Category Archives: Fashion

Givenchy and rag & bone

08/14/2012 – 2:08 AM

So I finally sucked up my fears of damaging the bag and made the switch to my Givenchy Nightingale. Took it out on its first play day! I absolutely love it and its large size. I love it so much, I think I want to invest in one of the smaller sizes, maybe in another color other than black… but not now. That can wait until I deem myself worthy of another overly expensive self-gifting splurge.

Per usual, traffic on the 405 S was stop and go after work, so I decided to stop by the Nordstrom Rack at the Howard Hughes Center. I wasn’t really expecting to find anything good, and I wasn’t on the prowl to spend more money. This stop was more of an impulsive I’m-right-by-the-freeway-exit-and-traffic-sucks-so-I-might-as-well-take-a-gander-and-hope-traffic-has-died-down-by-the-time-I’m-done type of stop. I wasn’t even planning on sifting through any of the clothing, really. I had planned to browse quickly through the jewelry, purses, and shoes. On the way from the purses to the shoes, however, are the clothes. I couldn’t help but look, just a little bit. To my delight, my little bit of looking resulted in spotting a pair of leather-looking shorts. Leather shorts have been on my shopping list for quite some time. I had been tempted to cave and buy a faux leather pair from Forever 21, but the feel of the faux leather just couldn’t cut it, even if the price was quite easy on the wallet. This random spotting of the leather shorts turned out to be even better. They’re rag & bone and real leather. Unfortunately, the tag read, “Size 29″; I’m typically a 25. It was a good idea that I decided to cross my fingers and try them on anyway because they ended up fitting marvelously! I’d personally like to thank my unproportionally large rear for that. I walked out of the store happy as a clam — the proud owner of a pair of rag & bone leather shorts! To top things off, I found that traffic had dissipated by the time I hit the road again!

The above photos are from my Instagram. Follow me: @thisgunforhire

Tags bags, couture, Givenchy, Givenchy Nightingale, leather, leather shorts, Nordstrom Rack, purses, rag & bone | Comment (0)

Art Fashion Museums

MOCA Pacific Design Center Opening Engagement for “The Total Look”

03/04/2012 – 11:27 PM

This past Friday, March 2, I had the privilege of attending the members’ only opening engagement for “The Total Look: The Creative Collaboration Between Rudi Gernreich, Peggy Moffitt, and William Claxton” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Pacific Design Center location on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood.

The line to get in was absolutely horrendous! We got in line at about 7:45 PM and did not get inside the museum until probably about 8:30-8:45 PM. At one point, people in line were even worried they wouldn’t be able to get in before closing. Fortunately, a security officer was walking around and alerted the crowd that they would in fact be able to get in as the museum/museum staff had decided to extend the event in order to accommodate all guests.

This metal neck piece was one of my favorite parts of the featured pieces. Granted, I wasn’t too much of a fan of the dress as a whole – perhaps the mannequin did not do this outfit justice, I still absolutely loved this collar and how this one metal piece was basically keeping that entire dress on the mannequin’s body.

Each and every one of the late Rudi Gernreich’s pieces were amazing. I could see myself wearing each and every one. I’m personally a huge fan of sixties/mod fashion, and Gernreich’s designs are iconic of that era. The late William Claxton’s photographs of Peggy Moffitt in Rudi Gernreich’s pieces were, in my opinion, unique, interesting, and well thought out. Claxton, Gernreich, and Moffitt definitely complement one another, and through this exhibit, you an see why they worked together for so many years before. One of the most interesting visuals in the exhibit was a video montage of Claxton’s photoshoots with Moffitt. You could tell how comfortable she felt posing for his camera and how easily she would let herself go (i.e. dancing, jumping, etc.) in order to get fun and interesting shots.

I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Peggy Moffitt herself, in the flesh, and taking a photograph with her! It’s a funny story, really. I had noticed her and said, “Wow, how cute! That lady dressed up to look exactly like Peggy Moffitt… Wait, isn’t that? That’s her, isn’t it?!” And yes, in fact, it was none other than the model herself. A small crowd had started to gather around her, so I was lucky to sneak in a photo op. with her. Please ignore my bangs – I wish I had time to fix them, but I was just too nervous and worried I’d miss the opportunity to take a photo with her! I love her immediate “model pose” as this photo was snapped. It must come so naturally for her – “what a pro!” Ah, this was definitely the highlight of my evening!

