What I've learned about fashion thus far...

I've learned that you shouldn't wear everything that looks cute on someone else. We've all flipped through Vogue and thought, "omg I have to have that!" But the reality is not always so kind. We're looking at the size 0 model who is basically used as a clothing hanger to view this fabulous outfit. In the real world, we all have different bodies. What looks incredible on someone else may not look so good on you. I don't know how many outfits/combinations I've come across that I thought would look awesome ... if only I was someone else who was petite. Instead, I'm big and curvy and some things just don't work for me. I've had to accept it. It's okay though cause some pieces may work for me that don't necessarily work for other people. Although, I do sometimes wish that the fashion world made a lot more cool shit for curvier ladies. I guess I'll have to stick to my shoes and handbag obsession for the time being haha.

Also, try something crazy. Why not? Who the hell cares what people think. I've travelled a lot and I've never seen people so brave about fashion except in Asia. Japan is awesome for people watching and fashion. However, make sure you are comfortable with what you're wearing. Bold is good if you can handle it and hold your head high entering a room. If YOU care about what you're wearing a little too much, and if you find yourself freaking out about what people think about you, maybe it's not the best choice. I find that if you're not comfortable it reads all over your face and mannerisms when you're in public. So be brave and have fun!

Design your own shoes!

This website Shoes of Prey is a pretty awesome concept. You can design your own shoes! It's a bit on the pricey side if you ask me but it would be cool since it's your own concept! I once watched a documentary on Salvatore Ferragamo and how they make their hand-made shoes. It's pretty cool to see how such wonderful shoes are made.

You can even see some finished examples on the site.

The black and white brogues are pretty cute.

My dream vacation

I want to go to Bora Bora! I've been looking at pictures for YEARS haha. Tahiti and Moorea would be awesome too. They're often in package vacations together which would be awesome. Looking at pictures of Bora Bora just makes me want to go there so bad! Some day! I want to stay in one of those little huts right on the water.

The Benjamin Franklin of Monogamy

Reminiscing in the drizzle of Portland, I notice
the ring that's landed on your finger, a massive
insect of glitter, a chandelier shining at the end

of a long tunnel. Thirteen years ago, you hid the hurt
in your voice under a blanket and said there's two kinds
of women—those you write poems about

and those you don't. It's true. I never brought you
a bouquet of sonnets, or served you haiku in bed.
My idea of courtship was tapping Jane's Addiction

lyrics in Morse code on your window at three A.M.,
whiskey doing push-ups on my breath. But I worked
within the confines of my character, cast

as the bad boy in your life, the Magellan
of your dark side. We don't have a past so much
as a bunch of electricity and liquor, power

never put to good use. What we had together
makes it sound like a virus, as if we caught
one another like colds, and desire was merely

a symptom that could be treated with soup
and lots of sex. Gliding beside you now,
I feel like the Benjamin Franklin of monogamy,

as if I invented it, but I'm still not immune
to your waterfall scent, still haven't developed
antibodies for your smile. I don't know how long

regret existed before humans stuck a word on it.
I don't know how many paper towels it would take
to wipe up the Pacific Ocean, or why the light

of a candle being blown out travels faster
than the luminescence of one that's just been lit,
but I do know that all our huffing and puffing

into each other's ears—as if the brain was a trick
birthday candle—didn't make the silence
any easier to navigate. I'm sorry all the kisses

I scrawled on your neck were written
in disappearing ink. Sometimes I thought of you
so hard one of your legs would pop out

of my ear hole, and when I was sleeping, you'd press
your face against the porthole of my submarine.
I'm sorry this poem has taken thirteen years

to reach you. I wish that just once, instead of skidding
off the shoulder blade's precipice and joyriding
over flesh, we'd put our hands away like chocolate

to be saved for later, and deciphered the calligraphy
of each other's eyelashes, translated a paragraph
from the volumes of what couldn't be said.

-- Jeffrey McDaniel

Back in Canada

It's been a while but I have a good excuse this time. I moved countries haha. I finished up work, then went to Spain, and came back to Canada for a while. For the next week I'll be running around doing errands all in the hopes of finding a good job in South Korea again. We will see! I've been taking pictures here and there for my Project 365 but I've forgotten which days are what.. I think I'll have to go through them before I can upload! I hope everyone out there is well.
I'm glad to be home for a bit and that I get to see friends I haven't seen in quite some time but man am I really missing Tom. It's making me stuff my face with comfort food lately. Sigh.

The Bucket List

I watched the damn movie because of my love for Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and it made me want to make a list of things I want to do. I went the route of something less depressing sounding than a "bucket list". I googled it and a site came up so I joined!
Although I'm already disappointed because I tried to get tickets for Henry VIII at Shakespeare's Globe but they were completely booked up :( booooo and I'm not gonna have time to see Scotland or the Lake District before I leave either... so I may have to do that in two years or so. I'm not sure I'm all that bothered about seeing the Lake District but everyone in England keeps demanding that it's something to see.

