Clinic

Velvet dress - vintage FCUK, platforms - Jeffrey Campbell Clinic inspired, collar necklace - City Plaza

An all black assemble with silver as embellishment. This dress I'm wearing belonged to two other ladies before me - my mom and a family friend. It has been passed around but the velvet quality remains. It's a little plain on the neckline so I couldn't resist adding on a metal collar necklace. As for shoes.... Sorry Mr Campbell, I love your shoes but cannot afford them so here's an inspired version.

Lips - Wine Not by Revlon

The little white dress

This week, I picked out Dressabelle's Lattice Cut-out dress in sand. The first thing that caught my attention was its unique cut-out design that reminded me of Nacho chips! 

"A little black dress is an evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often quite short. Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920s designs of Coco Chanel, intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, accessible to the widest market possible and in a neutral color. Its ubiquity is such that it is often simply referred to as the "LBD."

 (Source)

Okay, I'm not talking about a LBD right here. Let's rebel a little and welcome a little WHITE dress, instead, into our wardrobes. 

White often appears more casual as compared to a LBD thus making it daytime appropriate. Besides, white reflects light to our skin and make us look more radiant. 

This Lattice cut-out dress has a well structured flare and clinch at all the right places. 

It's gorgeous on its own...

Concealed side zipper to ensure better fit

Let me show you some of the outfits I easily achieved with this little white dress! There are tons of options, so just work with what you have. :)


Look 1 - Office appropriate

Don't be a culprit to a sea of black office wear! It doesn't hurt to wear something different and brighten the office environment.

All I did here was to layer a cream button-up blouse underneath to show less skin. The collars of the shirt gives this dress an entirely different silhouette, but still in harmony because the dress and the shirt belongs to the same colour family.

Blouse - Oh So Fickle

Look 2 - Attending an event

Wearing a skirt over a dress is one of my favourite ways to layer. Besides, the cut-out details are too gorgeous to not wear as a top. Same goes to girls who own shift/ floral/ lace dresses - you can do the same too!

I wore a basic maxi skirt on top of my dress to elongate my legs. This method works like magic on petite girls. Then, for accessories I added earrings, feather hairband, a clutch and some metallic bangles. Basically, wear whatever that attracts attention and gives you that 'bling'! It's all about the details.

Colourful, fancy accessories work well on a muted outfit.

Feather hairband - Helen, earrings & bangles - gifted, clutch - Charles&Keith

Look 3 - Safari/ Military

This look is for the "girly goes tough". I personally adore the military trend and other masculine pieces. For some reason, olive/ army green compliments my skin tone very well. Green doesn't appear very much appealing to me but it works!

For this look, balancing masculine and feminine pieces is important. Since this dress is very girly, I pieced it with an oversized army green shirt. An utility jacket or leather vest works as well. Then, I added a belt to redefine my waist line (very important!). Pulled my hair up to reduce fuss and paired leather and wood accessories.

Shirt - Cotton On, leather belt - Uniqlo

"Don't WASTE your WAIST!"

So that's it from me! To learn about more ways to wear your little white dress, watch the video below! I highly highly recommend it. It's very inspiring. Chriselle the fashion guru shows you how to wear your LWD in 7 different ways - that's a week's worth!



Have fun!

Leatherette

Anyone else here who loves reptile skin (faux of course)?

Don't really know when and how my obsession with anything leather started out. From wallets to shoes and clothes...I love the muted shine of leather, especially textured ones (ostrich, reptile, python).

Valentino T-bar lizard pumps (source)

Studded reptile pumps - Charles&Keith

Scored this expensive looking pair of pumps at less than $30 from my favourite local shoe store. How could I let this go? It looks almost similar to Valentino's. Can't believe pointy pumps could go so well with metal studs. It has a metallic thin heel. The patches of 'rust' are part of the design in case you're wondering.

Blouse - Oh So Fickle, leather circle skirt - Forever 21, belt - Uniqlo

And let me tell you about this bag I've been carrying with me WAYYY too much. I call it the crocodile bag! It's a messenger bag that's about the area of an iPad. Again, I think it looks really expensive, bought it from Perllini at $45. I used to be really skeptical about Perllini for it's auntie image... Trust me, it's time to change your mind because their newer lines of bags are pretty well designed! It's a local brand and their quality has yet to disappoint me. Go see their range of bags if you're free this weekend! You'll be surprised.

Bag - Perllini

Necklace - Diva

Ending this entry with a picture of Wavven! No idea what he was wearing. Looks pleasing to me.

A walk at Queenstown

Today I made a visit to Queenstown with Nigel. That's where my secondary school is located, and where my boyfriend and I met!

I wanted to see if the entire area has really changed - buildings getting demolished. It really did. For a moment I was really upset over the drastic changes to that place, how my favourite hawker centre is gone and mad at myself why I didn't make a trip back earlier.

Constructions

Converse white high-cut sneakers, nude oxfords from Esprit

I'm wearing Dressabelle's Peter Pan dress in Nude. At first I was resistant to wearing such a girly dress but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone! The dress is much better in reality - it features a pleated front and hidden zippers at the back. It comes along with a complimenting red ribbon, perfect for chinese new year!

