Butterscotch Sundae

H&M suede dress + JC Zeke wedges

 As much as I am obsessed with this absolutely perfect suede mini dress, it proved way too hot to wear about on Thanksgiving. Needless to say I ended up in leggings & an oversized tee by the end of the night, which was actually the best option for facing insane (pre?)Black Friday crowds.

Despite general overall craziness & losing my wifi for the millionth time this year though, I managed to have a decent holiday. Now onto my most favourite one & not just because it involves getting presents! ♥

see you~

As If

Cheap Monday bustier dress, Galstar chiffon blouse + Tardy boots

Having a total 90's moment again. Shift dresses layered with tops are the obvious choice in transitioning seasons, & the Tardys are a 90's girl dream~ the absolute grunge combat boot updated for the 21st century. Tall socks + Mary Janes would have made this a complete Alicia Silverstone in Clueless outfit, haha.

Like every holiday, I'm going to be busy with family, friends, cooking etc. so it might be a little lonely around here the rest of this week... Hope everyone has a wonderful & happy Thanksgiving ♥

see you~

Miliyah's Special Fashion Show

via Laurita.ch

Lately I've been thinking that most issues of ViVi can be basically be summed up in the Miliyah's Fashion Show section that's been a regular feature for a while now.  The girl always looks fantastic & remains solidly on the cutting edge. The December issue had this great 'extended version' that shows some of her favourite singular pieces instead of just daily snaps. To say I adore her personal style is an understatement. Would die for that KTZ dress, Acne leather jacket & fur-trimmed pumps.  

see you~

Down & Out

EXPRESS suede jacket, vintage 90's Gap t-shirt dress, Jeffrey Campbell Lita boots

This has been my go-to outfit lately. I bought the jacket last fall at a clearance sale... Like 40$ or something from an original 130$? The dress is another thrift shop find that is just all kinds of amazing... Super-comfy jersey that's perfectly shapeless without looking like a sack. Like your favourite sleep shirt made appropriate for day wear.

Second photo is just for proof that I live with chronic bitchface  ༼இɷஇ༽ Points if you've reblogged on tumblr.

see you~

Good Face

Forever 21 coat, Jeffrey Campbell Litas

Anyone who says putting on makeup doesn't change their entire outlook on life is either a) a liar or b) a much better person than me ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽ After weeks of basically schlepping around & somehow not managing to scare the people around me, I decided to renew my love for beauty & get out the makeup bag. Found this amazing red lipgloss I forgot I bought too. I'm also getting a lot better with my Herstyler iron & have remained burn-free so far.

Oh, & I promise I am wearing actual clothes under this coat... Invisible Mercury Duo dress, for the record. 

see you~

Back in the Day Pt 2

One of the biggest shifts I've noticed in gal fashion from this time (scans from the November 20005 issue of ViVi) to now is the rise in popularity of Western brands like ZARA, H&M, TOPSHOP, & Forever 21 over the 'core' Japanese brands like SLY, moussy, LIP SERVICE, etc. Not that these brands don't still have their own followings, but since 2009 & what I like to call the 'Forever 21 boom,' there is definitely less of a focus on Japanese brands, especially in ViVi. With the exception of the mode brands (especially MURUA) & EGOIST.

This spread featuring Mayumi Sada (a former ViVi model) for the mega-brand SLY perfectly captures everything that was going on in gal for a/w 2005. Main colours were black, white, brown & khaki. The awful cropped camo print pants were definitely a 'key item' along with short puffy jackets. Boots were high & pointy-toed. Fur was a major trend as well & one that obviously never really goes out of style in gal, since I could easily see that black fur coat in the fourth photo down & the cropped khaki fur jacket in the last photo working with today's styles. Also the hint of metallic is a trend that's coming back. 

I absolutely love the cyclical nature of fashion. Though I doubt I will get to wear my pointy-toed ribbon boots like the ones in the last photo any time soon, haha ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽

see you~

Tardy to the Party

severe lack of makeup, UNIF Forget It dress, Galstar knit + spare collar, Jeffrey Campbell Tardy boots

 I guess I kind of lied when I said I was going to finish up the week with retro J-mag scans, but these babies just could not be ignored. Thanks to the amazingly gorgeous Hachi for giving me the final sell on them ♥ Snagged them for just 47$ too combined with a birthday gift card. All in all best birthday present to myself since last year's JC's.

