremely sunny and all my photos make me look like I'm standing in front of a floodlight. Yay or nay? 

Anywho. I know I swore not to cut my hair, but I couldn't resist. I was looking through photos of Tegan Quin and fuck, that woman has wonderful hair. Anyway. Yeah. So I got my hair cut into an assymetrical bob. It's shorter in the back and longer in the front and I quite like it. No hair cutting until Christmas (hopefully), promise. I keep thinking that I want to grow my hair hippie-long but 1. I'm not sure if I can afford the hair productage that would entail and 2. I really like getting my hair cut. Sigh. It's a wonder I kept my hair long for so long (harhar) before having it cut last year.

Anyway, just running errands today. Wearing this striped top that's still on sale over at the WinaWonders Store. I'm going to be putting up a new collection in time for Halloween; my apologies for being on hiatus but there's been so much going on, what with the launching of MoarBooks, and working on Paperweight (getting legal docs fixed and stuff) and keeping this blog up and getting through my reading and studying for class. I solemnly swear I will get to that soon.

Wearing: striped top, WinaWonders Store | jeans, Freego | shoes, Centropelle

P.S. If any of you beautiful people want a copy of The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, check out the MoarBooks x WinaWonders TFIOS giveaway!

Dreaming in Color

Last night, I had the weirdest of dreams--I can't remember what it was about, exactly but I do know that it was extremely colorful. Methinks I've been reading too much Body World. Today is the first time in a while that I had to go out and didn't have to be at my destination by 9:30 in the morning, which gave me time to do this outfit post. :)

I'm wearing this blue top that I got from a factory outlet of Old Navy a couple of months ago. It's uber presko and today was crazy sunny (sunny like I haven't seen since sixth grade, when I got dismissed at 3:30 in the afternoon) so I was glad to keep things fresh and breezy. I am absolutely in love with the color of this shirt--vibrant without being gaudy.

Wearing: top, Old Navy | jeans, Freego | shoes, a gift

Paperback Head

It is bad for you not to wear your glasses on a regular basis, self. Especially when all you do is squint at tiny letters--whether on or offline. I learned that the hard way today when I woke up, tried to read a book and gave myself a headache. So yeah--I hope you'll excuse the specs. I don't usually wear my glasses because I forget to and also my grade isn't that bad (100 in one eye, 25 in the other) so there isn't too big a difference. But yeah. Anyway. Also, to anyone heading to the optometrist to get their eyes checked, I'd deffo recommend these ones from Giordano. They're extremely light and pretty much feel like you aren't wearing anything. :)

The shopping ban has been easier than I thought. I've been able to reuse a lot of items that I'd only thought of to wear one way. This top, for instance (which I also wore here) which I probably wouldn't have worn again, I decided to pull out today and wear tucked into my favorite pair of jeans. These shoes have also been getting a lot of wear, which is great. Today, I'm of to go see Keav and spend the day together, talking about stuff--we've both been a bit melancholic lately and I really think it'll do well to just hang out and talk about life and what's been getting both of us down in our lives. :) A little r&r, if you will.

Wearing: top | NY&Co, jeans | Freego, shoes | Centropelle, glasses | Giordano

 belt | borrowed from Mother

If You're Going Downtown

Today, I headed over to Taft to have coffee with Trizha and talk about life and upcoming projects. She's agreed to illustrate Sugar, Spell It Out for me and so I'm super excited for that. One of the things I love about Metro Manila in the morning is that if you take an Ordinary Fare (non-airconditioned) bus, it passes through the Skyway and when you look out the window you can see everything below you and it almost feels like you're flying. However, when going downtown (figuratively--literally, it would be more like northwesttown), especially via bus,  you definitely have to put in a little more effort to dress street-smart. So, yeah. 

Today I'm wearing one of my favorite tops from the store tucked into high-waist jeans. I've really been into this sleeker, less frilly look lately and I think it definitely did well for today. :)

Wore: jeans | Freego, top | WinaWonders Store, shoes | WAGW, bag | Giorgio Armani

 I realize what the implications of owning an Armani bag might be and well, let me clarify that this has come into my possession because my dad has a leather bag collection that he's been building up for 30 years and he recently decided to let this one go because one of the buckles on the bottom broke off (as you can see below). He was thinking of just keeping it for sentimental value, but I asked for it instead because I love the way leather smells and I kinda like that it's a bit broken. I have a thing for things that are kinda old and a little worn out. So yeah. It really meant a lot to me for my dad to give this to me. :)

Brick

So today was the first day of class in two weeks since the flood--and my my, what a day it was. This post is going up after one of the busiest days I've had in a while and it must be true what they say that the body gives up things it doesn't use because boy did I feel like I didn't have a brain today. After almost two weeks of staying at home, being sick and reading nothing but stuff I consider fun, I was thrust back into the world of organic chemistry like a log against a big, iron door. Needless to say, I am exhausted. :))

Although I think I chose a rather fun outfit to wear in today's Manila gloom doomsday. Yes, this is a brick red version of the taupe aztec-print top that I wore last week. I love the color on this; it's just the right shade of red for morena skin methinks. I decided to wear these vintage boots today too because it was raining again and I'm tired of getting my feet wet--this served pretty well, my feet were nice and dry all day despite trudging through the rain. I'm hoping everyone else had a great Monday too!

