Thinking about Color

In my last attempt to grasp onto summer, I have been thinking about color. More specifically, eye color. I want something that goes on smoothly with colors that actually shows up as it is on my eye- unlike how some powder eye shadows always tend be a few shades lighter or something. And so, I looked to cream eye shadow. This summer some popular ones have been Shisiedo's collection that comes in a bottle like this one (although this one is actually from Kanebo as I couldn't find a picture of the original one):

Beaute de Kose,Body Shop. . .

. . and Chanel have also came out with something similar. Not only do they apply very well and colorfully, but they also SHIMMER. And I'm sure modern technology has done something about cream eye shadow's tendency to crease. I am definitely looking into this.

Another option I am thinking about is this new long lasting cream eye shadow from Bobbi Brown. The long lasting bit sounds sooo tempting.

The subtle shades offered, such as these two, can be worn as a casual day time look that works with any outfit. Plus, it is definitely something one can carry into the fall with.
And speaking of colors, I am lusting after this new Dior five color palette that they've plastered all over the magazines. The colors offered are just soooo deliciously intense and different, which means a LOT of different looks can be achieved. If one has no eye shadows, this is definitely a great buy for $49.50 as it practically gives you such a wide range of colors suitable for any outfit.

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8th Annual Teen Choice Awards: The Fuglies

Continuing from yesterday's post, where there are the lovelies, there must be a few not-so-loviles.

As usual, Fergie turned up in a horendous outfit. I hate it when people wear sporty clothes and carry a Vuitton bag around. And to top it off, she's got such a *sarcastic* cute little tiara on her head.

That awful pouty smile aside, the black and white striped tube dress just looks awful on Nelly Furtado. The dress just somehow looks cheap. The makeup seems too formal for this casual dress.

As the hostess of the event, Jessica Simpson got to change a couple of times. Unfortunately, it seems that two out of three outfits were terrible. Left: Wearing a tight corset on top with loose capri pants at the bottom is obviously disastrous. Right: This black, lacy outfit is actually not bad, but it just doesn't look chic on Jessica. Another thing, those shoes and that outfit -just too much lace.

Ahh, and finally, Britney Spears. The colour and material of the dress are actually very pretty, but I think we all agree that while showing some cleavage is stylishly sexy, too much skin is seriously not so.

However, Britney's makeup and hair are the nicest I've seen on her for the past two years. She actually seems to glow in happiness -must be the pregnancy hormones!

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8th Annual Teen Choice Awards: The Lovlies

The Teen Choice Awards, which for some odd reason seems to have an ever-growing number of awards, is the perfect event for us to get ideas for pretty semi-formal and casual dresses. This year, dresses that show off legs without looking trashy is the key trend.

I LOVE Rachel Bilson's dress. It's so... perfect for this event. It's stylish without looking too mature; unique without looking quirky -very Rachel.

Mischa Barton looks gorgeous in the first dress, and chic in the second dress. I think the black dress suits Mischa particularly well -probably because she's got the legs to show.

Sophia Bush opted for a long dress. This is one of those dresses that you have to look closer to get how pretty it is.

Such a vibrant violet! Brittany Murphy finally dresses in something I like. It's such a fabulous cocktail dress.

Ashley Olsen looking effortlessly stylish in black & white as usual. This is another outfits I love. It's amazing how she always turns up to events without looking like she spent as much time to come out with outfits as the other celebs, but still looking as fantastic.

Kristen Cavallari and Kristen Bell looked pretty in two very different styles: Cavallari in a colourful resort-style silk dress, and Bell in a YSL-like outfit. The only thing I have to complain is that I wish Kristen Bell would dress in something that is more youthful sometimes.

Now Jessica Alba is one who really didn't bother much this time, so her outfit wasn't outstanding at all. But she's just so pretty...

And lastly, lovely eyecandies!

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A Fashion Internship II

Here are a few more interesting tidbits I picked up during my internship:

• To the trained fashion eye, one can tell the relationship between a brand's PR and people in a fashion magazine just by flipping through the magazine and skimming the numbers of item featured. I have given this a try and unfortunately it seems my fashion eye is still not trained enough to achieve this.
• Like many other industries, the turnover rate in the fashion industry is also very high. My colleagues together seems to have worked for almost half the fashion brand names around. As a result, everyone seems to know absolutely everyone in the industry.
• Inevitably in an industry dominated by women and gay men, it is a pretty bitchy business. Fortunately for me, my office is unusually friendly and the girls are all very nice and fun to hang out with. They talk about food, diets, relationships, where to go shopping and the latest gossip- girl talk!
• The order of the clothes on the rack actually tells a story and is not as random as it appears. Oh and hangers should be facing inwards!
• Cosmetics launch parties gives out better goodies bags (their latest products) than fashion shows which gives . . . nothing that I've recieved so far. But I am very ready to be convinced otherwise, so send me an invite ;)
• As one ex-shoe-buyer of one of my favourite department stores told me, the fashion industry is not as glamorous as it seems.

Overall, I've learnt ALOT about the fashion industry this summer. It has definitely given me something to think about in the future.

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A Fashion Internship I

Bee was right on the mark when she said that summer internships were all the rage nowadays, I don't think I know one person who is simply enjoying the summer, travelling and just bumming around. In fact, most of her article was pretty accurate and its heartening to know that even Bee and her friends go through the same thing as us mere mortals do in a summer internship.

