Balenciaga Harness Booties

Sigh.

Remember these booties?

From Elle US edition, Novemeber 2006.

These stompers are truly iconic and signaled the start of the era of dramatic shoes to me.
No other platform bootie has ever come close to its awesome-ness since then.

A touch of colour

Things have been a little crazy for the past two weeks! There's work, and KL and I have been busy spring cleaning in preparation for the Chinese New Year, and the first day falls on the 26th of January this year. So that means visits to Ikea to stock up on storage solutions. We have been such slobs for the past 2 Chinese New Years' that surprisingly we were inspired to get off our lazy butts this year! It's still a work in process though, I still need to get more shelves for my shoes, recycle old magazines, arrange my accessories, tackle a big pile of ironing, sort stuff out to eBay/donate, etc. That and in the midst of this craziness, a dear friend from Texas came to visit. So I am a little tied up now and haven't really been responding to comments as much as I'll like to, but I will be working on that soon!

Here's my most recent outfit post. I'm trying to work some colour in, it's always been a tradition for me to wear red on the first day of Chinese New Year, so this orange is just a "warm-up" for the actual event on Monday. Monday's outfit should be interesting, because I haven't purchased anything red for a while and I am used to wearing an entire new outfit on the first day, according to yes, another tradition!

Topshop jacket, F21 sweater, Zucca leggings, Tripp boots

I love those boots because they are just so wacky and ugly in a glorious way. That, and one colleague called me a KISS (the rock band!) escapee when he saw me wearing these boots. The wool leggings are surprisingly warm and I am intrigued by the bandaged details on the legs, which I hope the photos show clearly.

KL and I will be meeting up with some Singaporean friends who have also relocated to CA, for reunion dinner today. The atmosphere is just not the same compared to Singapore, but it's still nice to meet up with friends to commiserate ;)

To all those who do celebrate this occasson, have a very happy and prosperous Year of the Ox!

Chanel S/S 09: The Paper-bag bag

Several things about the Chanel S/S 09 runway show stood out to me: the Rue Cambon backdrop, the jewelery, the shoes, the evening wear especially the flamenco-style skirts, the guitar(!) and the male models.

But what really lingered in my mind long after surfing away from style.com was the Chanel carrier bag that Kaiser Karl has choose to do up in leather, and release as part of the S/S 09 collection.

Essential bag, from style.com

Meant to be released in March 2009, as part of S/S Act II, the name for this leather carrier bag is the Essential.

I still cannot decide if the bag is kitschy or whimsical, but it's definitely a conversation-starter, to say the least. I wonder if Kaiser Karl was being ironic, by reinterpreting the utilitarian carrier bag as a handbag? Or was he indulging his inner Dada-ist and doing a Duchamp by remaking a carrier bag in leather? After all the iconic 2.55 was literally turned on its head in the same runway show and its chain strap attached to what was usually the side of the bag.

Upside down bag, from style.com

For those who are interested in the above bag, it's named "Upside Down" and is also part of S/S Act II.

Anti-fashion or not, there is no denying that Chanel's cachet will move these bags. Personally, I wouldn't mind owning the essential bag in the largest east-west size in black. For those of you who grew up in Singapore during the late 80s and 90s, I wonder if you still remember the craze over the so-called branded carrier bags? This might not make much sense to those of you born in the US, but it was considered hip among Singaporean teenagers then to be seen toting a carrier bag(literally the paper kind!, the ones they put your purchases in!) from foreign brands like Guess, Esprit, Levis, etc! These brands were considered fashionable among Singaporean teens then, so even if you weren't really wearing its clothing, carrying its carrier still made you cool by association. So to me, the Chanel essential bag is the ultimate carrier - how awesome would I be to my teenage self and peers back then! The essential bag would be such delicious irony, though to be realistic, I just know that the essential bag is something that I admire conceptually, but would not fork out the money for given Chanel's delusional and cut-throat prices.

P.S. I hope I didn't just date myself with this post! ;)

Lanvin Pre-Fall 2009

Can I just cheat a little...and bypass spring and summer entirely?

I have no words..everything is stunning.
Perhaps it's time to put on a dress again?

Tag, I'm it!

tagged, tagging gun - get it? (courtesy of www.nickmar.com)

I got tagged by the very gorgeous and sweet fellow left-coaster Nina.

