A Trip to Stockholm

Last week, I spent a few days with a friend sightseeing in Stockholm, Sweden. I have to admit I wasn't expecting much because I don't hear a lot of stories about travelling in Northern Europe from my friends. But Stockholm turned out to be seriously gorgeous and so comfortable.

The weather was absolutely perfect -it was cool, breezy and sunny. The weather definitely made the whole experience more comfortable and relaxing. Not to mention it made the sky and sea look especially blue for photos!

We first went to the Nobel Museum. Admittingly the exhibition was very short and there wasn't much to see. But there is a video room that plays short videos of past Nobel prize winners (mainly old interview footages.) You can sit there for hours and just watch -the videos are mostly pretty interesting. Coincidentally, we got the timing just right -we went there after 5pm on Tuesday so it was free entrance!

The next day we went to the Vasa Museum. It's basically a display of the old, sunk ship with many supporting displays of the old sailor days. It was definitely interesting to see such an old, authentic ship up close. After seeing the exhibition, we were very grateful we weren't sailors (despite our love for the nautical trend)! Afterwards we went to the Nordic Museum, which was frankly boring and not worth the visit.

Afterwards, we went to the Moderna Museet (Museum of Modern Art). The art there was actually fun and interesting to look at as it was modern and made up of artwork of a variety of medium, such as photography, sculptures and paintings. It's a nice change from looking at old paintings.

On the third day, we ventured out to see the Millesgarden, which is used to be the house of an architect. It's basically an exhibition of an amazing garden, his house and collected art pieces. I loved his garden! The fountain at the centre was absolutely gorgeous -especially with the amazing view behind it. It was so nice and relaxing to just sit there and feel the breeze!

Afterwards we went shopping, or at least we tried to. It turns out that the clothes in Stockholm were expensive, even more so than in London. We checked out NK, one of Stockholm's big department stores and were not impressed by the range of clothes or by how messy the sale was. So we ended up chilling at a park nearby, where a band was performing.

On the last day, we went to the Royal Palace, which is one of those must-see sightseeing spots. It was not a very grand palace (compared to the French or some other European ones) but it was still fun to walk in and around it.

Overall, I think it was just the weather and whole chilled out atmosphere of Stockholm that made it such a fabulous holiday! Seriously, look at the view!

Image Credit: My camera

Juicy Couture: Something Looks Familiar

Whenever I go shopping, I can't help but say things like, 'This Zara top looks very Prada,' or 'Hmm, this shop is filled with Marni-esque stuff.' (Although I have been trying to voice it out loud less.) This year, while browsing through Juicy Couture accessories online, I can't help but see the similarities between the Juicy bags and bags by other designers. Now I'm not saying Juicy copied other designers. There are just elements of the bags that remind me of other bags.
The first thing I thought was, this looks like a Goyard bag. But after staring at the bag closely for awhile, it occured to me the print is of little puppies. And after staring at it for even longer, it starts to remind me of LAMB bags, which I didn't think was totally original either. What a web! (Or maybe just a triangle.)
The Gucci one is too cutesy for me and the Juicy one is too preppy and seems to be made of terry cloth (-says it all.) While the two technically have very different designs, they superficially look similar to me.
Reminds me of a Gucci F/W07 bag. I think it may even have been featured in an ad. Does anyone remember it and think so, or did I just imagine it?

It doesn't look exactly like a Gucci bag but that gold, circle metal piece in the middle is like the metal piece on a lot of the Gucci 08 bags.

Again, it's the metal plate on this Juicy bag that reminds me of another designer's bags. Can anyone guess?
I love this type of gold hardware that looks like a lock on handbags. The designer bag that has a lot of gold fake locks is by... it starts with the same letter as the one above.
This one is sort of obvious. One is by Dior and one is by Juicy. One is super expensive and one is relatively affordable. To be fair, both are equally cute, though not exactly my style.

Note that I am not saying Juicy copied the other designers. Nowadays with so many choices and designers out there, designers just seem to be inspired by other designers' designs or elements of the designs a lot. It reminds me of Derek Lam saying "There's no such thing as original design...... In a way, that's what fashion's about." Afterall, it's why certain designers are held higher than others, and why some designer collections are considered 'directional' in terms of trend. Anyway, it was fun just to look at the bunch of Juicy accessories together like this, wasn't it?

