halloween 2010: harajuku twins!

for Aimee’s last halloween in Cebu, we decided to dress up as Harajuku Twins. the zombie school girl is our third Japanese sister who died, thus the gore. nothing much to say as i’m just enjoying my long weekend so here are the photos of the night where i ended up getting too many free vodka from the bartender, i woke up at 3PM the following day.

on both of us:
top with studded pocket – props
ruffled tulle shorts – props
colored tights – metro ayala
blue wigs – manalili finds
dogtag necklaces – custom-made
sneakers – vans and chuck taylors
DIY turban and pink bow
bangles: gun-metal stacks – props & carbon finds | colored bangles – DIY


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a nude kind of high

the truth is, i’ve been more afraid of wedges than of 5″ heels. yes, they both get me to better heights or at least not make me look small beside harry who is 5’11 and the extra height sure make up for our 9″ difference but i was afraid that wedges would make my thighs look bigger than it already is. so i avoided them until jeffrey campbell and those awesome girls who wear them convinced me to give wedges a try. i must say, i’m a convert. oh my heels will still have enough attention from me but my alfreda wedges from gold dot will surely be a wardrobe staple. this is my first online purchase and opening that package was really a treat — it was like christmas. haha!

white striped top – platinum mall, bangkok
mauve blazer – linea italia
skinny jeans – chillypapa
beige suede wedges – gold dot
silver robot necklace – borrowed from aimee
pink sunnies – carbon find
stacks of bangles – carbon find


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maxi + stripes = answered questions

i think i’m getting bad at blogging mainly because i’ve been trying to juggle so many new things in  my life and welp, because when i get home all i want to do is watch TV, ‘imortal’ to be more specific. i just can’t resist john lloyd cruz’s good looks.LOL. to those who are not from the philippines or do not follow teleseryes or local tv series, ‘imortal’ is the pinoy’s take on the vampire-wolf craze. it’s something between twilight / underworld / anne rice plus the pinoy cheesiness. 

just so you guys won’t think that i’ve totally forgotten about the questions you posted on my last giveaway, i’m going to answer a few right now. here goes:
which one would you prefer most — stripes, plaid or polka dots? (27chic and tortured artist)
well, for those who have been following my blog for some time now, you would know that i have such a weakness for polka dots. although it’s weird saying this because the photos above show me wearing stripes..hehe. 

have you tried wearing neon leggings? (27chic)
as much as i’d like to, no i haven’t and i don’t think i ever will. constant running and drills from my old football days have developed my legs to be most unforgiving in bright colored pants, what more leggings. but i will be wearing a pair of metallic purple leggings this halloween.*wink*

who is your fashion icon and why? (eelectroCutee and style-haus)
i normally say mary-kate olsen because i just adore her laid-back, boho-chic style but i just recently discovered carine roitfeld (yes, it took me an issue of preview two months ago to appreciate her style) and i am just blown away by her. her style is just chic, slightly disheveled but very smartly done. she dons  embellishments and layers accessories without going to far. i just love how she layers and pairs her clothes. 



what is the major change you had recently? (sweet)
i think most of you know this but i’m going to say it for those who don’t — 2 months ago, i resigned from a high-paying job which was making me unhappy in exchange for a job which pays only half of my last salary but is very close to my interests — the arts and marketing. 


where do you go thrifting here in Cebu? (alexa luna)
cebu freedom market or carbon is a fail-safe way to thrift although it may be a bit chaotic. you can find vintage dresses, cool shirts, frayed or washed out denim shorts, beautiful scarves from P10 – P70. for a more comfortable environment though, walk around the areas nearing cebu doctor’s hospital. they have several air-conditioned spots that sell ukay-ukay from P50 – P280. and when you do plan to go on an ukay trip, tell me so i can go with you.hehe. 

chic in the tropics is holding a CSN giveaway exclusively for US and Canadian readers. go check it out!

 grey striped top – thrifted
grey maxi skirt – thrifted
grey flats – gifted from charm
red studded belt – pratunam, bangkok
cross necklace – borrowed from aimee
rings: studded owl – carbon find | orange howlite – dane’s giveaway
gun-metal scales bracelet – tseng accessories


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a pet in pink ribbons

after being MIA for a few days, of course you should expect a photo-heavy post. i need to catch up. first up, let me introduce you to my blog pet in pink ribbons. he’s not harmful, just a bit temperamental, especially when it rains or if his feet gets wet after running in the rain and accidentally dipping it in a puddle..haha!