Peggy Moffitt’s outfit was absolutely adorable and very retro! I found it amusing how she manages to do her hair and make-up exactly as she had it in her old photographs to this day. Loved the clutch – note the piece where you’re supposed to slip your fingers through to hold onto it (at least, that’s what I believe it’s for). Anyone know the maker of this clutch, by the way?

This was definitely one of the more interesting opening engagements I have attended. I enjoyed the photographs, the designs, the model – everything just seemed to come together so well!

You can read more about the exhibit over at the MOCA website. If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area or close by, I definitely recommend for you to check out “The Total Look!”

Tags Art, Beverly Hills, Fashion, fashion design, MOCA, Model, Museum of Contemporary Art, Pacific Design center, Peggy Moffitt, Rudi Gernreich, The Total Look, West Hollywood, William Claxton | Comment (1)

Fashion

Where Jason Wu for Target Will Be Available

02/03/2012 – 12:09 AM

For those of you who have long-awaited the launch of the Jason Wu for Target line, I’ve got a very, very helpful link. As most of you may probably already know, the Jason Wu for Target line will only be available for a limited time at a limited number of Target locations.

Now, for your delight, I present to you this wonderful list of Target locations at which the Jason Wu for Target line will be available!

Head on over to http://www.scribd.com/doc/79503910/Untitled to see if your neighborhood Target is on the list!

Here’s a preview of the items that will be available (photo from Harper’s Bazaar).

Jason Wu for Target looks, lookbook, preview from Harper's Bazaar

Tags Jason Wu, Jason Wu for Target, Target, Where will Jason Wu for Target be available | Comments (2)

Family Fashion Me My Outfits People

Happy Birthday, Dad! – Las Vegas, NV

10/20/2011 – 8:55 PM

So my dad’s birthday (along with the photos in this post) was actually nearly two weeks ago, but I’ve only gotten to posting this now. Apologies (as well as for the lack of posts).

With that said, my dad’s birthday was on the 8th of October, and he decided he wanted to take a little mini trip to Las Vegas that weekend to celebrate. My aunts, grandma, cousin (Reycel), and the boy went with my parents and me.

These photos are from days two and three of our trip. Day (or rather, night) one was spent arriving in Vegas, checking into the hotel, feasting on a buffet, and walking the Strip.

We had a few photo ops at The Palazzo and The Venetian.

Can’t go to “Italy” without getting some gelato!

I couldn’t help but stop in front of the Givenchy display at Barney’s and drool.

Top – Forever 21, Shorts – (I forgot :p), Tights – Banana Republic, Boots – Sam Edelman, Bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs, Watch – Movado

The October Draconids were supposed to be at their peak on this evening, the 8th, so after dinner, we separated from the parentals and drove off, further into the desert to attempt to get a peek at the meteor shower.

Aside from successful seeing a few regular shooting stars and one humongous one (must have totally been part of the Draconids shower), one of the major highlights of my evening was seeing these signs everywhere along that narrow highway into the desert. Burro crossing! Next time, we are going to attempt to take one for ourselves… mayhaps.

Urban Outfitters ads, anyone? And yes, I did indeed change out of my boots into flats (Michael by Michael Kors) for our trek into the desert.

My takeaway from wandering the desert late into the night – Joshua trees are creepy at night.

The next day, before heading back home, we all stopped by the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Gardens in Henderson, NV. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend stopping by. Not only do you get to take a gander at their chocolate factory and cactus garden (which is apparently one of the largest cactus gardens in the U.S.), but you also get a free chocolate sample at the end of the chocolate factory tour!

Seeing as it is currently the year of the rabbit (based on the Chinese zodiac) and I was born in the year of the rabbit, I found this Bunny Ears Cactus rather amusing.

All in all, a successful family trip filled with lots of food, photos, and gambling. Well, the older folks gambled quite a bit. Ironically, we were in Vegas, and this time I didn’t even touch a slot machine once.

Tags Cactus, Cactus Gardens, Draconids, Ethel M, Ethel M Chocolate Factory, Ethel M Chocolates, Family, Las Vegas, Marc by Marc Jacobs, October Draconids, Regina Reycel Reyes, Regina Reyes, Reycel Reyes, Sam Edelman, The Palazzo, The Venetian, YL | Comment (0)

Fashion Food Me Movies My Outfits Restaurants & Cafes

Work Break at the Park & La Creperie Café

08/13/2011 – 2:49 AM

I’ve just settled down in bed after getting home from watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. The Perseid meteor shower was supposed to peak sometime after midnight, but unfortunately any plans to watch said meteor shower were impeded by the fact that the sky was just too cloudy. And so the last segment of Harry Potter was the replacement. But more on that later…

Let’s back track a little bit to about 12 or so hours ago, when the sun actually decided to come out. Work’s been rather busy lately as we are in the crunching period of our recent project, but the good weather that happened to emerge around lunch time was too good to pass up. BeiBei, Allan, and I decided to walk over to the nearby park and eat lunch there while enjoying the fresh air.

chiffon top – H&M, jeans – Verdugo jegging by Paige Premium Denim, bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs, high-heeled clogs – Sam Edelman

“Is that the obligatory pose?”

