Casual Wristlets

So I know that wristlets are not even that in anymore (there are like virtually none around the web!), but recently I have had this sudden urge to get a cute casual wristlet- just to carry my essentials in. I can totally imagine myself carrying one for a casual quick lunch/dinner with friends and for a night about town! My first thought was of course, the Chloe Paddington clutch (left: or wristlet depending on how you hook it). They are simply divine, the design is just cool and edgy enough for day and night. This beigi Juicy one (right) here with the buckle is not too bad either.
Moving on, I then thought of Coach, because my friend has a very cute wristlet from them too. And check these out- how darling! Doesn't the buckle thing kind of remind you of the Chloe Ava? I think I'm going to seriously consider the options at Coach.Then there are the more adventurous and fun options from Forever 21 (left) and Shop Intuition (right). The small splash of vibrant color may be just what you need to light up your outfit.

Paris Fashion Week FW07 Wrap Up II

Its finally PARIS. Man, I miss being in Paris so much. Anyways, onto the shows...

Chanel
When I first glanced at it, I winced and thought, "oh no, not another crazy mismatched bicycle shorts collection!" But on closer examination (omg this is beginning to sound like one of my papers!), it is actually just Chanel being fashion forward and youthful- and I love it!

My favourite thing how Karl combines the checkered pattern with the bright colors, especially this blue outfit (center). The color is so refreshing and different. Also note the silk scarf tied belt used here. And of course, I also like the hints of purple (right). Oh and check out those cool checkered trimmed ankle boots (left)!
More cute bright outfits. The white outfit is elegant and oh-so-chanel (left). I am LOVING that baby blue bag, it just completely brightens up the already bright outfit (center). And how CUTE is that puffy coat? It actually makes me want to go out and get one just like that RIGHT NOW!
Hip, young, vibrant and trendy. Karl's interpretation of this season's style is just genius. Aren't those gold ankle boots so cool(right)?
I just adore this long black jacket over white blouse and belt look (left). Looks like according to Karl, the skinny black pants are still "in" next season. The patent trim (center) and the black/white coils (right) also completely updates the little black dress here. Fabulous! I just adore this collection!
Although there were still a few which I simply do not get. Did he pay a visit to a psychiatric hospital? That shirt on the right. . . looks like one of those strait jackets!
And WHAT is with the eyebrows? That is just scary.

Givenchy
Conversely for the Givenchy collection, I first thought how stylish it looked.

These stylishly put together outfits are my thing after all. Those high waisted loose black trousers were even growing on me.
Even the casual layering here (left) and the modern dresses (center, right) looked cool- well except for those ghastly pink sparkly shoes.
But for the most part, the outfits were way over the top and not very aesthetically pleasing nor coherant .i.e. outfits above.

YSL
Even though it looks vastly different from their previous floral collection (this one is very very gray), I rather liked this collection.
I thought his interpretation of the form of this season's trend was spot on, classy and very well tailored. The crinkles on the sleeves of this grey shift dress is not just any random crease after all.
And I definitely like the structured forms here with the skirt (center) and bell sleeves (right).
But there is still something that is not there with the evening wear. The material and the cut is not very flattering to the form. And evening wear IS suppose to make one look great right? Although I suppose we'll be seeing someone wearing that grey dress some time soon to some event soon enough.

Oh, I can't wait to see what Paulo Melim has done with Chloe!

New SS07 Layout: Walk tall, dream high

OK, so we've been so busy lately that we didn't actually think we would have the new layout made and published on time. (For those readers who have been with us a long time, you would know that it's about time we changed our layout.) But turns out that the more school work we had, the more willing we were to procrastinate by playing with Photoshop!

So we started off with this season's oh-so-'in' super-wedges. I was determined to have a Vuitton shoe in the banner. We played around the idea of having various shoes from runway photos in a clockwork motion, but the banner made me feel like the models' feet were going to kick out from the laptop screen and into my face. Plus BG complained that some of the models had blotchy and stubby feet, so that idea went out the window.

Then I went through my collection of photos (that didn't have me in them) and found this photo of the glass pyramid at the Lourve that I took during a family vacation in Paris two years ago. BG used her Photoshop-cutting skills to cut out various runway models and other shoes, and I put them into a collage. At the end, we decided that simplicity was the key and left on only of the IT outfit from Balenciaga and Vuitton shoe. And we do so love the reflections on the glass and the blue sky, (it makes us feel like we are on summer holiday with the air conditioning on- the best kind!).

We wanted to keep our layout clean and simple (not that we know how to make it complicated). But in the end, we love our new banner (and it's name!) We feel that its refreshing and definitely different from what we had before. Let us know if the layout doesn't work on your browser and we'll do our best with our limited html knowlege to change it!

Paris Fashion Week FW07 Wrapup I

Yay! It's Paris time. Paris is really where creative force of fashion is, although one must be actually interested and open-minded about fashion to appreciate this kind of fashion. On we go...


Balenciaga
THE show that we've been all waiting for. OK, so at first glance it wasn't as stunning as the FW06 collection or as directional and cool as the SS07 collection, but after looking over the photos many times, I am in love with this collection, which is odd coming from me considering I usually hate any folk-feeling clothes. There is SO much to love and learn from this collection -stare at the photos many times for awhile and you'll get what I mean. Maybe I'm biased because the a large part of the collection feels so young and has got that effortless-styled look.
Scarves were the accessory of the collection. There were so many different designs and ways they were used to style an outfit. With the folk-looking dresses, the scarves were wrapped around the models; with the more military looks, the scarves had gold and royal red strands spread out from the scarf, set out like a handkerchief at the neck; and then there are the simple scarves.
There were many folk-printed or seemingly tie-dyed dresses. Not usually my style since this kind of dresses are usually just bright and cheap looking, but I can't stop looking at these, especially the brilliant yellow one (in the middle). Maybe the reason I'm loving these folk dresses is because of the styling -grey stockings and cool sandals.
More to take note: bright blue stockings, skinny sports pants. That outfit in the middle is just way cool. Love all the layers and simple colours.


