Showing posts with label frugal fashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal fashion. Show all posts

Monday, September 19, 2016

What Are You Focus On?


There you go again! You want that newest glittery, shiny, sparkly object that you don’t have. How marvelous it would be to have that small addition into our lives! Surely it would beautify us, makes us feel like a million bucks, attractive, successful, wonderful, luscious, in love with life! How can you not have that!

Uh oh. Sounds too familiar, isn’t it?

That new shiny-sparkly-glittery object could be a new eyeshadow palette, on sale on Sephora. It could be that brand new oh-so-lovely rose-colored lipstick that hold a thousand promises to bring glamour to our look, and therefore, excitements to our lives! Perhaps it’s the new knick-knack from Dollar Tree, a colorful glass ornament, a new planner, new stickers for our projects that might get us to be more… crafty. Or, on a more dangerous path, it could be a dazzling smile of another man. A man who is not our boring, selfish, unattentive husband. A man who is willing to listen, flatter us and say we look beautiful, shower us with attention. A man who is already married. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Now let’s shift our focus a little bit. Look inside your drawer. You have, what, five eyeshadow palettes that you have not touched for months, because you are already comfortable with the one neutral palette that you keep using every single day. Instead of torturing yourself thinking about THAT one palette that you simply MUST buy, why don’t you think about what are you going to do with the five palettes already stashed in your own drawer? Watch some tutorial videos on YouTube and think how fun it would be to play with those five palettes?
Mix two tones of lipsticks that have been kept idly in your stash and see how it would come out. You can create your own, unique, custom-made-especially-for-you, shade of lipstick. You can even name it to whatever it is your heart desire! Coral Frost. That’s what I came up with mixing two a pale frost shade that is too pale for me, with a matte warm coral shade. Coral on the bottom, frost on the top layer. I got even a better surprise when I mixed the same shades but changed the layers: frost first, coral on top. It came out satiny instead of frosty! I felt a bit like LeeAnne Lauder or LeeAnne Revlon. Or maybe not. But you know what I mean.

What about finally really get down to it and create craft from your mountainous amount of craft supplies in the basement? Invite the neighborhood kids if you feel like feeding your inner Peter Pan and spend an hour or two being creative in your own Never Neverland! You will forget about shopping for new stickers on Etsy if your hands are busy having fun.

If you think that THAT man is much more charming and understanding than your own husband, well, change your focus to what you’ve already had. Yes, Ladies. The man who will be coming home to you tonite may not be very exciting, but he is yours and yours only. Focus on what he has done for you all these years. Think of what he has not done for you all these years: he has not let his eyes and heart wandered to other women, for example. And think about all the wonderful things you would want to do with him, for him, and for both of you that would make your marriage felt alive again. Want a picnic in the park but he never initiates it? Why don’t you prepare the picnic basket, wear a nice autumn dress and invite him along with you? You cannot suddenly kiss the random handsome guy you saw at the grocery store, but you can do so to your dear husband. You can even tickle him a bit and have a laugh!

Don’t focus on what you don’t have. Focus on what you have, and suddenly you will realize that what you’ve already had is nice and wonderful, just as well!


For today’s look, instead of coveting a new dress, I had a bit of fun by giving this old dress a new, fresher look with some layering. Check it out and let me know which look you like best: the original look, or the layered look.





Monday, May 2, 2016

One Can Do A Lot With Old Office Uniform

Sometimes, the good things in life really come for free.
At my previous office, uniform is a must. Hence, every year, we girls receive a uniform set consists of two short-sleeved plain black shirts, two white ones, two black blazers, two pairs of black slacks, and one black pencil skirt. Now that I've moved to my current office, I'm free to experiment and be creative with this free, versatile piece: the black shirt.

I can wear it belted with a scarf, like in this post.
Accented with this huge purple bead necklace, like in this post. Ow, forgive the squinted eye...

Wear it under this Missoni-inspired baggy tank, cinched with a belt, like this.

Layer it with a lavender vest like I did here, like a school girl!

Pair it with my Mom's vintage skirt for dinner and watching sunset at the beach, like this.

Ooooor, even spruce it up with a children's necklace for casual days, like here!

See? Free stuff, Ladies! And it works wonders in terms of versatility!

Monday, March 16, 2015

No More Dresses (At Home)

First of all, thank you for all your support and kind words on my previous post about not-so-perfect motherhood. I was hesitant to press the publish button, fearing to receive backlash of looking like an unloving or uncaring mom. Instead, I got all kinds of positive feedback and messages! Thank you, and I hope my blunt confession of my early motherhood journey will encourage other new mothers who also deal with similar situation.



Get this look:
WILLY'S Wedges • $70 Striped Shell • The Limited • $24.97 1/5 CT Black Diamond TW Butterfly Pendant With Chain White Yellow Silver Black Rhodium Plated • Black Diamond • $68 Kate Spade New York Eyelet Garden Stud Earrings • Kate Spade • $48 kate spade new york Cedar Street Elissa Shoulder Handbag • Kate Spade • $279–368

Good morning, Ladies!