so yeah, this is how i rocked the cropped top. i’m not daring enough to show the tummy though so a black tank top is necessary. i love the day this photo we taken. it was raining really hard but then it stopped and the sun came out around 4PM. armand and i haven’t taken a break since that morning so when the bosses left for personal errands, we scrammed and had fun outside. thus, the pet in pink ribbons. we had this idea of him becoming my pet when i whined about him frequently being in my posts and that he should start his own blog. that’s when he told me, “i can be your blog pet then.” we grabbed some ribbons from leftovers from the last invite we made and voila! instant chic leash.

cropped top with black tank top – props
skinny jeans – chillypapa
grey flats with zebra-print bow – parisian, sm dept store
zebra-print fedora – sm dept store
dog tag necklace – custom-made
gun-metal wire cuffs – props

on another note, although i am super delayed in posting this but 2 weekends ago, philip and i attended the annual fashion show of my old alma mater. it’s a show that fine arts students from my old school put up every year as their project. while i was in school, i’ve followed the shows to make up the art school envy. i should have been part of it. if only i listened to my heart. and yes, had enough wisdom to know that it doesn’t matter if the course i’m taking is highly-employable or not, what matters is that i’m passionate about it. oh well, what happened, happened. everything happens for a reason.

anyway, these are just some of the looks i had the chance to photograph. philip and i mustered the courage to ask these models to pose for us despite not knowing us. haha! the designs are done by 19 year olds, can you believe it?


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special discount: what a girl wants!

what a girl wants is one of my favorite stores in the mall. i really love, not just the clothes they sell, but also their interiors and how they arrange all their items. i love their display window too. really smartly done. 
what a girl wants will be having a big sale this october 15 to 31 and is offering all you lucky readers a special discount. just print the coupon below for a discount of P100 for every P1,000 purchase (and this is on top of the discounts they already have on display!). 
what a girl wants is located in the following branches: 

3rd Floor, the Gallery, Robinsons Galleria

2nd Level, Paseo Cuidad, Ayala Center Cebu 

2nd Floor, Main Wing, SM City Cebu

1st Level, West Promenade, Limketkai Cagayan de Oro City

ps. regular outfit posts will resume once i purchase a new keyboard for our PC that has the adobe photoshop to resize my photos. my mac still doesn’t have photoshop sooo…..watch out for it though because i will be showing you my BLOG PET! 



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headache in style

so yeah, i’m totally copying vanessa east of one frozen margarita. i am just totally jealous of how she rocks turbans and scarves. don’t get me wrong, i am totally a scarves girl and have a dozen at home but they only get worn at home or at the beach. but today, with full conviction, i decided to wear them to work. sure i got a few stares from people coming into the office and at one point, when my sister came in, she joked and asked if i had a headache. well yes, a headache in style. *wink*
pardon me for the photo heavy post. this is what happens when the electricity has gone out twice in a day and all work is paused because everything we do is dependent on it. so we opened up the blinds and took advantage of the warm afternoon light. and yup, that’s armand at my back, totally posing as if he didn’t know i was taking photos of myself. haha!
polka dot scarf used as turban – thrifted
striped tee – thrifted
grey shorts – props
beaded sandals – gifted from harry
necklaces: key and fairy – props
bangles: wound brass wires – carbon find | white wood – chatuchak, bangkok
rings: white stone – props | butterfly – gifted from sweet


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fashionably outdone!

so yeah, if you’ve noticed, this is not a post about my outfit but of my sisters’ and cousins’. i have been fashionably outdone. especially my little sister, aimee (on the 2nd photo) who stole my camera to take photos downstairs at the basement parking lot. this was taken almost a month ago on a random friday night with my sisters and cousins at the penthouse. this was also the night i kept stealing  sips from vodka shots that are supposedly for my cousins, handed by aimee, and ended up so drunk, i fell on my hands while crossing the street at i.t. park. i also had to walk barefoot all the way from pent to a food place a block away because my shoes were killing me. saving enough dignity as i used to work in that building where the food place was located, i managed to put my shoes back on before crossing the street only to fall on my hands, causing my nails to get super dirty with mud.  i haven’t gone drinking since then.  i can still imagine the confused state i was in and the hell of that hangover. i want to go on a hunt for that drink that causes zero to less hangovers but then i would have to go on a lot of trial-and-error. and i’m not sure my being 26 can handle it anymore. oh well. 
on me:
embellished LBD – maldita
black handbag – nine west
faux suede black peep-toe booties – celine (gifted from harry!)
stacks of gun-metal silver bangles – carbon finds

on aimee:
floral dress – thrifted
black wedge pumps – leaveland
black handbag – gifted from her friend
chained necklace – pratunam, bangkok
bangles – chatuchak, bangkok


