Embellished Roses

{top, Dressabelle / skirt, BKK / necklace, Talisman's / spiked necklace worn as bracelet, InfinitePixie / silver and black bead bracelets, Diva / clutch, Bugis Street / shoes, Rubi}

(Photos by Siu Farn)

In a recent spate of events that included my beloved friend and photographer leaving the job we used to do together, we now have to traverse the 15 minute walk between our different workplaces now to meet up for lunch, a quick chat, and a photo-taking session. (I am so, so grateful to have a friend who is willing to endure the burning hot sun with me to spend 30 minutes of a 1 hour lunch break taking photos.) This particular week, I trekked over through the underpass in my wedges (albeit rather low ones), cursing my inability to walk faster in my shoes of choice. We then spent our entire lunch break burning in the hot sun, attempting to take decent photos on the bridge above the Singapore River.
I'm not sure if my recent obsession with black and white is apparent from the clothes I've been wearing, but in case it was not very noticeable, I am now desperately obsessed with black and white, and any other shade in between. In fact, most of my new clothes are in various shades of black and white. It's like I spent too long shunning black after the emo-teenager phase of an all-black closet, and now black is back with a vengeance, looking for blood. I think that's the only possible explanation for why everything black and white seems to draw me to it, screaming 'Buy me now.' It's pretty hard to resist the temptation. Even right now, I'm lusting over and desperately searching for a black and white gingham checked midi.
Still, anything with embellished roses, and textured grey floral lace is a definite keeper. There is just something about the mix of delicate textures that keeps me feeling airy-fairy and whimsical all day long, and that's that.  xx

Aztec and Acid Wash

{top, BKK / shorts, Double Index / shoes, Vans / bag, Kanken / necklace, Talisman's / armcandy, BKK / anchor ring, Punkcandy / button ring, Bugis Street}

Photos by my dad

There are days when I'm a lot less hard-working than I'd like to think I am. Working an office job means that five days a week, I have to look presentable. Gone are the schoolgirl days, where you could just throw on the standard uniform each morning without having think about what to wear, and chalk the messy hair and prominent eyebags up to late nights spent studying for tests or rushing out homework. Now, there is no excuse. Or at least, I can find no excuse to give myself. After all, we are ourselves our worst critic. And so on this particular Sunday, I can find no excuse for why I left the house, sans contacts and makeup. I think it shows quite obviously.
I will not even deny the fact that this outfit itself was thrown together rather hastily upon the decision to go shopping. It did not seem to make sense to dress up in the frilliest and most feminine outfits when I felt so drab, so it had to be shorts and a shirt. But hey, at least I can have nice armcandy, right? And a nice shirt. I know, I just needed some consolation. 
I've always been very into the whole aztec, animal print, reindeer carousing across my shirt, black geometric shapes thing. It's nice that I get all of that in this one shirt. Also, acid wash shorts in light denim, lightly frayed and ripped? Perhaps my newest addiction. I borrowed the sister's shorts and was absolutely amazed to see how well they fit around the waist. Maybe I need to invest in more high-waisted shorts that fit as well as this pair did, preferably in a nice acid wash. xx

Vintage Florals

{top, Dressabelle | skirt, The White Carousel | shoes, Rubi | clutch, Charles & Keith | rings, Stroberi | bracelet, Pearlavish}

(Photos by Siu Farn)

When I first saw this top on the preview album, I knew I had to get it-- I practically camped in front of my phone waiting for the launch time so that I could rush in to buy it. Yes, I know, the things I do for clothes. So. A mermaid skirt. When peplum first arrived on the shopping racks and magazines, I thought, "well, great, why not put some ruffles around my waist that flare outward toward the butt/thigh area to emphasize how big they are?". Needless to say, I've never worn, and will likely never wear anything peplum, but I have seen people who look absolutely gorgeous in peplum (and I am so, so jealous) because peplum seems to be a staple in the executive world. Then, when mermaid skirts made their debut, my only thought was: "Ok, so it wasn't enough to put a miniature ruffled skirt around our waists, now we have to put it around our thighs too?". My sister, however, did not think the same way as I did and bought a black mermaid skirt, and then of course, I had no choice but to try it on. It did not look as bad as I thought it would be (but no, I'm not going to try peplum) and here we are, with brand new outfit shots featuring the mermaid skirt. 

It's been something of a hectic, or should I say, fat, week, because all I seem to be doing is rushing around meeting people, and eating all sorts of food that I would not normally be eating. Not to mention the Easter Feast the staff canteen served up yesterday. And tomorrow will be yet another reunion with friends, which will hopefully be refreshing and a much welcomed break from the mundanity of a daily 8.30-6 job. Not that I don't like my job, (I rather enjoy it) but I do miss the people I used to see daily.

I've been recently on the prowl to search for new items for my wardrobe, but I find myself sticking to the same old boring safe items, but at the moment I'm dying for a pair of perfect jeans that I can actually fit into comfortably. Also, fingers crossed that my vacation in June works out! 

xx 

New Beginnings

(dress: Dressabelle | bag: Macy's | shoes: Doctor Martens | necklace: Talisman's | arm candy: beaded bracelets Forever 21 // wristband BKK | ring: rose Forever 21 \\ hearts Diva \\ silver band Stroberi)

(Photos by Siu Farn)

So... new beginnings. I recently managed to acquire a camera of my very own that I love dearly despite my inadequacies at using it... and I consider this a fresh, new start to this whole blogging experience. I used to be so frustrated because I wasn't able to capture the details of my outfit clearly, but I feel really excited now! Though of course, a clearer camera does mean that flaws become more apparent. 

