A quick look back at our archives revealed that, with the exception of last year, this time each year I have an obsession with umbrellas. It must be the rain. Ironically though, as much as I harp on about cute umbrellas all the time, and despite having a very cute tiny umbrella from Accessorize, I always end up reaching for my sturdy mauve colored foldable umbrella from Walgreens (or when I am at home, whatever I can get my hands on that doesn't have a Mickey Mouse head on it). My cute Accessorize umbrella is just too delicate and cute for practical use. That is probably why I gave up writing about umbrellas last year.
Lately though, after viewing these gorgeously artsy polariods taken by my friend E with her red umbrella, I'm back to obsessing over umbrellas again.
Don't you just love them? The red umbrella just "pops" in every picture and makes the picture instantly more interesting. It is the perfect accessory to an otherwise dreary rainy day. I especially LOVE the first picture of the red umbrella against the marble (at least I think its marble) building. The brightness instantly draws attention to the person, who would otherwise be lost in the photo. An artist could not have better composed this picture. (And now I sound like I'm writing an art history paper....). 
Since I am always on the pursuit of the perfect picture, these pictures got me back to thinking about umbrellas again. Maybe my previous theory about umbrellas and how we should all get cute small ones was a bit off. Instead, we should get BOLD ones. Like that red umbrella and this colorful stripey one (left) from Accessorize (though again, careful with issues of fragility. You know you're not going to use it if you fear the wind will blow it inside out every other minute). Something bright and bold.
Another thing I am thinking about is long umbrellas. I've always been a practical foldable umbrella kind of girl. But somehow, somewhere, it got into my head that long umbrellas were cool. I have an image of myself walking down a quaint European street on a cloudy day swinging my long umbrella around on my arm looking cool and sophisticated. Naturally in my imagination, I have conveniently swept away the image of myself struggling with my all my things and finally spilling tea all over myself because one of my hand was too occupied holding an umbrella. I don't know why I think long umbrellas are cool. Perhaps it is the long, thin and elongated quality of the long umbrella, which I hope will reflect upon me and make me look long, thin and elongated as well, by just carrying it around with me? Sorry, art history coming in again.
This black/white long umbrella (right) from Top Shop fits my image perfectly. The simple horizontal stripes and the contrasting black/white color creates a sharp and bold vision that will work just as well as the red umbrella in terms of eye-popping-ness. Plus, there is the added advantage of being black/white and so will literally match all your outfits! Wow, now I REALLY REALLY want this umbrella!
And then there is the long clear umbrellas. I think this idea was sparked by a movie I saw, where in this scene the camera just follows a girl around in a busy city, and she's just holding this completely refreshing clear umbrella, while everyone else were holding black or some other equally somber looking umbrellas. I've been thinking about them ever since, especially this summer when I saw them selling in a local supermarket. Somehow though it just didn't seem right- and you want to make sure that it is right, because a clear umbrella go wrong can just look cheap. I finally realized why the other day. It was the shape. It was just too bland and normal.
These bubble umbrellas (above) on the other hand, from UO, are just right. I love the deep shape and the simple stripe of color outlining it. The shape is just so ... Mary Poppin-esque (I think). So cute! Plus, this will also match all your outfits! And if you still want a bold "pop," the pink/red version is perfect.
Now I think the question is, do I really need another umbrella? And if/when I convince myself that I do need another one, which one??
Image Source: Top Shop, Accessorize and Urban Outfitters
Lately though, after viewing these gorgeously artsy polariods taken by my friend E with her red umbrella, I'm back to obsessing over umbrellas again.
Don't you just love them? The red umbrella just "pops" in every picture and makes the picture instantly more interesting. It is the perfect accessory to an otherwise dreary rainy day. I especially LOVE the first picture of the red umbrella against the marble (at least I think its marble) building. The brightness instantly draws attention to the person, who would otherwise be lost in the photo. An artist could not have better composed this picture. (And now I sound like I'm writing an art history paper....). 
Since I am always on the pursuit of the perfect picture, these pictures got me back to thinking about umbrellas again. Maybe my previous theory about umbrellas and how we should all get cute small ones was a bit off. Instead, we should get BOLD ones. Like that red umbrella and this colorful stripey one (left) from Accessorize (though again, careful with issues of fragility. You know you're not going to use it if you fear the wind will blow it inside out every other minute). Something bright and bold.
Another thing I am thinking about is long umbrellas. I've always been a practical foldable umbrella kind of girl. But somehow, somewhere, it got into my head that long umbrellas were cool. I have an image of myself walking down a quaint European street on a cloudy day swinging my long umbrella around on my arm looking cool and sophisticated. Naturally in my imagination, I have conveniently swept away the image of myself struggling with my all my things and finally spilling tea all over myself because one of my hand was too occupied holding an umbrella. I don't know why I think long umbrellas are cool. Perhaps it is the long, thin and elongated quality of the long umbrella, which I hope will reflect upon me and make me look long, thin and elongated as well, by just carrying it around with me? Sorry, art history coming in again.
This black/white long umbrella (right) from Top Shop fits my image perfectly. The simple horizontal stripes and the contrasting black/white color creates a sharp and bold vision that will work just as well as the red umbrella in terms of eye-popping-ness. Plus, there is the added advantage of being black/white and so will literally match all your outfits! Wow, now I REALLY REALLY want this umbrella!