Image Credit: http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/, http://www.shopbop.com/, http://www.eluxury.com/

Just Admiring the Resort 09 Collections: Stella McCartney

While I was looking for more to blog for about the Resort 09 collections, I've suddenly come to realise that with so many collections a year, the whole 'flipping through style.com' thing really isn't as fun or exciting as before now. While the clothes are still pretty, I just can't get through all the looks for the very long Resort collections, like Chanel, Dior and DvF. And honestly, none of the collections completely grabbed my attention -that is until I saw Stella McCartney's collection.

Admittedly, I was surprised I liked it so much since I usually feel so-and-so about her designs, but there's just something I really liked about this collection. Maybe because her presentation was so refreshing -it wasn't on a typical runway, and it was set outdoors without the usual overdone glam and setup. Everything looked so natural. You can really imagine through the park and in the city in these clothes. They have just the right touch of put-together casualness and stylishness.


The double-breasted jacket with skinny pants combo is nothing new but it looks young and super sleek here. And I'm usually not a fan of jumpsuits but it looks oddly cool and glamorous and again, sleek.


These two dresses are so cute and look so easy to wear. I like how the designs are special enough to make the person to look different but not too out-there. Plus the colours are so sharp.


One of the key elements to the effortless casual and sleek look: neutral colours. Ok, so most of us out here can't actually fit into those tight Capri or carry off those loose, tight-at-the-ankles pants, but they look so cool on the models. And I love the androgynous of the tops.


Imagine walking in the city in these outfits next summer (or if you can replicate them, this summer) -uber-stylishness! I've got to figure out a way to imitate the outfit on the right -it's such an amazing combination of girliness -the loose, bow tie blouse -and androgynous -the long blazer.


What did you think of the Stella McCartney collection? Which Resort collection was your favourite?


Image Credit: www.style.com

Just Admiring the Resort 09 Collections: A Few Favourites

Even though the Resort collections are becoming more and more important, they don't seem to have the directional importance that greatly infleunce trends. But the clothes are usually also a lot more practical and relateable. So this year I actually looked through most of the collection on style.com and picked out my favourite outfits:

3.1 Phillip Lim

As usual, his collection is very loveable. Most of the clothes look so young, modern and perfect for people who have the parties to go to (and the money to spend.)

These day dresses are so cute. I love the colour combinations -of the jacket with the navy dress and of the light green dress with the dark green belt. I'm really loving the long jacket with mini dress combination at the moment.

Phillip Lim's cocktail dresses never disappoint. They look so customer-friendly and imagine if you had loads of events to attend about town, then the dresses look like they'll be suitable for so many dresses.

Nina Ricci

Everything is so delicate and so etheral looking (-maybe it's just the models,) with a bit of edge.

Lanvin

The Lanvin collection was great to ooh and ahh over as usual, but there's a bit too much of eveningwear and expensive dresses to truly imagine them being worn by myself in real life. I love the loose-fitting, silk, white jacket with those large pockets (on the right.) It's so casual yet cool and luxurious at the same time.

There were a lot of sharp colours, as expected from Lanvin, although it seems to be the general trend for next year too, especially yellow and orange.

OK, this post is obviously not so much of a fashion analysis post and more of a ooh-this-is-so-pretty post. These clothes somehow look so much cooler and more modern than this season's floral dresses.

Image Credit: www.style.com

A Weekend in Amsterdam

After spending last Friday in Paris (more on that later,) I headed off to meet up my friends (who flew in from London) in Amsterdam for the weekend. We met at the Centraal Station and took the tram to our hotel. The trams make getting around very easy and convenient, although we stayed pretty much within one area for the whole weekend so we mostly walked.

Once we got out of the Centraal Station, we saw this church on the left. We took pictures because it looks so pretty but we weren't bothered to get closer. Throughout the trip, we see other churches around. Afterwards, we went to the famous Anne Frank House, which was very interesting. Unlike most museums you don't actually see a lot of artifacts in the House, but the presentations you see when you walk through each room of the House really gives you a sense of what happened and how it felt.

At night we visited the Red Light District, which was very interesting. I've definitely not seen any 'shops' like the ones there before. It was also really uncomfortably crowded so we didn't stay long.

