WHAT THEY WORE | Inside Vogue

Starting this new category called "What They Wore" (so if you take a look at my sidebar, all of the posts here are categorized), after I realize that photogenic is not an adjective to describe me. I will definitely consider to share some photos of my outfit in a foreseeable future but for now a corner in vogue.com draws my attention. Have some of you wondered what kind of outfit the Vogue's staffs wear?

One thing for sure, they own designer pieces. I suspect the ease of access as one factor, while peer pressure also accounts for it. Leaving the psychological thing aside, I have to admit that all of their outfits seem well thought, probably because: a. they are about to be photographed with the pictures spread all over the world, b. they have to face a creature named Anna Wintour every single day. Sleek and polished, slightly predictable choices are shown here, I must admit.

Nevertheless, the choices of mixing leather bottoms with vintage-looking tops are pretty smart. It elevates the look effortlessly while gives the vintage take a modern touch. I kinda wish they show breakthrough mix and match with low and high end clothes, in a way that can give more inspiration to me on how to dress to my "fashionable" office. Still, working for Vogue seems like more than decent way of life...

Won't you agree? I might snap some interesting outfit the "fashion insiders" here in Jakarta wear. Please pay attention on the word "might," though. 

images are from vogue.com

I WORE | Zig Zag

It was quite spontaneous to play around black and white when I pulled this Monstore t-shirt from my wardrobe. The t-shirt has become my saver--when at the very last minutes you develop a sort of dislike feeling towards your outfit and later a particular item saves the day... Yes, this versatile white t-shirt is ultimate piece for me. The skirt is from my little sister (I cannot emphasize enough how lucky I am to be able to raid my sisters' closets sometimes, since you know, a girl with full wardrobe of clothes can STILL find nothing to wear). On a further note, black and white can apparently be exciting when you play with patterns and prints: I am the living proof of it.

On another note, I didn't wear any make up on these photos, not even powder/BB cream/foundation, so perhaps you see me rather pale but I have been meaning to reduce tons of make up (not that I use that much anyway) and edit the photos less. Except my hair in this shoot, I have just returned from a hair treatment. :p

I WORE | Sorbet Colours

Put these on awhile a go but I have just got a chance to post it now. The unexpected weather change of Jakarta apparently influences my mood change as well. Been up to writing some stuffs back now and I am quite thrilled to see what's coming up in March!

Anyway, I stole the shoes from my sister (again) and love how they pop some colours to my pale blazer. The dog t-shirt is a gift from the boy! :p Anyway I am flipping over the Paris' shows and love it! I would share some soon with other fashion and some music stuffs on the go.

I WORE: Happy Valentine!

Happy Valentine's day everyone! I actually took this picture last weekend but I thought it is definitely the right picture of me wishing you all love :) The quotes explain it all to you, don't they?

Excuse my pose-y gesture, but the other shots pictured me covering the "E" in "LOVE" of that second quote. Rather unacceptable. I was just trying to dress down but with mere t-shirt and shorts I didn't feel so secure. The red shawl topped it off and brought me back to the old times when I utilized it to warm my weak neck during the Europe days. Missing the good time for sure.

I WORE: Stripy Pastels

That feeling when you can pull off a pair of items that you have barely worn, is what I feel today! The top is last year's birthday gift from my sister and the dress (yes, it is not a skirt, it's a dress! :p) is Christmas purchase around three years ago, both rarely come out of my closet because I simply have no idea how to mix these two. Later the sweet pastel palette of spring reminds me of them, although there is no spring in Indonesia (we have the sun throughout the year, OYEAH). Lie. I want spring. Like, seriously.

The ribbon knot at the back side is surprising yet lovely. I am definitely thinking about wearing this again some time soon...

Another details... and I have just realized that some of the items I wore today are gifts! The bird rings, the two watches, the bag, and the top, all are pretty little things that brighten my day constantly :)

I WORE: Bob Bob Bob

Perhaps you are sort of tired listening to the hair-blabber, so here it is. I am not that one pose-y person since I'd rather act silly than fiercely feminine, but hey I'll try my best. Though I keep on emphasizing the power of blazer, seeking more functionality from the other pieces in my wardrobe is another thing I have in mind, especially when I decide not to be impulsive when it comes to shopping. But for this one case, basics are my top choices when I feel like dressing down or have nothing else to wear (classic girl's reason despite of a closet full of clothes, o yeah).

