Meet the Robinsons

So I haven't watched an animated movie in a long time. Not willingly anyway.
But this time I really wanted to watch this one, because the trailer was just absolutely brilliant.
I love the idea of boy genius with his wild imaginations and inventions and future scenes of fly cars (just like the Jetsons!) etc. But what really made the cut for me was this scene that they showed when the dinosaur says that his head was too big and his arms are too short. That just made me burst out laughing and so I simply HAD to go watch it. So kudos to the trailer production team- you deserve the big bucks!

The actual movie did not disappoint. It was just what a Disney movie should be- funny, inspiring and heartwarming. Lewis is a boy genius who builds this machine to bring back the memory of his real mother who'd left him on the doorsteps of this orphanage.
And of course for every movie, there is a villain. This one happens to be the "guy with the bowler hat". .
and his "sidekick" Doris from the future. They steal Lewis's invention and tries to pass it off as their own and thereby changing the future.
But of course there is the kid (Wilbur) also from the future that chases after the villain. He takes Lewis to the future with him in this cool time machine. .
. . where Lewis meets Wilbur's eccentric family, the Robinsons and has a grand adventure where Lewis eventually learns to "move forward," gain confidence in himself and saves the day.
I loved the quirky family, especially the grandpa who always has his head on backwards and Uncle Art the pizza delivery man who dresses like a superhero. The movie was both heartwarming and hilarious at the same time. I definitely recommend this for a fun watch for family and friends.

Any Publicity = Good Publicity?

We've always been told that any publicity is good publicity. But really, who actually wants bad publicity? (Wait, I just remembered Spencer, the why-wouldn't-Heidi-dump-him and publicity-seeking a-hole from the Hills. Nevermind.) Remember back in Tom Ford's Gucci days, he supposedly freaked out when he saw Victoria Beckham wearing his designs. The story (as spread by numerous media and the book, Fashion Babylon) is that he called his Gucci's London PR to find out who had put Posh in the outfit. When the PR told him that Posh had bought it full price at the Gucci shop, he screeched, 'Well, somebody stop her!' Even though I'm indifferent to Tom Ford, one can't help but feel sorry for him. Afterall, which designer would want his designs to be worn by people who he deemed as eww?


I've always thought of Prada as a foward-thinking, intelligent and artsy-feeling brand. Which is why it must have been a sad, sad day for Miuccia Prada and her PR team to see her lovely design worn by the unstylish likes of Britney Spears. (Although props to Britney for looking better these days.) That pink handbag is totally mismatched with the dress and the cowboy hat just makes me think the dress is some bad mix of ethnic and Texas ranch wear. And does the dress even fit her properly in the first place? Poor Miuccia must be so traumatised! But then again, Miuccia thinks in mysterious ways -whoever knows what she thought of this?

In my mind, celebs like Nicole Richie, MKA Olsen, Mischa Barton, Kate Bosworth, Kiera Knightley and even Lindsay Lohan are excellent, positive PR. People like Paris Hilton are sort of neutral -some people love her style and some hate her style. As for Britney, well, she's sort of in the neutral to negative territory, isn't she? I suppose Miuccia can take comfort that Britney at least didn't flash her undergarments or private parts while in the dress. Now that's got to be a plus in Lalaland.

Photo credit: www.style.com

Cleaning Routine

Coming back from a night out, the thing I dread most is washing the make-up off my face. I am very anal about having remnants of make-up on my face in fear of break outs, so I try really hard to make sure everything is off. Here is what I have to go through:First off is the eye make-up, which is the most painful to get off. I use Lancome Bi-Facil Double Action Eye Make up Remover, first on cotton to get rid of the mascara, eye shadow and some eye liner. For mascara I put the remover-soaked-cotton on top of my closed eye and gently wipe downwards to try and get the majority off without losing too much lashes (I already don't have that many!). It generally gets really messy and I hate it- is it any wonder that I don't wear mascara all the time? THEN to get rid of eyeliner, I soak a q-tip with remover and gently run it along the eye-lined areas that are especially close to my eyes. Nevertheless its still quite tricky to get rid of eye liner under the upper lid and in between the top lashes for me.
THEN I wipe my face with this gentle Sebium H2O purifying cleanser until no more color (from foundation) comes out. Next I use my usual gentle Cetaphil face cleanser to clean my face just in case. And FINALLY I put wipe on some toner and put on moisturizer and call it a night.
Oh and did I mention before this I will probably also shower and wash my hair to get rid of all the smoke smell? Its a looooong painful process that takes me around an hour or more, but I still do it. Now if only I have a cure for my smokey smelling clothes. Especially my cashmere cardigan, its all smokey now :( . . . . I thought they banned smoking indoors in america?!?!?