Anyway, this summer quite unexpectedly I found myself doing yet another fashion internship at the regional office of a well known french brand, working with communications, retail and wholesale. Basically the other side to what I was doing last year. Surprisingly the Asia Pacific office of this french brand is only managed by 6 girls, albeit very amazing ones, in a little office they affectionately call the "shoebox." But despite the small scale, so many things were going on at once that I don't even know where to start!

Communications: They deal with everything that has to do with the public: advertisements, events and the press. They are responsible for putting advertisements in magazines, billboards, renovating stores and even on bus stops, making sure that everything perfectly represents the brand. Unaligned posters and chopped off products are not tolerated. They also organise and oversee events all over Asia, squeezing their collective creative juices together to create a smashing event and ensuring that all goes smoothly. They keep impeccable relationships with the press, lending out press samples to be shot and all. (Hence a charming personality and a wide network of friends is a major plus) In addition, they keep records of magazine appearances their products make and calculate the advertising value of it. This involves many hours pouring over fashion magazines, playing spot wally in the sea of fashion. I did a LOT of this, and believe me- not as fun as it looks. I developed a temporary fash-mag-phobia afterwards. Communications is definitely a very all around interactive job.

Retail: This Involved the management of the local stores. They are responsible for buying clothes in Paris for the local stores (hence they need to know their customers and have good taste), keeping track of what is bought, delivered and sold (i.e. lots of cross checking of data involved-trust me, they are eye blurring) and analysing what works in each location for future buying reference. On top of all this, they are also responsible for the operation of the stores, hiring people, customer relations and the construction of new stores. And when dealing with customers, a LOT of patience is required. I once witnessed a 1 hour long tirade from a customer dealt with patience and virtue. Oh and they also have to keep up with the prices of competitors, which involves a lot of cold calling and ones alter ego (which I have perfected). A very on the market job.

Wholesale: Before the clothes get to the customers, they are first wholesaled directly from the brand headquarters to various outlets. These outlets include the brand's stores, department stores and mix brand outlets. Wholesalers are responsible for this selling in between. These sellings take part in the Paris showroom or they may have samples of the clothes shipped to their location and have their own regional showroom. The selling process may take as short as 2 hours to as long as 6 hours depending on the buyers of each stores- some buyers can be very particular and thorough. Other times, they field emails from clients on topics such as delivery and prices etc, do market walk throughs with clients to see how their products are selling and plan for expansions.

Wow, that was very long. So you see, a LOT is involved before clothes make it to the store even after it has been made. But overall, fashion merchandising is very similar to other forms of merchandising, all the work involved are essentially the same, except one is dealing with fashion instead- which I guess is a whole lot funner if one likes to look at pretty things!

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John Tucker Must Die

I usually don't like going to the cinemas, but there seems to be a lot more interesting movies this summer than the previous few. And since I had nothing much to do when I was visiting my relatives in San Francisco, I actually went to the cinema twice. After my cousin's gay friend claimed that John Tucker Must Die is better than Mean Girls, my cousin and I decided to give it a try. Warning: Spoiler below.

The story starts with the king of high school, John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe,) secretly dating three girls from different cliques. The three girls are (from left to right in the picture below): Carrie (Arielle Kebbel), the super, high-tech, overachiever; Beth (Sohpia Bush), the animal activist slut; and Heather (Ashanti), the head cheerleader.

But trouble starts when the enemies find out by chance they were all dating John Tucker, and Kate (Brittany Snow), who is the main female character and narrator, accidently gets pulled into the mess. She suggests the three girls get even, and the girls decide to makeover Kate and use her to break John Tucker's heart.

And so the plan starts: Kate, with the help and plotting of the other girls of course, manages to get John Tucker to really like her.

The guy that Kate actually liked is her chemistry partner -John Tucker's younger bro.

And the story ends with a loveable happy ending: the four girls become real friends!


This is seriously one of those high school clique stories. The story is cliche and not exactly high IQ material, but it's very funny and will make you laugh out loud. Brittany Snow did a good job at being the awkward Kate. I think what I liked about it was that the girls all came together for a purpose and achieved it. The jokes and funny bits were all very obvious, which I liked. My cousin however thought the dialogue wasn't as witty as Mean Girl's dialogue. So if you're in the mood for just something ditzy and funny, give this movie a try!

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A YSL Fashion Show

Yesterday Harrods Girl and I went to the local YSL show set at the grand ballroom of one of the premier hotels the city has to offer. Very befitting the stature of YSL I must say. We arrived at around 9, stood in line to be registered. Surprisingly it was already very crowded and chaotic (so much that I reckon people appropriately dressed could've gotten in without being on the list). And here I thought people would be fashionably late. Apparently that right is only reserved for the celebs who arrived right before the show and literally squeezed the rest of the people in their row out of their seats.
Anyway, so we went in, had champagne and this delicious strawberry cocktail, chatted and observed the amazingly good looking and fashionably dressed people in the room. And the latest and best were observed, from leopard pump, this season's YSL clothes to the most gorgeous Loubotin pumps and birkins around. Of course, the hair and make-up were flawless. Even the guys looked cuter!
Inside, many rows of benches were set out and the models walked around the rows and we all got a very good look at the clothes. Fashion really does look better in real life. I especially LOVED this dress, it flowed soooo beautifully and looked amazing. Now if only the models would walk slow enough for me to take a picture!
They were also showing the men's collection as well. Although some looked scary and one looked like a woman, a few of the male models were very hot-especially these two in the tux *swoon*.

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