Pictorama: A random night out at Irvine Spectrum

First of all, I am extremely honored to show off this lovely award given to me by Hanh:

Hanh is an extremely lovely lady with an impeccable sense of style. Check out her blog here. It's so inspirational and chock full of pictures of her lovely outfits and yummy food, some of which were whipped up by Hanh herself! I love that the blogs that I frequent are featuring food more and more, I confess to be a diehard foodie and I feel that truly great food satisfies not only our palate, but also our eyes!

A pictorama of tonight's event:

I worn: Rick Owens leather jacket, Lanvin t-shirt dress, charcoal gray ribbed socks, Ann Demeulemeester lace-up boots, Chanel baby cabas and Forever21 necklace.

KL and I went to: Irvine Spectrum

I lusted over: the 13.3" Macbook Pro from Apple. (hint, hint, KL - I need a laptop for college!)

We drank: A humongonous serving of Wetzel's Pretzels' lemonade. (which I'm convinced is one of the best lemonade ever! I always have to fight KL for this.)

Outside: The Verizon wireless store

And ate a cheesedog from Wetzel's Pretzels as well.

Sometimes junk food is just immensely cathartic and the hot, greasy dog hit the spot on this cold night! Yum, yum, yum....

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone! :D

I can see you...

I am alive! I promise I have not forgotten about this blog but work has been crazy. Let's just say it never rains, but floods!!

Did anyone catch this perspex briefcase during Chanel's F/W RTW 09 show?

From trendsnow.net

I really love the humor and wit behind this, practicality issues notwithstanding. The perspex briefcase reminds me of the blister pack packaging that the action figures I used to purchase came in. Yes, there was a time in my past when I collected action figures...did I mention I'm a comic fan-girl too? (And no, I haven't watched Watchmen yet -_-) Back to the topic, I think Kaiser Karl has taken the idea of the iconic 2.55 as an investment item in these unstable economic times and literally issued it in a "collectible" packaging. The idea that the 2.55 comes with its own accessories (Chanel cosmetics, the iPod, geek glasses..), like any action figure, is simply wicked. I'll love to see someone rock it in real life....even if it can't really hold much, there shouldn't be any issues with airport security when one is using this briefcase!

I'll be heading to Vegas this weekend with KL to meet up with a friend, before I take off to New York on the 24th. I promise vacation posts in April...seriously this break couldn't come fast enough!

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! ;)

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!

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.

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!

It's finally here!!!!

My black Chanel 2.55 re-issue!

Another picture of the re-issues in from top to middle: the white re-issue in the 224 size, the black re-issue in 226/227, and the grey re-issue in the jumbo 228 size. picture from thefashionspot.com

After the agony of waiting nearly two months on the waitlist for it, I finally laid my hands on the iconic Chanel bag for this F/w season.

The date was September 1st and I harassed, begged and threatened The Boyfriend till he agreed to drive me down to South Coast Plaza that day to pick up my re-issue.

It has been a long wait. Prior to that day, I was on the wait-list for the large size (the 227) in white. I got a call from my Chanel SA in mid-August to go down to the store to view the bags in real life. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to pick up my re-issue that day as the official launch date for these babies was the 1st September in the US. After viewing the bags in various sizes in white, grey and black, I fall in love with the black re-issue in the same size - something about the combination of the black distressed leather, tarnished gold hardware and the delicate gold filigree shoulder chain convinced me that this was the one to get. Regrettably, I had to give up my white re-issue (if money was not a problem, I'll get all three!!), but my wonderful SA worked her magic and guaranteed me a black re-issue for collection when I returned on the 1st September. Take that, waitlist!! :p

So finally, the day came. As I walked into the store, MY bag was there for me, all wrapped up in a be-ribboned black box. As my SA gingerly unwrapped the box and took my precious bag out of it, it was all I could do not to snatch it from her. I probably piroutted and posed several times in front of the full length mirrors in the Chanel store, it was perfect, perfect, perfect! The size, the hardware, the leather, the colour, I had a feeling that I was going to be using this bag very often!

Initially I was really worried that the 227 would be too large for me, however after trying it on again, I was convinced that I had made the correct decision. I already had another 2.55 for my lady-like ensembles, this was the time to go for something with that little extra, that X-factor and a hard-edged vibe. The black re-issue in the 227 meet my requirements perfectly, it was vintage and distressed, yet not too large to be disproportional. Thus far, I have worn it with a lot of things in my clost and I am excited to see what else I can pair it with!

These are the photos that I took of myself with my re-issue on that very day:

Pictures of me with my black re-issue.

And for an idea of proportion, here's a picture of my re-issue with my red Chanel 2.55:

Re-inventing the classic 2.55

I must admit, I am slowly becoming a Chanel convert with the purchase of my very first Chanel bag - a red 2.55

For this upcoming season (F/W 2005) the current doyenne of the great house of Chanel, Karl Lagerfield, has taken it upon himself to re-issue the classic 2.55 as originally designed by the great Madame Coco Chanel herself.

First launched in February 1955 (and thus its name), the design of the 2.55 was considered avant garde for its time as its shoulder chain straps allowed a woman's hands to be free as she could sling the bag on her shoulder. Yup, we have definitely come a long way in feminine design/fashion since then.

The leather of the re-issue is wrinkled and distressed, giving it a romantic vintage air - like a bag that has been lovingly passed down through the generations from your grandmother to you. Karl has removed the distinctive leather strap running through the iconic chain straps for the re-issue. Instead the metal straps have been lovingly reworked into a vintage fleur-de-lis pattern,almost like delicate shoulder jewellery, with gold hardware for the black, nickel for the white and silver for the gray. The re-issue comes in the above three colours only and will be available in seven sizes, with one that will respect the dimensions of the current 2.55 in the Chanel stores.

The re-issue is expected to hit stores in late August/early September. This bag will surely be one of the iconic bags for fall and will be a perfect complement to the Victoriana trend that's sweeping through the runways for Fall.

 

Re-issue of the iconic 2.55 from Chanel ; article reproduced from Harpers Bazaar.

A year wiser!

Yay! Tomorrow is my birthday!
Can't wait to see what presents my sister gets for when she returns from Europe! (I hope she is reading my blog now..)

For the moment, this is what I got from my boyfriend:

Sweet! Another Chanel! \^-^/

Chanel - The Eternal Classic

I have never quite understood the allure of the House of Chanel until recently.

Call it ignorance or naivete if you will, but Chanel had always conjured up images of marmish woman in shoulder-padded power suits (a la the 80s) for me.

I guess my interest in Chanel first started with the launch of their Cambon Ligne line last year. The bags were interesting, but I still held back from investing in one as I wasn't sure if a Cambon Ligne was what I wanted.

It wasn't till I saw Ashley Olsen with a black Cerf tote that I visited the Chanel store in Singapore. There I saw the 2.55 for the first time and maybe, just being a few months wiser and with a better sense of style, I finally understood the appeal of the 2.55

So now, I am the proud owner of my very first 2.55.

Mdm Coco Chanel - a stylish woman ahead of her times.

A picture of my red 2.55!!