Liebster Blog Award

Today I received an surprise after work from Mandi from Find Me a Muse  that I was given the Liebster Blog Award. Mandi is a big Isabel Marant fan, I always stop by to check out what's new IM items she got and where to get them. She is my IM guru!!

The Liebster Blog Award. Liebster in German means dearest, beloved, or favourite, and it's for bloggers with under 200 followers.  

I want to sincerely thank Mandi (Find me a Muse) for her support!!

The rules: 

1. Thank you Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.

3. Copy & paste the blog award on your blog.

4. Revel your 5 blog picks.

5. Let them know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog.

It's very hard to pick 5 blogs and they are below. I had a couple of blogs I wanted to add but there was no counts of the follower and I am not sure so I decided to pick the ones showed they have less than 200 followers.

Style of Sam

Sam to me besides of her classy style is such a genuine and kind lady, reading her blog always was a pleasure.

Sara & Stine

They are two sisters and I thought they both are very pretty. I love to check out what they latest purchases are. I do admit I love their European touch.

Style by Janet

I read about Janet from Feather Factor and thought her style was amazing. I believe she mentioned she has her own boutique and I do love seeing her parings.

Away from Blue

I met Mica on the Effen Haute Forum and she's such a sweet lady and I particular enjoy her accessories and purse collection and her lovely doggie Cooper.

Chocolate, Cookies & Candies

I love this blog because it's more of a diary of blogger's life, everything. Fashion, travel and cookies. I just love that touch of ease & luxury in life.

chiffon skirt

Theory top | Jucca skirt (was dress) | Chanel boots | Armani Collezioni jacket

I got the Jucca dress from yoox.com few seasons ago and one day I decided to wear it but the fabric on the top portion was stiff so I took it to the dry cleaner and they couldn't explain why it's like that. The lady told me it could be my sweat but I aired it out overnight before putting it into my armoir. Anyway, I decided to alter it to a skirt instead and as a matter of fact, I prefer it as a skirt much better. The dress just didn't cut right for me.

The fabric is very light, perfect for summer but I didn't see why I can't wear it now. Sometimes I just don't have the patience to wait for spring to come.

Less is More - 4

left to right: Zara waxed skinny jeans | Theory panel-leather leggings | Vince panel-leather pants | Elise Overland suede leather pants | Leith leather leggings

This week I want to share with you my leather pants or looked like leather pants. The Zara waxed jeans look like leather and the fit was very flattering, I like them pair with black pumps the most but the weather has been so cold lately and I already planned out what to wear it with when the weather is warmer. The Theory leggings are very warm and comfortable, I love them with the IM dicker boots, they are perfect for casual days.
The rest of the three leather pants were all my scores. The Vince was $899 for retail and I got them for $249 on ebay, the suede leather pants were 70% off on Shopbop, original price was $1400 I believe and the Leith leather leggings were 60% off, original was $389. If leather pants are a closet stable for you, I highly recommend you look for a good quality pair. In terms of comfort, they are much more comfortable, the leather is softer and give you some kind of flexibility to move your legs. In terms of lasting, the good quality leather don't have that baggy butt/knee area as bad as the cheaper ones, leather do stretch but the good quality leather tends to stay in shape much better. The difference is quite night and day to me.
I believe the fit also has to do with the stretch of the leather. Based on my personal experience, if the leather pants fit you fine, you should stick to them instead of one size smaller because people tend to say leather stretches over time so you should always get one size smaller. But if the leather pants fits fine and when  you sit and walk, they only can stretch according to your movement and the good quality ones just don't stretch to the degree like one size too big after few wears. If you don't give reason for the leather to stretch, the leather won't stretch. So when you try the size just keep that in mind. And it also has to fit to your desired fit, like you want them to look like pants or leggings. I prefer leather pants instead of leggings, it's just personal preference. 
Lastly, I still stick to my philosophy about quality vs quantity, buy a good quality pair and don't buy multiple similar ones because nobody can tell you wear different black leather pants every time you put them on. The reason I got two was the seam split at the butt (Leith) and the lady who fixed it told me it will split again so I got the Vince one on ebay. I still wear both but I much prefer the Vince just because they are more comfortable.
I am also not the type feel it's easy to fork 1K or 2K for a pair of leather pants no matter how fabulous they are....focus on sale and put them into your wish list so when the sale starts, put them into your cart and that's what I've been doing. That's why I chose black because it's the most versatile. But the suede leather is just so amazing, the texture is just very impressive.

beautiful necklaces

Today I got a meetup email invite to a sample sale at lower mid-town. The name of the store is Gift Side Story for the clueless men to pick gifts for their significant others and I guess it's the end of season sale. I picked up these three beautiful necklaces.
The blue stone one is $32, the gold one is $29 and the longest one is $24 and all of them were 60% off.

