Swing Out Sister

It's been a week long absence from posting because 1.)  schedule has been off the hook and 2.) there was no internet at home, my mom managed to survive through my ordeal by getting my postpaid tattoo and I consumed too much data and as per the Fair Usage Policy, I was using up too much bandwidth that my internet had to be slower to give a chance to others. For the Internet thing- I have to say that Dominique's cute but menacing cat, Kenzo was to blame as he chewed off the wire which took forever to fix and restore. Now as much as I love blogging, you see, I love living beings more so I spared Kenzo the rage blackout (not that he would understand why I was mad) and decided to just be. I was way too busy with work anyway and in my down time, I was actually able to do other things that I probably would unot have been able to had there been Internet as I would probably be too busy glued to the computer screen and browsing through sites and meandering. I thought I would not have survived all those days but it was actually refreshing as I got to read books, goof up with people (well, that I do with or without Internet so it doesn't really count actually) and of course actually bond and get to talk to people without having to multitask. I have a really difficult time compartmentalizing which is a debilitating side effect of my OCD so now that I had all the time not using the Internet, I got to concentrate on other things. A lot of freak accidents have happened the past days that I had to check if Mercury was in retrograde but apparently, it wasn't and there are just times that bad things happen all at the same time. The difference between letting it get to you or not depends solely on how you react to the things happening to you and rather than sulk, scowl and complain endlessly, I decided to go the road less traveled and used the time to be productive and it was good. I used the time to get to think up ideas and things (the one where I decided to have a cotton candy and popcorn in my booth in BU8 being one of them...but let's save that for another blog post!). It was all about your reaction to things that dictate how it will affect you and I am happy with how I was able to turn a dire situation into something positive. My, my. Is it just me or have I seriously changed so much? I like how I am responding to things in such a zen-like manner so let all the good juju flow. I need that a lot this December!

Now on to this look, allow me to share with you that as a child one of my favorite play things in the village park were the swings. I used to like the monkey bar until I was sitting on top and slipped down and landed on my behind on the ground and the seesaw was always problematic as I was always the lighter person on the other end so it was me being terrorized by the sudden crash from when the other side lets go off their weight resulting to a fast descent. I felt really bullied because of that by the way. But the swing was always so much fun. As a child, it gave me one heck of an adrenaline rush and the moving and feeling the breeze against your hair and all the wonderful things associated with being in a swing was something that really calmed me down and when I saw this cute wooden swing in Hole In The Wall restaurant in Century City... I knew I just had to go back to the gold old days and swing out...(my first visit was when the place was on dry run and I fell in love with the place so much!) 

 

Mandarin Print Jacquard Shift Dress: The Urban Hour

Blue Blazer Style Coat: Romwe.com

Pearl Statement Necklace: Pretty Little Blings

Low Heeled Court Shoes: Zara (Also worn HERE)

Cabas Chyc Blue Bag: Yves Saint Laurent (Also worn HERE)

This look is a cross between "not a girl, not quite yet a full developed woman" (hello, Britney Spears!) but this seems to be my usual outfit choice because it is very easy to transition. I have a new found love and obsession with shit dresses in jacquard as it is dainty enough for my doll like look, elegant enough to wear to the office where I have to look very respectable and also, chic enough to wear it out to attend engagements after work--- which I did as I went to meet up my mom for a date to Megamall Fashion Hall and did a bit of shipping and had then had tea after all the retail therapy bonding. Over it, to make the look more professional, I added a blue coat blazer which made it perfect to wear in a more business setting. However, I decided to wear it still after work as it was chilly and well, because it added the much needed oomph and glamour factor to my look. I was still waiting for my Break Up Birkin to come so I just styled my outfit with my blue YSL Cabas Chyc and some pretty shoes. The print of the dress was a cute mandarin and cobalt blue combination and also, probably the closest I would be when it comes to having oranges in my body (allergies!) I love how this dress for me so well that I got it in various colors, styles and designs... What can I say? If the dress fits... But it in every colors. I have been looking through 5 of my closets which contained my color coded dresses months ago and realized how almost all of my outfits were all about bodycon, cutout and clubbing party girl pieces that I knew it was time to reshuffle and reinvent things and that's when I started to collect prim and proper conservative dresses like this. I let go of all my party girl looks away as easily as I discarded my party girl self aside and boxed it up... Knowing they needed a new home and new experiences with people who would use them if they were still at that stage of their life. That's the reason why the Blogger's United Bazaar was coming because I was quite happy to have them belong to people who won't simply just hoard them and hide them in their closet... The person in this situation doing all the hoarding and hiding being me. It was true that parting is such sweet sorrow especially since I had such wonderful memories wearing these pieces (most I wore once and some, I never even got to wear) and I had a lot of good memories with them... Hopefully, the people owning them now will have good experiences in them too!!! That's the circle of life... Or to be more correct, the cycle of a really good dress... I have to say. 

 

 

As I was picking them all out and taking them out of my closet and transferring them to my "I'm totally selling these clothes" rack, everyone was getting shocked at how I was so easily purging my closet from all these things which were in mint condition (OCD remember?). The answer to why it came so easy is due to two reasons: the first being I don't know where to put all these things anymore unless I decide to occupy the entire floor of my house to accommodate all my clothes (I have a completely full room transformed to a walk in closet as is and still, things don't fit.) Drastic measures were necessary.  The next one being that I decided that while I wanted to keep some items due to sentimental reasons, the memories I had with these dresses exist even if I no longer have them... So might as well let go of the material object but not the memories. Life is simpler that way. 

Since I am all about reinvention as evidenced by my new outfit choices and style aesthetic, this dress proved to be a great investment because I got to style it perfectly on the day I wore it. My mom was all gushing on how absolute stylish I was and how much she loved my ensemble until I revealed to her that the shift dress only cost me P350 from a bazaar I went to. She was in all levels shocked. At one point, she checked my temperature on my forehead and wanted an explanation as to why I would wear a dress that was P350... Because I think she got worried I was scrimping and saving up on my shopping budget. I laughed at her. But at the same time she was very proud that my styling powers made the dress look much more than it actually cost. This brings me back to the point I wanted to make by wearing the look... I think that if you posses refinement and grace, you could wear a brand less something that cost you P150 from a garage sale and make it look like it's worth more than that. It's all about how you carry yourself, really. Now this goes two ways of course. I have seen many people wear branded everything and still look tacky and (for lack of a better term) cheap. Now while I am obsessed with designer bags (have you noticed?), I also don't mind wearing anything local made and unbranded because I have no qualms about it. I don't think the amount of designer and luxury bags define me as a person nor is it an indicator of my personal style... Collecting them just makes me happy.  Ultimately, style is all about how you carry and present yourself well... Even if you were wearing a rice sack over your body, if you managed to make it look put together and very much like YOU, then you must be doing right. That is what I call style. 

I can't wait for everyone to show me how they rocked the pieces they got from my and Domz' booth so do tag me and let me know when you've worn them! 

xx, JL