FW07 Trend: Ankle Boots I -the Basic Ones

As you may have noticed Barneys Girl and I haven't blogged a lot about fashion trends recently. Mostly, it's because we haven't been particularly inspired. Doesn't it seem like you can wear last FW's clothes and still seem fashionable this season? There is one trend that we have been loving from last season and it continues this season -the ankle boots.

I'm not a particularly exciting person and I like to know that I can use my expensive shoes (my so-called investment items,) over and over again, so after searching for two seasons, I finally found my perfect pair of boots. I love the shape and the leather is so gorgeous. They're comfortable too (-Prada). Obviously they would be more practical if they weren't so high-heeled, but I guess it's time I learn how to walk in high heels!

The other pair that I am loving this season are these Aldo boots (right). They look suspiciously like the pair of Louboutins (left) I was drooling over last FW. I love the Aldo pair so much that I've tried them on in LA and Chicago, but I didn't get them because I had already bought the first pair by then. They are so easy to put on, plus they cost only 100usd!

While browsing on the Aldo website I noticed this pair of boots. I realise that not everyone has adapted to the recent round-toe shoe trend, so this is for those who still like pointy shoes.

Meet this year's Louboutins, the Metallika. It looks like leather wrapped artistically around feet!

These Gucci boots are such stylish winter boots. (I feel warm and fuzzy and stylish just by looking at them!) I'm not a big fan of suede (esp since it rains so much in London,) but this brown is such a fantastic shade.

Even though I don't like that the zippers are in the front of these KG boots, I like the shape of the toe area. You see the way it hooks up? It reminds me of this season's Stella McCartney pumps that I've been staring at over at Net-a-Porter.

And finally, this season's major trend -patent leather. Shiny, patent leather risks the possiblity of looking tacky, but this pair is just classy. Sigh, isn't this pair of Miu Miu so gorgeous?

These basic boots are perfect for almost all outfits. They can go with jeans, pants and even mini-dresses/ skirts, so they're a must-buy for this season, (that is if you didn't buy a pair last season!)

Image credits: www.net-a-porter.com, www.aldoshoes.com, www.kurtgeiger.com, www.saksfifthavenue.com

Oranges Are Not The Only Hoot

Whoah, Mike De Vries!

Hoot Of The Loom

Chris Gagnon

Guess Hoot?

Claudia @ Frith Street Tattoo

HI_Craft Pincushion Cakes

the beautiful creations so far...

Dress Shirts- The Trap

The wardrobe staple, dress shirts are essential whether you are trying to achieve the preppy look or you need it for work. And they are literally every. There will be at least one dress shirt type thing in any store you walk in. But when it comes to finding the perfect one, that is when it gets tricky.
When I first got into the business of finding a dress shirt, I fell into the trap of buying a pretty and structured one. I mean, the line between dress shirts being manly and feminine is thin, so I thought I'd err on the excessive side and find a highly feminine one. And that is how I now have not one, but TWO, v necked structured dress shirts in my wardrobe from Ted Baker that looks terrible on me- kind of like these two here from Express above (Ted Baker must have seen the error of his ways and stopped producing them, because they were nowhere to be found on his site).

Not that it doesn't look good, but this design is VERY hard to wear- especially when one has a flat chest like me. The fit everywhere else is fine except the chest part, which has an awkward spacious puff because I have nothing to fill that area with. And because of the structured design, there is no way around it, pulling it down does not help and it gets darn uncomfortable in the long run. Therefore if you have a small chest like me- please, DON'T buy v-necked dress shirts no matter how pretty they look. And I heard that the other extreme is not fun either. i.e. if you have a larger chest, you have the problem of having unseemly big gaps in between the buttons. You could wear a tank top underneath I guess, but that gets kind of hot.

So girls, next time you go looking for a dress shirt, beware of these traps and make sure that it FITS you perfectly and comfortably before buying- as hard as finding a perfectly fitted and comfortable dress shirt is. No wonder so many of my working friends get their's made!

Image Source: Express

Das Hoot

Lobo

Hootsie

Myles Karr

Hoot's You, Sir!