Their sample sale will end tomorrow (1/27/2012) from 4pm - 9pm.
Address is 1140 Broadway, Suite #307
New York, NY 10001
They had a very friendly group of people so just walk right in....they serve wine and cheese.....I had a glass of red.

cement ankle boots

Adam sweater | Isabel Marant Renell jeans | Alexander Wang ankle boots | Theory scarf + coat

I got this Alexander Wang ankle boots from yoox.com (get them here) for $425 (size 8, 9, 10 are still available) but I got the promotion code of 10% off from this fabulous forum deals & steals thread. The ladies there were always generous to share the new codes. 

I liked them since they've came out couple of seasons ago but I was not too comfortable about the height of the heels but after I saw Andy from Styel Scrapbook I was sold. She is one of my favorite bloggers....I read her story about how she started her blog and it's touching and inspiring. They are quite comfortable due to the stack heel and the platform and they run TTS.

I have tried so many different outfits last night when I received them and they are so fabulous with spring season outfits. I think I am already ready for warmer days....^O^

Happy Year of Dragon

恭喜發財，龍年進步！！

Isabel Marant Mendy top, July jacket, Mony boots | Vince leather pants | Theory fur stole | Daniel Hechter coat | Alexander McQueen acrylic clutch

I am going out for dinner to celebrate the Year of Dragon and am so excited to wear my biggest victory - the July jacket.
Too bad the weather was kind of nasty but my spirit was not dampened.

Less is More - 3

left to right: Fernando Frisoni - Zara

 left to right: Isabel Marant - Rick Owens

 left to right: Rebecca Taylor - Isabel Marant x(2) - ICB

This week I want to share my jackets, I counted all of them and I have 11 of them but I am only showing the majority of them and I think I will donate the rest later this year.

First of all, let's start from the basic black and white blazers. I am still looking for a perfect black blazer but I am in no hurry. This Zara black blazer fits perfectly and still looks pretty good after I wore them a handful of times but since the material is tweed so it's not going to look right in the summer time if I need a polished professional look. But I think this new white Fernando Frisoni blazer can just do the same trick. The cut is so flattering but I am still thinking how to keep it from dirty and sweat in the summer days. Shopbop still has size M left, you can get it here. I seriously think Shopbop only carry one piece of each size. I can't find it anywhere else from online.

The IM and RO jackets are just my all time favourites, they are casual chic and would work with almost anything in my closet. You knew I already had a detailed intro of this IM July jacket earlier this week and I think I will wear it for the Chinese New Year, to celebrate the year of Dragon with this new jacket. I am hoping to get a lot of wear out of this piece. The RO leather jacket goes with almost anything in my closet, it's so comfortable and stylish at the same time. The cut is so flattering to my body. It was a very expensive jacket but I am glad I am wearing it a lot and the leather seems to get softer and softer. One thing I really like about RO leather jacket is it doesn't stretch to mold into my shape like an old sagging piece of leather...it actually still looks very nice like new so picking a right size is very crucial to keep the life of the jacket.

Lastly my boucle jackets, they are really the most comfortable and stylish thing you can ask for in the wardrobe. I can't speak for other but I do find jackets in a traditional sense are very constrain to my arm movements because I don't want to wear something too big and feel comfortable because it's just not a flattering look, and I don't want to look like I took something from someone's else closet. And these boucle jackets are very comfy and polish the outfits up a notch. 

I think jackets are a must in a well coordinated closet because it just adds a chic/polish factor into our look. I was browsing online and saw a lot of images of Miranda Kerr, she's really the queen of chic that wearing a white tee with a pair of leather short and the addition of a jacket made her instantly more put together. 

