Dear Ms. Kate Lanphear,

Even if there’s hardly anything to see from your outfit in this picture, I’m 100% sure you’re still fabulous. Come to think of it, even if we clothe you in rice sacks, you’d still look like a million bucks.

My 2010 goal is to look half as chic as you do.

photo credit: Garance

lovelots,

Kalatkid

I’ve been looking for the Oxfords/Brogues/Saddle shoes of my dreams. Something like this:

photo from thesartorialist

mind the shoes (especially the white one)

and let me tell you, it hasn’t been easy. i’ve searched everywhere and have bought 3 pairs before finding the perfect one (or at least they are for the meantime).

My first pair, I bought from the Schu Outlet store near Smart Tower along Ayala Avenue. I’d post a picture but it’s in such a sorry state, I’m too embarassed.

My second pair I bought last year at the Rockwell Urban Bazaar from the good people at Renegade Folk. They were pretty and I love them, but they weren’t exactly what I was looking for. So I kept searching.

I’ve found a couple of pairs I’ve been drooling over for the longest time at Zara, Schu and Topshop. But they would easily shave 4k from my very shallow of pool of spending money and really, that was too much for just a pair of shoes (my Doc Martens are an exception).

Then I went to Hong Kong just a month ago, and found my 3rd pair at H&M and they only cost me Php900! I would have bought 3 pairs if only I wasn’t already holding the last pair of size 7s.

But they still weren’t the perfect pair of Brogues..

And then yesterday, I remembered Grace’s (friend from work) brilliant idea to check out the shoe stores in Cubao X (Formerly Marikina Shoe Expo!!). Shoes sold in Cubao X were all Marikina-made and if they didn’t carry the shoes that I wanted, they could always make one according to my need.

So I dragged my family along and I found this baby.

They’re actually men’s shoes. But the smallest size fit me just fine and I’ve fallen in love with it! But since it’s new, and it’s Marikina leather, even if I tried breaking them in last night – my feet still had to suffer for the love of all things beautiful.

that’s my foot rubbed raw from the tough leather of my new brogues.

But really, I don’t care. I still love it. They’re exactly what I’ve been looking for. I just need to break them in properly haha.

So there ends my quest for the perfect pair of brogues. Or at least until I find these babies:

from Renegade Folk.

from Toast

Either that or I find a new obsession.

Which ever comes first really.

There’s this big hulabaloo out there on the interwebz between 2 local designers and their supporters (well just 1 since Rajo Laurel is keeping mum about the issue) over the shredded tee. Something about 1 copying the other. To the camp who’s making a big fuss about being copied.. NEWS FLASH: nothing is original. Everything is an amalgam of already existing ideas. Worried about being copied? Get a copyright! Or else, be flattered.

The trick always is to take something from what’s already out there and make it yours. If you can’t reinvent it into something better, then don’t bother doing it at all.

Anyway, with that out of the way, let me just tell you how much I covet this:

Shredded Tee from CMRTYZ

source: Comebackkid.au

I know there’s hardly left to the tee, but there’s something about it that just grabs me. It’s a little Nightmare Before Christmas meets a Spider with a vision, meets Wolverine on a rampage.

It’s one thing to love sheer tops (which I’m loving right now because they make me feel sexy! Nothing beats letting your love handles peek through semi-translucent t-shirts), but it’s another to want shirts that are 2 laundries closer to death. I’m not being sarcastic here. I really want one of this crazy shredded tees.

It’s homeless look gone chic. Really.

I’m thinking of making one. Camille from childhoodflames has a tutorial in her blog. I’ll try to look for it and see if I can make my own version of a Shredded Tee (since I can’t afford to buy one. Shipping fees to Manila are CRAZY! Not to mention the money I’ll have to fork out to pay for the tax that’s more often than not more expensive than the item itself (I’m looking at you Customs department and your bogus tax computation).

I didn’t start worrying about what to wear until I started working in an office that had a corporate dress code. Actually we had uniforms but I didn’t want to look like a was a librarian gone amock. I didn’t have anything to wear, seriously. I borrowed trousers and blouses from my sister but she’s a size smaller than me so I looked ridiculous in most of her clothes. The only shoes I had that were passable in our office were my white skimmers. Although I love them to bits since they were cute on most days – they made me look like a nurse sometimes. My sister had pretty flats, but they were my sister’s. All I had on me other than my skimmers were a pair of Keds and a holey Chuck Taylor’s.

Needless to say, my wardrobe was a disaster. The only thing I loved about my closet was my collection of Beatle’s shirts. Oh and my favorite pair of jeans.

But that has changed over the past few years. I’m not saying that I’m a complete fashionista now because I’m far from being one. I still can’t wear a pair of heels to anywhere even though I’ve seen a lot I just want to buy because they’re fabulous. I still wear sneakers whenever I can. I still have my Beatles shirt collection, and it’s still growing. And I just don’t get those pointy shoulder things that’s all the rage right now. Although the leather and lace trend was divine, I think.

I still haven’t gotten to the point, have I? And I don’t think I have one. I just want to segue to these pictures that make me want to go out just to have a reason to dress up. (I never played dress up when I was a kid, so I think I may just be suffering from regression…)

(from my favourite fashioin blogs… yes I have many)

Mathew Zorpas

if only more guys dressed like this… (weather permitting, of course). guys these days don’t know how to look dashing. even on date nights! tsk.

Sarah Harris

I could and would probably wear this, if only I could afford a Christopher Kane for Topshop shirt. It was all over London fashion week (at least based from the pictures I saw about it). And I wants it, my preciouuuusss.

Olivia Palermo.

