tortious

tunic and pants from gmarket. boots from here. they look large, right? but they fit just nice, not very snugly but it's a fit. i still like the EA boots better.

this is not a flattering look :(  wonder if the suede ones would be worst on me.

shake your love

who's still using a scrunchie today? heard on radio Yaz's phone interview with Debbie Gibson. again, shoulder pads were mentioned. and hair, iirc. (she's so boring! :P) if the 80s were about cockroach hair and shoulder pads, then what about the 90s? i suspect it's still the hair and something to do with shoulders. 

what's your favourite song by Gibson, if you must choose? i still do like Lost in Your Eyes. her voice is quite 'covered' whereas you can hear more 'power' from Tiffany. altho sometimes i don't sense any emotion in the latter's voice. excuse my layman's lingo.

FP can also denote Fashion Police. hur hur. my gums and throat hurt. 

sockit

another failed attempt to wear the vivienne westwood socks. too much going on? exactly my intention. excuse the dark pictures. i think the socks are ok with these shoes but they don't go with this skirt. a longer sandra dee skirt should work better. whether a sandra dee skirt looks ok on me is another matter altogether. lol. 

my colourful shoes finally get to walk the streets. the bag's the shade of liver. coral flowers meet fuchsia and purple stripes. maroon. blue and green. you can say these inspired me. 

can do, style guru? please approve! lol.

i'm also wearing my vintage pendleton wool coat which is a near-exact match with the skirt. i like how the vermillion cardi looks like a men's vest underneath the coat.  

b.s.

question to women in my age group: do you buy clothes from blogshops? you do know what blogshops are, don't you? i don't refer to these although they don't differ much... did those in singapore start out similarly? incidentally, it was on Style Sample Magazine where i read of the BS phenomenon here and in malaysia. (maybe SSM borrowed the term for that post title?) i somehow managed to read the full text of the research paper. it was quite hilarious. my dory memory cannot recollect most of the article already. sorry.     

those who know me know that i snub on BS clothes. snub is my own choice of word, to illustrate that i really don't embrace them the way some women do. but i'll also be honest that i recognise that it's pure condescension on my part. a BS shopper might even find a few BS items in my wardrobe. i actually don't know if i do own any BS items since i really don't follow the scene. but i do shop at flea markets and while i avoid clothes that i suspect are BS stuff, i'm mostly guided by prices. so maybe i've picked up some BS items that were on clearance or were pre-loved. 

i shan't detail why i'm not crazy about BS. i'm modelling a dress that's sold on a  popular local BS, btw. lol. i have no idea if it's one of those crowd favourites (i doubt it) that'd get snatched up by BS lovers once  a collection was launched, or whether it even went on B.O. (that's backorder, btw), or whether it's one that's failed to impress and nobody wanted it for such a long time that the owner put it on clearance. does anyone know? have you seen this on many girls many seasons past? lol.

i do like the dress quite a lot. one minor gripe is the fall of the skirt part (see pic on right). it's not so obvious on this style. what i abhor about typical BS clothes is the way the dresses seem to be made for flat-chested girls with short torsos and large buttocks (yes, we're pear shaped but what about our chests?). and the skirt part is basically put together by sewing the sides up; the end result is a hemline that's not straight across but curved upwards at the sides, with the sides sticking out obstinately instead of falling naturally on the hips of the wearer. i've seen such disasters on too many teens and young women. i could cite more fashion mistakes. like, the use of wrong belts. it's painful to see why they do that to themselves... 

ok, i better stop this rant already. i could well have made some baseless comments. i can totally understand why some girls could still rock in BS clothes (there's a reason why some girls are making good money being BS models) and the clothes are likely made for a certain market that won't likely stop following the scene, not until another phenomenon takes them away. 

oops. i'd really just wanted to say this dress ended up in my wardrobe thanks to the advice of my personal style guru. she really has an eye for the right stuff for me. it's like she knows me better than i do myself. she's almost always right on the money.

