Emmy's 2006 Fashion

I had my wisdom teeth pulled out last week, so I've been staying at home and rewatching House and Grey's Anatomy in the past week. Thus I've been in a very TV-mood and actually excited about the Emmy's.

*Squeals* 24 won 3 major awards -Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in A Drama Series and Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series. 24 is the only TV show that makes me think 'what's going to happen next?' Kiefer Sutherland and 24 totally deserve these awards.

The ladies of 24, Mary Lynn Rayskub and Kim Raver. Rayskub's dress is such a pretty and classic dress. Raver looks gorgeous, but I'm not a big fan of her Pamela Roland dress.

Moving on to Grey's Anatomy, Ellen Pompei in a body-fitting John Galliano for Christian Dior gown. I love how luxurious the dress and material looks and it fits Ellen really well. Unfortunately, that hair and makeup is just awful.

Katherine Heigl looked stunning in a nude Escada dress. Her hair and makeup is very Hollywood-glamour. Chandra Wilson looked fabulous in a fire-engine red Bradley Bayou dress.

I don't really like Kate Walsh's shiny dress, but she (her makeup and hair,) looked beautiful. Sandra Oh wore a pretty Vera Wang dress. It looks fantastic on her, but I'm not sure the huge necklace matches the ruffle neckline.

Two doctors from two series: Patrick Dempsey aka Dr. Derick Shepard /Mc Dreamy, and Hugh Laurie aka House. ( I absolutely adore House's character and sarcasim in the show.)

Jennifer Morrison is sooo pretty! Her dress, hair and makeup all just made her look so sweet -loves it

Lisa Edelstein looked fantastic in her black & white gown. I especially like the braclet she's showing off here.

Moving onto other people, I loved Evangeline Lilly's whole look -from the eggplant Versace gown to the gorgeous wavy hair. On the other hand, I really don't like Eva Longoria's dress, even if she 's oh-so-beautiful herself.

Kyra Sedgwick wore one of the most elaborate dresses on the red carpet. The dress is by Giorgio Armani Prive.

Jennifer Love Hewitt looked elegant in this gorgeous Collette Dinnigan dress. The details on the dress is soo nice.

Tyra Banks looked amazing in this very-couture Georges Chakra gown. She actually flew to Paris to get fittings done, so the dress fits her perfectly.

The happy-looking, stunning couple, Seal and Heidi Klum. Heidi's gown is by Michael Kors. I don't really like the Michael Kors gown Heidi wore but she looked stunning as usual.

Embellished Summer Thongs

Embellished thongs are classic summer shoeswear. You can basically buy one pair and wear it until it breaks since their designs don't change much each year. I used to dislike such fancy sandals because they looked so overcrowded with shiny stones and seemed like the type of shoes that only slutty rich girls type would wear. But when I was shopping with my mum, she kept trying on embellished thongs, and I realised that as long as these thongs were matched well with clothing, then they are excellent summer shoes.

Embellished thongs, which are basically fancy flip flops aren't exactly this year's most fashionable shoes (platforms.) But they are comfortable and great to wear for doing casual stuff, like shopping in the local mall and the beach.

Cole Hann Gala Thongs -My mum bought these in gold. I love how the crystals are so simple. This pair would match practically all daytime outfits.

Guess flip flops -This pair is really similar except instead of crystals, the embellishment are rhinestones. I think the crystals on the Cole Hann pair looks classier, but this pair would look great with jeans.

Manolo Blahnik embellished thong sandal -This pair has a lot of crystals, so be careful when matching outfits. It would look great with wrap dresses and evening wear.

Jimmy Choos jeweled ankle wrap thong -Sooo gorgeous! Perfect to wear with white shorts and pretty, neautral coloured tops.

A. Marinelli 'Idal' thong -Since we can't all afford Choos and Manolos, this is a cheaper choice at only $84.95 (Nordstrom.) The great thing is that it doesn't look cheap. I really like the colors of the little beads.

Michael Kors metallic flat thongs -OK, this thong isn't exactly embellished, but it's such a great investment because of its simplicity and would go with all outfits.

Miu Miu gold gemometic sandals -If you prefer not-so-simple looking sandals, then you would love this one. Another great pair to wear with this season's neatural colored clothes.

