Style Musings: Owl Jumper

An Owl Jumper I found at Valley Girl for only AUD$9.99. It was a great find!

I wore this on Saturday when we went out to have lunch with my Grandma and Auntie. It was a bit cool even if the sun was out so I decided to wear this once before I put it in storage. This jumper has a very comfortable and cozy material which kept me warm during cold season.

We are slowly sorting out our winter clothes by moving some into the guest room's closet. At the same time, we are bringing out our lighter clothes as the weather is becoming warmer. I can't wait Summer to come!

Style Musings: Uniqlo Pop Up Store in Sydney

Uniqlo (means Unique + Clothing), is one of my favourite Japanese clothing stores. We discovered Uniqlo when we travelled to Seoul a few years back but it's only last year that I paid attention to this store.

I love Uniqlo because of their minimal and classic styles, the clothing material they use, reasonable prices & how their clothes cater to a particular season (Heattech for cold season & Airism for warm season). I also like their collaboration with different brands, artists and designers. 

Last month, Uniqlo finally opened their first store in Australia. The flagship store opened in Melbourne but Sydneysiders like me were somehow grateful because on the first day of operations, their online store when up and running as well. 

I ordered a denim dress and an Andy Warhol bag online on the Wednesday they opened and in two business days, my package arrived in Sydney. I'm impressed! 

Last week, Uniqlo Australia announced that there will be a pop up store in Sydney and they opened today. The pop up store is open from 3rd May to 30th September. 

 (last two images from Uniqlo Australia)

I've seen photos online and there was a queue to get in. I'm going to wait a while before I make my visit. I'm just happy now that for a few months, Sydneysiders will be able to avail of their winter clothes (we need them here in Sydney too!). According to news, a big Sydney store will open by end of 2014.

Style Musings: Cherry Blossom Charm From Pandora

When I had my first charm, a camera, I didn't know what my next charm will be. As mentioned in my post then, I want my future charm bracelet to be special so instead of buying charms in one go, I'm creating my charm bracelet one charm at a time.

A few months after my camera charm purchase, Pandora came out with the Spring Collection and it included Cherry Blossom charms! I was soooooo happy. It was the perfect charm to buy! At that time these charms came out, the Husband and I were preparing for our comeback to Seoul for the Spring Festival, where the city will be filled with Cherry Blossom trees in bloom.  

Why a Cherry Blossom flower?

I'm enamoured with Cherry Blossom flowers. I first saw them when we travelled to Seoul in 2011 and I fell inlove with its dainty beauty. Whenever I see Cherry Blossom flowers, all my Husband can hear me say is, "They're sooooo pretty" with matching dreamy look (hahaha). I'm really charmed by them.

Cherry Blossoms signifies my love for Seoul and Korean culture. After a few years of learning about Korean culture and travelling to Seoul twice, the Husband and I feel a connection to the place and its culture. It's not just a simple fascination. It's something deep and wanting that we simply say that Seoul is our third home now.

Spring is my favourite season. This Cherry Blossom charm will remind me of our Romantic Spring wedding. This charm will remind me of the beautiful flowers we've seen during Floriades in Canberra. This will remind of all the Cherry Blossom flowers I've seen during Spring time. Most of all, this charm will always remind me of beginnings and hellos, which for me are happy moments of life.

The nice thing about Pandora was that they came out with Cherry Blossom earrings and rings too. When I arrived at the store and saw the earrings, I can't help but buy a pair. The flower comes in pale pink, although in these photos, they are somewhat white due to lighting at home.

Since I don't have charm bracelet yet, I used my two-toned necklace for the Cherry Blossom charm and wear it on my neck for now. 

I love these Cherry Blossom charms. Simple, dainty and very significant. 

