Best of Anthropologie Evening Dresses

One of my favourite places to shop for dresses online is Anthropologie, because they have one of the most excellent website and they always have the cutest and prettiest dresses around. Here are few of my favourite picks of evening dresses from Anthropologie this season.

Black and white are of course the classics. There is the black printed dress thats fun and flirty, not at all boring. Or there is the red carpet worthy white long dress, which was ever so fashionable this year on the red carpet. These classic picks would be perfect for prom or dances. You can be confident with the fact that you won't cringe at your prom photo 10 years down the road for one thing.

For more vibrantly classic dresses, these two would be the winner. The simple strapless red dress-I love the subtle folds at the bodice btw- and the v necked emerald dress. Again loving the folds at the bodice, too bad I don't have the chest to carry it off. Anyway, these two dresses are so simple that it can be worn for dances/formals or just for a nice dinner out!
If you like designers at a (relatively) cheap price, try these two dresses designed by Anna Sui for Anthropologie. They are both silk and I especially adore the blue kimino dress!

For a quirkier spin on evening dresses, there is this geometrically patterned silk skirt that would also be great for the day and blue dress. The blue is just so different to what one would expect on dresses and the intricate details are amazing.

Sigh, I do so love admiring dresses from the Anthropologie site.

Barneys Girl's Runway Show

For this week's carnivale topic, the darlings over at Papier Doll have posed this fascinating topic:

“You’ve been given the opportunity to produce a runway show for any designerof your choosing. Which designer would it be, what location would you hold the show,who would be on your guest list of front row celebrities, and what music would you play as the models strutted down the runway? You have unlimited budget and resources, and complete creative freedom.”

Oh the choices!! After much pondering, here is what I have come up with:

What: A fashion show designed by the combined efforts of the ever-so-chic Phoebe Philo and the god of beautiful clothes-Tom Ford. Imagine what beautiful creations these two masters of fashion would create!
Where: Its a secret. A inconspicious black town car will come pick you up at your hotel in Paris and drive you to the secret location.
Time: Midnight of October 18th (so its really October 19th). Be prepared by 11pm.
VIP list: Harrods Girl and I (ofcourse), my parents, our friends, fellow top fashion bloggers, Anna Wintour (front row *gasp* to the side), Mischa Barton, MKA, Kiera Knightley, Sienna Miller (the usual young stylish set), Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton (hey, any publicity is good!), a few top stylists and two representatives from select top fashion publications (exclusivity sells-think Miu Miu FW06).

And just to wet your appetite, expect an elegant atmosphere, good live music, fabulous cream of the crop company, delicious sweet delicacies (I'm partial to sweets), lots of champagne, awesome goodie bag and an unexpected surprise! Excited yet?

SS06 Accessories Trend: Gold Chains

Yes, it's the gold chains again. It has been the most obvious accessories trend since Kate Moss wore it last winter, (oh wait or was it the winter before?) Anyways, the point is that gold chains are everywhere this summer.

On the catwalk:

All over the shirt dress in Stella McCartney SS06 runway.

On the cardigan in L.A.M.B. SS06 runway.

But mostly, the chains are to be worn as necklaces. Wear them bold to enhance your oh-so-fashionable neo-minimalism outfit this season:

Both by Kenneth Jay Lane.
This pretty one is from Anthroplogie.

From Urban Outfitters.

Or if you want to be a bit different or you just prefer slightly daintier necklaces, choose these not so bold ones: (But don't wear these chains too dainty, or else it will just blend in with your outfit and you will look super boring.)

As seen on Mary Kate Olsen in March 2006. Multi-strands of smaller gold chains is the way to do this look.
By Lee Angel Jewelry.

Another different approach would be to wear it as a sort-of-belt, as seen below on Nicole Richie:

For the people who want to wear this trend but not look too weird wearing only a gold chain as a belt: This leather-chain belt is from Urban Outfitters.

I MUST emphasise here that this trend is to be worn in an elegant, well-dressed way, NOT bling.

