SS06 Fashion Trend: Puffy Sleeves on the Runway

You remember how I said in the "Empire Waist Tops" post that normal tops are very important because we really don't have the time nor money to wear all the trends? This is why I care about something that is as small as the sleeves -it's a trend that we can wear everyday, and wear without making a special effort in figuring out how to make it work.

OK, so today I found some of the SSS06 collections that featured puffy sleeve clothes (mostly tops.) There's definately more than I thought, and they all give off different feelings:

Pretty and sophisticated at Burberry Prorsum. (For anyone who's interested, Kate Bosworth just wore the dress to the London premeire of Superman last week.)

The puffy sleeves really helped create the silhouette at Moschino (left) and Givenchy (right.)

Extremely ladylike at Proenza Schouler. Sooo girly and pretty!

Also by Proenza Schouler, but since these puffy sleeve tops are worn with pants, they somehow feel more modern, (but equally sophisticated of course, esp Gemma's outfit.)

Funky and youthful at Marc by Marc Jacobs. I adore the shift dress on the left, but the blue and white striped jacket is a bit err... not my style and very hard to wear.

Sensual 50's style at Gucci. This style looked pretty on the Gucci catwalk, but I reckon it's very hard to wear in real life.

I didn't realise this before, but even Fendi featured puffy sleeve tops. It's so easy to focus on the Fendi belt and ignore the rest of the outfit because the belt is such an important accessory this season!

Puffy sleeves on shift dresses in Miu Miu -quirky but oh-so-loveable and artistic!

Come back tomorrow to see how the 'puffy sleeves' trend translates into real life clothes!

Weekend Plans: Late Night Buffets

One of my favourite things to do with my friends on the weekend, is to go to late night buffets in hotels.
They are simply fabulous. They start at around 8pm and end at midnight. Perfect for catching up with friends after a long week of work. You can sit there and chat for a long time in a nice comfortable atmosphere, with a constant supply of food and drinks.
Mostly light affairs like sushi, pasta, congee, scallops and dim sums.

And of course there is the desserts. Cheesecake, caramel egg white thing, tiramisu, chocolate thing and the chocolate balls (don't remember the name of)-yum!

A great way to kick off the weekend. I haven't been to anything similar in the States besides a late night chocolate buffet at the Peninsula Chicago but one can only have so much chocolate (as hard as that is to believe). They should have more of these things in the US that I'm unaware of- any ideas?

Swimwear Trends 06

As those of you who have read this blog for a while will know, we've never written about swimwear trend. Mostly because we are not that fond of the beach, swimming or tanning. But due to much demand on swimwear 06 trends, I did a little digging, and here is what I've come up with:

Rings. They are hot on swimsuits everywhere. They are simple and they give swimsuits just the right twist to make it interesting. I adore these ones from BCBG, especially the bronze one. My friend got one and it looks awesome. The metallic shiny material is so unique (note: metallic shiny materials are hot on swimwear this season too)! The last time I checked they were about half off, so go check it out!

Another play on the ring are these by Lisa Curran. It is genius how she manages to make both look sophisticated and sexy. Loves it! As you can see here (and in the next few pics), this kind of halter string bandeau style is also very trendy.

Since we're talking about trends, one must not forget the nautical look that is so very hot this season. And where better to go for the nautical look than Ralph Lauren (right)? It is even in the bandeau halter style. Match it up with red bottoms (as in the Free People set on the left) for the complete nautical look!

For the bandeau halter thing, a great buy would be this purple dotti patterned one from Urban Outfitters, because of its versatility. It can be both a stylish halter and a tube top with a pretty bow!

For something more sophisticated and elegant, I love Michael Kor's selection. The black bandeau halter a la Chanel is tres chic and the white printed one piece suit is elegant yet sexy.
Lastly, there are these very unique swimwear recommended by reader, Hayden, from Stephanie Hoos. I like this collection because I like the pastel colors and the unique designs. But frankly, some of the designs are so unique that it is not quite flattering. For example, the purple suit on the right makes the model's body look shapeless.

At the end of the day, I think that the most important thing about swimsuits is that it fits and flatters your body. Have fun with these and don't forget to apply sunscreen!

SS06 Shoe Trend: Wedges Updated

Wedges: Some people love them and some people hate them. Well, at least that's how I feel -love them because no matter how high they are, they are still comfortable. But no matter what outfit you match them with, they just don't look as fabulous as heels. Anyways, wedges are really just a leftover trend brought over from last summer. This season's wedges are more modern and compliment better with this season's plain clothes.

Only Prada can make this kind of wicker basket material look classy!

Canvas Rope Sandals by Miu Miu. So cute and pretty! These will match perfectly with a plain white or white & red dress.

Another pair of super pretty wedges. This one is by this season's IT shoe brand, Christian Louboutin.

For something just as casual but less credit-damaging, this pair of Eyelet Ankle Wrap Wedges from Urban Outfitters is definately worth buying.

OK, so those were the very summer-y wedges. This pair of Embroidered Wedge by Miu Miu is very sophisticated, which is a quality not often seen in wedges. (Wedges usually give off a chunky and funky vibe.)

Another pair from Miu Miu (yes, I do love Miu Miu shoes,) but this pair is more funky and artistic.

By Charlotte Ronson. I like the small buckles at the front and back -they make the shoes more fitting and add style to the shoes! The baby blue colour also makes the shoes cute instead of serious.

And of course, how can we forget patent leather this season? I'm getting a 'royal court' vibe from the Ria sandals by Bebe.