So here goes:

Ten Things I Love:
(in no particular order)
1. My family - I may be cheating here but technically it is ONE group of people!
2. My customized pink sapphire and diamond wedding band - the plan was just to get a design that was available at the shops, but KL relented for this special occasion ;)
3. My bunnies
4. Snuggling in bed after a nice refreshing shower with my ipod and a fashion magazine
5. My orange coupe because it gets me to the places that I want to go to.
6. My Chanel reissue from 2005 because it's a gift from KL.
7. The sea
8. Road trips
9. Dark chocolate
10. Japanese food

Ten Things I Loathe:
(in no particular order either)
1. Airport security especially LAX's!
2. Incompetent colleagues
3. People who think they are right because they talk loudly
4. Waiting. What am I supposed to do when I wait?
5. All 3 X-men movies - I read X-men comics voraciously at one point in my life and in my opinion the casting for all 3 movies were mostly laughable, the comic to movie adaption was badly done and it was really a case of trying to pack too much into a 2 hour movie.
6. People who cut my queue
7. Bad Chinese food - nothing pisses me off faster than wasting my calories on bad Chinese food!
8. Airplane toilets after the plane has been in the air for more than 6 hours. (I think this is pretty self-explanatory.)
9. Paperwork
10. Please don't call me Becky. Just don't. Reb's okay though.

5 random facts about me:
1. I am a certified scuba-diver, but the last time that I was in an open-water dive was when I was in college. I am still trying to find a driving buddy for myself in California.
2. My name's Rebecca but I was almost named Elizabeth. My elder sister's Beatrix, so my dad just wanted to run with the Queens theme and name me after the Queen of England, which would be weird to me now because I cannot imagine myself responding to Elizabeth, or Beth or Lisa.
3. I baby-talk to all animals. Cats, dogs, bunnies, fish... it's a reflex and I'm just aware of it recently.
4. I secretly think I am more of a shoe girl than a bag girl. And I feel guilty to my bags for thinking so.
5. I love to play computer games and when I really get into a game, I am so obsessed that I will forgo sleep just to finish it. So I am really looking forward to the release of Diablo III, because Diablo I was my very first PC game.

And so I tag Dominica, Lucrecia and Belowen!

Comfort in the heat

Mary Meyer pants, AA Tri-blend tank, Elizabeth & James blazer, Jeffrey Campbell heels, Chanel baby cabas, Tom Binns cuff.

Drop-crotch pants are so comfortable in this heat.

My Tom Binns cuff. I love shiny stuff!

A list of random things

Phillip Lim cardigan, AA white tank, Zara drop-crotch pants, Marni shoes

• Outfit post of the day: It was time to bring out the sandals again, it's been averaging 85 degrees or more in SoCal lately - what the? I'm not ready for summer yet, I still want to spend more time with my boots!
• But it might be time for a pedi.
• Sexy Beijing - I found this website courtesy of the girls from Fashion Nation. For those of you who have ever wondered how life is like in today's Beijing, this website is definitely worth a visit. My favourite part of the website is a section named Sexy Beijing, which contains short video clips hosted by American Anna Sophie Lowenberg as she chronicles her thoughts on love and relationships in Beijing, a la Carrie Bradshaw. The clips even begin with a melody and opening reminiscent of Sex In The City, and Anna Sophie even does a "Carrie Bradshaw" every now and then with scenes where her thoughts are voiced over as she purses her lips in front of her laptop. The episode "Lost In Translation" is a scream as she interviews Chinese people on the streets what their English names are, only to be meant with puzzling answers like Frog, Samanfar and Smacker.
• Net-a-porter is offering a further 20% off their sale items with the code "WINTERUSA", good till January 18th. On the same note, The Outnet is suppose to be the outlet outpost for NAP, where past-season offerings will be stashed. Might be a good time to sign up for the email list now to be sure you are not missing out on anything.
• Chinese New Year is approaching (26th January), but the lack of festivities here is putting a damper on my mood.
• I love shiny things like a magpie.
• I love writing like this without any need for continuity.

Junyay!

Junya Watanabe cape, AA tee, Ksubi jeans, Ann Demeulemester boots

I promise I won't gush.


Ok, I will! Especially when it involves a piece by Junya Watanabe ;)
I am awed by the thought and engineering that goes into the cape/top that I am wearing.
The cape drapes the torso in a certain manner, and there's a built-in half vest inside the cape which fulfills this purpose. The vest literally pulls the front of the cape back to skim the torso and is attached to the back of the cape via a black cloth strip, which frees the rest of the cape to flow out in the shape of a bubble behind.
So this construction allows the garment to fit like a blazer in front and a cape behind - sounds bizarre but the execution is just pure genius!