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style inspiration: longer than the usual

it’s saturday night and i’m supposed to be out but i’m not, thus my bad mood. so instead of the usual outfit post, i leave you with my obsession these days: maxi skirts + booties. i’m on the hunt for them and will be donning a few for the coming days. i recently paid the good old city market (carbon) thrift stands a visit and forgot how amazing stuff there can be.

images courtesy of style.com/trend report


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posing 101 by armand | after hours

i feel like i have wasted the effort in dressing up for the the past few days because i tend to forget to take outfit shots. i love the late afternoon sunlight and its warm glow so i always plan to take photos by that time but due to the rush at work, before we know it, it’s already sun down. and for the past 3 days, sun down has been darker than usual with the consecutive power failures. apparently, our city is running low on electricity supply so they have to do rotational power cut-offs.

this time i made sure that before going home, i do an outfit shot. i simply love this shirt and i got it from the streets of bangkok for only 110 Baht. the doodles are just the perfect creatures and monsters inside my doodle-head. i did pair this shirt with a short floral full skirt but i failed to take a photo of that outfit too. despite not being a fan of my camera’s flash, i had no other choice and had to find an interesting spot — the washroom beside the office’s cluttered bookshelf. i had to ask armand to teach me how to pose so that’s him demonstrating a pose for me. i tried to imitate it but couldn’t resist smiling. do i look like i needed to pee??? haha! my favorite photo is the last one which is directed by my sister charm and mind you, my feet got wet here when i accidentally dipped it in paint wash water…oh the trouble we go through for a good outfit shot!

graphic tee – bangkok night market
denim skirt – thrifted (one of my faves)
grey vest – thrifted
grey flats with zebra-print bow – parisian, sm dept store
stacks of gun-metal bangles – carbon find

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i always go back to you

i always go back to this dress. it’s what i call my fail-safe dress. it has mixed patterns and prints. it’s belted on the waist. it’s very comfortable. it’s breezy. it’s blue. and yes, it’s very forgiving. why? because it’s a tent dress and it can fit me when i’ve gained weight or lost weight. and this time, i’ve gained some and my mixed print dress is always there to catch me when i’m in an outfit dilemma.
i’ve mentioned this on one of my very few posts when i started my new job — a day job. i’ve had this heightened appetite and have been eating non-stop for weeks now. other than a new pair of shoes, food cheers me up. vanilla ice cream cheers me up the most. i would love to have a new pair everytime i get stressed or restless or bored but it’s an expensive habit. whereas, food is there..haha! so yeah, i know i have to control this appetite or else my clothes won’t fit me anymore (which will be such a waste of money) but for now, i’m going to enjoy actual lunch at 12 noon, afternoon snacks of turon (banana and nangka fritter wrapped in chinese wrapper, coated with brown sugar then deep fried to perfection) and ice candy, little munchy breaks of yogurt or crackers, dinner at home at 7PM and dessert with dark chocolate or ice cream. 
mixed print dress – thrifted
blue embellished sandals – khaosan road, bangkok
heart and clock necklaces – carbon finds
brass tangled bangles – carbon finds
work watch – swatch
brown sunnies – carbon find
ps. i should learn how to pose like armand. isn’t he fierce?

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not what i expected part one

turns out, i was super late in posting these as i wasn’t able to get the photos from armand’s camera until the middle of the week. this was during a fashion show / anniversary party we attended for one of our client’s, bong’s wedding essentials and more…lorymer villareal, our good friend and former cebu young designer’s winner and philippines project runway contestant, is currently the in-house designer for the shop. the night was not what i expected not the in the sense that the show didn’t go well or that the designs were unfabulous — because they were and i would love to don the tiered dress for my own wedding (if only i was taller), just that i didn’t expect the night to be an intimate dinner with their clients. it was still fun all the same. 
armand and i also visited oxygen’s model casting call in penthouse just to check the folks there and yes, as you guessed, it was not what we expected too. we expected a fashion show of some sort or an event filled with activities and stuff but when we got there, it was just a party where everyone was awkwardly standing around. we were there for only 5 minutes then we bailed. armand and i ended up having green tea frozen yogurt at coffee cat — a perfect way to end an unexpected night. 

tiered leopard dress – pratunam, bangkok
blue oversized blazer – borrowed from sister
navy blue embellished flats – parisian, sm dept store
grey bag – mongkok, hongkong
bangles – carbon find
rings: fox – platinum mall, bangkok | orange howlite – dane’s giveaway
leaf necklace – carbon find


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