Make a Subtle Statement

I think the best sort of outfit is when there is a pop of the unexpected that draws your eye and your attention to a particular piece/color. I am all for the subtlety that under-stated clothing can give you.

For days when I don't want to think about the outfit that I am going to put on, I usually dress in monochrome colors. As I work in a fairly relaxed environments, on days when I don't need to go make presentations/see clients, I usually wear jeans and a nice pair of heels and top. Nothing too corporate. I am fairly glad that the industry I work in allows me to express myself in terms of how I can dress. I know that a lot of my finance industry friends are required to dress severely conservatively (think black and navy powersuits...for the men and women) and sometimes it makes me wonder why. Why can't they let you express yourself while still dressing in a smart, classy way?

I would say, gals if you dare, separate yourself from the rest in the way you accessorize! Go statement like with the J.Crew necklace featured above, or go classic with pearls...

Either way, take the time to allow your true style to shine through, no matter the corporate mandated clone-uniform wear! Rebel a little! I also recommend turning some heads with a very diamond-encrusted watch ;)

What is your office dress code like?

Wednesday Munchies: Christian Louboutin Red T-Strap Heels

Featuring Christian Louboutin shoes

I have been trying to look for a pair of work-appropriate yet fun red pumps for work...what do you think about these?

Prabal Gurung x Target Collection Sketches

I saw the Target x Prabal Gurung Lookbook collaboration and I fell in love with the print, color and movement of each of the pieces!! Decided to sketch out my favorite looks from the collection & tape to my wall: 01, 08, and 21. Take a look at the entire lookbook here & it will be hitting Target's near you on Feburary 10th! Mark your calendars!

I think its the perfectly easy summer pieces that I am loving. Throw it on, run out the door. If you're going to work, toss on a blazer/cardigan and you're good to go!

Museum Wanderings: The Frick Collection

Today was a gorgeous winter day in New York. My friends and I decided to go visit the Frick Collection in the Upper East Side to get inspired. To be truthfully honest, I just wanted to go visit the mansion-converted museum of Henry Frick. Can you imagine that a person used to live in a house with a inner-fountain room on 5th Ave? The interior was to die for - houses are no longer made this way!

I went in to take another viewing of one of my favorite series of paintings by Jean-Honore Fragonard. It is a series of four paintings originally commissioned by Madame Du Barry, the mistress of King Louis XV of France. My favorites of this series is The Reverie (left) and Love Letters (right).

               

Mostly, I loved these series of paintings because of the style of dress - decadent layers of fabrics in such poofy grandeur. When else would a girl get to wear a hooped skirt and twirl around in swishy layers of fabric? As much as I would love to be able to wear a gorgeously decorated dress as those who lived during France's decadent 1700s but for modern-day working gals, it is simply too impractical. For now though, I can just dream -- like any girl who dreams about pretty dresses to twirl around in ;)

I also love the story of these. The first is the beginning of the romance where the girl is dreaming/fantasizing and the last painting is the end result when the couple is finally able to reach a stable part of their relationship. As you can see, I really only like to focus on the good parts of the relationship - the beginning and the end, haha.

You can get inspiration from anywhere! When you guys get a chance, go visit the Frick Collection!

Wednesday Munchies: Classic Casual Day Bag

Wednesday Munchies - Givenchy Antigona

I have been searching high and low for the perfectly casual day bag to throw everything in when I am out of the house for some museum hopping, camera-toting photo-shooting, moleskine journal sketching days. I think I found her...my jaw dropped and I drooled when I saw this -- someone please hand me a tissue so I can wipe the saliva off my chin ;)

So until I can commit to dropping so much money for a bag for this Givenchy Antigona satchel, I will just stare at the picture of this sumptious leather bag in the most perfectly gorgeous cognac brown.

What's In My Bag v.1

Michael Kors

As a New York gal who tends to be out of the house most of the day, I need to bring all my essentials with me. However, I am by far one of the lightest packers amongst all my friends. I tend to carry as little as possible and will never carry anything that I absolutely don't need. I tend to rotate between my Rebecca Minkoff and my Michael Kors bag - both of which are quite medium/small sized for an everyday bag. But a smaller bag forces you to think about what you actually need to bring on an every day basis, no?

I ALWAYS carry my Kindle - those long train rides get very tedious and boring - pop in some headphone for music with my iPhone. My wallet is the J.Crew magic wallet - I have converted quite a number of friends to this magical compact wallet. Since I tend to sketch quite a bit, I also bring along my Moleskine to randomly jot thoughts, notes, inspiration down. I will never walk out of my house without my HG EOS lipbalm & for those nights when your girlfriends decide to randomly call you out for a night on the town, a deep red lipstick from Smashbox.

Are you guys a stuff-everything in the bag because you may never know when you need it or a only leave the house with my essentials sort of gal?

New York Winter Layers

New York is a fickle girl in the winter time. She is bitterly cold and if you are not prepared, she may bite off your nose.

For me, I am known amongst my friends to be a notorious hater of puffy-ness. I do not own own puffy down jackets. No sir! Who wants walk around looking like a marshmallow when there are cute boys to look for? ;) Add onto the fact that I am quite a petite gal and it could end up being a recipe for disaster.

So what do I do??

The only option for me is to layer. I love layers. Can't have too much. In the end, I can still look chic & stylish without too much bulk. So I wear my outfit layered under leather/blazer jackets with my crazy warm wool jackets with scarves, beanies, multiple layers of tights and jeans bundled on top. Oh yes, we must not forget those touch-sensitive gloves. You don't want to have to take off your gloves in this fiercely cold weather to reply to those text messages.

New York Winter Layers

How do you guys fight the battle of the bulk in places of bitter cold winters?

Cheers to 2013!

Annual International Fireworks Competition Show in Macau

2013 is the year where I am determined to finally pursue my passions outside of corporate America which mostly involve me being hunched over my iMac furiously meeting deadlines, working late hours/weekends, etc.

To be able to share my love of fashion, great advertising, branding campaigns, and of course my art. I have decided to come out of the closet about my inner secret for art. Ever since high school, being raised by fairly conservative, traditional parents, I never fully pursued my passion for art – illustrations, paintings to the fullest extent. It has always been one of those things on the back of my mind that I loved but thought I would never be able to fully make a living off of. Hence, my entry into corporate America straight out of college graduation. To my credit, I decided not to pursue a finance career as seeing how I had a business background.

Instead, I entered into the glorious and deceiving world of advertising – working just as many hours as my recently matriculated finance-educated friends but without the incredible pay to live a “high-rolling” lifestyle. But I love what I do.

I love advertising. I love branding. Smart branding and copy-writing and messaging is something that very few campaigns have nowadays.

So as my 2013 began with a bit of a flu bug and consumption of Vitamin C, I will leave you all with one of the funniest print advertorials I saw in the past month. Definitely gave me a chuckle and made me do a double-take. Simple, witty and smart. Cheers! :)