Happy Mother's Day!

Its Mother's Day again! Each year I both love and dread buying the gift, because I know its my time to show her I love her and yet nothing is ever good enough (nothing that I can afford anyway). So here is my brainstorm of ideas this year for a gift:

Flowers. I know. How generic. But honestly I've never done this before and really, what females don't like recieving flowers? This is a especially nice gesture if you are living abroad from home, as it makes recieving flowers from you even more special since its THERE. My friend does this every year and her mom still loves it. I am especially loving tulips as its colorful, pretty and refreshing.
Something a bit more personal and sentimental, I love the idea of an album especially made for your mom, its so meaningful! Even a small keychain with a picture of you and your mom would be cute. I can totally imagine my mom using a keychain like this- kind of like when parents keep pictures of their kids in their wallets- now they can have it on their keychain. Shutterfly is just awesome.

A little more practical, I thought of getting beauty stuff. Since I'll never know what the right eye shadow color (I'm not sure my mom uses eye shadows...) or lipstick is, body lotion and sunscreen is a safe bet that is also very useful. Everyone needs to keep their skin moisturized and protected. My mom is partial to the Lancome Treson collection. And this new Lancome facial sunscreen looks like a good one, I tried the older versions and thought they were quite ok.

And onto the subject of beauty, nail varnishes isn't a bad idea either. You can't go THAT wrong, especially if you go with fairly nuetral pinkish colors that are both subtle and very this spring/summery, like this pink one from OPI called Malaysian Mist. Oh and don't forget to get the base/top coat for a complete set. OPI has this great Start to Finish bottle (left) that is both a base AND a top coat! Even better, get you and your mom a manicure(and/or pedicure) treatment at a salon for a mother and daughter bonding session!
Speaking of bonding, what better way to spend more time together than to watch movies with comedy, romance and a focus on mother-daughter relationships? I especially loved Because I Said So, Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore were sooo great. And if you have more time, then you must go for a marathon with our favourite tv mother and daughter- the Gilmore Girls! There'd be SO much to discuss afterwards too!

But that is not quite my mom, because she doesn't watch these kind of shows. So in the end, I got her earrings. One looking similar to the drop ones above from Sheila Fajl (left), except mine were pearl drops. And another pair of hoops from Ralph by Ralph Lauren similar to the one above (right) also by Ralph by RL. I actually have the exact same pair, and since she's always been saying how it suits her face more, I decided to get her one too!

So that sit for my ideas this year. But really, gift ideas for Mother's day never goes old. So if this is still not quite what you're looking for, check out our last two Mother's Day posts for more inspiration, here and here!

Photo Credits: Amazon.com, Nordstrom, OPI and Shutterfly.

MET Fashion I- Poiret: King of Fashion

It was the annual Costume Institute Benefit gala at the Met again this monday. This year, the theme is in honor of Paul Poiret and his designs as the "King of Fashion," which focused on draping rather than tailoring a dress. As usual, everyone dressed to impress and indeed, in most cases, we were impressed.

I'm usually all for classic elegance, but surprisingly in this event, it was the vibrant, adventurous and unique looks that caught my attention. My three favourites, were Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst and Lucy Liu. This fuschia Dior by John Galliano dress Cameron Diaz is wearing is just so vibrant, young and striking. The simple top strikes the perfect balance with her flowing tiered skirts. And the blue contrasting necklace with the simple strapless neckline showed off by her simple upswept hair is just genius!

Slightly more sophisticated in a dark purple dress by Zac Posen, Lucy Liu looks equally as gorgeous. I love how the deep color compliments her complexion and how the dress is simple yet complex at the same time, with its simple cutting and exquisite details on the neckline, waist and of course, the flowing train like purple waves flowing around her. And as usual, Zac looks fab too.

This dress on Kirsten Dunst was quite adventurous for the red carpet and in my opinion, definitely paid off. She looks refreshing and cute in this gracefully flowing deep blue YSL dress. Finally, something besides the usual form fitted red carpet dresses on everyone else. And the black rosette on her head that matches the rosette on her shoe is just sooo adorable!

Another cute and unique dress is this gold number on Kate Bosworth by Prada. The loose cutting, the incredible folding of the skirt and the shiny material makes it both fun yet formal.

Another cute short dress, this one on Eva Mendes is by Michael Kors. In a more classic cut and style, this dress is fun yet ladylike with its fitted cutting, belt and brocade like material.

This dress on Winona Ryder by Marc Jacobs is not exactly one of my favourite dresses, as it doesn't look very flattering and in fact looks kind of heavy. But I thought the contrasting velvet and silk material and the silk neckline draping puts a very interesting twist to the usual black dress.

Feather seems to be everywhere these days- and I'm not very fond of that fact. But I thought Peter Som did the feather thing rather well here with this dress on Joely Richardson. The feathers are subtle and anchored with a strong black bow, so it doesn't look like its spurting out of nowhere.