Here it is...
http://dayzeroproject.com/user/randommichelle/todo


I did however start watching movie classics that I've never seen. I watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night. I've discovered that Sidney Poitier is the MAN.

- courtesy of tvtropes.org

"They call me Mister Tibbs!"

Sorry I haven't posted in a while!

There's been a lot of personal stuff going on with me. A lot of it is too personal to put on here so I shall refrain speaking of it any further. Anyways, Tom surprised me today by buying me a necklace from Swarovski that I've liked for quite some time. How wonderful of him :D



Now if I can only get these rings and a dress I want from Jaegar I'll be complete haha.

I don't know which one of these rings I like the best. Any opinions?

Painting Progress

I'm still waiting for the paint to dry and it's been three days. Lame! But here is the start of the painting process for my friend's bday gift so far. I'm wondering if I should start on my next one. I'm not sure if I'm going to try painting a massive tiger's head (my fav animal) or if I'm gonna try something with lace throughout (I've wanted to try this for quite sometime). I guess we'll have to see what I'm in the mood for.

Painting and Purchases: The Two P's

I've been working on a present for one of my bestest friend's Mary. It's really quite an undertaking because I decided to make her a painting. Oil painting in particular is a pretty new hobby for me that I started after Christmas. Actually, I haven't painted in two months because I never had time to go pick up more painting supplies or had the extra money for it. I've always loved drawing though and oil painting was something I've always wanted to try. I think it's also because I wanted to take art in highschool and university but never got the opportunity. I was a complete band/choir/musical geek and for some reason you could never take art and music...too many courses in the arts I guess).

Here is the beginning. Mary's only instructions are that she wanted an M on the painting and more blues and greys to be used.



I've also been trying to mix the perfect colours for it. I'm still a bit undecided as you can see.



This pattern isn't something people usually try with oil paints but I really wanted to try it out and see if I could make it look nice. I made the pattern and stencils I used for tracing based on some wallpaper I saw in the Palace of Versailles in France that I fell in love with. Of course it's not exactly the same though. A lot less detail is included so far. We will have to see! It might be too detailed for me to paint with oil colours. Note that the stencils are also just the outline of the pattern as I may try to include more detail throughout. I also included clovers at the bottom because she loves them.

As for purchases, my McQueen scarf came in the mail! I love it :D I wore it to go see Sex and the City 2 :D I know that the movie keeps getting ragged on. I mean I do wish there was a bit more to it but it was still fun to see and it reminded me of how much I miss that show! Samantha was absolutely hilarious and the outfits were awesome, albeit they were like costumes most of the time, but as Sarah Jessica Parker said in her interview for the movie, "Let's not pretend we care about authenticity. We want the fashion!" It did make me want a Halston Heritage dress by the end of it though haha. Hello, subliminal messages :P



Don't the girls look excellent at the London Premiere. SJP shown sporting McQueen as a dedication to him and a fun hat/fascinator because it is London after all. Doesn't Kristin Davis look absolutely stunning in her vintage piece?! Nicely done ladies.

photo courtesy of Wire Image

More clutches!

So I was surfing around the net and I found some clutches that I thought I should share. I'm trying not to buy any more clutches or handbags at the moment since I looked at all my clothes and possessions I have here in the UK and I already think it's going to be impossible to get everything back to Canada when I move again.
Ah well, a girl can dream can't she?

Kara Ross Red Prunella Snake Clutch
579 pounds on Asos.com


Lulu Guinness Sequin Union Jack Clutch
275 pounds on Asos.com


Asos Croc Effect Tuck Lock Clutch
18 pounds on Asos.com


Chainmail Envelope Clutch
25 pounds at Accessorize
(I quite like this chainmail envelope clutch although my boyfriend said he didn't. Ah well what does he know :P)

Summer, summer, summer time! Time to sit back and unwind.

Lately, I've been loving all feminine silhouettes. Flowers and bright colours galore for summer!



However, I am really digging the abstract flower look as well from designers such as Erdem. I've always been a fan of bright colours. As a korean teacher said to me once, "wow michelle. You're really not afraid to wear bright colours all the time". Maybe she was just being polite and thought my colour palette was horrible but I don't dress to please other people. I dress the way I feel and to express myself. Or maybe I'm simply making up for the fact that all I wore in highschool was black and dark blue. If only I had loads of money right now I would buy up these dresses in a second.

Photos courtesy of the Erdem website
Photo courtesy of Vogue.