Christian Dior
OK, I'm probably in the minority in this, but I'm not a big fan of this show. Yes, I can appreciate the idea of going back to the 60s and making everything very original and vintage Christian Dior. Everything was absolutely beautiful; it was like a ready-to-wear version of the much-loved haute couture show.
Fur coats. Some huge and swinging, others were furry at the hems and more body-fitting.
The show did start off with some real-life (for more mature women) clothes.
Then there were many and many gorgeous dresses and party hats.
Look through the show, it's like all the colours are there. The purple dress Lily Cole is wearing is one of my favourites from the show.
This black and white dress is another one of my favourite.

BUT, what is the fashion direction; what is the show trying to say? At the end, I just can't get myself excited or inspired by anything from this show.


Viktor & Rolf
OK, so the reviews I (and all of you) have read so far from websites have so far, gone on and on about how worried the fashion editors were worried about the models, and feared that they would just tumble down the runway. To be honest, I didn't find the whole concept too shocking -remember that horrible sleeping-in-the-bed concept from a few seasons ago?
OK, those clogs are just hideous, absolutely horrendous. But try to look past the clogs, and the lights, if you can...
and you'll see that there are actually some pretty prints there.

Anyways, I'm off to stare at the Balenciaga collection again. Hope you have as much fun as I am!
Photo source: Style.com

REISS UK

When I was in San Francisco the other weekend, I discovered the coolest brand- REISS from the UK! Located on the first floor of the new Bloomies mall near Union Square, the simple, sophisticated, cool interior lured me in to explore the rest of the collection.
And I fell in love. The clothes there were elegantly simple and casual, with just the right amount of twist to make it look special. I am loving that casual white cardigan, I can totally see it as my summer staple over pretty camis. And those shift dresses are just soo cool.
The outfits for work are equally casual and cool. Note those vibrant shiny shorts and skinny belt!
And aren't these dresses just darling? They are so fun and youthful!

Positioned between high street multiples and designer brands, this brand is just what we need. I personally have my eyes on a blue/white striped cardigan and this grey jersey with a v-necked pattern, but alas, they were all way above my budget. Perhaps when they go on sale. . . .

Oscar's 2007 Fashion

This year's Oscars fashion was, well, not particularly disastorous nor inspiring. Obviously everyone was on their top form, but the dresses were just... okay. Maybe there has been too many award shows recently that I've gotten a bit jaded. So anyways, here are the top fabulous outfits from last night:

Queen of the night, Helen Mirren looked amazing in Christian Lacroix. If it's a body shot (as opposed to closeup shot,) it's hard to remember she's alreayd 61 years old!

Cate Blanchett looked elegant in Armani Prive, and right on the whole metallic, futuristic trend. Makeup, jewelery, everything was simple impecable.

Rachel Weisz wore a seemingly simple Vera Wang gown. I love that long cluster of diamonds (and the diamond ribbon) at the top of her dress. The dress is so perfectly tailored- it's like the dress is softly wrapped around her, and the diamonds solidified the whole vision.

After the brilliant yellow dress she wore to the Golden Globes, Reese Witherspoon's Nina Ricci by Olivier Theysken dress here just didn't seem as striking. I'm sure this gown floated around Reese beautifully, but it just isn't the most photogenic dress.

Like Blanchett, Nicole Kidman can do (almost) no wrong on the red carpet. She looked elegant, as usual, in a Balenciega dress.

Nicole Kidman's BBF, Naomi Watts looked really pretty last night, although for some reason, she landed on a worst dress list.

Another one who landed on the worst dressed list was Gwenyth Paltrow, who wore Zac Posen. I thought she looked pretty sophisticated in it and she looked really pretty on TV, but I can see how it's not for everyone's taste.

And once again Cameron Diaz landed on worst dresed lists. I think she looked pretty -go find a picture of her hair, it's absolutely perfectly wavy. Her white Valentino gown had a haute couture-shape but in a much simplified way.

Surprisingly, not many people wore black. Rinko Kikuchi wore a slinky, not-boring-at-all black number.

Kate Winslet looked lovely in a simple, expertly-draped Valentino gown. Nothing exciting, but hey, points for her for wearing natural-looking makeup.

While I don't know if Jessica Biel was actually nominated for anything, I thought she looked gorgeous. She absolutely stood out in that hot pink Oscar de la Renta gown. She wore it oh-so-elegantly, especially with that belt.

And of course, how could I not mention Jennifer Lopez, who definitely impressed in a grey Marchesa gown. Is she reinventing herself?

As to why so-and-so wasn't on the list?

Penelope Cruz -The Versace gown is certainly glamorous, but the tail was way excessive.

Anne Hathaway -The huge black bow is cute and all, but it didn't seem to suit her much.

Jennifer Hudson -She wore the Oscar de la Renta dress well enough, but that metallic shrug? Seriously.

Kirsten Dunst -First of all, yay, Marie Antoinette most definitely deserved the best costume award. And for some reason, I can't decide whether I like Kirsten's Chanel dress or not.