Saturday, October 31, 2009

The September Issue

'Fashion is not about looking backward. It's about moving on to the next thing' Anna Wintour. I've just finished watching the fashion documentary/ movie 'The September Issue' about the biggest US Vogue September issue ever with Sienna Miller on the cover. It's interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes before the magazines are actually published; the people who work to make it look as it is and also the kind of inspirations they get. I have to say i found it quite interesting and intruiging and it's definitely something that i'll be able to watch over and over again.
Image via Michaelcomments.files.wordpress.com

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Heartbroken

For some morose reason only known to the people at Sony, they've decided to discontinue the VGN-CS36GJ laptop range pictured above. I've been dying and waiting and saving up my money to buy this baby. I even put my name on the waiting list to get informed of when they restock it only to find out that it has been discontinued. You would think that they would have the decency to replace it to something that looks much more sexier and sensual. Oh no...
This is Sony's idea of a replacement!!! I don't know about you guys but this VPCCW15FG laptop is a very ugly replacement in my opinion. I don't know the fashion minds behind the colour or the shape but the colour reminds me of the ombre trend which i like to reserve for something cheap that can easily be gotten rid of after the trend has made its way to the graveyard of all things fashion. As for the shape, it does somehow remind me of the Fujitsu laptops that came out sometime ago. I must say that the screen and keyboard looks very Apple to me. Sony has already swagga-jacked Apple and the remix is oh-not-so hot at all. Looks aside, the only difference i can see between the CS36 and this one is the fact that it's got Windows 7 already installed in it. At least Sony was smart enough not to price this in the $2000 range; this would set you back about $1800. As you would imagine this laptop is already out of stock and it has only been on the Australian website for about a week and a half! Irrespective of my disappointment at Sony and the ombre-pink colour of this laptop, i'm still interested in it because i want a Pink laptop and i've already signed up to be notified of when it gets back in stock. Let's hope it's back in time for Christmas as it would be a great present to myself. So.....let the wait begin ^_^
Images via Sony.com.au

Mr Fashionista

There's something that's just magnetic and sexual about Russell Brand and i really can't put my finger on it. He just seems to exude this male confidence that is oh-so charming and luring it is difficult for me not to notice it.
I love his sense of style and how he doesn't seem to follow fashion trends but sticks to his own unique way of rocking things. Plus you've got to admire his braveness for once wearing Sass & Bide's black rats with a black tee and a blazer over it in public with confidence. I haven't even mustered the courage to wear one yet.
Images via Justjared.com

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Wanting And Needing...

These bad boys are seriously calling out to my heart; how hot are these Burberry Wellington boots? Ok, so i'm not a festival goer because i can get claustrophobic on rare occasions but these are absolutely perfect for the rainy season and a sure more stylish alternative to UGGS or my EMU boots. I just love the purple, there's something so exquisite about the colour on rubber and i'm soooo getting these even if it means i might have to starve myself for one month. These babies would set you back £95.65 and you can get them here.
I can never have too many black footwear in my wardrobe and this is a sexy substitute for the days when purple isn't really calling to my heart right? I especially love how it's got the laced-up aspect to it. The simplicity just adds to the classiness of it and i can see The Queen of England absolutely rocking this (yeah right) and since i'm feeling like a Queen myself i want a pair of these next year before the Australian winter comes around. It would be a good substitute for biker boots non? I would look like a chic farmers wife just coming from my organic garden. These would set you back £178.26 and you can get them here.
Images via Net-a-porter.com

Homeless Chic

When it comes to channeling the 'homeless chic' look, no one does it better than Johnny Depp and Mary Kate Olsen. If it was someone else other than these two sporting these looks in the pictures, they would just look absolutely retarded and whacky but these two manage to bring their own swagga and 'je ne sais quoi' to the entire ensemble that it is almost shocking. I must admit that i'm not really a fan of these looks but i have to applaud them for even making an effort. Mary Kate does seem to look like she's borrowing her style tips from Johnny Depp and Ozzy Osbourne sometimes.
As for me, recent incidents have shown that i'm actually styleless as i've been trying to put together a fashion album for myself as inspiration and i've also been writing down a shopping list of things i would like to save up to buy. Some of the pictures i've collected actually suprise me as they aren't things that i'd have thought i'd like. But i guess you never really know until you try.
Images via Justjared.com

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Greed...

