tight tweeds and secret needs

It’s another Zebra Day. Bleary eyed in the morning, I tumbled out of bed and got changed. One of my research mates said she managed to get the car. Another would be late, so we zipped off for a breakfast of banana prata and teh-cinno.

Nanu decided she’d lie down and laze around. .

And I, too, decided to lie down on the bench like a homeless vagabond at the zoo.

Ultra dressed-down because. . I always laugh and secretly photograph mad people who wear high heels and knee-high boots to the zoo. Hadiha.

Being researchers means. . we get free meal coupons. Like those Chinese takeaways in Western movies.

tee Nichii, shorts some factory outlet in Perth, WA, sneakers North Star; handbag Chloé; earrings Six; hairband beaded by friend

This morning’s quick extremely quick snaps.  Shock-horror, I’m in denim jeans again

yeah?

gangster girl

love the printed tee

ballerina earrings

gold-rimmed bangles on the Mac

cuffing up and spoiling for a fight. lol

i love the messiness of the backyard and the piping. makes for fun arrangements.

tee: Mango

drainpipes: Warehouse

earrings: Wish You Were Here

hairband: River Island

patent stilettoes: Pazzion

handbag: Mollini’s (@ Perth, WA)

bangles: Aldo

Rest of pics, later!

Because empire-waist means you can eat all you want to eat, I slipped this on in anticipation of eating as much as possible. Its a very bad habit; and a very good one as well. Red-and-black. My favorite combination. Ever. I could go for weeks wearing just this color combination.

Resisting the temptation to wear my patent red stilettoes, which I absolutely love, I brought out my kimono-print ones again.

The necklace is one big bloody joke. Here, I refer to the metal-and-ivory one. So, everytime The Best Friend and I shop, we end up shortlisting tons of stuff, as though we are picking the next top model or something. Afterwhich, we painstakingly convince ourselves which items to reject. Like this one. In the package, I only saw the brownish underside, which to be fair, is pretty. It was a tussle between this (brownish) one and another necklace. In the end she looked at the clasp and sides, and said, “This one. . looks more expensive. Get this.” Whilst she paid for hers, i.e. the above in the gold-and-ivory face. In the train, when we opened our packages, and realized. . dang, they are exactly the same. Just happens to be reversible.

Love the beaded hairband. It was hand-beaded by one of my closest and dearest gurlfriends ever, for my 21st. She knows I love red. And so she set about to make such a hairband for me after completing her beading course. She tells me I’m her strangest and quirkiest friend– what’s new– people call me strange all the time, I’d feel strange if I were not strange. My insanity is my sanity. Amen.

Do a pseudo-curtsey. . The one thing I love about this chiffon top is no matter how sheer, the prints are bold enough for one not to have to wear any tube or whatsoever below. Just the top. Purr-fect for this sickeningly hot weather.

chiffon top: Nichii

drainpipes: Victoria Beckham for Rock & Republic

earrings: Accessorize

beaded hairband: customized gift

bangles: Aldo; vintage

red beads: my Mom’s

necklace: Aldo

shoes: Mollini (@ Perth, WA)

Can you not love animal print? I love it to bits, to tears and to death, because it appeals to the inner animal in me. Especially big cat prints. I was born in the Chinese Zodiac year of the Tiger and I have five cats. I love animals, especially cats. And hence, my inclination towards big cat prints. Tops, dresses, hair bands, bags, laundre, everything! I don’t think I’m the tamest person to begin with. . .

What then, is the difference between the fur markings of the cheetah, the leopard and the jaguar.

Well, here goes.

The cheetah, oft touted as the fastest animal in the world, has black spots of different sizes on its body. Although it has to be noted that they are known as the fastest animal based on sprints of short distances. These beautiful animals differ slightly from other large cats in that they hunt during the day.

The leopard has spots that kinda resembles that of a giraffe’s. These orange-ocher spots are outlined by thick broken lines that are black and/or dark-brown in color. Leopards are also known as panthers. Besides the orange ones, there are the black ones as well.

The jaguars, though, have black spots on their orange-ocher markings.

So I decided to re-wear my large satin cheetah-printed top, this time as a dress. Also, I wore them with their black elasticated sleeves out, to match the black accessories. Some quick snaps. .

top from BySi; belt from Mango; studded bangle from Dorothy Perkins; hairband from Forever 21; shoes from VNC

Prior to that, as usual, I was prancing around in my pinstripped shorts, and I decided that heck, for a hot weather look I might just tuck that top into a pair of shorts out.

shorts from Niichi; bangles from Forever 21; shoes from Bata

And so in the name of memories, I dug up some photos of old Cat Looks. .

left– earrings from Six; leopard print top from Mango; leopard print hairband from Aldo; jacket from Mango; pants from Zara

right– top from Mango; jeans from Mango; belt from Dorothy Perkins

The cheetah-print top earlier on. .

belt vintage; denim skirt gift; bangles vintage and gifts; earrings from Six

dressed down because I had school prior to that. .

belt is my mom’s; bag from Charles & Keith; capris from Osmose; earrings from Accessorize; bangles from Dorothy Perkins and vintage

And well, sometimes I cannot help but wear a thin belt around my neck.