Our current obsession is Mexican soda, sold in glass bottles. Nothing beats soda packaged in the old-fashioned way. I’m not a fan of carbonated beverages, but I must admit the real sugar (as opposed to the high-fructose corn syrup found in most sodas manufactured here in America) highly improves the drink, reducing the overly artificial sweetness typically found in American sodas. I’m still not too keen on Coca Cola, but Sprite will do just fine, thank you.

Fast-forward to post-work time, considering how the sky was not being too friendly to us for meteor shower watching, Allan, BeiBei, Tony, and I decided to go with Plan B – finally watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Our theater of choice – AMC Marina Pacifica 12 in Long Beach. Tony had two free AMC tickets, and I figured we could easily find some good eats around the Belmont Shore area.

Hungry and determined to eat something delicious prior to our 10:10 PM movie showing, our trusty good friend, Yelp, once again came to the rescue. We found La Creperie Café, located on action-packed 2nd Street in Long Beach. This French restaurant has four stars at a whopping 1082 reviews on Yelp. I love the 2nd Street area and I love French restaurants, so you can only imagine my delight at discovering this venue.

Their menu is extensive, filled with breakfast, lunch, and dinner items all at reasonable prices (they have a $$ price range on Yelp). It is no surprise that the majority of their menu is crepes – sweet and savory. Not to worry for those who aren’t too keen on crepes – they have a great selection of non-crepe foods as well.

Menu aside, I found their interior to be well-decorated to the theme. I was especially delighted to find that they had live music! This restaurant definitely gave off that cute, romantic type of ambiance.

After oo-ing and ahh-ing to myself about the interior of the restaurant and attempting to take decent photos with my point-and-shoot camera in the dimly lit room, I finally decided to pay attention to the menu in front of me. Choosing a dinner item was tough, but I eventually settled on the Dipollo savory crepe – fresh wild mushrooms, herbs de provence and mozzarella with chicken in a sherry cream sauce. I was pretty much sold upon reading “fresh wild mushrooms” and “sherry cream sauce.” I’m a huge fan of food with alcohol-based sauces – love the flavor the alcohol infuses. Tony chose the same dish. BeiBei ordered a side of garlic fries, which comes with three sauces – chipotle aioli, ranch, and ketchup. For her entree, she decided on a savory crepe that consisted of lobster and had a lobster-based sauce. I have unfortunately forgotten the name of the dish, and I can’t seem to find it on their online menu. The presentation of her dish was interesting. Instead of one whole crepe, it was served in mini crepe medallions. Allan ordered the steak sandwich – marinated rib eye, romaine lettuce, chipotle aioli, provolone cheese, tomatoes, red onions and avocado on toasted ciabatta, served with garlic French fries and a Caesar salad.

Pictured above in descending order: Garlic fries, sauces for the garlic fries, BeiBei’s lobster crepe medallions, Dipollo crepe, Steak sandwich. I took a taste of every single item we ordered, and I must say that each item on our table was delicious! I’m not a huge fan of lobster, but BeiBei’s dish was pretty good. You can definitely taste the lobster. I absolutely loved my dish. The Dipollo was infused with the flavor of the wild mushroom and sherry cream sauce, much to my enjoyment. Allan’s steak sandwich was tasty – not your average steak sandwich. The steak marination deserves two thumbs up.

I would definitely visit La Creperie again and give their other menu items a try.

Following our dinner, we headed over to the AMC Marina Pacifica 12 to watch Harry Potter. It was a long movie, as expected. The awkward kissing scenes they put into the film still weird me out. Overall, I suppose the movie was alright. I’m not a huge fan of Harry Potter, really, and the whole time I kept thinking “Why? Why? Couldn’t they just do this? Couldn’t they just do that?” Regardless, the movie was still entertaining.

Summing up the day, I’ve arrived at a few conclusions: (1) I definitely would like to spend more time around 2nd Street in Long Beach and try out all the different little restaurants around there. (2) I love French restaurants. (3) Harry Potter will always just be “alright” to me. (4) I am extremely exhausted.

And with that, I bid you adieu.