On Sunday morning, we went to the Van Gogh Museum. I thought it was going to be just another art museum (-I've never studied art so I can't say I know how to fully appreciate art museums,) but it actually turned out to be pretty interesting. The museum splits Van Gogh's work into different time periods and the presentation boards have good descriptions that explain those time periods. As you walk along, you can really see the development and influence in his artwork even if you're not an artist yourself.

My favourite thing to do there was just walking along the canals, admiring the quaint little town feeling of the area and relaxing in the many coffee shops. So pretty and relaxing!

Along the canals, there were some boat houses. Not that I would ever want to live in one but isn't this one look so cute?

Before leaving on Sunday afternoon, we went peddle-boating (-is that the correct term?) Basically we water-cycled in the canals. Even though we didn't seem to be able to master the steering device and kept bumping into the walls and boat houses, it was so fun! It was a great way to just enjoy the sights without getting bored.

Now I understand why people seem to like going to Amsterdam to relax for a weekend!

Image Credit: http://www.vangoghmuseum.com/ and my friend, L

FCUK S/S08

Remember the FCUK dress post I did before last Christmas? Alas, I didn't end up getting any of those dresses, but I've continued to stalk FCUK clothes, especially the dresses online. For S/S08, FCUK had less shift dresses and more 20's and high-waisted style dresses, but I still found plenty to like.


The dress that I've been ogling since the start of the season is the Ray dress. I love that even though it's covered with beads, it's not too sparkly and I love the combination of pale colours in horizontal stripes. I don't have an event in mind to wear it to, which is why I can't quite justify paying full price (120 pounds) for it. But if it goes on sale, should I get it? Or is it too disco-y?


I'm a fan of t-shirt dresses so I briefly considered this dress, but the ruffles were too small for my taste and the edges had that cheap-looking ripped effect.

Like I said, I love t-shirt dresses. The weird purple and green beaded pattern made me hesitent at first (-the dress is named Alien dress,) but I think it's growing on me. It looks so easy to wear and it's colourful without being too multi-coloured.

Then there is this tank dress, which is similar but less weird looking than the Alien Dress. It's sold out online though, so I assume it's sold out in stores too. I actually like the horizontal patterned stripes more but the t-shirt style is so much easier to wear.

A cute shift dress with a classic design.

This dress makes me think of fancy lunches. That's it. Since I have no fancy lunches to go to, perhaps it's not quite useful for me. But it's so pretty!

I thought this dress looked frumpy on the French Connection website, but I love it on the model. It's such a cute, fashionable twist to the polo shirt dress. The skirt bit is high-waisted, which is supposed to make one's legs look longer. Plus a daytime dress would be so much more useful to me than a going out dress. I didn't see it at my local store but hopefully I'll see it at the Oxford Circus store. Isn't it cute?

I touched this top at a store and the quality is great! You can wear it as a loose top, or as I saw it on display, tucked into a high-waisted skirt, which is oh-so-fashionable these days. It's so versatile, but I imagine the reason why there are still so many left in stores is that it costs 50 pounds!

I've been eyeing this Veronica top ever since the start of the season. I'm not one for blouses but the bow is just right and the slightly puffy sleeves are cute. I'll definitely be looking out for this.

I didn't think much of this top until I saw it (in another colour with yellow spots) on a salesgirl and it looked great on her. The design is a bit too interesting for me and it looks more like fall clothes than summer clothes but maybe I should just try it on first.

Now that the sales are about to start soon (-still waiting!), I'm trying to narrow down the list of items to look out for in the sale becuase obviously I can't buy everything. Which few items do you think I should pick?

Image Credits: www.fcuk.co.uk, www.bloomingdales.com, www.nordstrom.com

Stress Causes Acne

I've read before in various magazines and websites that stress causes acne. And sure, I believe them -afterall, it's a scientific finding that doctors tell us and not something off a new beauty product advertisement. But now I really care and believe this because it just happened to me! Last Tuesday, the day of my last exams, I woke up and felt some inflammation pain on my face but didn't have time to check it out properly. But at night, I checked out my face properly and was not happy -there were five new pimiples! So many breakouts within one day has not happened to me for a few years!

