TELL 'EM

This is another one of my Mom's sweaters! I love the gold lamé and the exotic pattern; who knew this beauty had been sitting in her closet for years! The sheer, plaid tights are from H&M but the lighting makes them look like they have an ombre effect. They were only $1 though because they were having a sale :)

Just trying to get back into the groove of things now that our Thanksgiving break is over! This is the first year that our school has decided to have semester finals before break, rather than after. Of course they would decide to enforce this new policy during my junior year! Oh joy! I guess this way we will have a stress free vacation but I think that you can never be entirely stress free until at least after your junior year. But what choice do we have except to move forward right? I just know I'm going to be hibernating for the first few days of Christmas break then!



Also, Brandi from My Dear Vintage was so kind as to feature me on her blog as her Style Crush of the Day! My Dear Vintage is an online vintage shop which is very reasonably priced! I really like the Wild Moon Bag but I'm on a complete shopping diet at the moment :( But someone should pick it up and if you post a look with it, I would love to see! :) Thank you again Brandi! If you have a twitter, you can follow her @mydearvintage 

THE REST YOU CAN KEEP

I picked this shirt up at Forever 21 recently; it's actually a Men's shirt but I loved the colors so much and  it was super soft, so I figured I could wear it as a sleep shirt anyways. But I like that this shirt is oversized because it looks good tucked into a bandage skirt. The red tights are also from Forever 21 and were $5.80; I'm trying to get bright tights in every color and so far I have fuchsia, mustard, and red. I'd love some sea foam or lavender colored ones but I have yet to find any!

This Friday was rather productive for me- no I did not go Black Friday shopping! I did however go to Michaels on Thursday after dinner and got a few things: a 5 pack of large canvases for $12? A desktop easel for $7.50, a few brushes, palette knives, and some acrylic paint. Random fun fact: my favorite color is Quinacridone Magenta! :)

Anyways, I was falling really behind on school work and on Friday I woke up early and worked for 13 hours straight and 1500 words later, I had my research paper completely written out. :) I wrote mine on how fashion is the most powerful form of human expression, so it didn't feel too much like homework. 

TOSS OUT THE KEY

This is one of the sweaters that I stole from my Dad! Hehe I love the colors so much; he's not going to get it back. I layered these old sheer tights with a pair of cozy, knit legwarmers I got from the Abercrombie outlet ages ago for $5. I wish I had bought more. You can pull them up even higher to have that over the knee sock look, without the bulk around your foot. 

I started playing around with some light leak effects too and I'm really happy I figured out some better camera settings so that my camera focuses more consistently now! I'm especially excited for Black Friday too! I'm not really looking to buy more clothes but I'd definitely love to find an adjustable dress form and a desktop easel, and to stock up on canvases and acrylic paints!

FIDM FASHION SHOW

Hey guys! Yesterday I went to the FIDM fashion show in San Francisco with around 10 other girls from my school's Fashion Club! I went to the LA debut show with the club 2 years ago also but not the one held last year. Today, they were showing the same collection shown at the debut show last year in LA, so I got to see the clothing anyways! I'm hoping to go back to the 2012 debut show, I particularly want to check out FIDM's costume museum... from what I've heard from my friend who went on the trip last year, they had the costumes from Sherlock Holmes on display... I literally wanted to punch myself in the face when I realized I missed out on that.

Even though the place where the show was being held, the Masonic Center, is technically walking distance from the SF school, it involves hiking up I believe about 8 blocks (or at least it felt like that) on a very increasingly, steep hill. I honestly have back problems now from that since I was also carrying a couple bags full of stuff! But we got great seats, in the third row on the right side of the auditorium, and I made sure to pick the aisle seat so I could get a good angle for photographing.

The lighting up front was overwhelmingly bright though so I apologize for the over exposure in these images but I did get some especially stunning shots of certain garments, especially the voluminous gowns!

I love the ombre effect on this gown, and it photographed beautifully!

I could not have asked for a better capture. The time and effort spent into this gown is obvious!

The pants on the left are by far my favorite of the show. Love the ombre once again, and the hippie vibe of the loose, bell bottom pants. 

I would like to find something similar to this long vest on the left! I don't have many minimalistic pieces but I am being more inspired by this clean, simple, yet structured look.

