FW06 Fashion Trend: Grey Cardigans

We all know grey is THE colour of the season, and grey cardigans of all styles are simply everywhere in department stores. There are so many cuts to choose from that I want more than one! And like many other trends this season, the kind-of-long cardigans look best with skinny jeans. Personally, I think one should not wear these grey cardigans with other types of pants because you will end up looking very formal and old-fashioned, (that is unless you're going to work or a formal event.)

A long-shawl-looking cardigan on the left by DKNY and the cropped cardigan on the right by James Perse.

I LOVE this Rick Owen Angora Blend Wrap Cardigan. It's SO stylish and relaxed-looking. I hope it's still there when it goes on sale because I'm sure I'll still love this one next fall!

The Daryl K (left) is another cardigan that I almost bought. It's so funky and effortless looking, (although I remember the one I tried on looked longer.) The baby-doll style cardigan on the right is by Paul and Joe.

These two Juicy Couture cadigans are the same but in different colours. Like typical juicy outerwear, they look very comforatable and casual.

The original cardigans: sophisticated yet retro-feeling -the left one is by Vince and the right one is by Marc by Marc Jacob. I bought the Marc one in the San Francisco Macy's with the tourists' tax free discount. It's so adroable.

These two (different) cardigans are both by Vince. It's sort of got a boho vibe going on, with the loose belts and the cuttings of the cardigans.

This Alexander McQueen cardigan is so cool -you can fold it up so it's a short cardigan, or let it down and it turns into a long, comfy cardigan!

Kirsten Dunst Hits Every Magazine Cover

This post was supposed to come out on the 19th, the day before the world release of Marie Antoinette, but obviously BG's birthday post comes first. Speaking of Marie Antoinette, I haven't seen the movie yet, but I LOVE the movie poster and the movie promo pictures -so grand and pretty!

So, usually when celebrities suddenly appear on multi-magazine covers to promote their new CDs/movies, I get really bored and temporarily hate that celebrity, but for some odd reason, I haven't gotten sick of Kirsten Dunst's covers. Actually I've gotten addicted to seeing Kirsten editorials. All her editorials are just so well done -some are artistic; some are down-to-earth; some are edgy. Basically, no matter which style, she pulls it off, and none of them are boring.

US Vogue Sept 06 -Titled Teen Queen. As we all know, the Sept issue is THE most important issue each year for Vogue. I like this cover more than Sarah Jessica Parker's cover last year, but nothing beats the 9-model cover from a few years ago. Kirsten mainly wears loads of huge, gorgeous evening gowns in this shoot.

Nylon Oct 06 -Young, stylish, mischief, hip.

Times weekly magazine Oct 06 -A typical movie-promoting feature.

Another Magazine AW06 -V dark and edgy. Great for looking at, but not very style-inspiring.

UK InStyle Nov 06 -Typical InStyle cover and editorial, ie. nothing special.

Tatler Nov 06 -There is only one huge photo from Marie Antoinette and an interview inside the magazine. The cover picture is the only new picture of Kirsten -talk about annoying! I hate when magazines put someone famous on the cover and don't bother doing a proper photo editorial.

Teen Vogue Nov 06 -Typical Teen Vogue style -youthful, happy and very inspiring style-wise. I love Kirsten and the clothes in this shoot. But then again, I like most Teen Vogue editorials because the clothes are so my-age and loveable.

Anyhow, I MUST watch Marie Antoinette soon!

This Week BG is Loving...

The Chanel flap bag my parents got me for my 20th birthday! Isn’t it fabulous?


Although this one shown here is not mine. Mine is made of black calfskin leather and is a smaller size, but you get the picture. It cannot get any more classic than my bag - well, except maybe if it was a bit bigger like the average size, but at this moment, my smaller one is infinitely better as it makes it look more youthful and appropriate for my age. It matches absolutely anything and this will definitely last me for a life time.

Although, I still haven’t used it yet because I am so in love with it that I am actually scared to. I mean, what if I *gasp* scratch it? Soft calfskin leather is oh-so-scratchable! I will definitely have to sleep on it and find an appropriate time for my bag to make its debut.

BG's Paris Diary Week 3

This last week in Paris has been slightly less eventful than the last two as I settle down into Parisian life. I’m getting used to the language barrier now and even started saying “pardon” to people when I was in London. It was just so frustrating at first, because I’ve never lived anywhere where I can’t express myself properly.

Anyway, last weekend I went to both London and Cambridge. Since I’ve already written about London before, let me regal you a bit about Cambridge. The “city” (it is considered a city because they have a cathedral), was bigger than I expected. I was imagining a small town very much like Oxford, but it is really quite big and one can get lost if you don’t know your way around. The architect was beautiful, the churches and bridges were amazing (though not a big fan of their red brick buildings)! They even have this mathematical bridge where no nail was used to build it (although I’m not sure if I’ve actually passed it or not). I attended a formal dinner in one of the colleges, where they all dressed up in their robes (a la Harry Potter style), listened to the scholar say grace in Latin (I love traditions even though I have no idea what she was saying) and ate fabulous 4 course meals at a very affordable price. It was awesome, definitely a great experience.

For my actual birthday, my friend and I celebrated with afternoon tea at the Ritz Paris (my favorite past time). The décor was not exactly the Classical style I was expecting. It really felt more like a lounge/bar (well I guess it IS called the Vendome Bar. . .), but the scones were exquisite- fresh and hot. The overall experience was very “ritzy.”