I would really take time to find a flattering jacket to begin with. Theory and Helmut Lang have a lot of awesome blazers/jackets. And I would invest a piece or two a season (well, the IM july jacket was something so unexpected and I just can't pass up) and build up the closet. If you ever wants an IM boucle jacket in the coming fall, definitely get them as soon as possible because they really just fly out of the shelf. I did find it's possible to buy for cheaper via ebay and sometimes during sale but bear in mind the fits and the popular style are always out so fast....and you can pick you size and color way etc to really compliment your closet. ebay and sale sometimes can't fulfill that.

red + leather

top: Theory sweater, Helmut Lang fur/denim vest

pants: Leith leather pants

shoes: Isabel Marant Dicker boots in anthracite

scarf: inspired from ioffer

It's one of those very cold day right before the snow comes.....and Fridays are my dicker days, you know they are so chic and comfy....just so effortlessly put together. As usual I love a dash of color to embrace the bitterness in the cold winter.
Chinese New Year is coming - the year of DRAGON...

tulip in the winter

dress: Zara

shoes: Isabel Marant Mony

jacket: ICB

bag: Givenchy Pandora
scarf: Chan Luu

Today I am wearing one of my favourite dress, the Zara tulip dress in cobalt blue. And I've been receiving compliments all day long. I am glad I bought it though not on sale. Because of the silhouette of the tulip shape of the dress, it really makes my legs look so much longer. I was doubting how to style it in winter since I've tried it with so many different black sweaters but it just didn't look right....for some reason I never thought about the jackets sitting next to it. 

my biggest score - Isabel Marant July Jacket

Last Thursday the July jacket was available on the Outnet for 65% off and I picked it up right away. I got the size 1 and it's very snug at the arm pits area, I think a size 2 would be a better choice even though I am a US2 (4 sometimes).
The jacket is very heavy and and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's lined with cotton and it doesn't feel thin, it seems it's good for temperature from mid 50s to low 70s. I didn't want to take the feathers off but some people were talking about it so I checked them out and I don't believe it's possible to do so. The feathers were sewed on two different layers and I just don't see it will look the same after the feathers being removed and without ruining the fabric.
The metal chain wrap around the sleeves, front panels are just so beautiful plus the embellishment around the collar. It's really work of art. The jacket (special edition) coming out in the spring will be around 5000 after tax so I just don't think I will ever be able to get my hands on any of the IM special edition jackets if I pass up on this one.

Less is More - 2

This week I would like to share with you about the dresses. It's quite a tough post for me because I have quite a lot of them. I counted them and I have about 28 dresses.

The above image shows all the dresses I have in my armoire which all my delicate fabric clothes are stored here. I try to implement one in one out policy but it's a little hard to stick to this rule. I used the one in one out rule for my handbags and that worked well but for clothing it's difficult. But I found purging the closet once a year really helps. Especially when I am overwhelmed by the number of clothes in my closet.

I've divided the dresses into a few categories: the dressy ones for the parties or events, for work like meetings and interviews (I work in architecture so I don't have to stick to suits) and some simple silk dresses. I like wearing dresses with a jacket for not so cold days, it's just very simple and I don't have to do a lot of mix and match thinking.

These four dresses that I bought over the years and I found them to be very handy for parties and events. I especially love the Peplum dress, it's not supposed to be hung in the closet, I just roll it up and store it in a bag for storage. I have had it for over 10 years and I wore them twice only. I bought it for about $275 I think and it's just so beautiful...when the light hits the dress it changes color from dark beige to purple.
I hand washed the erica davis dress and it shrunk...very sad but I can still wear it just shorter. From that experience I just don't buy any chiffon fabric anymore. The fabric shrink no matter how I clean it. Dry cleaning also shrinks the fabric. The A-McQ dress was purchased from Gilt.com and the Shin Choi dress was bought from the boutique in Soho. I wore them both a couple of times. The little black dress is quite formal looking (below my knee)...I liked it at the time, not so much now but I am sure it will be very handy down the road.

I like those work dresses, the Joe & Paul's Sister and the Brian Dales are also good for a nice dinner. I admit I don't reach for this type of dress more often but it's always good to have them because I am not too fond of buying something for tomorrow. It's too easy to buy the wrong thing and regret later.

I love silk dresses because they are just perfect for all year round. I bought a couple of sweater material dresses from H&M and I didn't find them versatile. The above three dresses are my favorites that I wear them from in both cold and warm days. But if the heat wave comes, I usually just wear cotton so I can wash it later. I don't like to wash my silks because I just hate to ruin the fabrics.