Wordless Wednesday : Reuse

Cotton shopper bag - River Island, fingerless glove - Marc by Marc Jacobs

black vest and jeans - H&M

The Style Roundup

Mid-year this year someone did ask if I wear different shirts every day to work? Well, why should I lie coz it's not something I can hide from the viewing public anyway, it's out there laid in the bare coz everyone can notice. So I answer yes. In fact I answered that I have a 4-months worth of shirts in my wardrobe, provided that I do wear different one every day. Four-months worth coz doing laundry is truly something that I hate doing. If I find that a shirt already had a weird smell... I can just wear a different one the next day and do laundry once in blue moon. Or once in 2-3 months to be exact. So, nak pengsan tak dengar tu...huhu!

The thing is, if I like a shirt I would buy it more than one. Like the +J white shirt, I got about 4 of them in the latest FW11 collection coz I just love the cutting and all. The others especially from Asos, I probably got two pairs for each type since I can do the same style the next week but wearing a different  pair of shirt, if you get what I mean.

So, what is the style roundup for last week. Nothing much, except the usual shirt + tie + blazer combo as what you've been fed of in this entire blog journey.

• Wednesday.

Last Wednesday is my annual performance review day. Nothing more formal than looking in the traditional, classic black and white ensemble. I paired the +J white shirt with the diagonal stripes tie from Tie Rack + the slimfit single-breasted blazer from Asos. 

Mentioning my performance in my workplace this year, there has been a mixed reviews. On one hand, my boss said my contribution to the company is outstanding. Mana tak nyer, dah jadi Chairman mesti la everyone knows who I am! Ha! My supervision is also above par, and the best part is the evaluation from the students by which I exceed the requirement - I got 6.6 out of 7, which to me is whoa! (Other people normally got around 5 only!) Yet on the other hand, I need to perk up my publications per se like writing up lots more journal papers and research publications. I think if those people read this blog, they would've put me on the outstanding category, kot... ngehahaha! :)

• Thursday

Another annual performance review day but from my another superior which is from the Head of my research cluster, since they gotta separate this research part. The leader said I am on the 'exceed requirements' coz I got many stuff on my plate. From the research grants and funding, to the patent thing - the logo that I've created for my research group that went for patent filing, those are beyond what is required I need to do this year. Not bad I guess.

For the day I went for deep green shirt from Zara + green tartan checks tie from Tie Rack + grey chambray blazer from Asos. One thing I hate about the shirt is that due to its slightly hi-sheen, when I iron it it leaves that 'shiny' mark which is intolerable. Anyway, whatever...

• Friday.

Usually, Friday is all about slightly looser fit since it was a Friday prayer day. But today I went for a uber-slim t2t as I slipped into the ultra-slim shadow checks suit from River Island (again) paired with the slimfit beige shirt from Zara + grey wool tartan tie from Uniqlo. The tie is a bit underwhelm to the whole ensemble given that it's slightly slimmer as compared to the collar and the tie bar. Again, it's a fashion faux pas... but with the blazer, it's almost a pass for the end of the weekday.

What's the best thing about that Friday? Someone emailed me mentioning how she missed my session in the class. Again? Awww..... shweeeeet...:) (have I left such an impact to those kids? Hmmm....)

* solat Jumaat at nearby mosque around my housing area, that's why easy to slip into my kurta, less 'skinny' visible! :)

The Grey Dilemma

Last Tuesday I had a dilemma on what to wear to the office. It was quite late when I woke up since I was still reeling with my exhaustion after spending time in KL for the PC Fair and the Ikea visit and what not. Too much walking made the whole body aching, desperately needing some rest.(thank God my Gucci boots are made for walking, huh? Ha!) That's why I took a day off on Monday to really unwind myself, taking all the rest that I need. So, the day after - probably still due to the weekend blues - it's a bit late as usual when I drove off to work. Late as in 7.45 am instead of the usual 7.30! But still on time, as always. ngeee...

I haven't thought that much when picking up my outfit of the day. One thing for sure, I snatched the grey vertical stripes shirt by Mexx to go along with the black trousers. And I saw the grey mohair-wool slimfit jacket by River Island which I haven't wear that much before, so I snatched that one too from my wardrobe. But, there's a huge dilemma - which tie would I wear? I can't make up my mind as I got a lot of grey-based neckwear in my 'tie box' which somehow so hard to made decision. And what do I do to run against time for not being beyond late to clock in? If during my schooldays I used to bring along toys in my bag to school - now I'm bringing a bunch of ties in my SEED leather tote in case if one is not looking great, I can always switch to another. Boy, does it help?