Related Posts:

Seoul, I'm Loving You

Seoul, In Love With You Again

Style Musings: Camera Charm From Pandora

Pretty Paper And Things From Manila and Seoul

Would you believe I haven't transferred our Manila and Seoul photos to my computer? It's taking me a while to get around to doing our post-travel tasks. Work is taking a lot of my time lately that some days I go home a little exhausted. Last week though I started seeing friends after work. What a joy it was to see friends again. It helps a lot in going back to "our normal".

Yesterday, I spent an hour sorting out some of the stationery and knick knacks we got from our trip. These were all shared in my instagram (@ibyang) but I would also like to share it because it might be useful reference for some who will visit Manila and Seoul too.

As my love for stationery had been awakened, I kept an eye on stationery during our travel. Other than rekindling my childhood love for stationery, I'm now more appreciative of design and artwork. Maybe the Husband's "artist fairy dust" is working on me. 

Here are the ones from Manila:

Stationery from Papemelroti. Yes, buhay pa ang Papemelroti! :) They still produce the brown stationery they are known for but this time I found some Manila artwork on their paperie. I especially chose papers with Jeepney artwork. I also got a small Manila poster with "salawikain" written on it. I plan to frame this poster to put on display at home.

Stationery from Fully Booked. White pad paper with Kalesa and Sorbetes art. They're colourful and reminiscent of life in Manila.  The little sticky notes with flowers are Japanese-inspired art designed in America. 

Coffee-themed calendar planners from our dear friend Agnes. The moment we saw these, we were so amused because it is so Us! :) Grateful for friends who know we love our coffee.

Starbucks Planners gifted by friends Majo and Monet. Husband and I don't use these kind of planners anymore but we appreciate these ones still because we can add them to our stationery collection and use them for our creative projects. We especially love the book magnets that came with them.

Important men in Philippine history immortalized in stamps. These are used stamps but curated for selling to stamp collectors like me. I plan to frame these in order to preserve them. We found them during our visit to the Ayala Museum.

 An "I Love Manila" fridge magnet. This was the last thing I bought before I got on our plane to Sydney. We were already boarding when I realised we haven't bought a Manila fridge magnet so I went back out to the shops in NAIA 1 and bought this.

Here are the ones from Seoul:
Seoul is stationery haven! We found a lot of stores that sell gorgeous stationery and pretty little things.

Hanbok Card. One of the fanciest stationery I've owned. The design of the hanbok was embossed on the paper. 

 Paper and envelopes with dainty designs. It has my favourite art: dots, flowers and stripes.

 Note pads and Sticky Notes. The note pads came had Korean icons (palace, king, queen, N Seoul Tower) while the sticky notes had dainty-looking designs.

Stamp Stickers. I only bought a few. Two of them had Korean icons while the third one had Alice in Wonderland art.

Souvenirs from where we've been: a post card from N Seoul Tower, phone accessory from Hello Kitty Cafe (which we will convert into a fridge magnet), notebook from the Teddy Bear Museum and a pen from Mango Six Cafe (which will also be converted into a fridge magnet).

King and Queen Bookmark. Aren't they the cutest? It also has an "I Love Korea" embossed on them. 

It was a fun hour sorting all thru the knick knacks we brought home. I can't wait to use these pretty paper in creating our travel scrapbook. Ahhh but first, we need to sort out our photos. When will that be? I can't say but I hope soon.

Have a great week ahead!

Uniqlo's HEATTECH Shirts

After travelling to Asia in a span of two years, most of my winter clothing these days seem to come from three brands: Uniqlo, Muji and H&M.  In 2011, I did massive shopping at H&M and Muji but this year, Uniqlo was where I found a lot of clothing pieces I liked as they have good quality material at reasonable prices. I'm especially thankful to discover their HEATTECH clothing which generates heat and provides insulation too. Their HEATTECH range includes shirts, leggings, socks, cardigans, beannies and scarves.

I chose the long sleeve shirts for my first HEATTECH purchases. These are base layer shirts perfect for layering during cold season. The clothing material is soft, comforting and fits nicely on the body. 