I am really looking forward to seeing the Prada print collection in stores. Why? because they're an answer to my print obsession without being too short! I tried on this beautiful flowered dress the other day but it was just too short on me. That's why I'm loving the old school length and the full skirts. It's way sexier and more mature than short skirts in my opinion, which I'm sure we will see loads of in the summer time.

Last purchases before shopping hiatus

So don't mind that I'm completely out of shape but I've added some neutrals to my wardrobe. I LOVE this coat. My boyfriend's mom actually bought it for me which I can't believe. I mentioned how much I liked it while we were shopping and next thing I know she was just handing me a bag. I'm not sure if you can see it too well in the picture but it's a textured cotton and I love the piping.

I'm on the hunt for a nice wrap or v neck dress. Something simple that I can just throw on and that looks good for summer. Either in a bright colour or some sort of patterned dress. I did check out the DVF site after Aileen from PrettyCupcake talked about how she ordered a dress from there. I hadn't checked out DVF's stuff in quite some time and was pleased to see the summer dresses on there.

I really need to work on my legs though. I have HORRIBLE chubby stubby legs that just don't look good in dresses. But as I'm 25 now (and I've been living in England where people wear whatever they like without worrying about it) I'm sucking it up and I'm just going to wear what I want! Why can't chubby girls enjoy dresses too even if they have chubby knees?

Hopefully someone will just drag me to some yoga classes when I get back to Canada or I'll get back into swimming when I'm not working! haha

New Wardrobe and Accessory Additions

Bought this dress from Karen Millen. I just fell in love with the colour! And I bought this large blue ring from Swarovski. I don't know why I'm going through a big bling stage at the moment but it looks so much nicer than the picture. I also got the green ring from a little shop called Past Times for only 20 pound so I figured why not!

By the way, I went through Harrods to see Oscar De La Renta. Oh my god he is amazing. His clothes are so beautiful in person! The pictures of these two don't do these dresses justice at all!

London Calling

Oh how I love London. I love exploring London. It would take you FOREVER to visit all the areas, streets, and shops. The people sometimes can be really pushy and rude but it's one of the busiest cities in the world so what can you expect really? Oh the shopping though! Spent hours in Harrods, had tea at Fortnum and Mason, and walked up and down Bond Street and all the shopping arcades until my legs screamed of exhaustion. Did some tourist stuff with my aunt such as the London Eye, visiting the Crown Jewels, and taking a riverboat cruise along the Thames. All in all it was a good week.

Designer Alert: Erdem

If you haven't heard of him yet or know little of him Erdem has just won the BFC/Vogue Fashion Designer Fashion Fund! Keira Knightley showed some support to the fellow British talent by wearing one of his pieces and ended up on the best dressed list this week. I'm not sure about this look on Keira Knightley myself but I will admit it's more interesting than some of the run of the mill frocks on the runways. I admire someone who tries to wear that much pattern! Some of Erdem's shorter dresses are definitely quite wonderful and worth the look!

Check out his 2010 collection on Vogue UK!

http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/show.aspx/full-length-photos/id,8791

I'd like to Clutch that!

Yes I am cheesy. You'll just have to get used to it.

Another fashion accessory I love is the essential clutch when you're tired of carrying big handbags all day. I've been checking out the Karen Millen Jewel Artwork Box Bag for 99 pounds. It's quite sparkly and cute and has the shoes to match!

However, I have had my eye out for a clutch with a Union Jack. I did see a sequined Union Jack clutch from Topshop a while back but it doesn't seem to be available anymore. The McQueen Union Jack Skull Clutch is pretty awesome but is about 700 pounds which I'm not prepared to spend on a clutch at the moment. Ah well a girl can dream!


Has anyone else come across any clutches worth mentioning?

Rings? I do!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love jewelry. I mean one of my best friends bought me a jewelry box with a necklace stand that twirls around (with drawers as well) and my jewelry is still everywhere. However, I need more RINGS. I was developing a cute little collection of rings that I bought overseas. I had a very unique silver ring I bought in Bali and two rings I bought from South Korea that I ended up LOSING in Italy. What a bummer.

Now I'm looking to add to my collection by finding some unique designer pieces. One that has recently caught my attention, as well as many other ladies, is the Alexander McQueen knuckle duster ring. I mostly came across this ring because I loved the McQueen knuckle duster clutches. The clutches are sold out unsurprisingly. As for the rings, I like the gold one but I love the silver. Now this one isn't the one with the black pearls that would go oh so well with my dark pearl bracelet from Beijing but I love the colour of the big stone on this ring. The ring is a meeting of macabre and beauty that I relish. It reminds of the chandeliers made of bones in Paris. If I do buy this piece... since it is a pretty penny... it'll definitely remind me of this year I've spent abroad in England.

I'll have to wait for my paycheque!