Not surprisingly, I freaked out and looked for a scientific explanation. I found that The Acne Resource Center Online has an understandable summary of why stress causes ance. Basically, stress causes stress hormones, which cause more sebum secretion and thus more acne. Plus, during time of stress, we tend to get lazy about our skincare regime.

It's always nice to know the explanation behind things, but at the end of the day, it's not like we can control our brains and not be stressed just so we don't get breakouts. So my solution is: damage control! I really recommend Origins Spot Remover. It's one of the only over-the-counter acne products that has actually helped calm and minimise my pimples. (When I say it works, I mean it helps. It does not work miralces!) No, I'm not getting paid to promote it! If you have other recommendations, leave it a comment.

Now the next problem is getting rid of the horrible red marks left behind on my skin. It takes ages, and I mean ages for the marks to fade. Unfortunately, I have yet to discover any product that actually helps fade the red spots. Does anyone know a good product for this? Help!

Image Credit: www.origins.co.uk

You may have noticed

...that our blog has been a bit lacking in updates recently. Barneys Girl is busy enjoying her last week as a college student (without needing to attend classes,) and I'm still recuperating from the six hours of exams I had yesterday. So yeah. We'll be back very soon!

Just wanted to leave you guys with a bit of advice. If you happen to live in the lucky part of the world where sales have already started, go shop! Otherwise, unless you need something urgently or it's from the pre-fall collections, wait for the sale! That's sadly what I'm doing now.

Graduation Caps

So the other day, I went to buy my graduation cap/gown. This is the first (and probably the only) time I will be wearing a graduation cap/gown, because my high school never had it and at the moment I don't plan to pursue any further studies. So I was super excited to try on my cap/gown and see how it looked.
I was a bit disappointed to find that apparently undergraduates in the US only get to wear plain black gowns, because the pretty color stripes I'd always imagined myself wearing are reserved for people with higher degrees than mine. But then, I remembered that even Rory in her Yale graduation had to wear the same black monstrosity (probably made of cheap plastic-ky unbreathable material as mine too) and felt a bit better. Though even the people over at Tufts have bits of blue in their tassels. Mine is just all black.
But the thing that bugs me the most is my graduation cap. I look like an idiot. It is an one size fits all cap, it is too big for me and the elastic-ky things on the side don't work. I wear it and there are irregular poofy bumps coming from all sides! A bit like how there is a bumpy bit on the back of Ashley's (right) cap, except multiplied by 10.
How come everyone else's (i.e. Rory and Marissa above) caps looks so nicely fitted on them? Is there something I am missing? Or is the cap from my school just badly designed?

Image Source: TV Addict

Sex and the City- the Movie

I finally saw Sex and the City the movie the other night (being the excellent student that I am, I waited until after finals to go see it, even though I've been super excited about watching it since they said they'd be making a movie)! You'd think that by now, a week later, on a Thursday night no less, there won't be that many people. But no. It was a full house! It is really hard to babble on excitedly about a movie without giving away the story line (not that it should be all that surprising - it is a chick flick after all), so *SPOILER ALERT* ahead. The thing I love most about Sex and the City is the strong unquestionable friendship between Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, even though they are all so different. And that continues to be the essence in the movie. Along with the fashion of course. They each have such a distinct personal style, there is something for everyone. I am loving Carrie's super Ralph Lauren outfit and Charlotte's elegant white dress. I love these pictures of the girls enjoying themselves together. Note to self: must take more of these kind of pictures with my girl friends- including outfit! I'm not usually a fan of Miranda's style, but I thought her outfit here, with the dangly earrings is quite sophisticated and pretty.
I also quite admire Samantha's bold sense of style. Only she can carry wear green with orange and not look like a carrot. The girls all dressed up for NY Fashion Week- front row of course. I'm curious though, as to how Charlotte can wear that (what appears to be straight cut) dress even though she's pregnant. She still looks beautiful and elegant of course, but isn't it kind of tight? Aren't pregnant women supposed to wear empire waists? And Carrie looks adorable with her bubble dress and fur shawl.
Then there was them getting ready for Carrie's wedding of course. The bride wore couture Vivienne Westwood, especially given to her by Vivienne Westwood herself, after her bridal shoot for Vogue. Personally, I didn't think the dress was that gorgeous because the bodice part didn't seem to be fitting that well.... but I guess that's couture for you. Though the other dresses she tried on in the Vogue shoot was much better. And that blue thing on her head, it is not feathers. As she mentions in the movie, it is actually a BIRD.