Stuart Weitzman Starfish sandals -I LOVE this pair. It's soo pretty with all those starfish...

Kate Spade Kimora embellished thong sandals -This is another one of my favourites. I have no idea what those white blobs are but they're so cute! (And the color is totally this season!)

J. Crew nautical sandals -These would go perfectly with this season's nautical-themed clothes. Most of them are about $98 per pair so you're looking for something to wear everyday this summer, or if you're the beachy/ yacht club type of girl, then go check out J. Crew!

Empire Waist Cardigans

Ever since trying on that blue/white striped empire waist cardigan with the flared sleeves at Reiss the other weekend, I've been thinking about this style of cardigans. On the one hand they look sooo great on the hanger, with the trimmed waist and flared skirts, like a pretty dress. But on the other, do they really look that flattering on person? Its a very thin line between looking casually cool and pregnant afterall.
I first looked at the selection at Vince, because I think that they have got the simple casual cool look down very well. And I REALLY like this soft gray cardigan here on the left. The balloon sleeves adds an extra feminine touch to the simple design. As for the black one on the right, I'm not too hot on it. I think the row buttons and the round neckline takes the cinch away from the empire waist.
Moving on, we have these cardigans from the queen of casual cool, Stella McCartney (left) and Edun (right). I think they have the idea right here: vnecked, one button for the empire waist with a flare.The trick to wearing these without looking pregnant is to pair it with a pretty simple low cut cami with slimming bottoms, like a pair of dark skinny jeans with pointy heels. To add an extra oomph, match it with one of those funky signature necklaces so popular this season. This will be especially complimenting with the vneck!Another similar style from Express (left). And I know that this white jacket from J Crew (right) is not exactly a cardigan, but the idea of the empire waist here is the same, although all the fluttering here IS a bit too cutesy.

But yes, definitely something to consider for your SS07 wardrobe!

Eye Lash Perming

Yesterday evening, BG and I went to do something really girly together -we got our eye lashes permed. For those of you who have never heard people getting their lashes, it's basically getting your eye lashes curled permenantly. Well, permenant for maybe a bit more than one month, but really, that's permenant enough since it's likely your lashes will fall off naturally around that time.

The procedure takes around forty-five minutes to an hour. Now I can't describe the whole, exact procedure because my eyes were closed the whole time but from what I understand, the facialist curled and glued the lashes around a small, round piece of plastic thing. The facialist also applied some perming chemicals onto the lashes. After 20 minutes, the facialist applied more chemicals. After another 20 minutes, the facialist used oil to remove the checials and glue and that plastic strip thing. Voila -you've got curled lashes.

OK, so the newly permed lashes look a bit clumped together (because not all the glue could be removed without the facialist scrubbing too hard,) but give it a few days and you'll look like you've got naturally curled lashes. This wasn't my first lash perm, but it was BG's. BG forgot to keep her eyes completely shut during the procedure so the chemicals stung her lashes a bit. So if you're planning to get your lashes permed, remember to keep your eyes shut tight!

Perming our lashes only cost us around HK$80 each, that's around US$10 each. It's totally worth it because curled lashes make one's eyes look so much more awake. Plus, now I don't have to curl my lashes or apply mascara on for my normal days. If anyone is trying to decide whether to get their lashes permed -do it! Anyone else had their lashes permed before?

Eye Serum Recommendations Please!

During winter, I use a light eye cream every night. But now that it's summer and it's so much easier for my pores to get blocked, I've stopped using any product that is oily. For my eyes, I've switched back to using an eye serum + eye gel routine. The eye gel I'm currently using is the one by Laneige and the eye serum is by La Prairie. The problem is, by little bottle of La Prairie serum is about to run out and I need a new bottle. Not that the La Prairie serum wasn't good, but as usual, I'm on the market for one by a brand I haven't tried before.

After lots of 'research' (surfing on makeupalley.com and various beauty sites,) the first product that became an obvious choice was Sisley's famous Botanical Eye & Lip Contour Complex. Most of the reviews that I've read on MUA and heard from my friends have been very positive. Supposedly, the product is excellent. Unfortunately, after the saleslady tried it out on my hand and made me want the product, I discovered the product was more expensive than I thought. So sadly, I put it down and left.