Now, gearing up for the upcoming Vociferous, to keep myself productive ;)

I WORE: Hints of Black

Been up to writing these times and been thinking about cutting my hair. The texture of my hair is not the easiest one to work with but I am kinda bored with the similar style all over again. To be honest, I miss my bob hair although at the moment I am thinking more to the side of long bob. Thankfully, Le Fashion has created an inspiration post about medium hair and I really think that this is a sign from the universe ;) Anyway, dear sister was kind enough to take my pictures--obviously a bad hair day so I decided to make it into a bun.

Can't get enough of blazer, clutch, and currently into the colour black. You can barely see black in my wardrobe but this shirt is another gift from my sister (thanks sis!), and makes me rethink my decision not to wear black. The subtlety and uniformity of it sort of call my name to pull it off.

Off to see Gaultier couture now :)

I WORE: Flowery Red

Still, no other place to take photos so I end up in the same corner where I first saw you. It was the laid back version of Chinese New Year of me and my family so expect no Cheongsam or any traditional clothes. We simply went out eating, received Ang Pao, and enjoyed the rest of the day lounging at home. As a matter of fact, my Chinese speaking skill is so far near zero--as my parents do, but it is in our blood and in our appearance, we do look like Chinese but then I am proudly say that I am an Indonesian.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading my blog, and I am currently working on a self-initiated project called VOCIFEROUS. It takes form of a publication where personal voices are highly regarded, with highlights in culture and style. It will officially be launched by the end of February, but the coming soon page is already there! You can have a say via twitter or contribute your writing there. Happy Friday all!

I WORE: Sheer

Posting some of my outfits regularly here has driven me to dress better, even with limited wardrobe on budget. I firmly believe that, good style is the one you cannot buy, thus I perpetually seek for defining mine by looking at items that can build around a solid platform for my wardrobe. This blouse for instance, is a nice find, with the navy colour, polkadots, and sheerness, I can dress it up with my butterfly skirt (also worn here) or dress it down with a pair of denim shorts. Reciprocally, despite of the urge to take photos, I couldn't find anyone to help me, so I end up in the same spot, using self timer, locating my one and only camera on the stack of my books.

Continuing the talk about my dreamed life, I am pretty sure that I am on the right track now. That at times, a decision about an offer that is hard for you to make, the one that requires massive amount of contemplation, is perhaps not the one you should take. No regrets no pain, just move forward and grab what you want. Until then all! :)

I WORE: Dots

I wore this outfit some time ago (read: last year), and didn't want to post it until I realize that this blazer-dress combination is win-win pair--feminine and suited up at the same time. On a more interesting thing to note, I somehow got my hair tamed a little bit in these photos :p At times I hate to comb my hair since it will only make my hair looks bigger and un-classy, but when it gets all messy, comb comes to the rescue. I love it nonetheless, for it is one of many things that makes me, me :p

I Wore: Lime

Opted for a simple, cleaner look (as lately I have almost always opted for such silhouette) for a night out with parents and their friends (yes, their). The whole mix-and-match thingy that evening was sort of organic--took the dress as the focal piece, then found the bow inside my accessories drawer, gracefully added casual touch with flats and obviously, grabbed one of my clutches. The dress is one of my recent purchases, I can still clearly remember that day I insisted on looking for vibrant coloured skirt but instead I stumbled upon this lovely lime dress. Been thinking of other ways to pair it, most probably with blazer, jacket, or event pants :p

On a more essential note, the predicted colour of 2012 is apparently tangerine tango and you know what, it is my least flattering colour (you must have known it if you follow my twitter, promotional, I know but who else will promote me beside me?--rhetorical tone always wins, okay, almost). The orange hues are not really my best friends, wonder whether it is because of my skin tones or simply my taste. Yet, here refinery29 put together a classy colour choice for Spring, sadly, lime is not included, but every other palettes that I love are there--all sorts of pastels (cotton candy, lavender, beige), cyan (or what I call it, striking green-ish blue in its finest tone), and mint.

