Pahk the Cah in Hahvahd Yahd.

Yesterday my family went into Harvard Square with my friend. We went shopping at Newbury Comics (for CDs), Urban Outfitters, and American Apparel. While I only got a few things, I am proud of my purchases (and the fact I only spent $54). At Urbans (my friend hates it when I call it that) they had some pretty good sales, but most of the stuff was still on the expensive side and I didn't like anything enough to buy it... until I saw these:

And they were on sale for just $40! They had a size 9, so I tried them on, they fit perfectly, and I had to get them. My friend liked them but kept telling me they would be cooler if they were thrifted, though. I punched her in the face. Just kidding, of course. They're also online, but for $80! I don't know why they had them for so cheap. Not that I'm complaining...

Also, the stylish cashier asked me where I had gotten my t-shirt and I told her about Uniqlo. She wrote the name of it down, and I loved my shirt more than ever.

We went into American Apparel and immediately grabbed handfuls of lamé things to try on. Most of it looked like crap (tube dress+days of stuffing my face=not good) but we both decided, on an impulse, to buy the lamé bras. I got silver and she got gold, and we're still trying to figure out how to wear them under clothes (obviously we aren't going to walk around in just the bra thingy). I also tried on this mens striped t-shirt. It looked so slouchy and cool, and then I looked at the price tag. $28! For a plain t-shirt! Haha, no.

On a side note, the AA store is a bit sketchy. I mean, the changing rooms are right out in the open and the curtain doesn't close all the way. If you wanted to, you could see right in. My friend and I took turns holding it shut while we tried things on. But then again, what do you expect from American Apparel. Good thing the clothes are (mostly) really cute!

p.s. No one really has a Boston accent like that.

I Got the Goods

This Christmas was pretty good, but no surprises. I finally got my silver lamé American Apparel leggings (and of course ElleGirl says they'll be out in 2008.... but whatever), my Minnetonka lace-up moccasin boots, and my checkered Vans. Other clothes I got included a slightly too big brown v-neck sweater by Arizona (it's cozy anyway... I'm wearing it now!), a brown lace-trim cami, also a bit too big but perfect for summer (all this brown! Seriously, I went through my brown clothing phase in 7th grade! But I guess it's a color that looks good on me...), and a shirt that, honestly, is much more my mom's taste than mine. I should regift it to her :P. But hey, it's the thought that counts. Despite my constant complaints of the sub-40 minute battery life of my iPod, there was no replacement. However, we did get the Wii my brother was practically begging for. Hmm...

Joking, of course. That iPod Touch cost twice as much as the Wii....

Later this week I'm going shopping in Harvard Square with my friend. We'll probably go to Urban Outfitters for clothes and Newbury Comics for CDs. Hopefully I'll get some more stuff!

I managed to get myself a 20% discount on the American Apparel online store, so I just made a rather big purchase there.


But what am I going to wear under this dress? It is very low-cut in the back.

I've been in love with this dress for a while. It's a great way to do/fake the super-high-waisted look.

And I've though of quite a few outfits to go with these leggings! The problem with the silver is I have no idea how to wear them. I'd love to wear them alone but that might be kind of eh... plus they seemed rather, um, saggy. But I'll work it out!

Oh yes, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, just enjoy the break.

Twelve By Twelve... Because It's 21 Backwards?

Some of you may have heard about Forever 21's new sister store, Twelve By Twelve. Currently the stores are nowhere near me, but the collection is up online. It consists of slightly more expensive, sophisticated and (presumably) better quality clothes that its fast-fashion counterpart. As I heard about it early on, it didn't sound too great, and F21's other division, Heritage1981 which is a bit bland for my taste, didn't set a high bar. But I went onto the website, and to my surprise there were some cool photographs with nice-looking clothes. I checked it out, and, despite the slightly weird collection names ("Medieval" wait... what? But the birds' nest on the model's head is beyond cool) some of the clothes had really nice design. My favorites:

"Chiffon Couture Dress", $29. Cute and reasonable priced. It reminds me of Erin Fetherson for Target. It would be better sans buttons, though. (You can't really make out the buttons in this picture. They're on the black part.)