I can't get over how lovely this gown in the middle looks in movement! Also a big fan of the white, "sea sponge" dress on the right!

Hope you enjoyed these pictures! I definitely had fun being able to photograph with a good quality DSLR rather than the dying digital camera I had at the LA show last time! Leave me a comment and tell me which one was your favorite! :)

I'VE GOT MY EYES ON YOU

These are a few of the items that I'm currently stalking:

1. Rainbow Merino Yarn at Etsy

I recently saw a multi-colored knit scarf at Free People that I fell in love with but it was the last one in store and was $60... so I figured I should make my own! I love all the colors in this but will probably wait until Christmas because the shipping from Australia is quite pricey!

2. Starfish Cuff

I fell in love with this after I saw Aimee Song with hers!

3. Interlaced Tights at Romwe

I love the whimsical and doodly feel of this design.

4. Evil Eye Pendant at Etsy

I've never seen anything like this; it's got the perfect balance of scary, unusual, and beautiful.

5. Chain Headdress at Urban Outfitters

This piece has a very gypsy-esque feel to it. I'm always looking for new hair accessories!

6. Floral Backpack at Urban Outfitters

My green Olsenboye army backpack officially broke, I need a replacement but everyone at my school has the same tan, green, grey etc. canvas backpacks now. This print will surely stand out!

7. Jeffrey Campbell Skate Shoe ($198)

I'm swooning over these shoes right now! I could never afford these but I can still admire them from afar!

8. Eye Print Shirt at Motel Rocks

With my obsession over eyes and anything rainbow right now, this shirt is perfect to me!

DIY STUDDED BLAZER

After falling in love with this Burberry studded jacket, knowing that I would never be able to afford it, I decided to try to make my own version! It's no where near as amazing as the original but it satisfied my craving for a fun and easy DIY project.

I bought this plain black blazer from H&M and bought a couple hundred studs online from Etsy from this store:

Item Factory

The studs are very reasonably priced and there's a huge variety to choose from!

I bought some conical studs, some square studs, and some pyramid studs. The conical ones are my favorite! All you have to do is push the stud through the fabric and on the underside, press the two metal legs in. There's probably a tool you can use to make it less hard on your nails, but I was too excited to get started. It took me around 2 hours to get all the studs I wanted affixed. (I work slow though) But don't let the time, discourage you! This project is super easy and the end product looks great!

The total price of the studs was around $15 (shipping included from Thailand), so for a $20 plus the studs, I'd say this $35 jacket is good enough for me in comparison to the $3000 original!

CUT LIKE A BUFFALO

Today I tripped TWICE because of these boots! I wanted to leave them half unlaced so I tied the excess around the boot and knotted it. Well the knot decided to come undone as I was crossing the road and the lace caught on the hook of the other boot and I fell to the ground. I was fine but WOW was that embarrassing! The lace snapped in half too! After I walked to the sidewalk to retie my boot, I guess I didn't tie it well enough because within two steps, I fell again! Funny how I've never tripped in regular heels, but always trip in platform sandals and flat boots? I have a nice battle wound on my knee now and I must have landed on my hand weirdly because my left thumb hurts when I type now.

I also look really angry in this photo because well I WAS! I normally get back home at 3:10ish (it's the earliest time I can possible get back home) but today we got back at 3:45 because my sister had an ortho appointment. So you can imagine I'm always scrambling to photograph as soon as I get home before the sun goes down to an angle where a house is completely covering it. Well basically on the way back it seemed that EVERY STOP LIGHT turned red and all the cars were driving ESPECIALLY SLOW. Now imagine me trying to photograph with the 5 minutes left of proper lighting but my camera refuses to focus! I'm running around to all these different places trying to photograph but nothing is working out for me today so I do look extremely frustrated in the photo on the left but you can take my word for it that I was! Oh well, at least these two photos kind of worked out; not what I would have preferred, but I'll take it over nothing.

I'm wearing a studded headband which was actually the empire waist band on a black halter top I thrifted, but was too lazy to alter the top and I just wanted the studded part so I cut it out and tied it into a headband! The top is actually a dress, and I took a small safety pin, and pinned the middle of the bottom hem onto the middle of the top hem. The skirt is from Forever 21 ($15.80). Hopefully, I'll have better luck tomorrow!