My makeup-'fast'

Last December, I looked my makeup collection and did a little self-evaluation. Question: Have I used any of my eye shadows enough to justify buying them? Well let's see, I own about five eye shadow palettes, but truthfully I used eye shadow only like 10 times last year. Clearly I don't really need that many eye shadow palettes, let alone new ones that I would be buying in the near future.

So ever since last December, I have put myself on a 6-month-makeup-'fast', which means that I have been refraining from buying any new makeup. This not only means that I could save some money for something I would potentially more useful, but it also forces me to actually finish off some of the makeup I already own.

I currently own four lip glosses, which even though I know is not a lot compared to many girls, but I really wanted to make use of them and not let them go to waste. So it's no surprise one of the first makeup I have rediscovered from my makeup collection is a lip gloss by Bloom called 'Kissable'. 'Kissable' is a pale pinkish-nude color with shimmers. I really like this color and the texture of the gloss itself, but I must complain: if you leave the bottle of lip gloss lying horizontal for long enough, it freakin' leaks! So now I can only apply this gloss before I go out, but not take it out with me.

As a girl who really likes pretty things, not being able to buy makeup is a bit of a bummer. But when Barneys Girl stayed at my London place last week, she unexpected bought me a little gift in the form of the new Benefit mini-set: Realness of Concealness, which includes mini vials of ooh la lift, lip plump, high beam and mini pans of lemon-aid & boi-ing. This is an excellent set for anyone (like me) who is interested in trying out Benefit cosmetics but never wanted to pay to try out only one product. At US$28, this set is totally worth it since it will probably last quite a while. I still haven't tried out the products yet, but it has certainly made me feel less devoid of new makeup.

So far, this makeup-'fast' has been easier than I thought, and my conscience is certainly feeling better from all the old makeup I am making an effort to use. Perhaps it is time for you to think about doing a little self-evaluation too!

ZPM London

One of my favourite purchases from London was a fabulous cosmetic bag from ZPM London. My discovery of ZPM London was totally by accident. Walking around Convent Garden waiting for Harrods Girl, I went into Pout and randomly looked at their stuff. And lo and behold, opening one of their cute cosmetic bags I found this:

The ZPM Weekender Bag. What is special about it is that its made of this plastic material (so it won't leak or get dirty), it has many different compartments (so if something DOES leak not everything would get wet-plus it helps keep things organized), its big (so it'll probably fit all my stuff in it) and best of all it has a HOOK (so you can hang it on your door or wherever, save space while still being able to conveniently have access to everything). Zoe Phayre-Mudge (whom this label is short for) is a GENIUS. I am SO in love with it.

It comes in many different colors and patterns, suited for every taste. Like the black and pink one on the left from their new collection Lovers Toile. In the end (after much pondering) I bought Tokyo Bloom (right), because its colorful, girly but not disgustingly so and just gorgeous! Completely worth the £34.50 I paid for it.

Too bad I didn't see this Tall Vanity Case when I was there, because this design is also genius (or perhaps a good thing for my wallet-that would be another £35.00). The extra tall design is just right for bottles (which I have many of- and seriously, its HARD to find a cosmetic bag for bottles) and I find the extra compartment on top great for little things like toothbrush, tooth paste, towel and small things. Basically, its perfect for my needs.

This design also comes in many different colors and patterns, like the Bird Tables (left) and Beauty Bar (right) shown above.

These wonderful designs comes in all sorts of sizes, like the Bathroom Tidy (left) a smaller version of the Weekender designed for all the little things cluttering up my desk right now (ooo maybe I need one of these too!) and the Vanity Case (right) that fits bottles minus the little toothbrush compartment if you want something smaller.

ZPM's Weekender design is so awesome that Pout even made a copy of it using their own design. But I've looked into it, and its not as nice as ZPM's. They only have this pattern and the compartments don't have zips on it.