And then there is the long clear umbrellas. I think this idea was sparked by a movie I saw, where in this scene the camera just follows a girl around in a busy city, and she's just holding this completely refreshing clear umbrella, while everyone else were holding black or some other equally somber looking umbrellas. I've been thinking about them ever since, especially this summer when I saw them selling in a local supermarket. Somehow though it just didn't seem right- and you want to make sure that it is right, because a clear umbrella go wrong can just look cheap. I finally realized why the other day. It was the shape. It was just too bland and normal.These bubble umbrellas (above) on the other hand, from UO, are just right. I love the deep shape and the simple stripe of color outlining it. The shape is just so ... Mary Poppin-esque (I think). So cute! Plus, this will also match all your outfits! And if you still want a bold "pop," the pink/red version is perfect.
Now I think the question is, do I really need another umbrella? And if/when I convince myself that I do need another one, which one??
Image Source: Top Shop, Accessorize and Urban Outfitters
But recently, I bought a pair of pale green, rose studs (like the image above,) and now I'm addicted! I've never really worn colourful earrings before so that was a new thing for me. Also, wearing studs just suddenly seemed so much simplier and easier compared to dangly earrings and hoops. So now I'm on a lookout for studs. I want them simple, but not boring.
The ones I want to avoid are the ones that spell out the brand name. Most of them look a bit tacky and just simply too obvious. The only ones I think are potentially cute are Chanel ones -not really sure why. 
This pair of wing studs by Giles & Brothers is SO cool! I love them! The details to the metal make the earrings look stylish in that vintage-y way.
I've always wanted something that had skulls on it but I never thought they were worth it. I think this pair is ok though-it's got tiny crystals in the eyes so it would look more designed and hopefully less juvenile. Yes, I know skulls are so two seasons ago but I still like them. This pair is by Tom Binns. 
Even though I usually prefer things to be symmetrical, I think these are too cute to dislike. I prefer the XO pair by Giles & Brother, but the LOVE studs by Jennifer Zener are really cute too!
I usually think style items in the shape of lips look cheap and tacky, but I think this pair is done really well and are quite adorable! Although for 242usd, they really should look classier than most! Gosh, I really need to keep an eye out for any sales and discounts now!
For the past two seasons, I've been really liking this kind of look: a dress with a few layers of the skirt bit below, or alternatively, a long top with that kind of skirt. (This dress is by Marc by Marc Jacobs from last season.) This look has moved from high fashion collection to street fashion recently, where most people wear multi-layered skirt/ underdress underneath a long sweater, at least in Asia anyways. 
But ever since the Miu Miu S/S07 and Luella S/S08 show, I've been trying to find a mini-skirt with those gorgeous, origami-like folds. I LOVE them! They look so artistic and high-fashion-like, yet still so simple and wearable. For some odd reasons, even though I remember Miu Miu's S/S07 show starting my hunt for this kind of skirts, I can't find a picture of it so here are the Luella ones. I especially love that Batman-inspired look! See how the black miniskirt adds serious style to the outfit? Seriously, those folds are so cute!
Marc Jacobs F/W07 collection also had something similar -a simple, easy-to-wear shift dress with pretty, colourful fold details beneath. 
Sorry about the poor quality photo -it looked worse with flash, but you get the idea. The upper part is basically dark grey/ almost black, and the folds are two different shades of purple. They had another version in beige and yellow, which I thought was more special but not as easy to wear. I loved it so much I just wore it straight to dinner. Luckily, I was wearing a cute black silk top and red kitten heels for dinner anyways, so they matched perfectly.
Let's start from the beginning, the star prints were most prominently featured in the S/S08 collections of YSL in the form of big starry prints and costume jewelry. The plastic star earrings were sold out when I went to a YSL store a few days ago in Hong Kong. As for the plastic star necklace, the first time my friends and I saw the price online, we were absolutely flabbergasted! 
The other prominent star supporter was Chanel, in the form of little white stars with a navy blue backdrop. Some fashion magazines have included it as an example of the stars trend, while others have claimed it to be part of the 'American' colours trend (-I guess because of the stars part of the US flag.)
Kate Moss, ever the trend leader already started wearing it last year.
These two are what I think are the best examples of how the star printed items can look cheap. The dress on the left (by ASOS) just looks sort of skanky, and the skirt on the right (by Top Shop) looks so cheap and childish looking that I wonder who above the age of 14 would buy it.
As for this Oasis dress, doesn't it look too mature to you? Or maybe they were just aiming for an older audience. 
These two items are both by French Connection. I really dislike the top -it just looks cheap and very tight-fitted. But strangely, I think the dress version is kind of cute. 
I do think the star prints can look nice on certain items. Take these tops for instance, maybe it's because of the material or elegant designs, but these top look really pretty. I especially like the white one (left) by ASOS -imagine it as part of a work outfit! The top on the right is by Top Shop. 
And check out this dress by ASOS. I'm still not sure what to think of it: On one hand, I think it's styled and modelled really coolly in the picture. On the other hand, I can't imagine actually wearing a complete outfit that is all star-printed. 
For something more fun than the white and navy blue star prints, Emilio Pucci has a few pieces of colourful star printed items. 
In sync with the star trend, Top Shop has this very basic pink T-shirt. I imagine it would look cool on a teenager doing the whole rock chick/ skater girl look (-yes, perhaps I watch too much TV and read too much high school fiction.)