Actually it does! At first I tried that horizontal stripes by Red Herring @ Debenhams. Hmmm... not good, coz too much patterns going on in one ensemble: vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, the texture of the mohair jacket... far too much, and very tacky and distracting too.

And then another tie from the same label, yet with micro vertical stripes which somehow tone thing down a bit. Still, it doesn't look right as I'm not feeling for the too much tone-on-tones happening here. So, scrap that out from being worn that day...

And after trying another two ties which is too tacky to be snapped the photo to be included in here, I finally found solemn to the last one: the crochet grey tie from Uniqlo. Solem, how? Suddenly I'm feeling that it brought things together quite well. The gradual toning down of the color - from darker grey of the mohair blazer, to slightly lighter striped shirt to much lighter tie. It's like drawing attention towards the inside which is quite 'streamline' in away. Unlike the previous two, which I think may 'confuse' the eyes - it's like 'where do i look? arrgh.. too much, to much distraction of pattern!'. But with this one I think it'll go like..awwwww...aman damai.

Plus, even without the the blazer both the tie and the shirt looks great together; though I prefer to still wear the blazer since the shirt is not really slimfit - it's a tailor-fit which is slightly 'oversized' to my usual 'slimming' standard. :) 

Monday Blues? No, It's Purple Monday!

Something I seldom do is to wear colors on Monday, except blue coz I love playing along with the 'Monday Blues' brouhahas. And today, instead of wearing blue I took on another hue in the color wheel - purple, to give a shot of fun to the otherwise plain start of the week. It seems that whenever I wear purple, my cliques always went 'ooh, purple!' here, 'wah, purple!' there, 'ooh, purple!' at the pantry, 'whoa, purple!' at the lift. Indeed it's one color that brought people eyes to really pop when they see me wearing one. (Ker mmg aku yg hot bila pakai purple ni? ngeee...)

But today, it looks like not only me who wear purple - quite a number of people in the office also did! Maybe pakat-pakat le tu kot...huhu. Whatever it is, it's really fun to wear this color sometimes as it liven things up. Oh, do you know that I was once kena tegur for wearing purple in a ceremony that I'm emceeing? It turned out that purple, together with yellow is the color for the royal. Yes, royal. Not Casino Royale, or Royale Bintang; but the Diraja like for the kings and queens. Hmmm... good tips there. No wonder I never see any crowd wearing it except the Raja themselves.

Btw, my shirt is from River Island, very slimming yet very prone to creases as it is quite cotton-ny. Paired it with the slim cotton tartan checks tie by Uniqlo, it was like marriage made in heaven. Except that the marriage is not that a perfect one. Why? Turn out that my tie is too slim compared to the high-neck collar of my shirt, plus the Lanvin tie bar went way over the width which made it looks so funny. Yet, to avoid all the mistakes without having to go home for a change, I just wore the slim black blazer over it to hide the 'flaw', and had to double-knot the tie to pump up its 'triangle'. Much safer, I guess. 

see the mistakes? No matter it's a Lanvin, the tie bar too wide compared to the width of the tie. Not good!

And the best part (or weird, which ever which you perceived!), the color of my tops really match the bougainvillea flower that I saw on my way to the cafe. Whoa, I'm very the Ipohngites la camni, coz bougainvillea IS Ipoh's official flower! What a coincidence...!

*blurry, blurry photo. Blame the iPhone 4! :P

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

While I was rearranging stuff in my store room, I pulled open the boxes that contain my shoes which has been in there for months now. Months, since I've been back last October 2011... but the shoes arrived a month later through shipping all the way from London. I have to tell I am quite anxious back then when thinking about my shipping since I got more than 30 boxes with similar size as the PC's CRT-monitor (the old monitor lah, mana ada org pakai CRT lg skang nih?)

Anyway. It's like bringing out all the memories again when I open the shoe boxes to dust things off. Memories on my shoe stories how I got them, the quest and conquest, and above all - the time when I used to wore 'em so many times back then. Looking back and seeing things now, I just can't figure out why I didn't use these shoes again? Oh, I know; coz they're stored out of my sight... I think that's why I do need to get my shoe closet project (and my home renovation project too) kicked off so that I can see the shoes right in front my eyes on daily basis.