I used them when we travelled in Seoul where we experienced 4-11 degree Celsius temperatures. Where I would normally have four layers of clothing, I survived the cold with just three layers and even had to ditch the scarf at times.

The next time I come across Uniqlo's HEATTECH range, I will try their other pieces such as the cardigans and scarves.

By the way, Uniqlo will soon open their first branch in Australia by end of this year. I'm happy that we will finally have one here down under, however, it will be in Melbourne which is a state away from where I am (and no we're not flying to Melbourne just so we can shop for Uniqlo stuff). But we'll never know, right? We might have one here in Sydney too in the future.

Things I Love: Writing In Style

My love for pretty stationery goes back to childhood when I'd collect and exchange colourful, and sometimes perfumed, paper with my playmates. The art of writing by hand and using lovely paper will never grow old. And I don't think my love for well-crafted stationery will ever be lost even in this digital age. I remember conversations with the Husband when we need to write business mail and I'd sometimes ask, "Can I use stationery paper???". And the Husband will laugh, amused at my absurdity and "kikay-ness". 

I have stopped collecting stationery and I have stopped writing letters (but I still send post cards though). Emails, texts, twitter and direct messages are now the norm in my world. But oh how I feel happy whenever I see and use beautiful paper. I often visit lifestyle stores and stationery boutiques to lust over creatively-made stationery. Sometimes I come home with a small notepad to appease my longing. But rarely do I come home with a set because I don't want to start collecting and create clutter at home. 

I think the universe took note of my paperie desires as two months ago, I received a lovely birthday gift in the guise of a box set of stationery (Thank you, Rache!). 

It was perfect! It came with little note cards, big cards, writing paper and envelopes in different sizes.

And it came in a pretty box too. 

My good friend surely knows me well as the design of the stationery box set she gave is so Me! It has pinks, greens, dots and one of the drawings looked like a coffee cup.

Being gifted pretty stationery has certainly awaken my love for pretty paper. I have used a few of the cards from the box set and I really find joy in using them and writing on them. Makes me feel that the person receiving it will feel more loved by me.

Now that I have a pretty box (pictured above), I plan to fill that in with pretty stationery that I find in the future. Not meaning to collect but just having enough writing paper and cards that we can use for writing to loved ones.

Style Musings: Finding My Hair Stylists in Sydney

It took me years to find hair stylists in Sydney that can cut my hair the way I want it. My hair need is simple: soft-layered hair and a bit thinned out.

When I moved here, the instinct was to find a Filipino stylist which I did. I found one or two salons in Sydney Metro but I was never satisfied. The last Filipino salon I went to did an average job but I was just so tired of stylists making me wait, "unpolitely" chatting me up and doing experiments with my hair just because I am a Filipino. So I vowed to never again go to a Filipino salon here.

I started another quest to finding a good stylist in 2010. I tried having my hair cut by a Chinese stylist and that didn't work out. I had issues with how the stylist cut my hair. 

Then I searched online and the name of a Korean salon came up. Walked in Kim Sun Young Salon at Pitt Street, Sydney and met a pretty Korean lady that styled my hair the way I want it. Since then, she has become my official hair stylist.

When my stylist is not around, I have a secondary stylist who also cuts well and can blow dry my hair with use of her hands (yes, just her hands!) which results to me having straighter hair.

Another thing I appreciate when I go to Kim Sun Young is that they never ask you too much about getting hair treatments, hair colours or buy their products. My stylist once suggested I should have my hair coloured because I have white hair showing. But I told her I'm not yet ready to colour my hair and thoughtfully added that maybe in a year or so I'd have it coloured. She never asked me again.

A big bonus is that I feel at home at Kim Sun Young. If you've followed my blog entries, you probably know how much our life is influenced by Korean culture. When I visit the salon, I get to look at Korean magazines where I get to see photos of my favourite Korean celebrities. The staff all speak Korean (they are like me who migrated to Sydney) and I don't mind. I can understand a few words they say and it's like I'm part of a real life Kdrama. The best part is I get to talk to them about Korean stuff and they tell me about their life in Korea and in Sydney.