And I LOVE the idea of having her bridesmaids wear different but coordinating color dresses. They look awesome. Not typically bridesmaid-esque at all, since these dresses actually compliment them. And I thought it was really funny how tight the bottom of Charlotte's black dress is that she had to teeter to walk/run. I thought the part where they retreat to Mexico to mend Carrie's broken heart was charming. Again your friends will always be there for you. It was also very funny too though. I loved how Charlotte refuses to eat anything but pudding, and even takes out pudding from her Prada bag when they go eat at a fancy restaurant, because "It's Mexico!" Of course, this just makes her reaction after accidentally swallowing bath water all the more hilarious.
Seriously though, some clothes, only the girls on the show can carry it off. Anyone else wearing such a big flower on her dress for a casual stroll in the city, I'd think she was crazy. But Carrie looks gorgeous. And I really liked the green outfit she wore when she found "heaven" with Big. Not so fond personally of the shoes though... too strappy and gladiator like. I think here, less is more. Speaking of Big, even after so many seasons of Sex and the City, he's still a bit of a mystery to me. I got a better glimpse of his character in this movie though. He seems like a very private person and a little bit immature to me. Getting cold feet after having been through so much.... just get out of the car and go get married for godsake! I just could not fathom what he was thinking at that moment- even after they'd explained it later. But I guess if he was so perfect, there wouldn't be any drama. I did feel sorry for him though, when he turned back but was not given a chance to explain himself. Not teary though, even though a few of my friends teared up during that scene. I knew in the end he'd eventually be able to explain himself and sort this out.
Onto the side stories. Steve cheated on Miranda after having a 6 month dry spell. And for most of the movie, Miranda was unforgiving while Steve begged for forgiveness, until towards the end, they finally went to couple's therapy and realized that they loved each other and decided to give it another go. It was touching.
Samantha, one of the most dynamic characters on the show was not so dynamic in the movie. 5 years later, she'd basically turned into Smith's "behind the scene" woman. Managing his career, COOKING for him and waiting for him to come home- in LA! It was a very un-Samantha-like and she was feeling the pressure of not being herself. She was so tempted to cheat on Smith that she bought a dog instead. As much as I LOVE Smith (I STILL remember his Absolut Vodka ad), even I was thinking that it was not right, when he came home totally unappreciative of Samantha's efforts for Valentine's Day! I was glad in the end that Samantha found herself again (though I shall miss Smith....).
One of my FAVOURITE characters was Charlotte. Not just because she'd always been my favourite character simply because I identify most with her, but because even I don't remember her being so funny! She played a key comical role in this movie (probably because she didn't really have a story besides finally getting pregnant since her life is so perfect). My favourite parts were her scenes in Mexico, and towards the end, when she bumped into Big at a cafe for lunch and she told him that she "curse the day you were born!"
And as you remember, in the show finale,Charlotte adopted a Chinese girl- Lily (Alexander Fong). And she is THE MOST DARLING little Chinese girl ever (even though she hid Carrie's phone in her sparkly cupcake shaped purse). Her outfits are SO adorable too! I want my future daughter to look (and dress) exactly like her! As for the side characters, is it just me, or did Anthony and Stanford finally get together? And then there was the new character in the show, Louise. Personally, I would've hired the banker with the pink pointy heels, but I guess Louise was the less flamboyant and more relatable choice. She played an important role in helping Carrie pick up her life after the break up and all, but I don't really feel much for her. She was not especially likeable or hateable. Though I DID like her "LOVE" keychain.

The movie left me all happy and fuzzy inside. Big proposed to her in the HUGE closet he built for her (when we first saw it, the whole cinema went "WHOA") with her diamond studded Manolo Blahniks- it was totally Carrie. And in the end, the bride got married at City Hall in a dress by a nobody and then had dinner with her best friends and their family. Sigh ........... :)

I want to watch it again!

Ps. Sorry this review is like all over the place. I just don't know where to start!

Image Source: Yahoo Movies