"Belted Tier Skirt", $39. I love this, though I would probably wear it without the belt. But $40 is pushing it a bit!

"Divine Satin Pleat Skirt", $29. The design on this is quite nice, but the material may or may not appear cheap in person.

"Colorblock Jersey Hooded Dress", $34. This dress is really cute, and the hood is an interesting touch (but maybe that's just me—I love hoods).

"Long Sleeve Tunic Sweater w/ Chunky Center Front Zip" (what a mouthful!), $49. My very favorite thing. I want it so much, it reminds me of Martin Margiela I think. (He should get an online store! I would seriously buy one of his amazing jackets for 400-something dollars.) Unfortunately, $50 is too much for this. Love the clothes, poop on the prices.

Once you get over the bizarre mannequin hands they're quite nice, I think. Plus they have size x-small, something F21 usually doesn't have, to my frequent annoyance. Now all they have to do is open near me, since I hate shopping online.

New Hair

I went to my hairdresser having finally worked up the courage to ask for bangs. I wanted Irina Lazareanu-style bangs, but my hairdresser told me the same thing my parents had said: "No, no, you don't want bangs." So instead I decided to trust his judgement. He cut more layers and added some lip-length side-swept "bangs." I was speechless, and not in a necessarily good way at the final product. I though I looked like an '80s person, plus my hair wasn't flat ironed (gasp!) and it looked rather dull. But everyone else who's seen my hair likes it, apparently. My mom pointed out a bunch of people in magazines who had the same hair as me. My friend said it was "hipster", while my hairdresser preferred "Victoria's Secret model". But it will take some getting used to for me.

The bangs:

(Excuse my face. I look really bad here for some reason!)

I can always change it if I don't like it. My other worry is that once I flat iron it will probably look great... except literally every girl in my school has the same "bangs"! And that seriously annoys me. I wanted a haircut that would make me stand out. But whatever, I'll like it eventually. Probably.

SUPAH fUGG!!!

If there is one thing that scorches my retinas and makes me want to claw my eyes out, it's Ugg boots. Okay, they're not that bad really, but it's the fact that everyone in my school has been wearing them since October that annoys me. I see them everywhere (Ugg boots with sweatpants, Ugg boots with flare jeans tucked in, cuffed, and over them, Ugg boots with bare legs and denim minis, and the latest development, Ugg boots with legwarmers from Abercrombie, Hollister, or Juicy Couture. The Hollister and A&F ones are actually cute, but the Juicy ones are utterly hideous in their label-whoreness.) Ugg boots. If you live under a rock and don't know what they look like, here they are:

Gouge eyes now! These are actually the Ugg boots I would wear if I had to wear Ugg boots. I hate the lighter tan, and the black and colored ones are not good at all. So I'd say, go with brown or darker tan, if you must.

I'm Not Pregnant, So Why Are You Selling Me Maternity Tops?

Lately, on my trips into A&F and Hollister, I have been noticing something incredible annoying that has prevented me from wasting my money on countless occasions: empire-waist knits. Now, these are a godsend to the, um, curvier of the Abercrombie clones (no more über-skintight shirts!), but skinny girls and empire waists do not mix. Basically, they make you look fat. Or pregnant. I call them the gain-ten-pounds-instantly shirts. And let's not forget the worst offenders, the empire cableknit sweaters. Empire sweaters in thicker materials are so unflattering on so many levels I can't even begin to talk about. So I want to see less of this ("empire waist"):

and more of this ("classic fit"):

So I can go back to wasting my money on things from these stores that I'll never wear anyway because I'll feel like a blahhhh.

(I seriously have been fantasizing about the bottom shirt since I saw it on this thin, thin girl in 7th grade. Long sleeve shirts look soo much better on my flabby (muscular) arms. I might have to buy it, despite its $35-ness, and Abercrombie-ness, as I am trying to ban all things Abercrombie as their prevalence tends to make me puke. But I digress.)

Her Style Is So Stange!

Some models can't dress themselves without the help of a stylist. Others, such as Dutch model Iekeliene Stange, have amazing personal style. Iekeliene (pronounced Ick-uh-lee-na, according to Fashionista.com) has a crazy, fun way of dressing. While I wouldn't be able to pull some of the things she wears, I can't help but admiring her (and her sharp, sharp cheekbones).