Though I’m not a big fan of the dress she’s wearing here, I have to say that I love her. She always looks like she’s glowing. And her shoes are lovely. It almost made me forget about her email scandal.

i’ve never been a fan of anything patent. but on this pair of babies, i’m willing to make an exception.

i just wanted to put up a picture of male models. hehe because i thought this post could use one.

kate lanphear

i will never be able to wear this even after i’ve died and have been reincarnated 10xn times. but the shredded shirt and the chain maille and the jewelry totally works. a look that only la lanphear can rock, in my book.

and this is me. i mean look at me. haha although i like what I’m wearing (gotta love my dad’s drop-crotch high waisted trousers), i still don’t look as put together as i hope i’d be. the inspiration is there. i just gotta work on the execution. haha

what am i saying? i just like clothes and wearing them. the question now is whether i look good in them.

photo credits go to:

http://vanessajackman.com

http://jakandjil.com/blog

p.s. i promise to get around to sorting through my project 365 photos soon.

It’s not a totally alien concept to have workmates you just want to strangle. I’ve had quite a lot of those in my 5 years of work experience. But I’ve never had the privilege to work with friends whom/who I just can’t stand during office hours.

Types of people I don’t like working with:

1. People who don’t have a sense of accountability. – they lead the project, but when something goes wrong – it’s somebody else’s fault. ALWAYS.

2. People who like to take credit for something they didn’t do – pretty self-explanatory.

3. People who complain a lot – Yeah I complain too. On a daily basis. But when complaining takes much of your time – when you complain more than you work, it affects everybody’s mood. Worse when you slam drawers, nearly punch a hole through your desk from your violent typing – you’re making too much of a ruckus!

4. People who keep saying they’ll just quit this job – Go do it already. It’s annoying when you say it all the time and yet you’re still here.

5. People who don’t know how to ask nicely – pet peeve. you’re not my boss. don’t demand.

the list will go on if only i didn’t have to go home in 5 minutes.

Highly amusing how I write less when I have nothing to “generally” complain about my life. It’s not like there’s nothing happening right now. The truth is the opposite, actually. There’s so much! I find truth in the saying that “LIFE HAPPENS WHEN YOU’RE TOO BUSY MAKING PLANS” or something like that. So I stopped. I stopped making plans. Well not entirely. I just completely stopped dwelling on them. And instead of just making plans, I went through with them.

I travelled.
I worked harder.
I made things.
I stopped worrying about what other people will think – more or less.
I cut ties.
I let go of excess baggage.

And it was wonderful! I’ve never felt this good since I was… 14 and life was all about passing Maths (and I was passing my Maths then too! With flying colors to boot).

And I have so much to say. About how life seems to be moving in the right direction for once. Or about how my brain seems to be working overtime – inspirations everywhere! Or about how light seems to be perfect when it’s 3 in the afternoon.

The problem now lies with the fact that I have so little words for when talking about happiness, contentment, positive revolution, inspiration, and all the other things bright and shiny things that have been alien to me for the past how many years.

My brain can’t keep up, seriously. It needs to stock up on vocabulary that will perfectly describe how motivated I’m feeling to become better at everything. WORK, FAMILY, LIFE, LOVE. It’s simply just not used to it.

I had so many words for when I was heart broken, disappointed, frustrated… I had more than words. I had metaphors! I had analogies! I had stories! Thousands, millions, of them! I was a bottomless pit of melancholy.

Now that I’m feeling quite the opposite, my brain is ill-equipped to translate what my heart is feeling.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s far from being rainbows, and butterflies and infinite supply of cash. FAR FROM IT! But it’s tolerable and fun and complex and a lot more orange than grey. And I love it. I love waking up in the mornings not tired from the woes that have yet to come.

I still cry when I watch You’ve Got Mail on DVD. I’m still overworked and underpaid. I’m still scared of things that I’m not even sure will happen. I still sleep with the lights on, worried about the things that may or may not get me in the dark.

I just stopped over thinking.

And ta-dah! Life was suddenly better.

I think I need a strawberry yoghurt now.

I’m not used to being this… different. It doesn’t feel like ME anymore. But somehow, I don’t mind it one bit.

I know I just got back from HongKong 2 weeks ago, and I still owe pictures from that trip. Just 2 weeks ago, and I already miss being there. The MTR, the people whoozing by you, everybody dressed so chic, the weather in February, the public transportation… H&M (hahaha).
I think I may love HongKong more than I love Singapore. Except that Singapore is much cleaner. And people spit less.
(I still love Manila the most though despite its many problems).
I wonder what’ll happen and how much I’ll fall in love with New York when I finally get to visit the place.

I have so much to blog about!

1. My sister’s looming Canada move
2. My Hongkong trip
3. Turning 25 in a little over a month
4. The worst kind of people you can work with
5. My quest for the still elusive perfect brogues
6. My plans for 2010
7. A plan to move to Canada
8. My quest for chunky jewelries
9. And my Project 365 backlog.

I can’t believe it’s only February. It feels November already. I’ve been up to my eyeballs with work, but surprisingly I’m enjoying it. I haven’t complained yet (the year is still young), except about difficult work mates – so I’m taking that as a good sign. I’m surprisingly optimistic about this year. Let’s hope it lasts :)

But for now let me end this post with.. Oh Hongkong, I miss you already.

But next destination should be Cambodia or Vietnam. It’s not yet time to revisit Thailand, I think.

I love being this cheery. It’s a good feeling.

Before I get on with posting the rest of my Project 365 pictures (including Hong Kong Pics)… here’s an outfit pic.

yeah, feeling na kung feeling. :p

striped shirt – cotton on

black skirt – tiendesitas

10 hole cherry red boots – doc martens

denim shirt – my dad’s closet

scored a leather jacket for 900 bucks. complete with a sheep skin lined collar. will never get to wear it though in this awful manila weather, but i still had to get it. :)