Oh, and guess who I was in the same building as? Lindsey Lohan! I came out and there was this huge crowd outside the Ritz with their long professional cameras. So I wondered over to find out why. Turns out, Lindsey was staying at the Ritz and they were expecting her to come out anytime within the next 2 hours. So yeah, I thought that was kind of cool even though I didn’t even see her shadow and wasn’t about to wait around for it.

I also made my first visit to THE Chanel store yesterday on Camden Drive. It is a good thing that I’m such a fan that the name Cambon is forever etched into my head, because one can easily miss that tiny little street. The store through wasn’t any different from any other Chanel stores, but have you ever seen a Chanel store with valet out front?

I also sneaked into the top floor of the modern art museum near Hotel de Ville yesterday (the name of it escapes me) to get a good view of Paris. The museum reminded me of the children’s play area in US McDonalds, I definitely need to go back sometime and take a look at the things inside.

That is about all I did this week in Paris. I also went to Lafayette, Printemps and Zara with my friend where I found this perfect round buckle belt that ran out of my size, but that was not very exciting. And now, I am going to mold in my room for the rest of the weekend to hopefully start and finish my 10 page paper and recover asap from my cold and not lose my voice altogether. A bientot!

Happy Birthday Barneys Girl!

Last weekend, Barneys Girl visited London to pre-celebrate her Bday. We went for a big dinner with our friends and went clubbing at Leister Square. As per our usual custom, I'm dedicating a Happy Birthday post for her. Here's a list of lovelies that she wants:

Gorgeous, super versatile Stella McCartney boots.

The tres chic pair of Miu Miu boots that she blogged about two weeks ago. BG already has a matching Miu Miu bag to go with these boots -maybe she'll get these someday?

BriteSmile whitening treatment -I never knew she wanted it, but apparently she does! Do whitening treatments actually work well, and how long do they last?

Hoop earrings (her fav kind) by a brand I just discovered called Shaun Leane. BG usually sticks to the very basic hoops, but some variation is always fun.

A dinner at Ruth Chris. BG's been away from Ruth Chris for too long -she wants American steak now!

A mega gorgeous, adorable coat from Zara. This season, both of us are loving the coats from Zara. Seriously, they're so pretty and affordable. We each bought a coat from there this season already!

And finally, the Chanel 4-colour eye shadow palette that we've been drooling for since we learnt makeup. Chanel eyeshadow's quality and shimmer is absolutely unmatched. BG wishes for the purple palette *hint hint people*.

Have fun celebrating in Paris BG!

Do You Shop on EBay?

Recently -ok, not so recently, -last month, I read in this article by FT titled 'Fashion labels sue Ebay over sales of fakes'. If you're not bothered to read it, basically the article says that Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior (both part of LVMH) are sueing Ebay as they believe that most of the products sold on Ebay bearing their names were fakes. The article mentions that Ebay is currently also being sued by Tiffany. And, in the past, Louis Vuitton had successfully sued Google for linking to sites that sold counterfeit versions of LV products.

Now obviously, I'm no lawyer or expert, so I'm not going to talk about the legal issues involved here. (If any of you know anything, feel free to comment.) This article just got me wondering, do any of YOU currently shop, or have shopped on Ebay? What did you buy and how much did you pay? Did the product turn out to be the same as shown in the sellers' photos? Basically, what was your experience like?

Personally, I've browsed Ebay before, hoping to understand why some people actually get addicted to Ebay, but I really don't get how anyone could ever tell if a product is real or fake, esp by only looking at the sellers' photos. And to be honest, why would anyone why to buy shoes that have been worn by someone else (?) -talk about unhygienic!

I realise that some people like shopping on Ebay for second-hand stuff so the product will be cheaper than buying first-hand, and that some people find products that aren't in stores anymore and want to get them. Also, I've heard many personal and magazine stories where shoppers are happy with EBay. But at the end of the day, I'm just too 'playing it safe' to shop on Ebay. Oh well.

FW06: Bags to Watch out for!

Recently, I've been on the look out for the latest bags and checking out their potentials. Here's what I think.

I absolutely LOVED the Chloe Betty bag in the medium size. Unfortunately, that size was last season and now they only have it with this really heavy chain, which does not look as nice. Not to mention they are extremely painful for the shoulders! For the normals ones (shown left in this lovely soft grey shade) they only have it in extremely large or small ones- at least thats what I've seen so far in the stores. But moving on to this season, they are promoting the Tracy bag (the one in all the ads- right). Although personally its a little too sharp around the edges for my aesthetics.
The next bag that caught my attention was this leather Prada bag (left). The look is so old school, cool and sophisticated. Plus, its just the right size to hold everything in without being bulky. For something a little different, there is also this suede Prada tote that can also be worn on the shoulder.

Then of course, there are the Miu Miu napa coffer bags in that really pretty ad this season. I've seen people use it a few times and it looked very nice. Although I like the scamosciato old satchel bag better. In real life, it is much softer than it is portrayed here, with bows on the side and a strap so then it can be worn as a shoulder bag as well. LOVE this bag.

And of course one must not forget the Dior gaucho saddle bag. I quite like this combination of their two bags, but alas, unlike the above designs which are more or less classics, this one is so distinctively this season that I'm afraid it will not make a very good investment.

Also worth taking a note of are these bags from the Burberry icon collection. Different from their usual bags, they are more subtly Burberry and oh-so-cute!