A couple more pictures of how the cape fits from various angles:

With a pair of my trusty boots on, I'm ready to start being a weekend warrior!

A full work week

Gap cowl-neck sweater, JCrew jacket, Ksubi skinny jeans, F21 shoes

Gosh I am tired.
It's been a full work week after the holiday season but I am still battling a persistent cough and stuffy nose that wouldn't go away.
I have almost finished my bottle of NyQuil as well.

There are a few Junya pieces that I'll like to debut, but right now it's all I can do to throw on the nearest things that I can find and scramble out of the door.

Friday's tomorrow. Can't wait!

P.S. I really like this J.Crew jacket a lot, too bad I missed out on the chance to get it in bright berry. I'm now on the hunt for something red to wear for Chinese New Year!

Les Chiffoniers Zipper PVC Leggings

courtesy of leschiffoniers.com, a/w08 lookbook.

Zippers and patent. Such a potent combination to me.
50% off at ronherman.com right now....should I or shouldn't I?

Just a little bit of geek news

Follow my blog with bloglovin´

It's Macworld week, so check this video out. Seriously ;)


Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Banal Chic Bizarre

Sometimes nothing's better than an accidental discovery.

I came across this Japanese label while surfing the web and instantly fell in love with their F/W 08 collection.
I'll pretty much wear every piece of separates in this collection. I'm especially loving the tailoring of their jackets and the slouchiness of some of their pants.
And how sweet is it that some of the pieces appear to be androgynous? Just look at the shoes featured in the looks below and the white jacket the male model on the extreme right in the third row is wearing. I'll love to get my hands on the leather jacket pictured in the second row, but it appears to be sold out from a cursory search via Google.
I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves from here.

Images courtesy of http://banalchicbizarre.com

Another reason to polish up my Japanese. Another reason to revisit Japan!

P.S. Their S/S 09 lookbook is online as well with lots of fantastical marching band jackets, nylon vests and pants. But I'm still in the mood for autumnal wear ;)

California dreamin'

Today was my last day of rest before I officially head back to work.
I had been holed up at home since last Wednesday because I caught a really nasty cold and KL (my husband) thought some fresh air and sunshine would be good for me, instead of letting me mope around for one more day.

We headed out to the beach near by and this is really one of the things that I love so much about SoCal. The proximity of the beaches, their cleanliness, the people-watching, plus the great boost that the salty sea air gives to my hair!
Plus the huge peanut buttercup ice cream cone that I had cheered me up considerably. I just love eating ice cream during cold days, even thought it may seem counter-intuitive.

Here's what I wore, I basically threw on what I could find with the main aim of keeping warm:

H&M jacket, Alexander Wang henley dress, Falke leggings, Ann Demeulemeester boots, Chanel baby cabas.

New Year... new me?

courtesy of thefashionspot.com

Nothing's better than the start of a new year to make some resolutions!
Usually, I'm not a believer of resolutions as I hardly attempt to stick to them, but with the US in the throes of a recession and me going back to school, it is more important than ever to manage my money wisely.

This definitely means spending less on clothes that I do not need and buying less into trends. I think I have done a good job of sticking to this, but my wardrobe could probably do with a few more resolution tune-ups, namely:

1. Declutter - this means clearing out stuff that I do not wear or just doesn't suit me anymore!
   
2. Shop More... in the closet! Pastels, shorts, chunky jewellery, ruffles...these are some of the trends for S/S 09 that stood out to me and which I'm pretty sure I can find in my closet!
   
3. Stick to the list - namely my "must-have" list. A good watch has been on my list since forever and I realized that if I haven't given into temptation and bought a cheaper item because it is easily accessible, I would have purchased some of my "most-haves" by now. I probably will have to set my money aside for school since the new term starts in Fall, but I do hope that I will never lose sight of my must-have list and cross off each item in the near future.
   

What are some of your resolutions for this new year?

Balenciaga F/W 08 wedge boots

Courtesy of jakandjil.com

These hoof boots........

My take:

Junya Watanabe shrug, AA dress, AA leggings, Balenciaga wedge boots, Chanel baby cabas.

P.S. It's true they do make you stomp around like a horse!