Owly by Todd Melson

Hoot Let The Dogs Out, Hoot Hoot Hoot

Unknown. Thank you, Google Image Search!

Horton Hears a Hoot

Sweet Laraine

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

Before, I didn't really see the need for eyeshadow primers. You see, I bought the Smashbox eyeshadow/lip primer before and it did nothing, absolutely nothing, for me- except maybe reduced the redness of my eyes so then the color appears better. But I can achieve that with a little application of my YSL Touche Elcat. Nevertheless, being the beauty addict that I am, the other day I got the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion after hearing so many rave reviews about it- and now I am a convert.
At first I wasn't sure if I was just having a good eyeshadow day or it was the potion, but after having had 3 good eyeshadow days I am pretty confident that it was the potion. And by "good eyeshadow day" I mean going a whole day (morning till night) with no crease, no smudging and sharp color! Its really quite incredible. I didn't think it was possible. Oh and another point is that it literally glides on and really creates a nice smooth surface for eyeshadow application that really sticks. And no, I did not just copied that from the blurb on Sephora. And since I'm about the most oblivious person around when it comes to the whether a beauty product works game, this product really DOES make a difference! So if you haven't already- I highly recommend it!

Ps. Happy Halloween!

Image Source: Sephora

Hoot Of The Gods

Amanda Toy

Zoot Hoot

Joshua Carlton

Putting The Hoot In

Owltacular, Joe Capobianco!

Daisy, the Marc by Marc Jacobs Perfume

I'm not a big perfume lover. I spray perfume maybe 10 times a year, usually for nights out. But like most girls, I can't resist browsing at the ever-interesting perfume bottles and sniff all the new scents. There are so many scents that I like, but because of this, I can't possibly buy all the scents I 'like'. Out of all the scents, there's one scent that has grown on me and I have fond memories of, the Marc Jacobs Eau de Parfum. And I've been meaning to buy a bottle for awhile, but I've been slightly hesistant becaues I wasn't sure if the flowery smell was too strong for me to wear for too long of a time so I never got around to buying it.

I was excited when I saw the new ads of Daisy, the Marc by Marc Jacobs scent, in Teen Vogue. It's got that sweet, non-chalent The first time I smelt it, it smelled like any other perfume out there in the market. But at the encouragement of the Marc salesgirls (who told me not to buy the Marc Jacobs perfume but try Daisy instead,) I sprayed both scents onto perfume paper and brought them home to smell for a day. (The salesgirls also told me that their first shipment at the Hong Kong store soldout in 3 days!)

After smelling both scents at least once an hour, I've decided that on the surface, Daisy smelt only like a light, fruity, flowery scent. But later on, the scent smelt musky and most importantly, of Gardenia, the signature scent of the Marc Jacobs perfume. (Yes, I know I think too much before buying things.) According to the Daisy site, Daisy's notes include strawberry, ruby red grapefruit, violet leaves, gardenia, violet leaves, jasmine petals, musk, vanilla and white woods. Not exactly what I smelt, but close enough. And surprisingly, since I've bought it two weeks ago, I've already used it 4 times. Perhaps the reason I haven't been using much perfume before was that I haven't found my right one yet?

What do you think of Daisy? Isn't the bottle simply adorable? Has anyone smelt it or bought it yet?

Image credit: www.sephora.com

TOKYOMADE @ Design Festa Vol. 26

We can't contain our excitement anymore!! We have come full circle in less than a year and we are proudly announcing that TOKYOMADE will have a booth at this November's Design Festa Vol. 26. Booth number C0066 to be exact!




The Tokyo Design Festa is the largest art event in Asia and was most definitely one of the biggest motivations behind the TOKYOMADE concept. Walking through the aisles, gasping with amazement at talented designer after crafty creator we knew we couldn't keep this kind of wonder all to ourselves. Thousands of creators, designers and talents put themselves and their creations on display for all to see. It truly is something to behold and definitely the best shopping spree of the year.