Btw, I still planted wish and hope that I will wear my shoes again. Somewhere over the rainbow...skies are blue. Somewhere over the rainbow, I hope to wear those shoes too... :)  

Wool/leather derby shoes by Beatrix Ong

I love this one because the mix of material used. This one is a conquest coz seeing online, the price is totally insane. Thankfully when I went to their neat little store at Newburgh Quarter, off Carnaby Street - the prices is ridiculously cheap: 75% off. So...angkut jer la!

Patent leather Oxford shoe by Zara

One of my evergrowing collection of patent shoes by Zara. The moment I saw this I was like 'Oh my God, so Gucci!' since it's a sheer resemblance to the Gucci patent lace-ups that I saw in online. The slimming form factor of it is fantabulous.

Patent leather lace-ups by D&G

I remember buying this shoes unintentionally. I was strolling around at House of Fraser at Westfield London, and suddenly struck to a patent leather lace ups on the SALE section. Checking it, it's by D&G... and it's at more than half price! But there no size 43 there, but being me I asked the salesguy if he had it somewhere... and luckily he said, "yes, we have one left back in the store room". Perfect!

Patent leather sandals by Doucals

I absolutely adore the minimalist look of this sandals - very simple, very modern and somehow appear so chic! I remember taking it with me during my Spring Break to Malaysia back in 2009. It's awesome, though I realized that the size is a tad bigger. I should've bought size 8 instead for any sandals!

Nude lace-ups by Bally

Another 'by chance' purchase during my visit to Bicester Village at Oxfordshire. This is my own version of nude shoes due to its flesh tone color. Love wearing this back in the summer, with a cropped trousers and without socks. Taking the Tube, some goes ooh, love the shoes, look sexy! Lol.

Grey suede lace-ups by Zara

Another one that's worn quite frequent during summer, without socks again. Grey suede made a huge trend that particular season and I'm kinda succumbed to the temptation of getting one myself And when they did discounts on this shoes, I had to grab one pair too! (see, London is evil!). 

Perforated leather lace-ups by Giorgio Armani

I can't forget this one, absolutely. The moment I saw it on the catwalk worn by Miro Moreira, I know I wanna have it right that instant. Then, I found it at Giorgio Armani store @ Bond Street, but it's not on sale. Fortunately, at Yoox.com, this one went on massive discount... so, finally it arrived safe and sound to my house in North London. I call it the 'corset shoes' since the black leather section amidst the white perforated body made it look like a corset indeed. :)

Black/White Adidas Top Ten Hi sneakers

One of the impulsive buying upon my unlucky encounter at Beatrix Ong store to get the previous shoes. This 'Top Ten Hi' sneakers by Adidas is one of the limited edition that comes with the croc-printed leather upper. I love the padded 'neck' which is so comfy to wear during autumn. [click here to read its story]

Grey Canvas Adidas Top Ten Hi sneakers

This is one of the 'epic' sneakers that I got. The moment I lay eyes on Size? website, I know I have to get it. Why I said epic? Coz it seems that Jay Baruchel also wear the same one in his red carpet appearance for 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' premiere. [click here to read]

Denim boat shoes by River Island

It's the denim reign of the season, plus it's summer when everyone is talking about boat shoes all over the fashion mags. And this one is like killing two pigs with one Angry Bird. Perfect fit, and very cheap!

Denim Oxfords by Zara

Another denim movement of the season. It's kinda lucky to find this 'slightly formal' shoes in denim when I visited Zara Oxford Circus in one weekend. When it went on Sale, I can;t just say no. The dark raw denim goes manic with my skinny Selvedge denim... the look cool together!

Faux python lace-ups by Zara

Summer is all about snakeskin, and this one hits just the exact perfection. The texture is superb and really a spitting image of the real python skin. I call this one the 'phallic shoe', coz its very slim and tapering and got a toe cap, just like a penis. LOL!

Eyelets hi-top sneakers by Zara

One encounter at Zara High Street Kensington stumbled me upon this sneakers. Eyes drawn, the feet tried, the heart loves it... and finally, the payment made at the counter. Easy, breezy Cover Girl.. (aik, apsal tetiba Cover Girl masuk plak ni? ehehe). And oh, it looks similar to what Marc Jacobs did that season too. :)

White canvas wing-tip plimsols by Zara

Canvas plimsols is a must when the hot scorching weather arrives, and this one that I bought at Zara @ Duke of York Square in London just ticks the right boxes. White? Check. Canvas? Check. Slim? check? and oh, wing-tip design? Check too... :)