...is the root of all evil. So, i want an iPod touch; and it's not because i don't have any sort of portable music player because i've actually got a functioning iPod and an MP3 that i just tend to use as a portable external hard drive. I want an iPod touch because Style.com has an application that you can download onto your iPhone or iPod touch and get immediate updates on fashion shows - the videos, the pictures and their reviews. It's not like i'm a serious fashion follower neither do i have any sense of style. It's not like i can't go online and watch the shows afterwards, it's just that i want it in the palm of my hands. I don't need it, i just want it. I'm not usually one to follow fashion in my personal life either because if you've seen me, you'd know that as much as i love reading magazines and watching shows, i rarely ever incorporate any of these things into my own wardrobe. I'm more of a simplistic dresser and i'm not really keen on the whole 'trendy dressing' because i just see it as a waste of my time and it does involve an infinite amount of time investment which i just can't be bothered with. So here i am trying to talk myself out of getting an iPod touch and into getting a GHD.
But then again, i rarely actually straighten my hair. Sometimes i can be really good and actually straighten my hair once a week just after washing and blowdrying it. But most of the time, i tend to actually just blow dry it and then tie it down with a scarf. After all, i always end up backcombing my hair which is pretty simple, straightforward, styleless and definitely no need for a hair straightener to pull off that look. I'm actually considering getting extensions in my hair for the summer months as my hair tends to grow heaps when i've got extensions in; so this means that i really don't need a GHD right now. I only really need it when i've firmly decided that i'm going to grow out my hair in its natural state and stop relaxing it. Then i would definitely need GHDs because i have no plans of walking around in an afro....soooo not my style. Instead i would be employing the 'Beyonce, Gabrielle Union, Sanaa Lathan and Taraji Henson' option of blowdrying it and then straightening it because only a straightener as hot or hotter than GHDs can actually get a proper afro straight and smooth enough.
Image via Theeuni-box.com

Ankle Boots Loving

I know it's not easily visible but Jessica is sporting a pair of wedge ankle boots that i'm absolutely in love with. Wedge heels and I were separated at birth because they are the most comfy things since high heels were invented. Wedge heel boots are my top priority boot-shopping for next year along with a pair of Balenciaga-looking boots that the Olsen twins have been sported in; there's a similar one in Australia called 'Punk wedge' by Maurice and Eve and it retails for $220 so i know where my expenditure is going to. I'm absolutely lusting after these ones Jessica's wearing so if anyone knows where i can purchase these at a student-friendly price then please let me know. Thanks in advance!!!^_^
Image via Justjared.com

Monday, October 26, 2009

I'm Scared Of Me

I'm scared of the me inside me. There's always two sides to a person and the same goes with me.

There's the sane 'miss goody-two-shoes' me which comes out everyday and then there's the crazy me that throws all the rule books out the door and rocks la familia. It's like good-girl-gone-bad without the bondage outfit and the nipple piercings and tatts.
Think Venus vs. Mars. It's like hate and yoga can't even stomach each other [pls don't ask me what that means because i'm terrible at explanations. So the best i can say is two parallel lines existing in the same box].
Images via Ldinfo.com, Imageenvision.com, Thebreakthrough.org

Sunday, October 25, 2009

It's Not Fun Anymore...

Nothing seems to be fun to me anymore. Everything is just boring and annoying and irritating and i keep complaining and making whoppers over and over and over again. I know, it's annoying whinging and i'm constantly on a whinging bender. So, where did it all go wrong? Sometimes i do feel bad for my blog because if it was human, it would be very upset at my constant whinging. But if i had to do it all over, i don't exactly know how i would approach it. Because everything that has happened in my life up till now is what makes me who i am. But then again, who exactly am i? I'm constantly trying to figure out how to answer that question.
Image via Pennydragon.com

