I Dream of a Lifestyle Involving Many Cocktail Dresses V: Coloured Tights

I Dream of a Lifestyle Involving Many Cocktail Dresses V: Coloured Tights

One positive thing about spending the holidays back in Hong Kong is the temperature -it's cool enough to wear a cute jacket but warm enough to wear skirts and dresses without freezing ones legs. In the past, tights used to mean that it was so cold I had to wear them with my school skirt. But this year, for the first time, I'm actually considering wearing black tights as part of a casual outfit. (OK, so everyone does this, but it's new to me.) I'm imagining outfits with short cotton dresses or very long tees with black leggings -kind of Olsen-esque.

Another tights-related style I'm thinking about are coloured tights. Now I've never been an adventurous dresser, so I'm certainly not thinking of wearing colourful tights with crazy coloured shorts and tees, (80's style.) I'm thinking more of the girly, simple way like the images (above and below). I think the key to this look is really to keep the outfit simple. Basically, keep everything else but the tights black or neutral-coloured.


To be honest, wearing colourful tights seem like a lot of effort to me. I mean, do you know how many colours and degrees of sheerness of tights there are out there? What is the difference between '50 den' and '80 den' tights? What does 'den' mean anyways? Just the thought of buying a pair of coloured tights is enough to keep me away. But the argument of you're-only-young-once, and you can't exactly wear coloured tights when you pass a certain age is making me consider having some fun with this trend.


Are you wearing coloured tights this season? If so, how are you wearing them?


Image credit: www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk, www.fcukmail.com, www.topshop.com

Tiffany Rings

Tiffany Rings

I have a thing for rings. Besides my silver hoop earrings, I think that my next best jewelry investment is my 1837 Tiffany ring. I've had it for around 3 years now and I wear it everyday. It is one of those pretty accessories that matches anything and is perfect for all occasions. It is simple, clean cut and not too overtly Tiffany's (unless you look at it this closely). I love it so much, I even paid $10 to get it cleaned at Tiffany's once. Unfortunately for me even after the cleaning it didn't look like new. I guess all that banging and clanging from daily wear has finally taken its toll.


So just as a fun exercise, I thought I'd look at more rings from Tiffany. They DO make great presents after all *hint hint*. For a more elegant and delicate design, I am loving these two (left: open heart, right: closed heart). Though as girly a girl as I am, even I find the heart a little bit too girly for daily use (hmm maybe unless it meant something....). The closed heart is more versatile since it really looks more like a oddly shaped bean than a heart.
Even simpler, there is the Cushion (left) and the Torque (right). There is no question the versatility here. The Cushion is a little TOO simple for me (if I'm going to spend that kind of money, I'd like something with a bit more design and effort). I love the twisted design of the Torque, though I do wonder about how comfortable it is with all the odd angles.
I think out of all of them, these two strike the best balance between versatility and design (left: Somerset, right: Knots). It is simple yet unique. Though personally, I think the Somerset is a bit too bulky for my fingers. I much prefer the Knot, with its feminine yet simple design.

So yes, these are my just some of thoughts on Tiffany's silver rings. And the best thing about these choices in my opinion is that they are not the typical Tiffany designs. We have enough of those floating around as it is.

Image Source: Tiffany

FW07: Waistcoats

FW07: Waistcoats

So waistcoats/vests have been around for a while, but it must be one of those things that grows on you because now that I've seen so many people on the streets and on tv wear it, I really want one!
Luckily for me, judging from the Phillip Lim 3.1 (left) and Alice + Olivia (rght) catwalk above, the waistcoat trend is still here with us this season.
So I started out looking for one and almost bought this very classic tweedish one (right) from Urban Outfitters the other day. As far as waistcoasts go, this would match with a lot of outfits and the fit was pretty decent. I think the back is also a black satinish material, which I thought was interesting. Only downside was that the tweed material was really rough and since this waistcoast was not on sale, I didn't think it was worth the $42. They need to consider repricing UO...... On the other side of the Atlantic, we have this other classic waistcoat (left) from Top Shop.
Another very classic option for waistcoats are pinstriples (they are a derivative of suits/tux after all). I like these two from Alice + Olivia (left) and Top Shop (right). Though the Alice + Olivia one while more fitted looking (since the model is wearing it) might have a bit too much detail (pockets and collar) for me. I think I prefer something cleaner, since for me, a waistcoat IS a detail and it IS already striped....
Something more interesting, we have these two from Top Shop. Not too sure how flattering the blue one would be (left) but I LOVE the military inspired one (right).
Something more party-ish, we have these colorful shiny options from UO (left) and Vena Cava (right)- a great way to add some character to your party outfit. Though I think for satin, the cutting is very important and you can already see thee poor cutting from the picture here for UO (I do like the color though)- so be careful!

Image Source: Elle, Top Shop, Shop Bop and Urban Outfitters

I Dream of a Lifestyle Involving Many Cocktail Dresses IV: 20's Style Bags

I Dream of a Lifestyle Involving Many Cocktail Dresses IV: 20's Style Bags

UK's high street stores have been pushing and selling a lot of 20's style this party season. Now for those living in the States, where retailers tend to sell clean-cut clothes, you might not really know how a modern 20's dress looks like.

Remember the dress Kate Moss wore to Fashion Rocks this year? Think of a short, non-volume mini-dress; think beads and drop-waist. The two featured above are the examples I like (from Kate Moss Top Shop and Oasis).

So along with these dresses, high street shops are selling 20's style bags. While these bags don't seem very modern, in my imagination of a fancy world, I imagine one could carry these in a very glamorous, stylish way. Think Mary-Kate Olsen. (Oh btw, I'm not an expert on fashion, so excuse me if I say or feature items from the wrong decades.)

One of the main features of 20's style bags are frame bags. The first one that caught my eye is this golden, embroidered one from the Kate Moss Top Shop collection. It's more casual than the other ones and so pretty. Plus, doesn't it look like I had to go through vintage stores to dig it up (minus the effort)?

Another feature of 20's style bags are beaded bags. One that caught my eye is this black beaded one, also from Kate Moss Top Shop. It's simple but with just enough pattern detail.

Warehouse has one which is a bit more fancy -lots of gems. Not really my style though.

Oasis also has a range of beaded bags. My friend just bought the one on the left in black. One good thing about these bags is that if matched right, they can be carried in 'usual' functions like to cocktails and even clubbing, or to more dresses-up functions, like weddings and dances.

Even though it's kind of plain, I would like to see this bronze pouch in real life. If it's big enough to be somewhat practical (although I suspect it's not), at 18 pounds, I might just buy it.

If these aren't fancy enough for you, how about this box-bag from Top Shop?

French Connection has this very interesting bottle-bag. The design is pretty unique, isn't it? (Plus, the photo of the model holding it shows that you can match these 20's bags with your very contemporary dresses.)

And if you're really into the whole dressing up thing, this feather hairband from Accessorize is a fantastic accessory to add onto your outfit. It's easy to wear and adds just the right amount of dressiness. Just make sure you don't put too many things together and wear the accessories to stuiable events.

Do you like this whole 20's style party clothes revival by the UK high street?

Image credits: www.oasis-store.com, www.topshop.com, www.asos.com, www.accessorize.com