Birthday Suit

Here I am in Manila during my birthday month in an outfit made of birthday presents. The bag was a gift from my boyfriend, Wayne. The top was a gift from my mom. And that hat, a gift from myself, is 90% paper (the remaining 10% is less-noteworthy polyester).

Nylon tote: Burberry, Top: Zara,Hat: Muji.

Balancing Act

When it comes to accessorizing, I tend to be too-bare or too-decorated. I've looked into a washroom mirror at midday and realized I should've put on earrings or been in the MRT in the morning and removed a ring and bracelet because I felt I looked too "busy". This one above, with a chunky agate necklace and a ruffled leather bag, I think I got right. I think. I think. 

Agate necklace: Aldo Accessories, Black ruffled leather bag: Steve Madden, LBD: Cotton On, Cardigan: Zara.

Imagine a Ruffled Dress...

If you try to imagine a dress covered in ruffles, you probably won't imagine this one. This refreshingly non-dainty take on a ruffled dress is by Japanese duo Hokuto Katsui and Nao Yagi for Uniqlo. Then tied at the waist with a neon green belt, I think it leans much more to charmingly quirky than overtly girly.

Dress: Uniqlo, Belt: Mango, Bag: Forever 21, Shoes: Charles & Keith

Summer Dress in the City

My feet never touched sand nor saltwater this summer. Instead, they touched a whole array of strappy flats which I wore with light sundresses. These gold rope sandals and white eyelet dress were my favorites. Maybe one day I can wear these to a seaside brunch or some occasion more appropriate than a suburban grocery run.

White eyelet dress from Topshop, sunglasses (which, by the way, makes my entire field of vision look lit by a warm sunset) also from Topshop, bag from Cotton On, sandals and butterfly necklace from Accessorize.

New City, New Clothes

I've spent the last 2 months moving from Manila and settling into Singapore. It hasn't been too long yet but I feel like this new city is already changing the way I dress. I do more walking here (I used to drive in MLA) so I'm replacing high heels with comfy flats. I also live further away from work (a mere 10 minutes back home). More travel time means less time to put together an outfit. So I end up choosing very basic, non-fussy pieces and the same bag day after day. I even chopped my hair to cut down on morning prep-time.

I'm a bit nervous about letting go of heels, outfit-specific bags, and "fussier", less versatile pieces. Let's see how this all goes...

Dress from Cotton On, zebra print belt from Topshop, cross-body bag from Zara, and purple snakeskin sandals from Classified.

Killer Heels

Those sparkly gold heels were lined with sandpaper and shark's teeth. With some band-aids and pride, I managed to last until 6PM. But one last walk to the Starbucks a few blocks away did me in. I went home in flip flops.

(Tank top from Topshop, skirt from Forever 21, gray belt from Bia as a Christmas gift, and shoes from hell.)