Post-Summer Favorites: Take a Sunny Picture for Me

The Transition by meimei96 

Maybe it's the gloom and doom that comes with typhoon season, but for some reason I've been craving a big, bright dose of metaphorical sunshine. I miss the bright colors and the lightweight clothes... and I miss it more so, now that I'm a quarter of a way through my weight loss goals and trying my best to stay upbeat.

So it's not surprising that I'd go with a set that celebrates that fuzzy moment between summer and fall, not unlike my trip to Cleveland summers ago.

(To get more information about each item, move your mouse over each component of the set. Thank you, Polyvore and your interactive thingamabobs!) 

The muse: NOT Miranda Kerr, unfortunately - even though I've always had a soft spot for the current Mrs. Orlando Bloom and her darling little face. (Let's not even mention the extreme Photoshopping in this picture, because I am absolutely sure that Miranda isn't that overly stretched out.) What we're looking at here, then, is the unidentified Debenhams lingerie model in the middle of the page: her body is closer to mine than it does to a Victoria's Secret model, and yet she just draws you in with all that confidence and curves and all-out oomph. I don't care how my body looks at the end of it all; I just want to have what this girl does, and get away with it.

Speaking of lingerie: I've spent the last two weeks hemming and hawing about how much mass I've lost from "the girls" and "the back view," and that can only mean one thing for me: New undies! Which also means that I'm in the market for yet another sports bra to maintain the necessary frontal control. Hopefully I'll be able to find a super-supportive one, like the Nike model shown above.

More sports-y stuff: Those Philippe Starck-designed weights look pretty cool, don't they? But I'm more interested in dumbbells like these - inexpensive, practical, and easy to handle for someone like me who hasn't done a lot of weight training in a while. Here at home we have 1.5-lb. weights covered in neoprene, which are a good place to start.

Here's to sunnier days ahead!

The Makeover Project, Episode 5: Now with Monthly Favorites!

I think the slogan for this set speaks for itself.

May Favorites by meimei96 featuring Nine West shoes

This is the Polyvore set that I should put up on my refrigerator, so I can look at it every day and think twice before I get to that hidden stash of peanut butter.

Details, after the jump. 

Monthly Favorites: April Edition

April Favorites by meimei96

THE THEME: Tone-on-tone. I've been seeing a lot of neutrals and soft pastels these last few months, and not just from the ongoing ad campaigns for Johnson's Body Care in the Philippines. This month's cover of Preview has Maja Salvador sporting earthy makeup and a skin-toned cutout bodysuit; the month before that, the same magazine featured fashion blogger Rosanna Aranaz and her well-documented collection of subtly tonal color combinations in her wardrobe. In Stateside beauty news,  MAC recently premiered Pret-a-Papier, inspired by the natural textures, drapes, and shades of craft paper. All of these inspirations contribute to an earthy yet ethereal palette that's perfect for the humid summers that we have here in the Philippines. 

THE STARTING POINT(S): Since my birthday's coming up next week, I thought I'd revisit my own love of fine handbags by starting with a little Louis Vuitton: The Cuir Graine Doctor's Bag shown here actually comes from the Fall/Winter 2010 collection, but the shape and the color of this purse is practically seasonless and timeless. I've also had my eye on the white Vivienne Westwood Anglomania blouse for quite some time, as well, so I've been looking for a fresh way to style around it. Put the blouse and the bag together, et voila: chemistry. 

(At least that's how it works in the Domesticity-verse, where I'm the resident art director. In real life, though, the bag would definitely not be a Vuitton, and the Westwood top would be replaced by a beige short-sleeve blouse with a scoop neck and/or a Peter Pan collar.) 


THE REST OF THE LOOK: 

- I've had a long-standing girlcrush on Daria Werbowy, and this makeup look - from Lancome's ad campaign for Hypnose Senses - embodies the breezy, gauzy spirit of this whole collection with earthy neutrals and see-through pastels. I also love the way that her hair is loose and undone here, which I think would work best with this whole set to keep everything from looking too retro. 

- The MAC lipstick shown here is part of Pret-a-Papier (the peachy coral Dressmaker, Dressmaker) - and, incidentally, I've found myself taking more  high-end lipsticks and glosses to work, since the high pigment content is exactly what I need when my face needs a bit more of a pick-me-up midday. 