Finding a hair stylist or salon is like finding a gem. It should be a place where you know your hair (or nails, etc) will be safe and well-taken cared of. This is a big deal for me because I want my money's worth and leave the salon smiling because I loved the results my hair cut experience.

Style Musings: Jackie Ohh by Ray-Ban

These 1950's inspired Jackie Ohh sunglasses created by Ray-Ban are a true retro style classic. It was made in reference to style icon Jackie Onassis, a clear indication of the inspiration behind the design.

While I've always liked Ray-Ban's aviator and wayfarer sunglasses, I chose the Jackie Ohh to be my first Ray-Ban. In choosing sunglasses, I like bug-eye style sunnies because it gives the area surrounding my eyes more protection, which is always my main concern. It also gives me a wider range of vision as smaller lenses or frames tend to block my peripherals. 

The Jackie Ohh is perfect in giving my need for wider frames and at the same time, it gives a different look to the bug-eye as its tips are somewhat catlike. I already have square-framed sunnies which I bought at Dior two years ago so the Jackie Ohh satisfies my need for rounded frames.

Another first time for me was ordering these sunglasses online via ClearlyContacts.com.au which I thought was very brave of me to do. What I did to make sure that the glasses would fit me is get the measurement of the sunglasses and compare it against my sunglasses at home. It also helped that ClearlyContacts.com.au has a 366 day return policy and they would even pay for return shipping. The nice about ClearlyContacts too was that they sent me a little screwdriver (which can be use for other things too, not just for sunglasses) and glasses cleaner.

This is not a sponsored post.

Style Musings: Mr and Mrs Camera Shirts

Chanced upon a camera shirt at a Korean clothing store named SPAO in April 2011. SPAO is a global clothing brand shop offering various items from casual wear to men's suits, women's suits, children's clothing, underwear, sportswear, and accessories.  We were on our way back to our hotel when we passed by their store. It was here that the Husband found a good winter jacket and this camera shirt that I liked the moment I saw it.

November 2012, we were grateful to receive gifts from our friends from SG which included a UNIQLO camera shirt for the Husband. I realized that it matches my shirt from SPAO! 

Aren't they cute??? The amusing thing was it was a pleasant surprise that my camera shirt has found a match after almost two years. It was kind of serendipitous too that both of us are into photography.

Style Musings: Finding a Fascinator

One of my fashion dreams came true last month as I found a simple and classy fascinator that went well with my black lace dress. 

A fascinator is a headpiece, a style of millinery. The word originally referred to a fine, lacy head covering akin to a shawl and made from woolor lace, but mostly feathers. In the modern usage, it refers to a woman's alternative to hat for formal attire; it is usually a large hair decoration on a band or clip with elaborate trimmings and decoration like a formal hat and it can incorporate a base to make it a miniature hat. (source)

I found this fascinator at French Connection during the end of year sales. I tried it on due to curiosity and when the Husband saw me, he complimented, "That looks good on you." I checked the price and it had a very huge discount so I took that as a sign and bought it.

Other reasons why I love my fascinator:

• Other than being simple and classy, it's very dainty. 
• It wasn't loud and too conspicuous. 
• It's something my petite frame can easily get away.
• It's a headband fascinator so it's very easy to wear.

A few tips:

• If you're buying a headband fascinator, make sure that it fits your head perfectly.
• If you want a fascinator that you can wear to more than one occasion, choose neutral colours such as black, white, beige, etc.
• In Australia, the best time to buy a fascinator is usually after Melbourne Cup season (or any horse race event), end of year sales or Boxing Day.

Style Musings: Hello Summer!

Summer officially started on the 1st of December and the day before, we were hit by a heatwave-ish temperature of 34-37 degrees Celsius. The Husband and I were blessed to hang out at Manly Beach with friends on Friday. In the city and at the beach, the heat wasn't as bad as the wind was cool. 

