MUST SHARE - f21 accessories

Spotted in the New Arrivals today...

sideways cross ring ~ only $1.50!!! UPDATE 9/23/10--SOLD OUT.

http://bit.ly/aQSNWt

Made popular by the blogger and fashionista Rumi Neely

*pics from google which are (obviously) from www.fashiontoast.com

Annd.. I spied it in Taio Cruz "Dirty Picture"!

clutch ~ $17.80

http://bit.ly/ali62I

10.5" by 8"

I snagged these 2 as well. Been wanting a clutch for the past 2 months.

*stock pics from forever21 website

BB Dakota by Jack dresses from PLNDR.com

Elle at http://fastfoodandfastfashion.blogspot.com/ posts deals and sale alerts quite often on her blog. That's how I found out about discount site www.plndr.com (no "invite" needed).

I ended up ordering 3 dresses, all by the brand "BB Dakota by Jack", in size XS. I own 2 BB Dakota jackets that I absolutely adore, so I hoped for the best from these dresses. I am weary of online shopping though, so I tried to look at the dresses from all angles on the model. What sold me on these dresses:
~adjustable straps
~colorful print
~$8 each (including tax and S&H)
~Also get $15 credit for next purchase.

If they fit terribly, my plan was to tuck them into skirts! LOL. I'm queen of salvaging stuff and making the best of it. Even stale food.

Dress#1:
Looove the color scheme and flower print. Fits nicely, and I like that from the side view the dress lays against my body instead of poofing out. Like pockets too.
I adjusted the straps to make it as high as possible w/o looking weird. Armpits still VERY low. Material feels very rough and cheap. If this didn't have the floral print, I'd pay $5 at most for it.

Dress #2:
Again, I was mainly attracted to the red+baby blue color and the print. It is very sheer with lining only in the front, so this MUST be worn with long cardi unless you want to show the world what your butt looks like (hey I won't judge you if you do!). Feels very cheap when you touch it. Would pay $3 at most for this if I saw in store..
You'll see soon how billowy this dress is...

Dress #3 (same as #2 but blue color):
Ok this pic is really ugly and embarrassing, but wanted to show how much it billows. This dress will definitely be worn tucked into a skirt. Also, the straps were adjusted as far as possible (the adjusting strap was brought all the way to the front so that it touches the front of the dress) and the pits are still crazy low.

This is how I'll salvage the dress:

Based on these 3 dresses, I'd say the brand is pretty crap and not worth full price (I think they're like $50-60 full price!). I do like the prints and colors, so I'm still glad I ordered. I don't anything as fun as the first dress in my wardrobe, nor do I own any red clothing, so I'm happy to have these additions. Besides, not worth it to take time to ship back and get a credit.

free alterations (b.k.a. my mom the tailor)

I wore a trench today that my mom recently altered, so decided to snap some pics.

Story: When I graduated univ and got a "real" job, I got it in my head that I needed trenches for the fall to wear over my biz casual outfits. I thought they were so sophisticated and grown up. So I purchased 2 from Bebe in the smallest size available (XS), simply because at the time I thought it was the best place to purchase that sort of thing for a fresh-out-of-college girl. I wanted something young but classic. And, I think they were like BOGO or BOGO1/2 off. Mind you ~ I knew NOTHING about the "fashion" rules like length, size of the lapel (heck, I still don't know what it's s'posed to be!), yadi yadi yada.

More recently I've begun to notice the "fit" problems.. like the lapel is too big, length too long, width too wide, etc. etc. etc. These problems are magnified when I wear flats. I am, however, too lazy to fix many of those things. What I did fix though (rather, my mom fixed), was the length on the lighter colored trench. She took off maybe 3-4 inches? Unaltered, I feel like Columbo. Do any of you guys remember that detective show? My parents watched it when I was a kid, and it was this old grizzly detective dude (Peter Falk) who wore big trenches. Hahaha. Needless to say, I don't want to look like him. My mom suggested I leave the black trench unaltered. Because of the dark color, some of the fit problems aren't as noticeable. Maybe I'll hem an inch or so when my mom has time. We'll see.

Unaltered trench

This here, my friends, is the "OH SHIT I JUST WOKE UP AND IT'S 7:49 I HAVE TO LEAVE IN 10 MINUTES CRAP CRAP CRAP" OOTD. Or, the "I want my outfit to match my black heart" OOTD heehee :D J/k. I'm really a happy person. Most of the time. Well, some of the time. Well, when I'm not around people I'm usually happy :D

H&M dress (doesn't wrinkle! but must wear a slip inside)

favorite lipsticks atm and an ootd

Hello hello! Wanted to share my 2 faaaav lipsticks at the moment. Been wearing them every single day! One is pink, and one is peach/nude. So they both have very different effects, which I love. Can't decide which I love more, so sometimes I'll start the day off with one, and then reapply the other later on haha. I can't stand my natural lip color, and I just love the change these l/s bring to my face and overall appearance.

