Dreamy Vintage Elegance

I happened to stumble across pictures of myself as a young child this past weekend. Back then, more than 20 years ago, my mum used to dress me up in beautiful dresses with can-can underneath a full skirt. These frocks usually came in lace, floral and bows. Such pretty frocks they were, and it's quite saddening that little girls nowadays don't dress like those days anymore. Instead, they dress like mini adults - a mini replica of their mums and dads, if you may.

Rachel, a very good friend of mine from Miss Head Over Heels, coincidentally also e-mailed me pictures of her in her mum's handsewn vintage skirt. And so I was inspired by these occurrences to post an entry on the stylish but often forgotten vintage era. As I was googling for vintage inspirations, I found so many fascinating images and found myself wishing that old skool styles will never go out of season.

 

 

 

 

Images via {#1 Dreamy Wedding Story / #2 Chictopia / #3 Glamour Daze / #4 Glamour Daze / #5 Wanderer's Palace / #6 We Heart It / #7 Etsy / #8 Kim In Pink / #9 Svpply / #10 Sammy Davis Vintage}

Adventures in Bali

The company went on its annual trip and this year the selected holiday venue was Bali. This was my 3rd time in Bali and every time I return to Bali land, I'm reminded of the many decor items I found and brought home. The last time I was here, I checked in two side lamps and almost bought a huge a** mirror... almost. This time, I spent most of my money on pillow cases, bean bags, a pair of ducks and a slice of heaven in the form of a painting.

I did, of course, splurged on some stuff for myself and some souvenirs for family and friends. We ate at the best places, swam (I waddled) in a beautiful pool, watched the sunrise, called late-night McDonald's delivery, walked a lot, shopped, haggled, tried some Kopi Luwak (world's most expensive coffee), ate some more, perspired like mad and took pictures. In four short days, we managed to cover Kuta, Seminyak, Sanur, Ubud and Legian. It was a trip steeped in culture and tradition.

We found ourselves dreading for work the next day. Many thanks, Kenny Chong, for some of the photos below.

Sunrise in Sanur

Paddy fields!

Bali is home to a lot of talented artists and the paintings are cheap too

Kopi Luwak

Maxi dress from Request at Kuta

Celebrating Life with evian and DVF

There's an evian limited edition designer bottle every year since 2008. For the past four years, I've always been in awe of these special teardrop shaped bottles when I walk past them in supermarkets. evian has collaborated with the world's most esteemed fashion designers including Issey Miyake, Paul Smith, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix and Courreges. This year, it's the American queen of wrap dresses, Diane von Furstenberg.

evian's limited edition with DVF reflects a playful celebration of life and features a nod to the designer's iconic mantras with, "Water is Life is Love is Life is Water is..." gracing the bottle in her handwriting. The bottle is printed in organic ink and features the designer's ubiquitous heart DVF logo in a red hue which was created exclusively for this fabulous collaboration.

A lot of people I know will buy the limited edition bottles on a yearly basis and display them as keepsakes. In previous years, it is unlikely that one will open the bottle for consumption as it can't be resealed. This year you can guzzle the water like nobody's business and fill it up again because it comes with evian's new screw cap design!


Images via {evian}

My Must-Have from Coach's Legacy Holiday 2012

I generally love bags. Big bags, small bags, clutches, crossbody bags - I even have a small collection of travelling bags of different sizes. I usually coordinate my travel bags into "bags to check-in" and "bags I can hand carry on to the plane". I'm a bit OTT like that.

 

One weekend, I found myself traipsing into a Coach boutique in Pavilion KL and was immediately stunned (in a good way) by the myriad of colours that greeted me because, #1: I live for bright colours; and #2: The colours are so different from the regular blacks, neutrals and monograms that other designers are famous for.

Coach Legacy Leather Duffel in Tourmaline

There are two things that I fell head over heels in love with in the new Coach Legacy Holiday 2012 Collection and they are the Legacy Leather Duffel and the Legacy Colourblock Large Leather Clutch. Why? Well, the Legacy Leather Duffel in Tourmaline is so bright that it takes away even the dreariest of Monday blues. I know Tourmaline is a shade of blue too, but there's no pun intended here :) And because I love the colour, I know I'll use it again and again, unlike some uber-expensive dresses I bought which have only seen the light of day maybe twice. Best of all, I can toss in as many things as I want without having to worry about space constraint!  

 

A great bag needs to come with a great accompaniment and the Legacy Colourblock Large Leather Clutch is just it. A beautiful duffel on my shoulder and a cute clutch (I'd use it as a purse) inside. Even if I don't feel like shopping, it makes me want to pull it out more often to pay for something just to show it off.  

Coach Legacy Colourblock Large Leather Clutch

Images via {Coach} and {BagAddicts Anonymous} 



Walking The "Kors"way

I heard from a lot of people that there were many events planned for the entire last week. I myself attended two - a mid-week M.A.C event and yesterday's Michael Kors store opening at 1 Utama. It was a medium-sized party and not too crowded, which was good. I liked what the organizers did to keep the event private - they erected blocks of "walls" to cordon off the party area so outsiders couldn't see what was happening inside, unless they sneak a peek from between those "walls".

I tagged along as Pam's plus one and got reunited with Vanessa and Fiona after a long time of not seeing them. There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speeches which makes up the normal fanfare of store launches. Michael Kors does have some really nice bags which is a definite plus point for me.


Vanessa, me and Pam. Van's shoes are from Pedro

Noshing on mini burgers

That's us with Fiona (far left)

Pam posing with an MK bag :)

Shoes - A girl's dream come true

Spotted a few local personalities, but me being me, I hardly get starstruck. Food and wine was good though - there were mini burgers, some prawn thingy, pasta on spoon and chocolate mousse for dessert. Most of the time us girls were just taking the opportunity to catch up, do a bit of shopping and camwhoring, and then we headed for dinner after.

It was a rather fun night out on an otherwise dreary Friday.

On me:

Jumpsuit and Clutch, Dorothy Perkins / Shoes, Charles and Keith / O.P.I's Brisbane Bronze (nails)

 

On Pam:

Dress, Warehouse / Clutch, Dorothy Perkins / Shoes, Charles and Keith

M.A.C Glamour Daze Holiday Collection 2012

I attended the M.A.C Glamour Daze Holiday 2012 event at KLCC yesterday evening. I don't often get invited so it was rather delightful to receive an invitation.

I've always been a fan of M.A.C and am an avid user of their Studio Fix powder foundation. The colours in this collection has a sugary sweet base of powder pink, baby blue, mint green, soft brown and lilac. My eye makeup colours tend to be on the smokier side of neutrals, greys and charcoals as they provide better definition (I think). Perhaps its time to shake things up a bit by throwing out the old and bringing in the new. New year's resolution #1: Be more adventurous.

One thing I adore about M.A.C is their ability to come up with the most creative of packaging every season. This time around, the concept is very Boudoir-like, very sexy, with a hint of French accents.

The Glamour Girls

The guys come out to play/flirt...

Luscious bows decorate the clasps of the palettes - a nice finishing touch

My favourite items of the evening were the bright fuschia lipstick and the nail polishes. I was inspired by the Glamour Girls to coif my hair into a bouffant for the next party or event I attend.

The colours of cupcakes and macarons

Testing out the nail colours

Goody bag!

Dress and Belt, Forever 21 / Bag, Charles & Keith / Shoes, Aldo / Opaque tights, Sungei Wang / Bangle, Diva / Watch, Tag Heuer