Zara SS07

First of all I have to say I am a HUGE Zara fan so excuse this somewhat biased and overly-enthusiastic post. OK, so I love Zara -it usually sells clothes that are totally fashionable and right on the mark. But the great thing about Zara that I like above all the other high street stores is that Zara's high end 'inspired' clothes don't look like cheap and cheesy copycats. The clothes look classy and expensive when in fact they're very affordable. The first time I saw Zara's SS07 collection was when I was on family holiday in Barcelona (where quite frankly, there were no other shops worth looking at so you can imagine how long my sister and I stayed inside Zara.) Zara's SS07 collection is totally loveable and wearable:
See what I mean? Seriously stylish. Sidenote: Zara always has clothes which are very Marni-ish, like in this picture.
When in Zara, look out for its silk tops and dresses. They look much more expensive than they actually cost and are the way to go to look classy. This dress (and similar ones) are available in other prints. The only reservation I have is that it is very obviously from Zara, plus you could easily clash with someone you know.\
And here's a beautiful silk top. Such a pretty summer top for day (and possibly night) wear! I'm currently considering buying similar tops (from Zara).
This Gucci-inspired dress is what I mean by 'on the mark' fashionably in a classy way. I read in a recent article that this dress was sold out within hours of selling in the the Oxford Street store. It's also available in other prints and colours. How I wish I bought one now (or at least tried it on since I'm not sure how it would look on a short person)!
And finally, there is of course officewear, which Zara has tons of.
I bought a black, double-breasted jacket from Zara last fall and absolutely adored it. However (just to balance this post out), there were two problem:
1. Loads of other people have bought the same or almost identical jackets. I'm not one of those people who are crazy about unique-looking clothes, but this is a problem when you're walking around a tiny campus and every other girl has the same jacket on.
2. The buttons are sewn on very losely so be careful! One of my buttons fell out and since Zara is a high street store, no extra buttons were provided and now my jacket looks wonky. *hopes someone in Zara'a HQ reads this!*
What do you think of Zara's SS07 collection? And any thoughts on Zara in general?
Photo source: www.zara.com

SS07 Trend: Bell Sleeves

Ever since seeing them done oh-so-prettily at the Burberry Prorsum show I've been in love with the bell sleeves.

They just so perfectly compliment the rounded collars, adding the perfect feminine, girly touch to their staple trench.

I love it so much that this spring break, I had to get my own (more affordable) version of the bell-sleeved trench, from a small boutique in HK. Loosely fitted apparel are not usually my thing, but I am definitely coming around to loving it. The trick is to pair loosely fitted clothing with fitted ones to create a balance. For example, with this jacket, I usually wear a fitted long sleeved tee (since the jkt sleeves here are three-quarter so it peeks out) with my skinny jeans and it looks very cute! Something similar to this would be the empire-waist jacket I showed by J Crew in the Empire Waist Cardigan post.

Other bell-sleeved jackets in the stores to be considered with a more fitted shape. There is this short one from Development (left) and this long one that is more simple and subtle from Nanette Lepore (right).

Flicking through Marie Claire UK (April 07), plenty of bell-sleeved dresses also showed up. I am loving how the sleeves here gives this Gucci dress here a more playful and flirty touch.

This one by Tara Jarmon, with the light fluttering bell sleeves is fun yet sophisticated at the same time.
In the stores we have this dark eyelet one from Diane von Furstenburg (left) and this simple electric purple one (right) from French Connection, which I think is also perfect for the mod look this season.

Photo Credits: www.shopbop.com, www.nordstrom.com, www.elle.com

SS07 (Non-)Trend: The See-Through Bags

The one runway-shown trendy thing to not touch (or even think about) this season is the see-through bags. Honestly, this is such a weird, uncommercial thing for the designers to come up with. I imagine even the most attention-seeking lala-landers will not adopt this bag (although you never know.) And how did the designers all come up with them together? Were see-through bags a thing of the 80's that I'm not aware of?

Dolce & Gabbana has always tip-toed on the very thin line of high-class sexy and tacky (or perhaps it's just both), so I suppose see-through bags showing up a lot on their SS07 runway wasn't too weird.
It actually looks nice to have things outside the bag. Strange.
What is odd is that even Karl put these PVC bags in Chanel. Don't buy this bag unless you're a rich, spoilt, Chanel and Juicy sort of tween.
OK, so I suppose this Fendi bag looks decent enough in this picture and it's not as transparent. But don't let the pretty design fool you because it is still see-through!

Fortunately, most high-street stores have stayed away from producing 'inspired' versions. Unfortunately, a few high-street stores did.
Top Shop has these colourful PVC bags. I can't decide if being coloured makes them more playful and fun or tacky.
Nine West has a more proper-looking handbag version of a see-through bag.

My point is I just don't get these bags.

Photos: www.style.com, www.topshop.com, www.ninewest.com

Recycling Bags

If you are looking to get into recycling bags, here are a two to consider:

The Anya Hindmarch environmental bag. I love the simple yet cute design of the bag. It almost does not look like an environmental bag! For $10, I really want one, it definitely looks better than a bunch of plastic bags for one thing. But alas, it is currently sold out. Hopefully they will restock soon!
The FEED bag, designed by Lauren Bush. For $59.95, you can achieve the two looks (its reversible!) AND help the UN World Food Programme feed a child for one full school year. A very worthwhile bargain buy.

Ps. If you have time, check out our latest interview with One Blog a Day here.