This morning, I wore black pants to work, and my two-year-old son asked me: "What are you wearing, Mommy?" That's when I realized that I very rarely wear pants or slacks to work. Sometimes I would wear jeans on the weekends, or colorful cropped pants, but most of the times I wear dresses or skirts. I much prefer dresses over anything else because you don't need to mix and match, and it's a practically fuss-free - no tucking in required - , lovely, feminine outfit. Also, because I love wearing flared dresses, I can move freely and easily in them. Dresses are much more comfortable to wear than a pair of jeans. Not to mention more flaterring.

At home, I used to love wearing housedresses. I said I used to, because several months ago, I stopped wearing them and started wearing shorts. Not short shorts, but shorts whose length hit about two or three inches above the knee. You might wonder why did I change my house uniform?

The answer is, I do it for my son.

I found that whenever I played with son on the floor wearing dresses, the skirt will hitch up and Mommy would accidentally flashed her underwear! Now, I always wear short tights underneatch a skirt whenever I go out, and mostly I won't roll over on the floor when I go out, so wearing dresses is never a problem before. Only inside of the house.

I want to bring up my son with manners, dignity, and modesty. I realize that I'm being an example of what kind of girl he will seek out when he's older, so I want to set a good example as much as I could. So, I made a decision, goodbye housedresses! I went out and bought myself some baby-doll sets to wear at home. I bough sets, because they cost similar to a pair of shorts, and I get one short and one top per set. Some might ask, why don't I wear longer skirts instead of changing to shorts? Because I asked, and my husband - while he doesn't approve on his wife wearing anything immodest like a micro-mini skirt - also stated very clearly that he doesn't like to see me wearing long skirts. Midis that hit right on my upper calf is the maximum length. He thinks long skirts on me - except evening gowns - look unappealing and too-matronly. Now, I don't mean to make any judgement or even opinion here about long skirts, it's just a matter of taste of one's husband about what his wife is wearing.

I still prefer dresses over pants. But for now, I'll just wear shorts and colorful tops at home instead of skirts or dresses, until I can figure out a way to wear them modestly while playing sumo match with my son on the floor. ^__^

These are some of my babydoll shorts. I try to buy some that are colorful but not too much sleeping-wear looking. And I don't wear the babydoll top, I wear cute top in solid colors instead. I'm not interested to look like I just roll out of bed, even if I just stay at home all day.


This is what I'm wearing today. 
It's gloomy outside so I'm wearing this panda print shorts in greesn with neon green T-shirt.


Out of topic, I really love this Kate Spade geranium red bag that I got as my birthday present last year. Since it is made from saffiano leather, it is pretty much scratch resistand, low maintenance, and very sturdy. The bright unique pop of red can look a little bit too much at times, but somehow it always manages to boost the look of almost any outfit combination!

I also really like this white daisy stud earrings. I don't like studs, I prefer dangly earrings, but somehow this pair look so pretty against my dark hair, so I snatch them.


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Monday, September 8, 2014

More Than Getting Organized: Editing My Closet!



Get this look:
Red and white striped top (buy Old Navy, Topshop)
Charcoal grey peplum skirt (buy)
Red tartan purse (buy tote, wallet)
Red skinny belt (buy Wet Seal, Ralph Lauren)
Butterfly necklace (buy)

Some time ago, I wrote in this post that a girl CAN have too many clothes. It still rings true to me even  today. Now, I don't shop very often, but when I do, I shop A LOT. I take care of my things, so my clothing items last for a long time. And I love to remix, refashion and recycle. AND I have problems parting with things, so when I do replenish my closet with new purchases, my old pieces still look good and I cannot make myself getting rid of them. Hence the cycle continues until I end up with piles and piles of clothes, bags, and shoes that I don't wear often, but I would hate to part with. 

Sometimes I'm trying to justify my habit by telling myself that I'm being frugal. That I take a good care of my stuff. That I recycle and repurpose. But deep down, I know that only part of it was true. The rest is quite simple: I am hoarding things.

Then I stumbled upon this post by Sabby Style that inspired me to edit my closet. I did it one step at a time. If you followed my blog, you might have noticed that I listed the steps on my weekly list. First I edit my shoe collection, getting rid of six to eight pairs. Then my bag collection. Then finally my closet, getting rid many, many pieces. I even edited my book collection and sold some to used bookstores and to friends!

I'm not trying to emulate the French girl's wardrobe or just the very best basics, quality bags, and some scarves. Oh, noooooo! I love my fun and whimsical pieces too much! But I try to slim down to pieces that I really like. Repurposing, refashioning, and recycling my fashion items can go a bit too far, unless I decided to stop shopping altogether! All in moderation here, Friends. All in moderation. I still refashion. I still recycle. I still repurpose. But I no longer, or at least I try not to, hang on things with claws as if losing them will be the end of the world!

Do you have problem similar to mine? When frugal fashion can become a bit too much?





I'm linking up to these wonderful Ladies:

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