So basically go for the original Zoe Phayre-Mudge design. They are sold at Liberty of London, Heals, Harrods, Selfirdges, Furtnum and Mason, Le Bon Marche, Printemps, Beams, Mitsukoshi, Harvest Home, Pout and many other small boutiques all over the world. They are sooo completely gorgeous. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

15 by Corrine Day featuring Kate Moss

When I found out that the original prints of Fifteen were going to be exhibited, I got very excited at the prospect of visiting a quiet art gallery (which is not exactly my scene,) and decided to drag Barneys Girl to see them with me. (BG happily came along since the gallery Gimpel Fils, was located near Bonds Street.)

Yes, I'm talking about those prints -the ones taken by photographer Corrine Day and published in cult British magazine The Face in 1990, the iconic prints that established Kate Moss, 15 as the awkward, but soon-to-be imperfect supermodel. If you are a Kate Moss fan, then you'll understand why I'm gushing about this set of prints. This was the beginning of Kate Moss......

(This cover was not in the exhibition.)

Taken during a day trip to Camber Sands, Day’s photographs were seized upon as the antidote to the overindulgent 'supermodel in exotic location' fashion spreads which were all too apparent in the glossy magazines of the power-suited 1980s. Day preferred to challenge preconceived notions of beauty and redefined the concerns and range of the fashion photograph.

Moss recalled, “I was just having a laugh. Corinne just wanted to bring out everything that I hated when I was 15. My bow legs, the mole on my breast, the way I laughed”.
Gimpel Fils press release

Eventually, one of the pictures caught the eye of the influential art director Fabien Baron, who set up a meeting between Moss and Calvin Klein. Klein loved her, she became the new face of his brand, and many of the stylists and photographers involved in what was by then a grunge movement followed her into the mainstream.
The Telegraph Magazine

The best part of the exhibition were the contact sheets, (for those who don't know, a contact sheet is basically a print of the original negatives.) These contact sheets showed images Day considered and ones she chose. Day actually discarded the images where Kate put on the typical 'model' look and chose the ones where she looked natural and like a gawky, happy teenager. This was no ordinary fashion shoot. The clothes were not the focus, rather it was Day's aim was to capture the model's personality into film.

I LOVED these prints. It's hard to decide which image I liked the most. The one of Kate's face (picture on top) was HUGE, but still amazingly focused. Sigh, the exhibition was sooo beautiful and the gallery had such a calm vibe I didn't want to leave!

Book Reviews Update

As a little break from the surprisingly hard decision of which seasonal pair of shoes to buy -a decision which I have decided to procrastinate (but I did manage to snag a cute and practical Marc by Marc Jacobs skirt,) -I decided to study Stats and read some books.

I just realised that since I wrote my last book reviews, I forgot to actually update a proper opinion about The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. All I can say is that it was THE best book I have read last year -it was sweet, touching, romantic in a non-mushy way. I loved the weird concept of an illness that made the main male character time travel and how the characters handled themselves. I actually felt moved at the end of the book! (I usually never feel moved by anything.) I have already recommended it to all my friends who like reading, and have even given a copy out as a birthday present. So far my friends all really liked the book. The story maybe a bit confusing at first, but just read through it and it will make sense once you grasp the concept. So go buy and read!

OK back to books I read this year. I waited for The Undomestic Goddess by the oh-so-famous Sophie Kinsella, (her Shopaholic series is so famous that even guys who don't read chick lit have heard of it!) This chick-lit is basically about a super smart lawyer who makes a mistake at her high-power law firm, runs away to the countryside to be a maid and oh surprise surprise, ends up meeting a guy there.

I have to say I was quite disappointed in this book. I usually love chick lits, but this story was so... well, dumb that even I couldn't get into it. I mean, I understand that when people panic they run away, but the misunderstanding that landed the lawyer the job as a maid was just completely unbelievable. It totally contradicted the fact that she is supposed to be intelligent, logical, and thus should be somewhat coherent in letting the interviewing lady know that she was not applying to be a maid. Anyways, there's more but I'm not going to rant here.

So has anyone else read these two books? What did you think of them?