This time last year we were readying ourselves with ideas in our heads and hope in our hearts to get together with some of the Japan-based creators on display at Design Festa and give them a new home/ online space to display their products all year round to an international audience. Tokyomade.com was merely an idea last November, a vision that we had. We trotted off to the Tokyo Big Site like shoppers on a mission. We didn't even have a meishi (business card) or any kind of site concept to show designers and crafters. All we had was a passion to support Japan-based creation and a desire to find artists and creators that wanted to be part of a growing community.

Tokyomade.com launched on February 14 of this year and we are giddy to announce that we will be at Tokyo Design Festa this year in our very own booth showing outrageously awesome designs and creations from over 30 Japan-based creators/ thinkers/ illustrators/ recyclers/ makers/ designers/ artists/ painters/ friends.

In such a short time TOKYOMADE has gone from being a welling of passion to a community of like-minded people sharing their talent with the world. The opportunity to be representing this talent at Design Festa, where the bubbling of passion all began, is one of the most exhilarating and mind blowing times for us! We are eternally grateful to each and every designer that shines on TOKYOMADE, the customers and admirers that appreciate and support them and our outstandingly supportive friends and family - we love you all!

We have got lots of surprises and greatness in stall for all visitors. Please, please if you are in Tokyo on November 17 & 18 come to the Tokyo Big Site to visit us and the thousands of other Japanese and international artists and acts. You will not be disappointed. Oh remember to bring your pocket money there are always plenty of goodies and bargains to pick up, you will be glad you did!

See you there!

Bold Nail Varnish

Having been a devotee of the pale pink/whitish nail varnish for most of my nail varnish wearing life (seriously, I have about 5 bottles of pale pink varnish in slightly different shades), recently I've finally jumped onto the bandwagon of bold (darker) colored nail varnish. I am not exactly sure what go me into it....perhaps its because everyone on TV has it and since I watch so much TV it has subconsciously filtered into me and displaced my initial notion that bold nail colors look old and trashy. About time too! I think the trick is to keep nails short and rounded. Long and sharp...now that is trashy.

My first bold color obsession: red. Bright red. Mine is a similar color to this, An Affair in Red Square, from OPI, except mine is called Fishnet Stockings from Essi. I just couldn't find the Essi website. But yes, I randomly bought the bottle and tried it on and I LOVED it. Its just so SHARP and cool! I actually spent a few minutes in the mirror checking out my new nail color afterwards! :)
The next color I wanted to try was Purple. But not electric purple. And not reddish purple. Cause then it'll just look too purple. It was a tough choice, but in the end I settled on this Russian Navy, from OPI, which has a bluish, purplish tinge. This one actually took me a while to get used to (I think I'm still trying to get used to it), but I think once winter comes on full force, it'll fit my wardrobe perfectly.

Incidentally the whole new OPI Russian Collection fits my recent fall/winter mood perfectly. Dark, rich colors of blue, purple and red. Its fabulous. Although I'm not sure about the texture. Maybe its just me, but I find them not to go on as smoothly as my Essi ones.

And lastly, HOW does everyone apply their dark nail varnishes? I am phenomenally bad at application. So I try not to mess up by just applying one layer (no, I'm seriously bad) and for these bold colors, its not too bad since its already so strong. But I can't help that I accidentally apply over the edges and then it just looks like a little kid coloring and going outside the lines. Also, a lot of times, I get streaks. HOW am I suppose to DO this properly??? Please help!

Image Source: OPI

Three More

Halloween in Tokyo

Not even a typhoon off the coast of Japan sweeping it's way through Tokyo could keep us in last night. The freaks came out!

Although the night was a little more relaxed (for some) than initially planned the rain subsided and the trick or treating continued.

The usual Halloween cast members gathered a witch and a nun, a crab and convict, a cowboy and gypsey, a naughty maid, a Hare Krishna and his little devil, Frankenstein and the bride of and a black angel. Masao went as a psychiatric hospital warden although he was quite happy just to tell everyone he was a doctor and I went as my favorite movie Party Monster. We also met a very large Geisha, a terribly scary flying monkey and a gorgeous Shibuya host boy.

The maid, gypsey and cowboy headed off to wilder horizons while our partying ended around midnight, a fun last train ride home.

Happy Halloween everyone!!