coming up

Whoops, 

It has been months since the last post! I've been pretty occupied till lately, so.

But from now on, (hopefully many) more posts to come. 

Here's a sneak peek of what's coming up next:

Fashion is Art

"I think I finally get it. Fashion is art. It's just another way of taking what's on the inside and putting it out there for everyone else to experience it. It's not shallow, it's courageous. It's beautiful."

- Ugly Betty after putting on Heinrich's show

Kekkon Shinai [Jdrama]

When I first decided to finally create a separate blog on style after much thought, I had every intention to refer style inspirations to everything I see, including entertainment. And since I love watching dramas especially Japanese dramas, I will feature some shows to showcase styles that pique my interest.

Kekkon Shinai's wardrobe is nothing much compared to shows like Gossip Girl or Ugly Betty but it shows the style that most can pull of in their everyday lives. So I took the initiative to go through each episode to highlight some styles.

Episode 1

Sakura Mai
Simple and practical with the sweet look appropriately toned down with denim top

Episode 2

Tanaka Chiharu
Peplum top with skirt in pastels for a date

Episode 4

Tanaka Chiharu
Again in pastels, but in sweater and paperbag-like skirt

Episode 5

Tanaka Chiharu
Pearl sweater and chiffon peterpan collared top with hot pink skirt
My most favourite style on the show and it saddened me that it had only a very short screen time! >.<

Tanaka Chiharu
A floral peplum full pajama?! Now ain't I jealous! 

Episode 7

Tanaka Chiharu
Cute look; a play of colors
I now have another idea as to how to wear the similar pants I have ;)

Episode 8

Tanaka Chiharu
This coat baffled me at first but since she was seen donning it for a number of times, it came to be quite an interesting find.

Kirishima Haruko

A maroon coat on V-necked grey sweater and light blue shirt with a pair of boots and tight pants gives a professional look without being dull.

Tanaka Chiharu

As is her style, a white sweater on pink shirt with sea green skirt and dark red tights. 

But the best of the look comes in the little details on her tops: the embroidery on the sweater and the beads on the collar of the shirt. 

Tanaka Chiharu
Effortless color-blocking with hot hues with the help of hot pink collar and cuffs.

Tanaka Chiharu
The same hot pink skirt as in episode 5 but matched with beaded cream sweater for a new ensemble.

Episode 9

Kouno Mizuki
A somewhat boyish sophisticated look with tweed coat on chiffon shirt. 

Sakura Mai and friend
Mai wins for me here although her friend is looking almost as good.
Brilliant look for Mai with two-colored checks beneath smooth brown coat to give a little something to the look.

Episode 10

Kouno Mizuki
Seen here in a very simple ensemble, suitable as working gear as well as casual outing.

Kirishima Haruko
The contrast of the purple to the dark grey coat gives the look a little pop.

Kirishima Haruko
When I first saw this, I got totally distracted by the scarf! It would fit perfectly in my wardrobe!

Episode 11

Tanaka Chiharu
Her usual, but a little mysterious, in purple and black.

Tanaka Chiharu
I don't usually like shorts but this is an exception, especially since it is in cream lace which brings out the soft green of the sweater, the grey of the top and the dark green of the tights.
This look comes second only to the look in episode 5.

Kirishima Haruko
My, my, look at that. The sick Haruko looking fashionably healthy in warm-looking printed coat that looks so perfect against the shirt underneath. If I were sick I would love to wear that! And don't you think the coat could come as a collection with the peplum pajama of Chiharu in episode 6? 

Tanaka Chiharu
I hate that this top only appeared for less than 2 minutes on the show and in such small frame that I could not see the whole look. Still I love the floral details of the sweater that I just have to include it here.

That's all from Kekkon Shinai. I hope you enjoyed this post. Look forward to the next tv show/movie I will post in the future! I think I'll make the posts different depending on the ideas I have and my mood~

A Borrowed Nature

Since I am almost always inspired by nature in putting on an ensemble, I decided some time ago to make a theme of looks with influence from the nature. The title of the theme? A Borrowed Nature; for I am borrowing nature as I envelope myself with nature-inspired wearable idiosyncrasies.

So here are the looks I've posted so far on Lookbook.nu, from the first to the latest:

The Golden Earth

Bold Hues of Flowers, Leaves and Branches

Flowers of Holiday

Wood and Leaves

The Bushes

Predators and the Forest

Branches and Flowers

Roses for the Lady

(Blue)ming Flowers

The Beach

Ground; Slithered

Baby Bloom

A Floral Birthday

The Forest and The Sea

RED

One of the reasons for my love for December, aside from my birthday *cough* I'm still welcoming presents with open arms is the fact that it is the beginning of the holiday season, which means I'll be seeing a lot of my favourite colour, RED! All thanks to Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year, it's usually red till around February.

Fall 2012 not that we have the four seasons in Malaysia saw oxblood as the colour of the season. Celebrities were seen wearing the colour, lookbookers updated their latest styles donning oxblood items and the stores (including blog shops) featured such coloured products for sale. I couldn't be happier with the sombre take on red.

Jason Wu
photo off Google

H&M Faux Leather Pants
photo off Google
 related note: I tried on a pair of H&M oxblood pants, and they were great on, except for the length, of course, since I'm a petite. The saddest thing, though, is that they weren't on sale as  the ones on sale had different design and left with bigger sizes T_T 

But on first discovering the trend, I was bemused by the difference with some other hues of red. Like, how would I know oxblood from say, burgundy, wine and maroon? An article I came across claimed that oxblood has more red than maroon. And after asking one of my best friends, Google the others include wikipedia and dictionary and yes, I'm a little bit of a nerd if you're wondering, it appears that burgundy has more purple in it (unless my eyes are playing tricks on me). Some articles, though, stated that oxblood is simply the new name for burgundy.

Maybe fellow lookbooker Daniela Ramirez's looks could help clear away my confusion?

In burgundy skirt:

Fully oxblood-clad:

Hmm, it seems the precise shades of red are still a mystery to me. But here's how I welcome my red December this year, as a (Sombre) Santa Shopper:

In any case, red to me is always one of the colours of December. Whether in the sinister oxblood or the merry classic crimson, let's just paint the town red pun much intended!

The Hime (princess) orders,

"Something new is coming, so watch this space."