- Thanks to Polyvore, I've also become quite enamored with ModCloth.com, which features a lot of vintage fashions. The '70s-era skirt featured here is no longer available on the ModCloth site, but I like the A-line shape and the way that the stripes practically blend into each other without clashing against the taupe background. And what better way to complement a skirt like this than to pair them with brown suede strappy sandals?

Monthly Favorites: March Edition

Once again: Yay, new Polyvore set!

March Favorites by meimei96

This month's theme is "irrational obsessions," since we're dealing more with odd fascinations rather than outright declarations of "OMG THIS IS THE BEST EVAR !!!!111!!!!" Notice that there's not much here beauty-wise because, well, not much is happening with me right now beauty-wise... unless you want to count my super-hot passport photo, and even that's not available for viewing at this point.

By the way, if you haven't checked out Polyvore yet, I encourage you to do so now - and if you are a member already, please do add me as a contact! I'd love to see what you guys can come up with for your collections.

Anyway, on to the favorites...

- The red dress: Originally this collection was supposed to be "What I'd wear if I was invited to the Oscars," but that idea got scrapped after I saw the actual Oscar gowns. The dress here is by Alberta Ferretti - a bit of a "safe" choice compared to the kind of edgy couture that you'd see on celebrities, but I chose it because I love the draping, and I honestly think that I can make this work with my body type. This dress also marks the beginning of my renewed interest in fashion - between Ferretti, Marchesa, and Vivienne Westwood (which I'd like to explore further in another post), I'm actually becoming more fascinated with collections from female designers now.

- Natalia Vodianova: While she's been on my radar for a while now (especially since she's been on the billboards for the Filipino clothing brand Kamiseta since late 2009), Natalia really blew me away when she showed up at the closing ceremony for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, as an ambassador for the 2014 games in Sochi. She is super gorgeous, and yet I'm more impressed by the fact that she doesn't live her life like a stereotypical supermodel: she's happily married (to a titled Brit, no less) and would rather spend more time on her family and her advocacies in Russia, which leaves less time for non-modeling things like acting and hosting. Plus I do love her personal style - and I think she's cuter with the shorter hair, too.

- Podcasts: I already waste so much time on my iPod Touch as it is, but even that doesn't compare to my weekly routine of downloading my favorite podcasts. Right now I'm obsessed with FitMusic and Motion Traxx for my regular workout routines, and the Celebrity Playlist Podcast just for the pleasure of hearing celebrities sharing their personal mixes. (Best celebrity podcasts of the year, so far: Pearl Jam, Snoop Dogg, Kris Allen, and... Perez Hilton, believe it or not.)

That said, I am deeply obsessed with This American Life -and I say this as someone who barely listens to anything on NPR - because I am constantly blown away, week after week, by the masterful way that they handle stories, from in-depth investigations on health care reform and gun laws to stories about pen pals and haunted houses. As far as American Life side effects go, though, the only thing more irrational than my voice-crush on Ira Glass is my fascination with their well-edited music choices - especially when they use snippets of songs like "Party in the USA" and "Unpredictable" as complimentary soundbeds for their stories.

- Earth-tone flats: I just got a pair almost exactly like the ones pictured here - in canvas, not suede- and I practically wear them everywhere. So comfortable, so versatile, so summery.

- Meiji Black chocolate: Or, as I like to call it, the best damn cure for PMS ever. I agree with the assessment that this is more like a "gateway" dark chocolate; as far as cocoa content goes, I'd peg this at around 65% cocoa, on par with semi-sweet chocolate chips. The only difference, however, is that Meiji Black melts smoothly and balances out the bitter and sweet components nicely, so there's not a lot of the sugary aftertaste you'd get from most commercial dark chocolate bars.

- "Cousins" by Vampire Weekend: It's rare for me to gravitate towards indie-darling bands like Vampire Weekend, especially since most of the indie bands I like seem to have been abandoned by their hipster fan bases by the time they're on my radar (*ahem*MGMT*ahem*). Between the nutty song and the even crazier video, however, it seems like the VW boys have finally succeeded in winning me over. Now, if only I can find a copy of Contra at my local record store...