And this lovely clutch that combines an assortment of different cat prints. Wheewy.

I love drainpipes a.k.a. skinny jeans, and on the other hand, I also love wide-legged pants. My first pair of skinny jeans was blue, but I barely wear blue denim any longer. And then I bought my R&Rs. Added to the stable later was my grey pair, which banished my blue ones out of existence forever. The last pair I bought would be these red ones. I am so bad at bargain shopping– I mean, I do go to jumble sales and flea markets and all– but there’s a shopping center here that adolescents go to all the time. Which produce a lot of knockoffs of what’s trendy. Coupled with the competition since the shops do not engage in much product differentiation, prices are low. Still, I keep thinking I get quite a few good bargains here and there, until someone pointed out to me that “Bebé sales, 30% off, is not considered a bargain”. I thought my Aldo headbands were cool, until someone told me too, hey you can get them at $2 from (insert shop name)! Oh well, that’s like 10% of the price, but. .a tad late. But I got this pair of jeans from one small shop in said shopping center. Their drainpipes are only $30 and available in every color of the rainbow. It’s been some time since I last stepped there. Soon, I shalt acquire more colors.

Anyhows, most of the time I always puzzle as to how to wear red drainpipes, without looking too punkish or god forbid, like emo teenage boys who sport them proudly with copious amounts of eyeliner. Neither do I want to look too loud in them. Still, I like this look which I wore out on Sunday. A day of scuttling around– what’s new– with work and with weather purr-fect for café-ing.

I did a dry run on my new chunky-heeled Mary Janes. Gotta say I love them! Even sans gel insoles, I rate their comfort levels at about 8/10. That is, after walking up an extremely hilly slope twice, and down it once. Factor in copious amounts of walking– I live in a hilly estate, which is a good thing so I get to work out my legs– and bam!

Yup, that’s my Abyssinian cat in the rabbit’s cage. It jumps in most happily, as though happy to be caged up. But he opens cages, so it’s fine.

top: Giordano

scarf: my mom’s

earrings: vintage

drainpipes: New Future

mary janes: Charles & Keith

retro top: my Mom’s (from Trend)

tweed skirt: secondhand

necklace: Accessorize

earrings: Accessorize

ring: Mango

clutch: Roccobaracco

tee: Red

shorts: Rest & Relax

suspenders: Topman

sneakers: North Star

shades: Mango

earrings: vintage

My mother has truckloads of clothes. Unfortunately, she’s way taller than me; me being the inhouse midget at about 5′ 6″. Bleah. Therefore, I took this old dress of her’s and slashed the bottom before hemming it up. I swear it sucks to painstakingly hand-sew but a sewing machine costs an arm and a leg.

She’s got tons more clothes I’m going to slash, for the perfect retro-esque look. Or maybe I might give up and end up carting the pile to the tailor’s.

dress: M&S

watch: Alba (My brother’s)

shoes: Pazzion

ring: Mango

necklace: Sportsgirl; vintage

belt: Mango

Wearing yet another skirt as a dress, this time tucked over a shirt with big flouncy sleeves made of grey.

Have been feeling excruciatingly lazy, so the shoes remain the same everyday because they’re by the door.

top: Mango

skirt worn as dress: Trend (my mother’s)

watch: some small shop

ring: Mango

belt: vintage

earrings: vintage

bracelet: Live (@ Perth)

Today I tried on a long skirt that I would typically call a milkmaid skirt. Because I’ve always thought I look like a milkmaid milking cows somewhere in Holland. I like the prints because they are nice and vibrant, and I reckon that because The Mother has truckloads of such skirts, I can have fun wearing them till I die.

top: M)phosis

skirt: Marks & Spencer

shoes: Pazzion

cardigan worn as scarf: Mango

watch: some small shop

earring: vintage

shades: Mango

belt: Mango

It’s excruciatingly scorching, meaning minimal cloth around the neighborhood. To grab some tidbits, some knick-knacks, a quick meet-up, or for a walk.

scorching weather means the hair’s tied up

with the leopard print ballet flats that come with a large red rosette

this is where The Cat perches for her daily morning sunbath.

top: Giordano

shorts: free gift

flats: Bata

shades: Mango