Tuesday, July 15, 2008

AFI



New Obsession Much? :O Influence: Guitar Hero 3. Reason: Replaying the damn song over and over again on Hard trying to finish it on 100%. D:

Monday, July 14, 2008

Project Runway Season 5: Another Fierce One?


Project Runway Fashions New Crop of Wannabes

Source: E! Online


This season seems interesting. Many of the contestants are in their 20's, although their resumes are quite extensive. The beginning of a new season with new designers strikes a nostalgic chord within me. Since season one, following each challenge with the designers, in some odd way, makes me sympathize with them. The start of the fifth season makes me remember how detached I initially am with all of them until the show progresses.

So excited for this debut. :3

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Shear Genius


I have never seen this show advertised, but it seems very interesting. To be honest, I found it on the BravoTV website while I was looking for more news about Season 5 of Project Runway. I'm currently watching Season 1 and hopefully will be able to finish Season 2 soon.

Some images from the show that I've found and have captured my interest:





Make an outfit based of that, eh? x9

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Irregular Choice? Why yes it is.

Yes? No?


Thanks to Christina over at couture creatures for letting me know the brand of her prom shoes. I found these compelling heels over at Irregular Choice. I personally think they'd be an interesting addition to my closet, especially for normally bland outfits. Unfortunately, the US store is currently offline. I found this pair on the European site. Hopefully they'll be offered on the US one, whenever it comes back online.



And I am also reminded of my challenge to you guys:

What outfit would you conquer the world in? As the question implies, this is a hypothetical look where you do not need to possess the articles of clothing, nor plan on purchasing them.

For this challenge, I would like to tag the following people:

Yuko, Leslie, Christina (couture creatures) - yes, all three of you please. Christina, you need to post, woman.

Sooo... Have fun and I'm looking forward to seeing all your creative wardrobes!
Tagged by Leslie over at couture creatures:


The Rules: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

I don't believe that I'll be as extensive with my explanations as I've seen other tagged persons are with their own list of favorites. As it is, I'm currently very much into the Korean music scene. While I do still listen to American/English songs, I've recently become more entrenched in the r&b-dance music that kpop consists of. As the rules state that the seven songs must 1)those I am currently enjoying, and 2)be shaping my summer, the majority of the songs i've chosen belong to this genre. I'm supposedly trying to learn how to dance more rhythmically this summer, so my coveting these types of songs are somewhat aiding me in the process. Enjoy!



1) AJOO ft Younha - Paparazzi MV


I didn't expect myself to like this song as much as I ended up to. It's one of those songs with beats and melodies that get caught in your head after replaying it a certain number of times. To be honest, though, I think AJOO in this video is more stalker-status than paparazzi. Younha's as lovely as ever.


2)
Battle ( 배틀) - Step by Step



Another one I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I do. Once again, it's due to the catchy beat and music that I found stuck in my head after listening to it. Only this time, instead of having to replay it over and over again before I began to like it, it only took one play before I was trying to find the mp3 for it over the internet. Not a group I would normally follow; I checked out their other songs and actually only find very few that I liked (another one, named Malhae, being one of them, although I don't like it enough to put it here).


3) Nsync - I Thought She Knew (acapella)



A return to the 90's! I loved this song when I was a wee-one. And I still do. Acapella groups, good ones at least, make me swoon so very easily. Nsync was my idol group when I was younger, and since I've been listening to their music since summer began, I believe that my current interest merits me putting my favorite song by them here.


4)
Lil Mama featuring Chris Brown & T-Pain - Shawty Get Loose



Yes, I know it's not the actual video. The sound quality on this one is much better than the music video version I've found on youtube. I guess you could say this is one of my guilty ear candies, a result of following America's Best Dance Crew. Chris Brown is very talented dancer, and a lot of his songs are quite catchy. I don't listen to Lil Mama normally; I can't understand anything that lady says, but I do commend her for her rap skills.


5) Lil Mama - Lip Gloss



Pointless-butt song, but once again, my favoring this song is yet another result of me watching Best Dance Crew and developing an inclination to catchy beats.