Have a sweet end of 2011 everyone! :)

I Wore: Last Christmas

The festivity of Christmas blasts everywhere yet I feel like having a moment of self fulfillment, a moment to rephrase the past days of 2011 to the future succession of the upcoming year. No splendid wishes or extravagant dreams, just realization of everything that has been visualized in my mind. Hope you've had a wonderful Christmas and keep the high spirit alive until the next holiday season...

Blazer + dress are my to-go combo, so easy and quick to pull! :) In the mean time, since it's Christmas, I present you...happy faces :D

I Wore: Basics

As I have written a piece of thought (or two) about dressing comfortably, I opted for a simple black and white look for today. The white t-shirt is my all time favourite--loose and thin, something I will grab first when I only have several minutes to get ready. I immediately took my pair of sunglasses and put it in a rather cliche-in-a-good way but later I added a shawl from Cotton Ink, my other fave, as I was having a neck problem since morning, guess that I slept in a wrong position :( The shawl is a really nice neck warmer and I love love love the cosmic print on it.

Anw, I'm currently re-cooking the concept for this blog, hopefully I can come up with something new next year :p oh, and excuse the messy hair, it's always like this after I wash it :p my hair is almost always messy :p

I Wore: Clean Lines

Been lounging around the house, reading plenty of web materials and preparing myself for the upcoming IELTS test these days, and it feels so...liberating. I am finally able to cross things in my to-do-list and enjoy every single moment at the sweet verge of 2011, including writing perpetually on this blog. There are of course more serious deals (if you say so) I am currently after but then I decide to take things slow, letting the dream comes true, one by one.

Here is an outfit I wore yesterday when I took my sister out for a treat (she asked for it after I got my paycheck -.-). She has been nice after all, helping me taking pictures for the sake of blogging. Posting my outfit here is actually a fun thing to do, besides, it definitely affects my way of dressing positively--maximizing the items in my wardrobe and defining my signature. I tend to put more and more colours and pieces when I dress, but this time I took a scarf out (more about that later), letting the outfit looks "clean." The blazer, however, is one investment purchase from Stradivarius, literally matches every single thing I own and accentuates my figure nicely. I am officially obsessed with blazers (and on the hunt for chic shirts :p).

I Wore: Circular Leopard

When it comes to dressing myself, I am that one person who plans everything ahead--it can be an hour earlier or even a day earlier. Today I have actually pictured myself wearing something else, but I changed my mind and sort of throwing these pieces instead. Animal print is one trend you can spot almost at every highstreet brand store, ranging from dresses, shoes, bags, to accessories--the prints emerge as one of the "must-haves" after having previous predicate as the "tacky" ones, funny how everything seems to take turn in fashion, huh?

My leopard print scarf is one lucky finding, some years ago (yes, years) I browsed some online shops and found this at discounted price, it was only Rp 10,000 (equivalent to around $1). The purchase was completely impulsive (along with some other bargain items) yet I do not regret it :D The scarf is proven to come in handy when it comes to accentuating simple outfit, wrapping my neck and the whole outfit altogether to look "more interesting."

Should you question yourself, how does that scarf wrap my neck in such nice circular motion, I should credit WhoWhatWear for delivering a practical, brilliantly simple styling post about fall scarfs. It is really easy, I started with a rectangular thin scarf...

Then I tied both ends together twice, just to make sure it is strong enough when I pull it but I arranged it in a way that the scarf is long enough to be wrapped twice later...

There you go, your round scarf ready to be styled :D

I Wore: Stolen Vest

I guess it is one common sense of a normal shopper that s/he will directly put on that one recent purchase and incorporate it to the rest of the wardrobe. I am one of them ("normal" shopper), and my Monstore t-shirt is my recent purchase :D Although I am not really sure that my outfit is photographed well, here it is. I was trying to soothe the abstract print on the t-shirt with something "girly" and ended up with this one. The irregular blue piece hanging is actually a vest I stole from my sister's wardrobe which I threw on real quick before I headed to the door (hi there if you're reading this, but I am pretty sure you wouldn't since Blogspot is banned in China, right? Right?). Well, I really want to hear some opinions about this mix to be honest, but then, my outfit looks so much better if you see it directly, I swear.