+++++++

for the record, i don't believe in superstitions. i suspected the twitching was likely due to my bad habits of long hours of being on the computer, of not exercising, of not sleeping enuf. or it's caused by stress, as is usually the case for drollgirl.

detache mode

i finally made myself get out of the office earlier just so to catch my sil and niece before they check out tomorrow. 语馨 didn't look the same on camera. or rather, she looked different irl. it's a strange feeling to hold her in my arms, to have her close to my breast -- as if she were mine. i wonder how more strange it'd be for the mother. i heard they'd usually wonder the opposite: that such a being was a part of her. 

i know i didn't really grow attached to the unborn child when she's still in her mother's womb. i can't say if it was deliberate. i've always felt i must be weird for not being like many who'd go gaga over babies, born or unborn. i never really wanted to touch my sil's stomach, nor did i ever think to 'talk' to my niece. i chose to use 'want' but it's really not that i had a thing against babies. not at all. throughout this entire time, there's only once or twice when my sil put my hand to her stomach to feel her baby's movement, in her attempt to show me that the child recognised her 姑姑's voice. and no, the rarity was surely not because my sil didn't want me to touch her bump. 

perhaps it was deliberate after all. that i should want to detach myself from these things. perhaps my sil felt that it's a delicate issue for me and so she's mindful about it. am i ever to come to terms with my past and my future according to His will? please set me free from the struggle, Lord.

i like wiw today. but i think i again let the world see my undies. and i had to choose a patterned one. saving grace was the colours're light. i wore 4 layers. the grey frilly vest cost slightly over 500 yen, incl tax, bought in Harajuku. the white dress could be a MJ copy, bought in kuala lumpur for 20 ringgit. the nude outerwear's given me by my dear friend and personal style guru. i think it cost 5 bucks at the local song & song. i thought the vest and outwear were perfect together.

oh and i received compliments about my... (of all things) hair! lol. by the time i took these pictures, the tresses weren't as fluffy as Fawcett's. i swear that's who my colleague said it was. i also swear i didn't do anything different to my hair. if anything, the curls were mostly gone already.  

cleavage of sorts

i found something i could recycle for the lunar new year. here's WIW to the wedding dinner last evening. i did think of trying out the rust/fuchsia possibility i just blogged about before i went to bed. then i saw this top looking at me in one of the shelves and that did it.

there's just one thing: the top's rather short. even if i found another belt to wear it higher, i was still going to commit the cameltoe faux pas. i had in mind my brown cig pants to go with the top but i didn't have time to hunt them down. i'm not sure the cameltoe problem would be resolved with the brown pants anyways. cameltoe aside, i hated how the grey skinnies hung so low i couldn't take two strides w/o tugging at the waistband so i could stop imagining my butt crack's saying hello to the world behind me. in fact, i believe it's thanks to the wide waistband that contributed to the cameltoe problem. i faced the same problem with this outfit. if cameltoe was the result of tight-fitting clothings, then the irony is that the two pairs of skinnies are slightly big on me.

or maybe it's just me? i just should forget about low-hip bottoms since i'd yank the waistband up and cause the material to stretch over there?  

so in the end i bought a sash to tighten the skinnies and the mesh belt came off. you can see the hem of the top just about covers my crotch. not a better silhouette, i suppose, but better than showing the world cameltoe, eh?

footless

^guess which pair of shoes went to work with me?

^okay yay wrong top. should simply let everything hang loose, like i always do. tried to do the belted top look, lah. then failed, lah. the strings are meant to be tied at the back. i ruined the lace part near the collar when i ironed the shirt, so i can only wear it with the 'lapels' down. else it'll give a victorian feel when the collar's buttoned up the neck, showing little ruffles. it's so shabby yet i can't bear to ditch it, lol.

忍者

such great camera effects with zero effort. there's something wrong with this combo. no shoulders, no waist. bleh.

how i wore the ninja bottoms previously.

 there's a row of buttons down the front (not visible in all these photos; the garment's a tad huge on me) which can be manipulated to convert the skirt into harem-like pants. the loops are also adjustable - like drawing up the curtains. what i did today was tie the loops at the back to create a rump.

the best silhouette i've achieved so far was by wearing the garment high-waisted and cinched with a belt. the pockets look exactly positioned like those on this dress. but i haven't worn it like that again. there's a lot of material so it does weigh down and the rubberised waistband's not taut so the belt has to be cinched rather tight. i really prefer not to be restricted by belts when i have a choice. plus you breathe easy w/o one, lol.

