Haute Couture SS06 I

Wow the haute couture shows are upon us again! Looking at the new batch of beautiful creations, I have found more motivation to slave away studying for that funny pointy shape with a line across it like a canoe head known fondly to students as a "A."

Armani Prive

The Armani show was.. . very Armani. Like you just glance at the picture and immediately tell its Armani. Sleek, feminine, sophisticated. . what more do I need to say?

When I become the high power business woman that I am grooming to be, this will be part of my business wardrobe.

And aren't these two gorgeous? The black one is interesting, sexy but not trashy. And the white one is just oh-so-classical. There's something like this on the red carpet every year. I wonder who we will be seeing in this one?

And I like the starry midnight theme this one has going for it. But that pointy thing at the hips just looks really weird and uncomfortable. . .

Valentino
Unlike the Armani, the Valentino show wasn't quite as Valentino as one would expect. Lines were softer, more flowy but still very elegant.

And while we're ordering my future power woman wardrobe, please throw in these two for variety. I love how the collars are different and the whole outfit looks so comfortable (esp the beige one) as if she'd been wearing it all day.

And of course Valentino's evening wear is as elegant and gorgeous as ever. I adore the ballerina styled one, cause it looks so much fun. And the long white one is just the epitome of Valentino.

This red one is just somehow not very flattering.

Christian Dior

I like to think that when it comes to the appreciation of fashion/art, I have an open eye. But however way I look at this collection, I cannot comprehend it. Admittedly the craftmanship put into this collection is nothing short of genius. But frankly, I'm just scared. Please do not let me see any of this in real life-especially in the dark!

We are the scary masked cult out to get you. . .

Not even the symbol of the church will save you from getting your head dislocated by us.

Another night's work well done. Time to go back to the headquarters to show off my bloody cloak.

BOO!

Cosmetic Bags

Argh, jetsetting is not as fun as it looks. I just came back from a short trip to SF (yes I do seem to be going there a lot these days) and it is tiring. Although I DO so love good food, shopping and the mind numbingness of getting away. Anyway, while packing, I realised that somehow in the last few years, my repertoire of cosmetics has increased significantly. So much that it no longer all fit into my average sized narrow cosmetic bags and its getting hard to actually locate anything without pouring it all out first. Obviously this is the sign for me to get a new more spacious and easy to access cosmetics bag.

I first considered Le Sportsac. But the normal cosmetic bags they offer are just too small and doesn't have enough compartments in it for me to get organised with.

The next obvious place to look was of course, Sephora. Disappointingly, their choices were bulky and frankly, not that cute. Although this printed one I found on their site is not half bad. Will have to see it in real life to determine whether its good or not.

Sephora was also promoting this set from Bare Escentuals. It actually looks quite perfect and I def wouldn't mind trying out their products-I hear they're quite good. Except I saw this one real life and its very shallow, so not spacious. . .

I know that one should really be economical and just use the make-up bags that cosmetic brands give out when you buy a huge amount of products. But sometimes, they're just not quite perfect and none quite as cute as these ones from Bloom. The one of the right is actually bigger, but I haven't seen the inside of it to decide if its quite as perfect. But they both look very adorable.

In the end, I bought this (on top) cosmetic bag from Stila. It is just the right size to fit everything and looks oh-so-stylish. Too bad I didn't see the one on the below though. It is actually bigger with more compartments to get organised with AND it leaves more space for the further expansion of my cosmetics collection.

Stripes II: Nautical

Nautical stripes have always sort of been around, on and off, especially with all those cruise collections going on. But walking in the stores this season, one cannot help but notice a significantly larger amount of clothes devoted to the nautical theme, nautical stripes are hard to miss!

Traditionally these classic nautical striped shirts are signature looks that can be seen on the catwalk in any season of say.. Tommy Hilfiger. But this season, these classic shirts have made it onto the much more exciting runways of Emporio Armani and LAMB! I'm loving what they're doing at Emporio Armani, mixing the nautical tee with satin pants.

And the wonderful thing is that one can easily get the same shirt at a much lower cost in high street stores that are already catching on, like this one from Anthropologie.

If you're not too hot about going all out nautical like above, one can always take a page out of the King of the nautical's, Ralph Lauren's, book and wear it more subtly like above-inside matched with a very plain outer layer.

A good one would be these two from Trina Turk and Anthropologie respectively. I simply adore how Anthropologie used a blend of two stripes, it really gives the shirt more style and emphasizes the neckline.

Another gorgeous take on the nautical stripes. On cardigans, the sailor stripes are both ladylike and bold-esp the navy blue one above from Anthropologie. And they are oh-so-wearable too judging from the outfit on the left from Marc by Marc Jacobs. Perfect for keeping us warm in spring/summer from the occasional chilly wind and a/c.

And then there is the much more exciting and artistic twist to the nautical stripes from none other then Marc by Marc Jacobs again. And now. . I feel like I should say, aiye aiya sailor!