Now I'm thinking of trying out DDF's Bio-Molecular Firming Eye Serum. Even though I haven't really read any reviews on this product, it is a bit cheaper than Sisley and looks ok. (As you can tell from the tone of my thinking about this product, I'm suddenly less picky because I'm sick of all the over-researching and thinking I do for a skincare product.) Have any of you ever used this product?

The question I have for you is, do you have any eye serum recommendations? Please help!

The Essence of La Mer

The other day I found out that one of my friends worked at La Mer- I got really excited and practically pounced on her with everything I ever wanted to know about beauty products. Like, what are the dress code/make-up codes for various brands? Do you get free samples? How is the quality of the hand cream treatment at La Mer?- I think she got slightly scared by my sudden over enthusiasm :P
But the thing that caught my attention and made my ears perk up and my eyes light up the most was the Essence of La Mer that she mentioned, sold only to their VIP and celebs. Personally I've never heard of this product before, but apparently its already been around for a few years. It is a very concentrated version of their cream and what it does is that it heels wrinkles and scars and minimizes pores within a 3 week treatment. I heard it works really well (anyone tried it?). And at over $2000USD, I should hope it does! And if you want to get onto their VIP and VVIP list to give this product a try, be prepared to dish out around $15000 annually at their counter.

Very intriguing. I'm amazed I didn't know about this until now. Though it kind of sounds like the Estee Lauder night treatment thing they came up with last year....come to think of it, La Mer is owned by Estee Lauder. Perhaps some of the Essence of La Mer secrets got passed along to their parent company and got transformed into this relatively cheaper brown bottle at the EL counter?

Emmy Awards Fashion 2007

Like the usual award ceremonies, all the actresses looked fabulous. But it's not often I feel that majority of the dresses worn were genuinely pretty like this time. All over the Internet, websites have Katherine Heigl as their front photo. Honestly, while I thought Katherine Heigl looked stunning (as usual) I just think she looked kind of like how she did in the past numerous ceremonies that she has attended so I wasn't overly impressed with her dress. Instead...

I LOVE the way these strapless dresses seem to be wrapped and draped so perfectly and elegantly around Kristen Bell and Ali Larter. The dresses and the look is so fresh. Kristen's blue dress gave off a lighter, weightless glamour, whereas Ali Larter's red dress feels glamorous and fierce. It's not easy to pull off these dresses without looking like they were just wrapped around in towels. Gorgeous!

Mary Louise Parker and Felicity Huffman both looked so stunning. That red matches Parker really well and she pulls off that fancy dress without making it seem fussy. Felicity's bold pink dress is such a sophisticated, fantastic shade of pink. And the dress is draped really great on her -it makes her seem glam yet relaxed.

Black dresses in general are the safe options. There are always celebrities who turn up in black dresses but there are only a few that don't look boring. Sandra Oh's dress may seem boring, but I really like the white chiffon detail in the chest area and the way the dress is so perfectly A-line. As for Rachel Griffin's vintage Chanel dress, it caught my eye that it looks so traditional and tight on the top and hip area, but flares out and shows some legs -makes the dress seem more modern doesn't it?

Not much to say for these two but you really can't deny that Heidi Klum and Teri Hatcher looked amazing. (Although something about Heidi looks a bit weird to me -maybe it's the hair?) And Badgley Mischka really chose the right spokesperson this season because this is one of the few times I think Teri Hatcher actually turned up to an award ceremony looking so pretty and elegant.

Doesn't Marcia Cross look amazing? She just gave birth a few months ago and she's already looking like her usual gorgeous self. As for Sally Field, she looks so fresh and pretty that it's hard to believe she's already 60. My mum saw her on TV and thought she was in her fourties! Sally Fields manages to pull off this strapless dress without looking like she's 'trying too hard' or making the red look 'old-ladyish'.

Oh poor Hayden Panetierre. Usually she's one of the young stars who you can count on to look absolutely stunning, but she just looked like a huge tent at the Emmy's. It's not only the shape of the dress, it's also that her skin colour looks almost the same dress colour.