6) Shin Seung Hun - I Believe (My Sassy Girl OST)



I'm still caught up with this lovely, lovely song. My Sassy Girl is one of the nicest Korean drama movies I've watched out of the pile that I have seen. Leslie can testify for me that this song carries a certain feeling with it after you've finished watching the film. :3


7) The Classic - The Magic Castle



I adore this song. It's such a popular song even today, even though it was made during the 90's. Popular idol groups nowadays, such as Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK; their cover is probably the most well-known), cover this song many, many times. But of course, I adore the original. One of the very few songs I'm actually encouraged to learn by heart.



And that's it for my list! I have more mainstream tastes, I know, but I guess that's just the way i like it. :3

I can't really tag anyone atm, as I don't know anyone yet, buuuut... I'll probably put this on livejournal sooner or later, so I'll tag on there. :D

Friday, July 11, 2008

San Francisco with Yuko; Dinner with the Huangs (sortof)

Today, Yuko and I decided to hang out in San Francisco together since we (she) hadn't gone shopping in a while and I hven't gone to the city in a long time. Stores we visited while we were downtown included Anthropologie, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, FCUK, and H&M. Leslie, you must join us on our next in-city excursion. And answer your phone, damnit.

What I wore today:

beige belt (forever 21), dark navy tights (target), wide-neck shirt (Sway), light blue tank (underneath shirt; Walmart), dog tags (gift)

What I bought:
balloon-bubble dress (Forever 21)

All in all, I'm happy with my purchase. It was really nice hanging out with Yuko again, shopping. I swear, though, she's quite an indecisive shopper, she is. We spent quite a bit of time in Urban Outfitters debating on whether or not she should get a gray, knee-length pencil skirt, a burgundy cardigan, or black shoes. We even consulted her mother (xD). In the end, we decided the cardigan was of questionable quality and material, so she decided to purchase the skirt. FCUK had INCREDIBLE deals this time around. I found a very, very, very nice tunic for only $40, and Yuko found a long, knit sweater for $30. However, there were only mediums and larges left on the racks, a result of others getting to the great deals before us, so we ended up leaving the store dejected without purchasing anything. Happy day altogether, though, and I'm content. :3

(more posts coming soon; Leslie's tag and my own challenge)

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Fresh Air!


I finally got out of the house (yay!). My younger sister and I took a loong walk to the business street in our town (Park) and then walked to the other side of the island to go to the shopping center there. I managed to pick up a nice shirt from this boutique named Sway for $25. I really,
really need a job now, hahah. Hopefully this next year's income will be sufficient. It was 100+ degrees outside today, so I got a little lazy with the outfit I wore out:


Black&white gingham button-up shirt (Macy's), robot shirt (Rue 21), black skinny jeans (Ross)

Day 2: Heat-Induced Outfits

See title:

For the first three photos, I just kinda wanted to see what other things I could put with the skirt featured. I am wearing a black skirt with blue dashed-line pinstripes and spider webs (Sex Pot Revenge JP), a zipper shirt (also SexPR-JP), and a print shirt (Rue 21). If people were wondering why i don't wear shoes in a lot of my photos, it's 'cause we keep our shoes outside and don't wear them inside for fear of dirtying the carpet (an Asian thing?). In a couple of these, however, I just bought a new pair of shoes (those pictured below) from Etnies. And those things that look like tights? They're actually knit arm/leg warmers (although I personally think arm warmers are pretty tacky; one can probably play around with them and try to make them look good):


'cause I'm too lazy to tie my shoes...
There's a robot on my shirt (I've been having a weird fascination with robots lately...)


... And this one was to prove that they really were leg warmers...

The next couple is an outfit I was trying to pull off with yet another skirt I don't normally wear. I bought it from Ross a couple years and am pretty sure I only wore it once. It's pretty sheer, so I had to improvise a little by working with the ruffles in the skirt:

With the white knit from Forever 21. I simply pulled the white, ankle-length skirt up to cover my bosom, basically turning it into a pseudo-balloon dress.

I never knew I'd actually need belts one day (rarely used them before). But I reused the belt from my safari shirt to try and create a figure with the skirt/dress due to the tacky nature of the skirt alone. I was actually trying to tie the belt around the top of the skirt (i.e. the top of my bosom), but the belt was too small, so I believe that I will be trying to find new belts soon.