Wore: brick red top | Old Navy, jeans | Freego, boots | vintage

As you might be able to tell from reading this blog, I'm a huge fan of high-waisted pants. I think there's something wonderfully old and almost nostalgic in the silhouette--it reminds me of Catherine Hepburn and Amelia Earheart; high-waist jeans done right have a tailored, classic sort of charm that low-rise ones just don't quite capture, I've found. 

I picked these boots up a couple of months ago at one of my favorite vintage haunts. This wonderful pair cost me less than 300 pesos--again, renewing my belief in that fashion needn't be new or expensive. :))

Cuddle Up

So, on one hand you could look at today as terrible--I woke up late, missed a meet-up (thank you to the lovely Cara Funk of La Vie En Rose Sweets for being so understanding), had a bank situation go wrong (my apologies to Ms. Jasmine Salenga of Staple Lip Trend) and nearly missed my test (thank you, Ron for helping me out). 

But on the other hand, things could be worse: classes weren't suspended but at least it didn't rain for most of the day. Taft during a flood when you're late and missed half your day would have been a bitch (excuse my language)--especially if it flooded and they ended up suspending classes. And I made it to my test just in the nick of time. I also didn't get stranded anywhere even if I went home pretty late (I just got home). 

In addition to this sunshine, Keav came to visit me post stressful day and that definitely turned out well. All-in-all I'm glad about today. Exhausted, but glad. I also got to cram in some bonding with my dad and my brother so yahoo!

Given that I was in a rush and completely confused about what on earth today's weather was going to be like, I'm quite proud of the outfit I wore today. It's simple but pretty functional. I threw on this striped cotton top with long sleeves, tucked it into my old black jeans, threw on flats and topped that all off with this lovely scarf that my sister got me a couple of years ago. This ensemble turned out to be perfect because the removable scarf + breezy cotton top combo was uber weather-versatile. :) I hope you all had a great (better) Monday (than I did)! :D

Wearing: top | Hollister, scarf | The Landmark, jeans | Freego, shoes | WAGW

P.S. I also dyed my hair ash brown and I think it turned out pretty well! :D  (It used to be Cappuccino brown) Photo under the cut!

Yesterday's Dream

Like I said I would in yesterday's Brightside Entry, I reshot yesterday's outfit post. This robe that I got at the Super Sale Bazaar was just too beautiful not to photograph. Sadly, I wasn't able to ask the store I got it at for their details--but yeah. I love the print on this robe and its silhouette. I've seen a lot of these type robes in different stores but they never seem to have a full-length sleeve like those on this robe. A full, see-through sleeve is just so romantic.

Wearing: robe | bazaar, tank top | Coco Cabana, jeans | Freego, shoes | Predictions (a gift)

The print goes all the  way to the back and is just so intricate, I can't stop staring at it. I can't wait for the opportunity to wear this on a night out with a little black dress and some sky high heels. :) Hope everyone's having a good day today! Today's actual outfit coming up!

Blue & Bronze

So I bought this Ravenclaw tee from The Perfect White T-Shirt yesterday and I'm currently in love with it. Ravenclaw is my favorite Hogwarts House--yes, I'm going to get into this--because they value three of the things that I value most: intelligence, creativity & learning. 

I was raised in a house where achievements made you. My grandfather was a Fulbright Scholar and my grandmother was the dean of OSIAS college. My mother and father were both top of their class and now own one of the leading consultancy firms in the Philippines. That was a lot of pressure (still is).

 Growing up, my life was only as good as my grades were: bad grades--no TV, no books, no  movies, no internet, no phone; good grades however, got me a dinner out, a thousand bucks worth of books, a movie of my choice and unlimited surfing power. 

As you might have read mentioned in previous posts, I was part of Harry Potter class last year with our university's one and only Professor Sangil. :) In that class, I was put in Hufflepuff, something that I don't really mind; I think Hufflepuffs are mostly viewed as cutesy and really nice and I fall into that category (at least upon first encounter hahaha). 

Hufflepuff was fun though and I have high respect for that house--who wasn't a fan of Cedric Diggory?--but I just don't quite value the things they value. I don't think I'm lazy but I'm not really a hard worker; I like to work smart. They also value loyalty, tolerance and fairplay--while I see the need to be loyal to your friends and I see that fairplay is important as well, I don't think that it's something that everyone can have. I don't believe in staying loyal to something even when you don't believe in it anymore nor do I believe that fairplay is ever going to be something universal. To add to that, I'm not a very tolerant person. I'm very impatient and anyone who's gotten on my bad side can tell you that it isn't very fun. 

To be honest, everyone in Hufflepuff was so nice it made me feel a little terrible about myself. And it's definitely become my second-favorite house next to Ravenclaw. Harry Potter class definitely taught me to appreciate certain things about every house and I'm grateful for that--I'd definitely recommend anyone who is a Potter fan (or even someone who's never read the books but would like to get into it) to join the class when they're offering it. I've heard rumors it might be up again this year. :)

Also, at the end of the year, during our Potter Project (a Deathly Hallows play), I was tasked with playing my favorite character, Luna Lovegood (who is a Ravenclaw) and that was very, very fun--although I got one too many "you're crazy in real life so you're not acting" jokes thrown at me during rehearsals. 

I love Luna and I think that she is one of the characters with whom I can relate the most--she's smart but a little offbeat and quite frankly, a little insane. 
:) Anyway, let me get on with the photos. 

Wearing: Ravenclaw tee | The Perfect White T-Shirt, jeans | Freego, shoes | vintage

P.S. I've decided just now that I'm going to do a Harry Potter series--featuring one house each week. Stay tuned for Hufflepuff on Monday. ;)