Again, Dressabelle has never failed to offer dresses with inner lining, something that I ALWAYS look for in a dress. Especially light-coloured ones. Cheers for conservative dresses!

Dress - Dressabelle, oxfords - Esprit, bag - Perllini

Queensway, Queensway, long may she remain! ~

Did you know:

Ancient Chinese women used to wear pearls a lot because pearls reflect light to the surrounding skin, making them look radiant!

Arm party full of pearls

Something I learnt from experience:

For Asians, we look better with anything off-white - e.g. cream, ivory, nude pinks. Pure bleached white tends to make us look darker and more 'yellow' when worn. So, unless you want to look dark intentionally, avoid pure white pieces. :)

I'm crazy about the Peter Pan collars! They look adorable when worn against a contrasting cardigan, even from the back. I love how the collars make a subtle appearance on top of my cardigan.

Pleated details

See!

So much can change in two years...It's Ngee Ann's poly open house today which made me realize I have only a year left before I graduate again. At times I really do miss secondary school life and the people I used to see. There used to be a block '6 C' just beside my school, a place where gangsters used to fight. I don't even remember when it turned into a flat piece of land. 

My Experience With ASOS

Just want to dedicate a this entry to praise ASOS for their acts of service that are truly commendable.

Background
About 3 months ago I made my first ever order from ASOS. During the week of expected delivery, I realized that my address entered in my account was incorrect - it lacked my unit number. I panicked and wrote tons of messages to ASOS hoping for a miracle that my parcel will magically reach my place anyway.

Long story short:

1. ASOS has a flawless communication system
ASOS made a promise somewhere on their website that all emails will be attended to within 4 hours. And they did. I received all replies within 3 hours. Good job!

However, my parcel was nowhere to be found.... BUT,

2. ASOS refunded me in full
Just because I waited patiently and asked if my parcel has returned to their warehouse. (which it didn't by the way). My parcel is supposed to be in the hands of SingPost once it lands in Singapore. So who to blame? SINGPOST. WHY YOU NO RETURN MY PARCEL?!

ASOS's email to me

Even in emails,  I was treated so courteously with full sentences. Why would any online business in the world refund me in full when my parcel is not even proved to be really missing? And by making sure all emails to be replied within 4 hours it means people work around the clock?!

I want everyone to see that THIS is what good service is supposed to be. I am truly impressed by ASOS although it's merely virtual interaction and my parcel failed to reach me anyway. If by any chance any staff from ASOS is reading this, THANK YOU SO MUCH. :)

Lessons learnt

1. Check your address again and again before checking out
Yes, very important! Do not use auto-fill for filling in of addresses. Watch out for address blanks that states 'Address line 1' and 'Address line 2' - you're supposed to see your full address without having to scroll right for extra hidden words (if you know what I mean)

2. Good service goes a long way
Here I am, spreading the joy to everyone who is reading my blog!

Happy New Year!

Blouse - Oh So Fickle boutique, pants - Forever 21, Shoes - Charles&Keith

All things berries! 

Beautiful sunset!

Top - market, pants - Kate Love, shoes - Vans, bag - Perllini

How was everyone's new year's eve? I had a feast at Desiree's place, steamboat at Nigel's, watched sad movies on my own and caught up with my good friends. I love cozy gatherings, but decided to see the nightlife scene at Clark Quay this NYE. There were people that were passed out, people who danced on the bridge blasting music from portable stereo, people who ran and hugged random strangers - what a sight!

I used to write down new year resolutions for myself during secondary school days but I no longer do so. It used to be things like "achieve Gold award for fitness exam"; that was somewhat predictable and I knew that it'll happen one day since it's compulsory by MOE. Right now, I feel like my life is unpredictable and free-going. I'm driven by instant rewards and do whatever that passion pushes me to. I easily forget tasks that will only reward in a long run (e.g. academic work/ sleep) and it's bad, that's tunnel vision.

Steve Jobs once mentioned something like, "in life, you can only connect the dots when you look backwards.." during his commencement speech at Stanford University . I strongly agree with him. I only realize what I have achieved as I reflect upon all the things I have achieved in the past year. Things include starting out this blog, LookBook, worked with Carrie Models, worked with Dressabelle (extremely grateful for this opportunity), took up Bible Study again. At the end of the day, you just need to hold yourself together, get help from the right people and faith. Yes, faith, keep believing in yourself. You don't have to wait for the new year to set your resolutions, right?

Have a happy 2012 everyone!


/edited
Some achievable resolutions that I wish to follow:

- To get at least 7 hours of undisturbed night's rest daily
- To not push any unfinished work to the next day

Easier said than done, but I'm going to try! I am convinced that nothing is more important than sleep.

NastyGal Picks

Jeffrey Campbell perfect platform

Ynez chain cuff

Nevermind maxi skirt

UNIF garter skirt

Currently lusting over these drool-worthy pieces from Nasty Gal.