My attempts at being creative. :O

Monday, July 7, 2008

Plan Tone-body-in-a-month: Day 1


Yes, I am trying to tone up my body before school starts again in around a month. I just want to feel better about myself, is all. I know the usual spout: be happy with yourself. Well, if you aren't in the first place, then you might as well try to change it so that you are, right? Not to the degree of plastic surgery, though. That might be a little extreme, in my opinion, but exercise and fresh air should not be an occasional thing. Anyways, I went swimming today with my younger sister Allison for about an hour, then we went to the park by our house and played Frisbee for a while. After that, we both headed over to Nations, a burger place, to buy a pie, which ended up being a coconut creme pie that my parents liked very much. It was very sweet and I probably downed two glasses of water eating my slice.

As I said before, I'm trying to look nicer every time I get out of the house, whether it's to meet up friends or to go shopping. I mean, I bought a crapload of clothes for a reason, right? Plus, it's a large, LARGE break from my usual jeans and a t-shirt routine I fell into in college (I swear, classes just make you not even want to try :\). I was trying to come up with different looks with clothing I haven't worn for a while, and came up with these:


v. UNE
I'm wearing a stripped tunic from Forever21 (which has navy blue buttons on the collar, but you can't really tell from this photo), a patched skirt from H&M, and gray-knit knee-high socks from Vanity Fair (yay for bargains~). The belt I used to hold up the skirt was taken from my safari shirt (worn two posts ago).

v. DEUX
This is the version I actually wore out. In the other one, the tunic bunched awkwardly in the back, so I decided just to pull it out all the way.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Lake Chabot

My parents felt festive after yesterday's party, so we decided to head on over to Lake Chabot in Oakland, California. I love being outside, no matter how man-made the area is. Sitting or laying on the grass in a quiet area and just enjoying the air is such a nice experience. Anyways, my family and I weren't planning on doing any rigorous exercise or anything particularly strenuous, just sight-seeing, really. Due to the sunny, 81-degree weather outside, I decided to don a blue and white stripped t-shirt with a navy blue camisole, a skirt I bought... somewhere several years ago (and it still reaches down to the middle of my calves; I haven't grown at all. :|). I wanted to wear this white knit from Forever 21 over everything, but decided that it was too hot, so removed it in the end.



Here are some pictures I took at Lake Chabot. It's not much, but it was a such a clear day:

These were some really friendly ducks. I sat down by the water's edge and they came over to me, probably to see if I had any food.
Although this appears to be mud, they're actually just wet rocks. The water turned out a lot more clear on camera than in actuality, where the water was a dirty greenish blue. I'm also surprised to note that the tiny rocks in the water look like pennies or sequins, which in turn reminds me of wishing wells.

Safari Comfort


*Warning - My camera sucks. D:*

Today, my family and I headed down to San Jose, CA for a July 4th barbecue at my cousins' home. Like always, there was a lot of food and a lot of video games and familial bonding. They had recently gotten the Wii and the game Rock Band, on which I was rockin' away on the guitar for more or less the entire time I was there. As with previous parties with my family, I always aim to simply be comfortable, settling on a safari-styled shirt and belt from Forever 21, a pair of brown cargo shorts, and my pair of brown timberland flip-flops.

Funny story about the shorts; they were originally $17, but I got them at the amazing price of... wait, what price? Apparently, the cashier at Vanity Fair (where I had picked these up) had forgotten to include them in the total amount and had simply bagged the article, which I later found out at home. Being that the place I got it from is a good 3 hours away form where I live, I decided to put my conscious aside and allow myself this small gift.


This shirt was love when I picked it up. My preferences for clothing lean towards either angular and/or linear pieces, or casual lazy wear (i.e. funky, baggy t-shirts). In some cases, I guess one could call my preferences more masculine than the average girl.

Friday, July 4, 2008

First Post!

Hello all. This will become my haven of fashion photos and discussion. As of yet, I am only planning on documenting the clothing I wear from day to day so as to stay conscious of the image I'm presenting to the public. Of course, vanity plays no small part in the creation of this journal. I'm not sure as of yet how much discussion on the fashion industry I will partake in for this journal, as I might or might not become a part of couture creatures, another fashion blog several of my friends have already created. My participation in their project, however, depends on whether or not the one controlling it will come back from Alaska anytime soon.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...