Oh, & I am now the very proud owner of the perfectly pink cat box ༼இɷஇ༽

see you~

Back in the Day Pt 1

via THE FUTURE OF JAPAN MAKES THE WORLD JEALOUS

My super-sweet boss let me go home from work early today probably because she didn't want me sneezing & hacking all over the office, hahaha & I decided to use my time wisely by searching for retro J-magazine scans. You would not believe how incredibly stoked I was to find this livejournal that has all kinds of scans dating back to 2005 from practically all the major magazines. Especially since I've been wanting to talk about my absolute favourite old ViVi model, Jhelly ♥ ViVi was the first gal magazine I ever picked up & Jhelly was the first model I gravitated towards. She left the magazine back in 2006 I think, & I have searched the entire internet to try to find any updated information on her with no luck. She just resonated 'gal' so much to me with her sexy, somewhat tomboyish style & perfectly curled dyed hair. I still think she is one of the most gorgeous creatures to ever walk this earth.

 

These scans are from the October 2005 issue. It's so funny to look back on some of these items (like those ruched capri camo pants, no thank you ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽), but the maxi knit, fur & bits of tribal accessories are actually very current. I also suspect we'll be seeing a return to the pointy-toed pumps/boots soon.

I'll probably finish up the week with some more classic ViVi though because it's just too much fun seeing an extra-young Jun, Lena & Chikako & remembering how amazing (& sometimes amazingly awful) early 2000's fashion was ༼ƪɷ∫༽

 

see you~

#winning

lovely prizes from the Little Gem Jackpot giveaway ♥

I've been fighting the nastiest cold I've gotten in a while, so please excuse the lack of... whatever on here. I didn't want to forget about posting my giveaway winnings from the fabulous Eden of Fangs to Kill though! yea I won another giveaway, haha (΄◞ิ۝◟ิ‵) I entered her Little Gem Jackpot back in September & ended up being the winner of a pair of Diamond Lash lashes (as worn in my twin code with Caroline), nail art gemstones, circle lenses & a makeup brush that I have yet to use because it's so fluffy & wonderful. Pretty awesome prizes, y/y? Thank you so much for the super-sweet note too, Eden bb! ♥

Back to bed now...

see you~

Read Between the Lines

The gorgeous Emy of Hello, Emy posted about the Herstyler iron not too long ago & since I have been trying to perfect beachy waves since forever, I thought I would use my Amazon birthday gift card to buy one myself. They didn't have the pretty pink 'tattoo' version she uses in stock, so I grabbed the plano black one. 

It comes with that super-sexy glove, which I thought was funny at first... until I ended up burning my wrist ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽ Seriously. This iron is NO JOKE. Not only does it heat up literally in seconds, but it gets HOT. What it doesn't come with are instructions so I looked up a couple of Youtube tutorials for basics, but it's actually pretty self-explanatory~ just wrap your hair around the wand, wait about 5 seconds & let go. Oh, & try not burn yourself by wearing that awesome glove (΄◞ิ۝◟ิ‵)

see you~

S&M

Jeffrey Campbell Zeke platform wedge, One Teaspoon dress + Young, Inspired & Proper woven rosary

I'm totally ok with admitting that I have a thing for fetishistic details, especially when there's inspiration from Isabel Marant (the Gava pumps) & Theyskens' Theory (the wedges). 

I'm also ok with admitting I am wearing zero makeup here & obviously need more practise with my new curling/waving iron ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽

see you~

Mail Me

alternating: me, lovely Caroline ♥
PG Beauty satchel, Hong Kong MURUA lookalike capelet, Forever 21 shorts, Nine West boots + Galstar earrings

Ever since we ended up getting matching messenger bags earlier this fall, the gorgeous & beyond sweet Caroline of C. Life in Japan & I have been meaning to do a twin code with them. & since we also happened to have similar short/skirt bottoms too, we added that to the mix!

Caroline looks so cute & appropriate for the chilly weather with her patterned tights & sweater. I actually ended up putting on some sheer tights with my outfit too but since it was nice & warm in the house I went sans ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽ This code actually came out surprisingly similar like the one I did with bloomzy last month, but I like how we managed to utilise different textures & accessories so the looks still stand out on their own. I could totally imagine us strolling down the street together in these, though honestly I would be a bit intimidated to walk beside Caroline because she has such a perfect figure & is actually a model, haha! I'm so honoured I could do this with her & hopefully we can find something else to twin in the future ♥

see you~