When the sun is out, I take advantage and wear something light and cool. Last Friday, I wore a sundress I got on sale via yesstyle.com and paired it with platform Havaianas which I got from Boracay, Philippines.

The dress I wore had a bright, floral design and had a very simple cut. What I loved about the dress was it had two lines of embroidered flowers on the front. It's a tiny detail but it made the dress more dainty. 

While I prefer good quality and designer sunglasses, however, I'm open to buying a pair of cheap sunnies. Once in a while, I find a style that can easily match an outfit on an everyday basis. Here's a pair of wayfarer sunnies that I found at Valleygirl for only AUD$10.00. 

I hope the Summer season will bless us with moderate warm temps ahead so all of us Sydneysiders can enjoy wearing our sundresses, shorts and singlets and flip flops.

Ensemble: Sundress by 59 Seconds (via yesstyle.com) * Platform Flip Flops by Havaianas * Wayfarer Sunglasses by Valleygirl * Brown Handbag by Marithe et Francois Girbaud

Style Musings: Slipper Loafers from Topshop

It's been awhile since Topshop/Topman opened in Sydney and it was only a month ago that I had the time to visit.  Actually, I only remembered to visit because we passed by the Gowings Building. It's funny that I  looked forward to the opening of Topshop here in Sydney and yet I somehow forgot its existence once it's opened. There were a few good pieces but most are a bit too young for my taste. There's a part of me that will always like youthful pieces but their clothes seem a bit too fad-ish for me. I've seen a few classic pieces but found that some prices are ridiculous especially when I compare them to what I've seen and bought from Asian online stores. (So sorry to compare but I'm a consumer who wants reasonably-priced style items). 

I walked out of the store without a piece of clothing but fortunate enough to discover a pretty pair of slipper loafers with black and silver trimmings. It's very comfortable to wear and it doesn't feel as flat because the insole has a bit of cushion. It was priced at AUD$44.00 

I was wearing a black lace dress when I was there as I was to watch Legally Blonde in a few hours. Although I have my foldable shoes with me, the slipper loafers I found matched with my black lace dress so well.

I wore it right after I paid for it. It's great for walking and good enough to wear with something fancy because of it's design.

Topshop/Topman
Gowings Building

55 Market St, Sydney

Style Musings: Casio Retro Watch

The 80's is back, fashion-wise that is. The peplums, loose shirts, bright colours, pointy heels, lace shirts and dresses are back in style there days. Even Casio's retro watches are back!

When I saw a Casio Retro Watch on sale, I bought it right away because I love timepieces and it would be great to add to my little collection. It's a fun watch as it has an alarm and you can turn on the backlight when you're in the dark (reminds me of my kiddie watches in grade school). Since it's a classic style, it's easy to pair up with most outfits.

 I love 80's fashion (that's why I even had an 80's themed party this year) and I noticed that I always have something that's reminiscent of the 80's era in my wardrobe. There is always something good when styles from another decade comes back as it's nice to buy clothes and accessories we're once comfortable in. 

What item/s have you bought recently that's hailed from the 80's?

Style Musings: Dotted Rain Boots

I already own a pair of rain boots but that didn't stop me from looking for another pair. The first one I bought goes up to my knee and I found it bulky. I wanted something lighter and shorter. 

At one of my visits to Morning Glory last month, I found that they're selling rain boots. It was fortunate that they've got a dotted black pair and had it in my size.

I fell in love with it instantly as it's the right length for me and it has heels!!! At first look, it doesn't seem like rain boots. It can pass as normal boots. 

Photos taken during our Koreatown Fri-date
Black Shirt and Dotted Scarf: yesstyle.com.au  Denim Skirt: Topshop  Puff Jacket: SES
Black Tights: Voodoo Hosiery  Rain Boots: Morning Glory
Satchel: LeSportsac  Umbrella: Daiso