Can Mischa do no wrong when it comes to fashion? As usual, she looks elegant and pretty in this by Giambattista Valli. The pattern on the bodice and the subtly unique draping of the skirts is beautiful. Although is less more or would she benefit more with a pair of simple diamond earrings with this dress?

This flowing dress on model, Molly Sims, is another one of my favourites. The flowing drapes and details is just soo feminine and pretty and yet the cutting and style of the dress still shines through.

Zhang Ziyi looks striking and cute in this black and white poofy dress. I don't know who its by, but I'll venture to guess that its by Armani. I think the fitted bodice and the strongly contrasting colors balances and gives sophistication to this dress and prevents it from looking completely like a cute candy wrap.

And speaking of striking, Jennifer Garner's red hot Valentino dress is definitely that. The simple but intriguing cut of the bodice and the expert draping of the skirts makes it especially so.

Claudia Schiffer's shiny silver dress also caught my eye with its reflecting material and the intriguing texture of teh skirts.

Moving onto the more classic and elegant dresses of the evening, we have this sequins dress on Alicia Keyes. I'm not sure, but I am guessing that this is from the Armani Prive collection. It looks gorgeous and typically red carpet. Although the loose curly hair here is definitely a not a good match. Upswept hair and drop earrings seems more appropriate.
Ellen Pompei in a simple elegant sparkly dress. Although is she too skinny or something? The proportions seems a bit off in this picture.

And really, one can't go wrong with a pretty black dress. Especially when they're from Ralph Lauren (as I'm assuming that is indeed what Lauren Bush is wearing here....especially since she's here with David Lauren).

Another one of my favourite dresses is this black dress on Kate Moss, especially since I know I actually have a chance of being able to afford it since its from the Top Shop Kate Moss collection. Brilliant marketing skills here Kate! And as usual she looks gorgeous, matching the dress perfectly with upswept hair and dangly earrings.

there's a hole in the bucket dear liza dear liza

phew...for a minute there i was kinda feeling like being 30 might really suck a little!
but i think i am back on track after a good hard exorcism of the social conditioning demons!
inspirational

And now for something a little different than the norm...naked ladies. Enjoy.
























These were from the May 'Drawing Jam' over at http://www.drawingboard.org/viewtopic.php?t=55266 (Warning: [tasteful] nudity)

Another round of vintage Hollywood faces from today...I'm quite pleased with how she turned, I just wish he came out better. Oh well.


Below are some warm-up sketches I did from photo reference. I tried to keep them quick n' loose.

Goddess of Beauty and Love

I can smell the distinct wiff of neo-burlesque in the air. Maybe it is this Tokyo heat? Perhaps it is the very luscious Dita Von Teese on the cover of the latest Peach John catalogue? Or maybe it is all the recent talk of a Tokyo Dr. Sketchy's that is getting things cooking?? Whatever it is; things are definitely shaping up for a great deal of lampoonery in the not too distant future...I can feel it brewing - stay tuned!

I know! I know! Venus De Milo was probably not a part of the burlesque scene back in ancient Greece but she is/was the goddess of beaty and love!

Trouser Jeans

Now that the private sale season is approaching, I'm thinking about jeans again. Since I've already got a million pairs of boot cut jeans, a pair of skinnys and a pair of straight legs, I thought maybe its time I got some of those wide legged jeans.
Turns out I'm not the only one thinking about them. In fact, My friend beat me to it and came home the other day with a really cute pair of Sevens trouser jeans (similar to these two Sevens shown above).

She had the same concern as me though, that they would look really silly and high school-ish. In fact, wide-legged denims brings to mind high school when everyone had wide-legged jeans/pants, trying to look cool. This image is especially fresh in my head, because thats what the teenage girl in The Land of Women (which I watched recently) wore all the time.

So we got to thinking how we would go about making it more sophisticated- and concluded that it was all about the footwear (and to a some extent, the color). Typically high school trouser denims are light colored and are worn with sneakers (as shown in the movie). So to upgrade the trouser denims a bit, might I suggest choosing a relatively dark pair and wearing them with a cute pair of pointy pumps/flats (left: Citizens, right: Paige).

Or a pair of platform sandals! Personally I think I prefer matching them with flats because I think it looks more casual (also it is essentially covered by the wide leg most of the time anyway like here left: See by Chloe) than pointy high heels, which somehow to me makes the whole look suddenly more formal (and I mostly relate this style to the more casual look). I also like these strappy round toed platforms (left: Diane von Furstenburg) cause they also give off that casual daytime look. And top wise, I think the rules for high-waisted wide leg trousers still applies here with denims, although the ones shown here are not quite as extreme as in the other post.

And do be careful when cropping these denims (if needed) and think about what shoes you'll wear them most often with. If they're too long, they'll drag and you'll trip every few steps. But if they're too short, than you run the risk of looking really dorky with the hem hanging in mid air and you won't even be able to past them off as gauchos!

photo credits: www.shopbop.com, www.net-a-porter.com