There is actually a cute bird under that awkwardly placed feather. And it is a fox on my finger. Just to be clear. And yes, I know, my fake smile does not work here so I'll try my luck next time. Yes, yes?

P.S. Excuse the tacky post title, will ya?

Favourites: Thoughtful Match

Imagination is always my playground, somewhere I can pick which travel destination I would go, somewhere I can choose what to wear, somewhere I can liberate myself--like hopping on the next train to destination X with my loved one. At some point, there is an urge arisen from such full-of-imagination state, where I want to go out now and make it happen. Today, here is what I have been portraying myself wearing, another white mix. The shorts are from Bali, the good-eyes of mom spotted this during her trip there--aren't they rad? I love the prints and length, and on top of all, it blatantly screams "made in Indonesia" from a far.

Paired it with this bracelet from Forever 21 (I am actually totally disappointed with this one, since the paint they put there fades so quickly, but I still love the size and shape, though) and a clear box that will be my little purse! :p 

Still working on my editing skill though..

Love-Worthy: Bright and Blazer

Aiming to provide a space for the up-and-coming designers to showcase their collections to wider audience, an event called Brightspot Market has slowly but surely emerged as one of the most awaited events of the year. With around 90% of local designers--both who have established their brands for some time and those who have just entered the "creative industry" introduce their latest pieces of creation to the thirsty public. It has become a much-hyped marketplace that generates significant coverage and income for the brands, I suppose. When I went there yesterday, it was literally packed--plus the limited numbers of air conditioners they have, which caused the humid hot air in the midst of shopaholic pack. I, somehow, managed to secure myself two t-shirts from Monstore, a local brand who currently specializes in t-shirts whose pieces have also been distributed in Europe.

See how rad the prints are? I promise you I'll share further its shape and stories (these shirts actually have stories inside!), just when I wear them out (soon!). Plus, the owners of the brand are lovely and I adore how they bring the concept of the brand together. They even create a community called Scene Stealers where all artists can submit their creations to be put in t-shirts. More than that, it also serves as a medium for those (emerging) artists whose works have not yet been widely known. I am really proud of what this Indonesian brand has done, and really looking forward to their future projects. Check out their website for more info.

And lastly, my silly pictures, taken after I was done with the market and crossed the street to another mall where I parked my car (since it was so fully crowded in the mall where the event was held, I decided to park my car elsewhere emptier). The navy blue blazer is the ultimate wardrobe shaper, it matches with the whole outfits in my closet and makes everything a little bit more dressed up :).

P.S I stole the blazer from my sister's closet :p

I Wore: Blue Butterfly

The weather has been quite an uncertainty lately, although most of the time the dark clouds dominate Jakarta sky with only quick rain followed. I woke up this morning with a minor headache, rushed myself to take care of some things before reached the office. Life has been on the challenging side lately but I always feel rather pleased and lightened up whenever I find myself picking the outfit that complements my figure. High waisted and blazer are two of them. I was not sure the moment I purchased this skirt but it turned out that I receive a lot of compliments when I wear it. The blue blazer was customed-made for me when I was in junior highschool, I rarely wore it before since it was actually a blouse (that makes me look old-fashioned), yet utilizing it as a blazer definitely brings out the shape better.

pardon the tired eyes, I took this pict after work :p

I Wore: 20.11.2011

This morning I grabbed my clothes real quick and threw every piece that look "harmoniously" together. I washed my hair in the morning, leaving it dry and super-wavy by itself, so I decided to make a bun where my cheeks end up looking like double buns as well >.< The new shoes are from Payless (they are dark purple in velvet by the way), they are more comfortable compared with all previous high heels I own ( I still had some kind of feet-pain but it was very minor). The jacket, clutch, and shoes are my to go items since they go along with most of everything in my (small) closet and mostly the stuffs I grab when I've got nothing to wear--which happens quite periodically.

Kindly excuse the "bun" cheeks as I have been eating a lot to prevent me from being sick as they are my natural features. Have you ever heard that someone with round face has a lot of luck? Well, you heard it now :D Gotta go now, work awaits tomorrow.