Maybelline ~ Born With It
(I heard it's a close dupe to some MAC color too.. Angel or Hue.. you can google it)

Maybelline ColorSensationals are soooo ultra moisurizing, I use l/s as a chapstick.

NYX ~ Orange Soda

Slightly less moisturizing than Maybelline. Very pigmented, so I gently pat the l/s on.

I only got into lipsticks this year.. and I'm hooked! Here's about 75% of my lil collection.. the rest are all in random purses and stuff.

Susy had asked me the other day how often I reapply.. and I'm embarrassed to say that I put lipstick on for my walk to work (I take it off when I eat breakfast at the office), and once again for my walk home. HAHA. Silly right? But Susy does that too!! I dunno.. I feel weird reapplying it at work.. I'm scared to get caught putting makeup on at work! Especially because the girls in my office aren't into makeup at all. And, there's no one I want to impress at work.. but when you're out you never know who you'll run into! LOL. Right Susy??

K well this isn't a real "tag", but recently I overheard Susy and Serena say they didn't have blog ideas.. so I'm going to "tag" them to do a post on their favorite lipstick(s)! And please add pictures galore! And anyone else who wants to, I'd love to see what your favorite lipstick(s) is(are)! Please someone do it or I'll feel lame for having asked o(>__<)o

And here's work OOTD. I absolutely love the print and vibrant color of this top, and it's 98% cotton so machine washable and soft on the skin! I have it in tan+white too.

Cardigan ~ Gap
Top ~ Banana Republic
Skirt ~ H&M (comes with nice patent belt!)
Stockings ~ Hong Kong (can't see but they have diamond print)

OMGGGG these Hong Kong stockings are SO small compared to American!! My mom got me size small, thinking they're equivalent to US small. NOPE! They're so tight, they squuuueze the heck outta my entire leg and tummy. It's a battle getting them on haha. But they're very strong material and good quality. I have heard (from HK friends) that Hong Kong girls are super skinny and are all anorexic looking... after wearing these stockings I definitely believe that!

recent (random) purchases...

I've been trying desperately to find chunky jewelry (bib necklaces, etc) to wear for everyday work, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Looks horrid on me. So back to the usual.

I love the signs of transitioning to Fall... like the abundance of pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon candles
only $4 at Michael's :) (huge 18oz size!)

Sally Hansen "cement" polish,
topped w/glitter topcoat
(applying 3 coats of glitter gradient will also prevent chipping)
oops, actually this wasn't a purchase of mine (gift from sis), but I like it so here it is :)

found in the kid's section at Target!
size 3 too big, but for $9.99 I can live with it :)

why didn't I discover moccasins earlier?!? they're like, sooo sexay. lol j/k.
but comfy trumps sexy (most of the time)

more work outfits, hair update

Merona (Target brand) top

vintage waist belt

Express twill leggings

The Merona top is a medium (no smaller sizes available), but I just loved the length, look, and texture (polyester) of it! Looking forward to wearing this tucked into a high waisted skirt too!

Dunno what to call these ruffly things going down the center, but I love 'em!

Miley Cyrus (Wal-Mart line) ruffle top
Banana Republic skirt

I actually wore a different top with the skirt to work, but after taking a picture of it I realized how horrible I looked! Uggggh can't believe I walked around downtown all day looking like that T_T

Anyways.. took 2 seconds to switch to a more suitable top. Problem is, it has an elastic waistband. And the skirt is huuge (size 00P.. BR you are so inconsistent!). I bought this skirt 3-4 years ago.. either I was a chubster and it fit fine, or it was too large at the time but I didn't care.

Here's the quick fix with my trusty Forever 21 $4.80 belt! The skirt looks much better at this length in my opinion. Little bit of scrunching but I can live with it.

Update on hair for anyone who is curious... so before my hair was super long and not layered, so the weight pulled my hair down, making it really flat and lifeless. After getting it cut, the shorter layers are really light and have lift. I don't know how to style it when it's straight ~ it looks really awkward and terrible if I just flatiron. So I've been curling with my flat iron instead. And when I say curl, I'm only curling very slightly at the ends, so basically I flip my wrist when I'm almost to the bottom of the hair and it makes 1 curl per strand (does that make sense?). Because of all the layers it looks like more curls, but it's basically because of the many layers stacked on top of each other. I now have huge hair. And if you're curious, it takes somewhere b/w 3-5 minutes to curl (same amt of time it took to flatiron before.. maybe even less b/c doesn't have to be so perfect). I still wake up at 7:45 and am out the door by 8ish.

I'm really happy b/c the stylist cut off enough length so that all my dead and split ends are gone. My hair feels soooo healthy and strong! Before, after blowdrying and flatironing my hair was a tangled mess that made it a nightmare to run my fingers through. And now, I can comb my hair no problem!

Tried to smile here. My eyelids are weird. I do have lids, but one tends to disappear on one eye. And then, sometimes they both disappear altogether.