Long Skirt Sightings

With this season's craze of the mini skirts and dresses, it's weird and refreshing to see bottom pieces that are not skinny jeans nor leggings, but long skirts.
Kate Moss was seen last week with her daughter in a beachy place in a boring grey shirt and a long, black skirt. The skirt is the type that is tight around the legs and flares out a bit at the bottom, (thus the 'flying' bottom bit when the wind blew in the picture.)
Another picture of Kate, but this time in a grey long skirt. It looks a bit like a sarong in a cool, grunge way, thanks to the black sneakers (or boots?) and belt. Even though both of Kate's skirts look super casual, (which they are,) they are actually hard to wear if you think about it because they are quite body-hugging.
I love this outfit by Ashley Olsen. It's got that grunge, rock chick thing going. The leather jacket, boots and let's not forget, that gigantic cup of coffee makes her outfit much more citygirl-cool. As a tip for all you short/ petite people (including myself), an A-line or flared out skirt like Ashley's is the way to go, if you decide to try this style out.

6 Ways to Wear the White Blouse SS07

This season, take the white blouse out from under the suit/sweater/vest and try something new. You can always simply pair them with jeans, but here are a few other cool suggestions:
  1. Roll up the sleeves and wear them loose over bermuda shorts for a casual look. This look works especially well with white blouses with a longer and looser fit and a bit a detail (left: Alice + Olivia) or even a baby doll cut (right: Burberry Prorsum).
  2. Have you ever wondered how to wear those very pretty skirts with details at the waist? Pair them tucked in with a plain clean cut white blouse of course! It shows off the details at the waist and goes well with the style of the skirt without taking the attention away form it. Wearing a plain t shirt would've been too casual, but anything fancier would be too much. I've thought about this a lot because I have something similar to the gold skirt above (left: Paul and Joe, right: See by Chloe).
  3. For something more formal and business casual, go for the power woman look by contrasting your white blouse with high-waisted black skirts and black pumps. Details can be added to either the white blouse or the black skirt, to add just a touch of style and femininity to the strong look. i.e. a balloon sleeved blouse with a plain high waisted black skirt (left: Moschino) and a plain white blouse with a black belt (which creates a high-waisted effect) and frilly hemmed skirt (right: Fendi). Note the high-waisted look in both cases that makes this look work.
  4. For business casual there is of course the white blouse with dress pants (and yes I do know that these blouse are not white). This is the easiest look because it works with all styles of blouses from crisp simple ones to fancy frilly ones (above: both from Paul and Joe). Pull the look together and accent your waist with a belt.
  5. Then you can also tuck it into tailored bermuda shorts instead of leaving it out for a more ladylike look. I am just LOVING the white blouse left and the whole look. This was actually the white blouse that inspired this whole post! The details are just so pretty and fun. The white blouse on the right, can also be worn this way, although of course, such short shorts are not quite office appropriate. (left: See by Chloe, right: Michael Kors)
  6. Lastly, wear them underneath dresses! It totally gives your dress a whole new look. I especially love how they paired the bubble sleeves blouse with the shiny black strapless dress, its so different and yet it works so well! Obviously this look works best with simple clean cut blouse with perhaps details on the sleeves and collar (but definitely not on the front, that would just add bulk and you won't even be able to see it underneath!) (left: See by Chloe, right: Paul and Joe).

Photo Source: www.chloe.com, www.paulandjoe.com, www.net-a-porter.com, www.shopbop.com

Karl Lagerfeld's SS07 Minimalistic Ads

You know, Karl Lagerfeld is seriously amazing. I mean, he is almost /past 70 years old (no one knows precisely what his year of birth is,) yet he seems more active and busy than any of us. How does he find the time to design all those collections for Chanel, Fendi and Karl Lagerfeld, and be a photographer at the same time? I know he's got design teams and all, but still. Anyways, so I really liked his ads this season -the images are so sharp and stunning.
First there's Chanel . The ads were quite minimalistic, (but not the most extreme type of minimalism). Some people even felt the ads were boring but I liked them more than Daria's previous ads. The casting director and Karl definitely picked the right model: Freja Beha Erichsen. She is so perfect for this ad -she's got the perfect legs to complement the super short clothes. And even though I'm not a fan of Chanel's bikini bottom-looking shorts, everything looks so perfectly put together and sophisticated. Loves it!
Then there's Fendi. Another quite but not extremely minimalistic ad (at least the model is standing on a mirrored surface and the background is the sea and sky). Some of the shots very much resemble the Chanel ones, but I think Raquel Zimmermann sends out a 'strong woman' sort of vibe. She really makes the clothes give a powerful feeling out. I didn't like her much but this ad has changed by mind.
And lastly, there's Karl's own line, Karl Lagerfeld. Oddly, it's the only campaign which isn't minimalistic, but I love him for shooting Gemma Ward. However, biased as I am as a Gemma fan, this campaign is my least favourite one out of the three. Not that these ads aren't good -because they are, especially this image (above), but there's just something I don't completely like about the ads. Maybe because I can't see the whole outfit? I don't know.
Anyhow, the Chanel ones are my favourite. What did you think of Karl's SS07 ads?

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