LET'S CONSPIRE

I'm wearing a mustard beanie from H&M ($6), a chunky sweater from my Mom's closet, green pants from H&M, and black boots, also from my Mom. This weekend, my Mom went through two giant boxes full of sweaters that belonged to her and my Dad and I took back a ton for my own closet. She actually knitted this sweater! I ordered some yarn from Etsy so I'm going to ask her to teach me how to knit a scarf. I'll also be doing a post on all the new sweaters I added to my wardrobe soon. :)

I've been getting too obsessed with my black wedge booties, and it's nice to wear these flat leather booties for a change. Not something I'd pick out on my own normally but I really did love the way they looked once I tried them on. Plus they've already been worn in and are so comfortable. Even more comfortable than sneakers!

PUT THOSE SNEAKERS AND UGGS DOWN NOW

I have a bad but we can admittedly say, fashionable habit of wearing heels and wedges to school multiple times a week. Don't get me wrong, I love how they add that perfect finishing touch to your outfit and give you that extra boost of confidence, but let's face it, some days I just want to come to school in squishy slippers. Above are my top picks of flat shoes that are affordable and so much more stylish than plain sneakers or Uggs. After the tall brown Uggs I've had for 4 years were completely ruined due to an extreme downpour, my mom threw them out and told me she'd never buy me Uggs again LOL. I'm actually really glad she did that because boy, looking back, there were so many more prettier shoes in existence. Which one is your favorite? Leave me a message in the comments :)

Clockwise from top left:

1. Wingtip Oxford - Target

The perfect pop of black and white!

2. Patent Nude Flats - Famous Footwear

I would love wearing these bare legged because they make you look barefoot!

3. White Lace-Up Boots - Target

I already have a brown pair, but these white ones remind me of ice skating!

4. Gold Glittery Flats - Urban Outfitters

OOH SPARKLY

5. Red Velvet Mary Janes - Urban Outfitters

Velvet is very on trend this season and red is one of my favorite colors! Not sure how durable these are but would definitely make for adorable house slippers!

6. Leatherette Shoes - Forever 21

These would look great with more menswear inspired pieces.

FIRST ISSUE OF TE AU MAGAZINE

Hey guys! So I was recently accepted to be a writer for Te Au Magazine and the first issue was published today! You can find my mini profile on pg. 4, my article on transitioning summer clothing to the winter on pgs. 9-10, and my styling section on Autumn Leaves on pg. 15. Our next issue will be published in January so keep your eyes out for it!

Link

Don't forget to like our Facebook page! There's also a giveaway for some really adorable jewelry so check that out as well! I'm so excited to be a part of this team and can't wait for what will come in the future :)

DO YOU EVER SIT AND WONDER?

I'm wearing practically everything I bought on Friday! I usually try to spread it out between a few outfits but it was one of those situations where as you're shopping, you subconsciously pick out items that would all go together for one imaginary outfit. I can't stress how much I just love these gloves! They remind me of the dark green ones that Tony Stark was wearing in the cave in Iron Man! (Yes I actually remember that.) I accidently spilled some coffee on my gloves but that's okay because now when I rest my face on my hand during class, it smells like vanilla lattes!

LIFE IS A MAZE AND LOVE IS A RIDDLE

Today, I'm wearing a new cowl neck sweater from H&M ($25), pink high-waisted shorts from Forever 21 ($18), a new burgundy beanie also from H&M ($6), fingerless gloves from Target, sheer tights layered with knee highs, and black oxford wedges.

I went shopping last Friday with my friend, Rachel, and I spent the H&M giftcard she gave me. :) They are currently having a buy one get on free promotion with some of their knitwear, so I got 2 sweaters for $12.50 in theory. They were also giving out $5 off cards on your next purchase which was a fun surprise! Here is what I bought:

From top left, clockwise:

1. Cowl Neck Sweater (Lavender) - H&M - $12.50

2. Cowl Neck Sweater (Cream) - H&M - $12.50

3. Burgundy Beanie - H&M - $6

4. Mustard Argyle Tights - Forever 21 - $5.80

5. Butterfly Hair Clip - H&M - $4

6. Rainbow Knit Gloves - Forever 21 - $5.80