About the dress-- cute little white flowers with adorable green stalks over a deep meadow green base? Who could resist? I feel as though my time to be wearing outrageous prints is running short already (it seems that the older people around me in the office generally stick to neutral or bold, plain colours that make them look extremely glamorous), so maybe it's time for me to stock up on all the prints I can for now. I do seem to have a penchant for darker colours though, but hopefully I'll be able to venture out of my comfort zone. The bag was bought by my cousin and aunt during their trip to USA and was supposed to be for my mum, but I have since appropriated it for my own use, whoops. 

Since this is a "new beginning", I'm determined to try a lot more styles and experiment. (Though no, I'm not looking forward to all the fashion mistakes again.) I'm compiling this list of must-try items, and wish me luck in actually getting around to it!

1. Pencil/bandage skirts/Skirts that are generally not flared or drapey, since my entire wardrobe is made up of the same kind of dress.

2. Boxy tops with prints, since I have way too many sleeveless tops.

3. Slim-cut printed (or non-printed) jeans.

4. More heeled shoes. Boots! Sandals! SHOES SHOES SHOES. I think I've made my point clear.

Have a lovely Sunday and an awesome week ahead. I promise to try to get better photos! Also many many many thanks to Siu, who willingly endured the burning sun with me to take my photos for me. Love you lots!

MARCH in pictures

It feels a little strange to be doing a "March in pictures" when it's already more than a week into April, but that's where procrastination has landed me. I thought I'd do this each month, since there are photos in Instagram that never make it to my blog. Without further ado, this is MARCH in pictures.
1. Butterless Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies -- triple because the cookie is chocolate, and there are both white and dark chocolate chips inside. It's a recipe I got off the internet, and I'm still trying to find a way to make the recipe work because I altered it to my own purposes.  2. It's been quite some time since You Who Came From The Stars ended, but I feel like I can say that it's definitely made it to the list of 'favourite shows' that I will enthusiastically recommend to anybody who is on the lookout for a good drama to watch. Also, I drew this because I fell completely in love with the houndstooth coat she wore in one of the last few episodes-- how she manages to look so effortlessly put together and perfect is beyond me. If I had the time/skill to do it, I would draw each and every one of her outfits because they all look so amazing. 3. I loved drawing this picture because I was practically bouncing in my seat every day at work, counting down the hours till I got to go home and continue drawing this, and that is the best feeling ever. Frozen must have left a larger impact on me than I thought.

4. Butterless Double Chocolate Muffins -- One of the photos taken while experimenting with my new camera, crouched over a table with the muffins. As you might be able to tell, I'm a big fan of chocolate. This is by far the best butterless chocolate recipe I've ever made.

5. On Siu's last day of work, we celebrated by buying a drink each from Starbucks (my first time ever buying one, actually) and camwhoring and taking lots of photos with our drinks. I do find it rather cool that th first drink I ever bought is coincidentally called the Hazelnut Frappe. I've developed a rather strange craving for it ever since then, unfortunately.

6. What originally started off as an attempt to paint blood red flowers on black nails ended up as something I like to call abstract art-- random streaks of red paint drawn on after a couple of failed attempts on two nails, in a bid to disguise the messed up flowers. I'd like to think that I succeeded in making them (sort-of) presentable.

7. The best thing about working life is that when I manage to leave the office on time, I get to see a different sunset every single day, since I don't reach home at any exact same time daily, and even if I did, the sky would still look different. This sunset was so gorgeous, all pinks and purples and gorgeous rays of the last sunlight streaming through the clouds.

8. I'd originally planned for this to be more elaborate, but...

9. Same sky, yet a completely different painting. This was taken in almost the exact same location (as shown by the tree silhouettes) and yet the sky looks so completely different. I could stare at the photos of the sunset all day and never stop being amazed. 

Meanwhile, I need to stop procrastinating on outfit posts, but it's difficult to do that when all I want to do is watch old Disney movies and put all thoughts of university out of my mind. It's pretty difficult though when all everyone is talking about is university, university, and yet more university. 

Outfit posts up soon, I promise! Fingers crossed.

xx

Off Duty

(top: Dressabelle | necklace: Lovisa | armcandy: white cuff Chinatown // beaded wristband Hollyhoque // studded wristband BKK | ring: Scape | bag: Kanken | shoes: Doctor Martens)

I have recently discovered a new-found love for pants, despite their tendency to emphasize the roundness of hips. I think it probably has something to do with the fact that part of my job scope involves me crouching in uncomfortable positions to search for documents on a shelf that is calve-height and crammed to the brim with paper-- doing this in a skirt is no mean feat. And so I begin my weekly routine of wearing pants on Friday, which is essentially the only day I get to wear jeans. Black has also been creeping its way into my heart, manifesting itself in this monochromatic floral printed top from Dressabelle. There was a period of time when I was younger that everything I wore had to be black, but I grew out of that emo-teen phase, and eventually replaced most of the black items in my wardrobe with blues and greens and the occasional pink. But lately I've been eyeing a lot of black/white items, and my fingers are itching to just make a purchase. Perhaps it is time to play the game of 'how-long-can-hazel-last-before-buying-new-clothes?' (I suspect this feeling arises from the fact that I recently expanded my wardrobe and I now have almost double the space, which essentially translates to 'buy more clothes' in my dictionary.)  This marks the very last post in which the photos are taken by my trusty phone camera, but I'm pretty psyched for future photos taken with my new Sony camera. (I cannot express my gratitude to my parents who probably have no idea what I'm doing with the camera, but still graciously bought it for me anyway despite the hefty price.) I'm looking forward to improving this blog, and this fashion journey of mine.  xx