Acceptance

How easy is it for you to just accept the way you are? Right now, right there as you’re reading this post. How easy is it to look right in the mirror, stare at your reflection and say i’m able to accept ME, just the way i am right now. Is it that easy? NO!! Not for me anyway; i’m constantly living in the residual of my past self or the future me i hope for. I’m rarely ever living in the moment; it’s always past or future, never really right here and right now. I remember last week i sent a text to JieJie saying i need to go into a ‘fat and ugly home’ because everytime i catch a reflection of myself in the bathroom mirror or see one of the girls in my residence rocking some hot outfit that would only look nice on someone without a pot belly and thighs big enough to strangle someone, i fall back into the self-loathing pit. This is how my life tends to unfold and work on a daily basis. Let’s talk breakfast on Friday morning. So this girl in the dining hall who happens to be a US size 0 was complaining about how fat she was and how she didn’t want to wear a dress to the formal except she’d lost some weight before then. All i could think about at that point was rendering her unconscious by chucking my rice krispies bowl at her head. And the minute i got back into my room, i already started picking my body apart and looking at all the parts i hate and how summer is just going to be another annoying hot mess because there’s no way i’d be wearing shorts or mini skirts because i hate my thighs and there’s no wat i’d be wearing dresses because i have an enormous tummy that has the abilities of an amoeba because it changes shape every few minutes irrespective of how many times or how hard i work out every week. Sometimes i even wonder why i deprive myself from eating all the junk food i like because even when i’m not eating it, i’m still not losing any weight and my tummy always speaks to me whenever i put on a pair of jeans. Should i blame this on the Australian summer that is the equivalent of a natural daily sauna or should i blame it on my inability to actually just accept myself the way i am and love myself?
It has been argued that you can never move forward without letting go of the past and actually living in the moment. These are actually two things that are pretty difficult for me to achieve. See, i’m always thinking of myself pre getting sick. How good i looked, how amazing i felt, how happy i was, how i was more self confident, the fact that i was a C cup, had a concave belly and the list goes on. And then i think of the future. How at some point in my life i would FINALLY lose weight after all the sweating, huffing and puffing i tend to do each week all in the name of exercise, how i’d be able to rock all those fashion-forward clothes that i see in magazines and sometimes on Topshop. How i won’t have to worry that a certain shop doesn’t carry my size and how i wouldn’t feel out of place in a store in China Town. Maybe my feet might just shrink back one size so it’ll be easier to actually wear shoes without wondering whether they’re wide enough. How i’d finally be able to go to the beach without feeling like a whale...I could spend the next two days going on about the hows of the future. But i would probably spend about an hour at the most on the present and that would be on a really good day when i'm feeling like Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek and Queen Latifah all at the same time.
So how exactly do i get round to living in the moment, accepting myself and just enjoying my life? Because let's face it; life is a bitch. It's dull, short, boring, annoying, frustrating, fantastic, orgasmic, hot, mentally draining and challenging, and definitely not fair. My mum's theory is just to forgive and let go. Of course, she says that to me because she knows that i'm not good at letting go of anything. But maybe if i stopped reading magazines and stopped engaging in emotional shopping? Or maybe if i worked out simply because it's good for my health instead of because i'll lose weight. Or maybe, just maybe if i simply forget about actually busting my ass to lose weight, chuck out all the stuff i have that doesn't flatter me and send them off to charity. Then, just lavish my current form with TLC and ensembles that actually flatter it; stop thinking about the pre-sick me or the future me after i've finished a 40-minute session of Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo kickboxing. Maybe that way, i can actually live in the moment and actually accept myself. Oh, i also have to try and stop hating on people that are much slimmer than i am and happen to have long hair; and stop imagining aliens abducting all the pretty people from the face of the earth. What do you guys think?
Images via GWAS, Dramabeans.com, Thumped.co.uk

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Sex As Power?

My final exams start in exactly 2 weeks from today and i decided to start revising for my subjects in the order in which i'll be taking them. The first one i have is a Management course on Saturday ans as i was reading my text on organisational power and analysis, i came accross an interesting article. The people who wrote this textbook certainly had no plans to hold back and in that manner it is actually more engaging and interesting. This particular article was talking about the battle of sexes for power in the corporate world. We know that today females are still paid less than their male counterparts in the same job roles. The only female in a particular board of directors group was trying to get her fellow members to vote on something she believed in and when she didn't get as many votes as she expected, she got upset and said that the only reason they didn't vote was because she was female. The head of the board then said to her that if she had used her vagina instead of her mouth, maybe she'd have gotten more votes. Before i continue, might i add that this is actually a true life incident that was included in the text for educational purposes. It could be argued that that was a very sexist comment but in reality what he said is actually something that tends to occur in organisations even if they tend to be frowned upon or unspoken.
I know this for a fact because i saw this in one of the companies i interned at during one of my holidays back home. Of course, everyone in the office hated the lady because she easily got all her stuff approved and funded by the boss because she was sleeping with him while all the other ladies usually got told off and were referred to work under their male counterparts as opposed to heading their own projects. If i had read this chapter pre-2004 before moving to England, i'd have jumped on the bandwagon naming her a slut and every other demeaning thing you could think of on the face of the earth. But now, after reading it, my mind went straight to an episode of Sex & The City i watched where Samantha said that she saw nothing wrong in using sex to get ahead. After all, in her own words, men have been using and abusing women for centuries so why cant women use their sexuality if it gets them what they want? In an ideal world i would obviously prefer that we were all treated equally but in reality, we do not live in an ideal world. So now, although i would get hurt by a colleague of mine getting ahead simply because she used her sexuality as bait, it is also the path that colleague has chosen to follow so I cant really criticise.
After all, the less i judge people or worry about what they think of me or their own methods etc. the less stressful life would be. But then again, it is easier said than done!
Image via Inquisitr.com

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Sheer Look

What do you guys think of Katie Holmes' sheer look? YAY or NAY? I tend to fluctuate based on who's wearing it and how chic and classy they can make it look. I'm on the fence with how she looks here and i especially love how she's styled her hair but i can't help but wonder if she couldn't find a better bra to wear underneath. That one doesn't look like it's supporting anything... Also, that bag she's carrying has no place in that ensemble, it just seems so wrong
Imagr via JustJared.com

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Currently Stalking...