(Click for a bigger picture)

Beautious Shoes

Yesterday I went to Marshalls with hope of finding a winter jacket. My one from last year is slightly hideous and besides, it is nowhere close to matching my black ski pants (skiing is really the main reason for having a winter jacket now because I have a fabulous Guess military coat—I need to blog about that, too). I found a cute black Calvin Klein one for just $60, but anyway.

On my customary sweep through the size 9 shoe section, I spotted a pair of the most fabulous (favorite word today or what?) shoes ever seen in Marshalls: black patent leather high heel lace up oxfords by Steve Madden! Naturally I put them on and went to show (shock?) my mother. She commented on how stupid people look walking in high heels and how they reminded her of Chinese foot binding (they did make me feet look tiny—but that's a good thing in my book), and went to check out. The shoes were $50, so I knew there was no way I could get her to buy them for me, so I regretfully placed them back on the shelf and left the store in resignation.

BUT then I couldn't stop thinking about them. Later in the afternoon my dad was going to make a quick grocery store run, and I jumped at the opportunity to tag along, as Marshalls is right next to the grocery store. I grabbed $50 in cash out of my increasingly small savings, and dashed in their to buy those shoes! Thankfully, they were still their, and I made a quick purchase. I can't wait to wear them!

The only problem is that they are too tight, especially on my considerable larger right foot, when I wear them with sweatsocks, so I'll probably have to wear them with stockings or thinner socks. Less squished feet, but more blisters. Oh well... I can suffer for beautiful shoes! ;P

Back To School Fashion Lab Report, Pt. 1.825

I am proud to say that my style has—not settled, no—but hovered around somewhere above safe. Some day I'll get off my lazy butt and write a whole big post about it, but it feels good to dress how I want.

A School Week of Outfits

First of all, let me say that I am a horrible blogger! It was been well over a month since I have last updated and I haven't even been that busy. But then again, I write this blog for myself and no one really reads it. So oh well!

Last weekend I went to the mall and also to Target and got some great new clothes. So my outfits this week were rather inspired. Here they are:

Monday

H&M sweatshirt (new). Gap cutoff shorts. Hue pink tights (new). Target gray knee-highs.
Tuesday

Erin Fetherson for Target cardigan and t-shirt. Old Navy leggings.

I have always (inexplicably) wanted to wear leggings as pants, and now I can say I have done it! It's not like no one at my school does it, but it felt a bit awkward for me, like I was walking around in my underwear. And it inspired one friend to fashion me a paper mini skirt during math class!

Wednesday

Merona jacket (new). Uniqlo t-shirt. Urban Outfitters scarf. Tripp NYC skinny pants.

These pants. They are just awesome. But... they really, um, stand out. More than any other item I own, these get whistled at, whispered about, hated, recognized ("are you the girl who was wearing those bright blue pants?") commented ("your pants are very BRIGHT"), and, yes, complimented. I'd be lying if I said I hated the attention.

This jacket was a great find for $22 at Target. There were a million of them on sale and I've been searching for a blazer forever so I was like, what the heck. I'll try it on. And to my surprise it fit perfectly. In this outfit, I tried to make a jacket clearly meant for job interviews and the like casual with the pants, t-shirt, and scarf. The scarf was added as I ran out the door so I wouldn't freeze at the bus stop, but I liked the way it looked and decided to keep it on.

Thursday

J. Crew scarf and capris (both new). Mossimo long-sleeve tee (new).

This outfit was kind of fun and slightly sailor-esque, but a bit less in-your-face than my other outfits. Unfortunately, the "tissue tee" was completely see-through and I didn't really realize until I got to school....

So that's my school week of outfits! But what about Friday? Um, my Friday outfit wasn't really that great. But today I had some fun creating my outfit. First I starting by trying to knock off strawberry milkshakes's outfit.

Alice Temperly for Target blouse. Old Navy denim shorts.
Unfortunately my shorts weren't high enough, so I had to untuck the blouse.

Then I realized it wasn't supposed to go above freezing all day and I added some black tights.