Surprise! This tres chic wedge pump is not by Chloe! This one is actually from Aldo, and most importantly actually affordable. Love this one. Just FYI, the one by Chloe has a leather bow at the ankle instead of a buckle.

Lastly, I just want to remind everyone what NOT to buy when selecting wedges:
(Left) The shoes should not have the same patent leather material at the upper 'shoe' bit and the lower wedge bit, especially if the shoes are of such a shocking colour. It just looks tacky. (Right) Another thing to avoid is cork material wedge -it just look cheap!

Swimwear Brand: JETS Australia

Summer is upon is and I would like to introduce you all to my favourite swimwear brand: Jets from Australia. I rarely take notice of swimwear, but Jets designs are simply so feminine, fitted, fun and fabulous that I couldn't help but fall in love with them. There are three collections under this brand: the white label, the black label and the blue label.

The White Label is sophisticated and chic, like this gorgeous black and white one piece suit. The cutting is SO very flattering and slimming too.

The pieces are also very unique. This very sexy one piece suit also from the White Label collection.
The Black Label designs are sophisticated and timeless. This elegant white strapless one piece suit with green leaves is the perfect example of this. I also LOVE this pictures. The position of the sun, the green leaf, the waves and her position- its beautiful!

Then there is the more youthful, colorful and fun Blue Label. In fact, it is the white floral tankini on the right which I bought that first got me started looking into this brand! I also like the look of the white and lime strapless bikini, its like a more youthful version of the one shown above from the Black Label.

These two from the Blue label collection are just so cheery, happy and young- very summery. I esp love the white floral bikini on the left.

For more unique-ness, there are these two designs. I find the black bikini with geometric prints on it pretty interesting.
For more youthful sophistication, these dark bikinis with rings are just the thing. But remember, these dark colored swimsuits look best with a tan-so get a self tanner!

Enjoy!

The Devil Wears Prada

The Devil Wears Prada is THE movie I most look foward to this summer. Actually, it's the only movie I have looked foward to in a looong time. I still remember how excited I was when I started to read the book. It was supposed to be funny and allowed readers to get an insight to how the fashion magazine world was like. At the beginning, the book really was quite cute. But as I read on, all I could think of was: oh please, it's not like anyone forced the job on you. Please stop whining! So by the end of the book, it was safe to say I found the book annoying.

But nevertheless, a funny movie that is about the fabulous fashion magazine world and pretty clothes got me excited. Afterall, the only other magazine-related movie I could think of is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, (which is one of my favourite movies of all time.) Also there was so much hype around this movie. Usually, movies with this much hype turn out with poor reviews. But so far, all the reviews I have heard were positive.

I've been so excited about this movie that I have already read a LOT of articles about it already. The article I liked the most is not particularly about the movie itself, but about Anna Wintour, (who is the infamous editor of Vogue, for those of you living in a hole). I was going to write a post about what I think about Wintour, but this article sums up my feelings better than what I would have written myself so I go read it at NYT.com: The Devil Wears Teflon.

Basically, it's saying that yes, Wintour is tough and not the easiest boss to work for, but she is amazingly successful and does her part to support and further the fashion industry. She's definately one of those successful female figures I look up to.

So what do you think of Wintour? Oh, and if you've seen the movie, what did you think of it? Let me know -I can't wait to see it!

Haute Couture FW06 III

Today's the last post for the FW06 Haute Couture shows. To be honest, I don't love haute couture collections as much as RTW collections because afterall, I actually get to wear RTW collections, (or at least their high street versions.) But as I looked at the photos one by one from the Lacroix and Gaultier shows, I can't help but sigh... sooo pretty.

Christian Lacroix
Whenever I window shop in high-end department stores and stumble across the Lacroix section, I always end up disappointed because the clothes sold are just so... messy (the design) and untrendy. But it's the couture shows that remind me every half a year why I admire this brand.

For some odd reasons, I keep seeing bits and pieces of other RTW designers' designs at the beginning of this collection. Like the coat on the left reminds me a bit of Marc by Marc Jacobs girly cutting.

(And these sort of remind me of Anna Sui.) Nevertheless, I love all the cream and gold colours used. So lovely.

These dresses are not what I would describe as 'pretty', (maybe except for the middle one,) but I really like them. The black dresses remind me of dresses of gothic dolls -sophisticated dolls of course.

Love both of these dresses. The brown bubble dress is adorable in a slightly edgy way, and the dress on the right is royal without being princess-y sweet.

Jean Paul Gaultier
While Gaultier is not the fanciest nor grandest haute collection, it's definately the darkest and most edgy haute collection.

I can totally picture a rich Parisian lady walking down the street in this fur-trimmed, crocodile-skin coat. (I'm not 100% sure it's crocodile skin.) And on the right is a perfect LBD for the not-so-boring people.

Now this is a scary amount of fur, layers and layers of it! On the right is another seemingly simple, but actually not so simple dress. I love the gold silk layer under the maroon chiffon. It adds a lot of dimension to the dress.

The model is literally 'foxy'. Not only is there a fox 'necklace', the dress has a fur tail trailing behind. On the right is a old-French-style dress.

Most people are more amazed by the purple web dress on the right, but personally I found the dress on the left more eye-catching. Look at the details: I'm not talking about the painting-like pattern on the dress, but the web or wire-looking material that is moving on the left side. That flap really adds definition to an otherwise unexciting dress.

Hmm... I think the Christian Lacroix collection was my favourite out of all the FW06 haute couture collections. It's not the most innovative collection, but I love the combination of the prettiness, flattering cuts and slight edginess.