Whilst shopping in Sydney with the girls about 2 weeks or so ago, we stumbled across the shoe shop ZU that also boasts an impressive online store. Cue major heart palpitations as i saw shoes so beautiful i could resort to the life art of starving so i can collect them all to adorn my cupboard and make for beautiful art sculptures on my wall and impressive arts of engineering. But herein lies the problem. I hardly ever go anywhere so it is a bit difficult for me to justify an expenditure of $150+ on a pair of shoes that has a 1% chance of seeing daylight or hitting the pavement. I currently have four pairs of heels and only two of them have ever been worn; once each. So there we go, kinda difficult to justify my purchase right? Well, at least those ones cost me less than $70 each as i bought three of them on sale whilst in Sunshine Coast, Queensland. The shoe above is called LA SCALA and would set you back $160. I just love it because of its sculptural look and it looks like something a high powered lady or a female warrior would wear. The chances of me falling flat on my face wearing it? 90%!!!
This one is named FOOTLOOSE and reminds me of the current celebrity cult-following of Christian Louboutin's lace boots and they're waaaaaay cheaper than Loubies. Loubies are definitely an injustifiable purchase in my life at this moment except someone else paid for it without initially offering me the cash sum. This pair would set you back about $150. I'm hoping they'll both go on sale at some point so i can actually buy them for myself and my shelves!!!
Images via Zushoe.com.au

Monday, October 12, 2009

My Love-Hate For Technology

For sometime now, i've been unable to use the internet because the network card on my laptop is dead and this means that the only connection my laptop can identify is the wireless version. Unfortunately for me, the uni has capped the internet usage for each semester at about 500mb!!! Seriously, i can blow through that amount in the space of a day let alone an entire semester. So this means that the only way i can access the internet is when i come to uni and i've got some free time in-between to do some bits and blobs of blogging. This is the laptop i'm hoping to purchase after i've been able to save up all the money for it. It is currently out of stock which is great because Windows has decided to update its software fromWindows Vista to Windows 7. The good news is that hopefully, by the time this laptop becomes available again on the Sony website, it should have been automatically upgraded to include the Windows 7 because i have no plans on purchasing a new laptop that doesn't come with the Windows 7 specs except it's a MAC. But let's not even get into that conversation shall we?! I've been eyeing up the Macbook pro for a while and if i configure it to the specs that i want, it'll probably set me cack at about $2200 to $2300 while the Sony is about $2000. But let's not forget that if i choose to buy a MAC, i'll also need to get Microsoft Office for MAC which is about $200 extra. Hmmm....For those who are interested in the Sony laptop, you can find it here.
Images via Sony.com.au

Friday, October 2, 2009

Celebrity Style

Ever wanted to wear something that you sported on your favourite celeb? Well, now you can because there's a website that has pictures of celebs wearing the exact same items they sell. So open your wallet, pull out your credit card and get ready to shell some major cash on items from The Trend Boutique. Now you can spend your entire weekend online just looking for stuff. And if you start feeling guilty, just remember you're doing your part to boost the global economy ^_^.
Image via Shopthetrendboutique.com

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Joined At The Hip

Since fashion week began, Rachel Bilson and her stylist Nicole Chavez have been popping up everywhere together so i've compiled a few pictures of them where they're wearing something i love. I love the picture above for two reasons. Rachel has proved to me that you can indeed get away with wearing tights and open-toe boots without looking like a complete moron and i'm really really loving Nicole's boots. They're just fabulous and it looks like it has two different colours embedded in it: grey and black although it isn't easily noticeable.
Here it's all about Nicole's croc clutch and her tights. I have to find me a pair of tights that look just like that. Is it just me or do her bangs look uneven?
In this picture, you can just about see Nicole on the left wearing a pair of tan heels that look to me like cut-out boots and i love Rachel's heels as well. They're cute with the bow detail in front and they seem to be a bit transparent like the new Louboutins that celebrities have been sporting. I wish i could see the front of those pink hot heels; i can just imagine Paris Hilton wearing it for some reason...
It's all about Rachel's clutch; that barbed wire effect running through it just gives it some pizzaz!! Do you think i could find myself one that looks very similar for a reasonable price??
Images via Justjared.com