^fave combo

alas i no longer have these boots. they'd already peeled real bad here. i kept them initially and had the idea to paint clear nail polish over the entire shoes to 'reinforce' the surface and prevent further peeling. as always, i was too lazy to lift my fingers and threw them away when i got disgusted enuf about all my junk occupying precious space. anyway, i didn't wear this outfit. people would snigger at me, lah.

my 忍功has been pathetic. i've been adopting the avoidance method. 说穿的话：i'm exactly what i don't wish to be: petty.

cheh.

brrrrr

as usual, i can never find that {insert clothing item} when i need it, provided i remember i still have it. so i wore the black spag dress as skirt under this top that's worn backward front, leaving a tail behind me. the *tail* is supposed to be worn over the head, on the back of the neck. that would've kept my chest warmer but i wanted the neckline to skim my collarbone. and so my back got the chills. i also think a pair of pants would've worked better. i was close to wearing a winter coat and putting on my riding boots for work.

lol

i shoulda included this in my 100th post but i just saw it and couldn't get past the irony. yes, please have a good laugh at my expense. go on, i urge you. i INSIST.

via All This Happiness

100th post

no, i wasn't saving the best for this entry. it's not strictly the one-hundredth one anyway, as i've taken down a coupla posts.

i made a fool of myself today. makes for a sensational 100th post? sigh. can't believe i was still capable of it at this ripe old age. here it goes...

i finally plucked up the courage to wear mint julep today. i had in my mind to wear it with a vest, so as to tone down the vintage-ness of it. my fave vest was in the wash so i tried on a cap-sleeved cardi, but it didn't look quite right, due to the puffy sleeves. i really should alter the sleeves but i also don't wish to spend more than i should already. i'd thought of giving it up, that's why. cos it's really not very me.

anyways. this is mint julep with the sleeves rolled up. my colleagues loved it. as i said, it's not very me. and i shoulda known. of all people, i shoulda be the first to know...

that i needed to wear a slip underneath. no wonder i felt many pairs of eyes on me (but i always feel so, not cos i think i look good but more the opposite). how long did it take me to realise so? not after i saw my reflection in the mirror at home. not after i walked from home to the bus stop to get to work. not after i got down the bus and walked to the office. not even after i saw my reflection in the mirror at the office.

what made me realise it finally? i heard my colleagues' (another group of older colleagues and whom i don't know very well) conversation die down abruptly as i walked out of the office during lunch hour. they'd have full view of my derriere as i walked that path out of the office.

anyway, i didn't give it much thought as i took the lift down to get lunch. then i suddenly and finally noticed that my entire dress was unlined. i thought it's unlined at the chest area but i was confident the skirt part's fully lined. don't ask me how i coulda missed that. i'm so sick of myself for being such a numbskull.

thank goodness i brought with me a long jacket. you want a cheap bf blazer? easy - just fold the sleeves of a 80s or 90s jacket (think one that comes in a matching suit that OL aunties wear). this one comes with shoulder pads within. that's why i never believed in paying too much to designers for reinventing old things.

but i digressed. who wants the opinion of a dowdy old maid when it concerns fashion. while i wore thongs, i didn't make sure they're plain. should i be thankful it's not a pair of "monday" panties? i hope you're suitably entertained.

mitigate

this is more me. but there's still something unflattering here.... is it my expanding hips? wrong top again? ill-made pants? or the absence of an outerwear? this is why the outerwear is my favourite garment. it's my failsafe accessory. it plays 2nd fiddle to the other garments yet it brings out the best in them to make the entire ensemble more 'right' or less wrong. when you don't have a perfect body and when you don't have access to high quality clothes, you do what i do (interpret as you so wish).

the blue cardi's given me by a colleague. it actually belonged to her husband. i think it's meant for metrosexuals, and yes, her husband's quite tiny. the 'lapels' are asymmetrical. love it.

mutant

did i scare you there? :P

one more here. i can do magic.

what's with the varying sizes of the photos??!

dare i say the print and colours of this skirt make it look a lil like that DVF garment i've been seeing on some bloggers? lol. this is vintage, or i should say retro, i dunno. i can't afford expensive things. the purple bag is judith leiber. the outfits here are a bit off somewhere but i didn't care then. didn't have more time to care. i think the colours worked but there's just something not right about them being together. for the 1st getup, it's the shoes - not the shape but the fact that they're slingbacks so i hate it when the bottoms of the pants get under my feet. i should've worn a different top. i felt my bottom half quite exposed this way. a fitted and tapering silhouette towards the ankles should work better with this top. as for the 2nd one, i think it's the bag. the shape of the bag? the texture? it's more like an evening bag than a day bag, what with its exotic skin. haha.

and finally, i end with BIG pictures showing a beaded coil bangle (is there such a term?) given me by an indian colleague on the day i wore this outfit. love it.