I love Kyra Sedgewick in The Closer and it's not that she looks terrible in this dress, but the design and shape of the dress is just not very eye-soothing, like something feels weird about it. And Becki Newton, who I think is one of the most beautiful actresses on screen (and one of the few reasons I still watch Ugly Betty,) looked like a fussy mermaid in the grey dress. Maybe I just don't know how to appreciate that silhouette and all those layers.

Whose dress did you love/ hate the most?

EBay Store: Trendy Outfitter

I'd like to begin by saying that I have no experience with EBay at all and that I have no idea how this EBay store works, so I make no quality guarantees about what I am about to expound on. But from all accounts and the many reviews this seller has had, it does look pretty reliable and should I ever decide to start using EBay, I think I'd start with this store. So, what made me suddenly so interested in Ebay? The Trendy Outfitter store! They sell trendy Japanese and Korean inspired apparel worldwide (they apparently ship from Taiwan, so I'm not too sure where the products originate).
But anyway, onto the fashion. This was the coat that caught my attention. When my friend first showed me, I was like, OMG I want that coat! And when I saw the price- I wanted it even more! Who can resist a gorgeous wool blend coat for $25? That, you see is the beauty of this site. I don't know why it is so cheap, but nothing you see on list is more than $30. The catch, we soon discovered, was that the delivery is the same price as the coat. But still, that makes it $50... still not too bad. As to the quality... well, you can't expect too much at that price. So I guess expect H&M quality? From the reviews, most customers seemed happy with their purchases....
More pretty coats. I'll take these two as well please.
And I absolutely LOVE this cardigan. Its so chic and girly. The perfect fashion item.
This will look soo cute on me! And you really can't go wrong with the fit of such a simple dress.
A perfectly simple sweater dress.
And I LOVE this sweater (though I'd like one in black/white). Its so simple yet trendy with the genie sleeves and the fancy turtleneck. Did I mentioned everything is priced below $30?

Personally, I am still a bit iffy about buying anything on Shopbop, let alone EBay. Especially here, there are the questions of: Why is it so cheap? Where do these clothes come from? Are they a copy of these pictures we see or the actual thing? How is the quality and fit? Is this store reliable? What do you think readers? Anyone have experience with Ebay stores?

Nevertheless, don't all these images just make you want to go to Korea or wherever these clothes originate from and have a super shopping spree? I know I do!

FW07 Trend: Ethnic-Looking Scarves

A large comfortable scarf has always been a staple to one's winter outfits. In the past few years, the trend seemed to be of plain, mono-coloured scarves. But ever since Balanciaga's FW07 show, ethnic-looking scarves have become more and more popular. Walk in to any high street store, Zara in particular, and you would notice that they have been selling a lot of Balenciaga-inspired scarves. Think tie-dyed, or coin/ round metal pieces-embellished scarves. I actaully bought a tie-dyed silk scarf from Zara when I was in a runway-fashion haze, but I returned it later becuase I decided it just wasn't practical. Speaking of Balenciaga, if you haven't seen one of the Balenciaga scarves in real life, go see it and feel it! Your brain might just irrationally equate the quality to the huge price tag.

Anyways, I usually buy myself one to two scarves per FW season. This season, one of my scarves is this green printed scarf. (Excuse the crappy styling and photography.) It's half silk and half wool, so it's not the thickest, warmest scarf around, but it's good for those not-too-chilly days. I especially like the purple and green blocks of colour at the ends of the scarf.

Did you buy an ethnic-looking scarf in the spirit of the FW07 season?

My Favourite Editorials in 2005 I -Lily Story

It's almost the end of year, so I've decided to show you my three favourite fashion editorials published in 2005 in the next few days. After reading more fashion magazines this year (from ElleGirl and Teen Vogue to Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Glamour) than I have ever in my life, I've looked at a LOT of fashion spreads this year. It's a difficult choice but I managed to narrow my favourites down to three.

The first editorial is Lily Story from Vogue Italia Oct 2004 and shot by photographer, Stephane Sednaoui. (OK so I'm cheating and this editorial isn't from 2005, but it's so amazing I must show it!) I absolutely LOVE this shoot. Lily Donaldson looks like a perfect, REAL mannequin. If you didn't recognise Lily, then you wouldn't have guessed it was a human model! They even drew lines on her wrists to make her look like a mannequin! And the photography itself is amazing of course. Here it is: (sorry the images are so small.)