The Clothes Muse: July 2012

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Quick Post: Giveaways!

Hi dears! I have a hectic sked this week but I wanted to take a little time off to share some on-going giveaways right now (local and international). :)

Carrie of Read My Life as Carrie is giving away a £50 Gift Card for www.simplybeach.com. This is international and ends August 18! Join here. She also has a $50 card for Shabby Apple up for grabs! Join here.

Cheyser of The Walking Recessionista is having a week-long giveaway for her birthday! Some items are for international readers and some for Philippine-based readers only. Join here.

Philippine-based giveaways:

Joanna Marcelo of The Shoe Code partners with Vogue Couture, My Belt Ran and Braccialetto Filipina for a giveaway. Join here.

Kat Valdez of Fashyown Dreams also partners with Vogue Couture and My Belt Ran for a giveaway. Join here.

What are you waiting for?!

XO,

Firmoo Free Glasses

A few weeks ago, I won a giveaway sponsored by Dora of A Drop of Indigo and Firmoo. The prize was a $25 coupon for Firmoo.com.

Firmoo is the world's most popular online eyeglasses shop. Their company tagline is: Vision and Fashion the Frugal Way. They offer a wide variety of designs for prescription glasses and sunglasses. The prices are competitive and lower than the traditional mall stores. What do I like about their site and services?

You can find glasses and frames by sex, size, shape, price, color.
You can virtually try on frames and even upload your own picture.
You can save favorite frames.
You can save your prescription (if any).
You can customize tint color, tint percentage for sunglasses.
They have a responsive customer service.
They offer free shipping for purchases of two or more glasses.

When I went over to the online store, I found out that Firmoo also offers free eyeglasses to new customers. All you'll have to pay for is the shipping fee. (They ship internationally and the fees vary depending on your location.) Because of this, I grabbed the chance to get free glasses aside from what I can buy using the coupon I won!

I chose a pair of huge sunglasses:

Full-frame wrap-around plastic sunglasses

I placed my order on July 18 and received the glasses on July 27!

Included in the package: cleaning cloth, extra screws, invoice and discount coupons

Included in the package: pink plastic case, black velvet pouch

I had the tint customized to grey 60%

It's been raining over here but I felt the summer vibe when I put the sunglasses on. Oh yeah! Can't wait 'til the next beach outing!

For the coupon I won, I ordered simple prescription glasses (hint: chic geek). I had a problem with the coupon code but customer care responded and even extended my coupon expiration date. Told you they have great customer service! Now I'm counting down to the next package I'll get from Firmoo.

Looking for the perfect pair of sunglasses or eyeglasses? Check out Firmoo's selection of frames here. :)

XO,

P.S. If you purchase from Firmoo, you can join their affiliate program for a year. I just did, and if you order by clicking the links on this page, I'll get a small commission. If that bothers you, just type firmoo.com in your browser.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Liebster Award!

I was nominated for the Liebster Award by Chloe Jacqueline of CJVZHeartsYou. (Go meet her!)

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. (Liebster is German for favorite!)

Here are the rules for receiving the award:

- Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

1. I work as a technical writer... for a medical/health project. :D
2. I live away from my family. :(
3. I have read Anne Rice's erotic novels!
4. My fave colors are black, red and purple. This fact is not hard to see. :p
5. My favorite Japanese author is Haruki Murakami.
6. My favorite female author is Margaret Atwood. (See how I cheated right there!)
7. I am an Android phone user.
8. I have a plan to write a children's book on homosexuality.
9. I have eaten... goat meat!
10. My real name is not Diwata Luna. (*Gasp!*)
11. I don't like pink but my fave bedsheets are in pastel pink.

- Answer the questions that the tagger set for you PLUS create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer.- Choose 11 people and link them in your post.- Go to their page and tell them. *No tag backs!*

My 11 Questions from Chloe:

1. One thing you cannot live without?

Easy. Books! IKR?

2. iPhone, or Droid?
Droid

3. What is your favorite color?
Black. Purple. Red. Okay I can't choose!

4. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life it would be?
Chocolates!

5. Dream job?
Hmm.. Something related to fashion. That's why it's called a dream. :D I actually want to work for an non-government organization.

6. Favorite Drink?
Coffee!

7. Why did you start blogging?
Because I was bored with writing for work. And I needed to gain confidence putting out material online so I can work on a professional blog.

8. One thing we wouldn't know about you from looking at you?

That I'm a sensual type? LOL!

9. Share your favorite picture from your cell phone!
This was from my beach vacay last April. My camera's bat got drained so i had to use my phone. But this is an edited version. :D

10. Who inspires you?
Ordinary people who are living each day with passion nonetheless. I see a street vendor with a smile each day and I am inspired.

11. How was your day?
It was VERY BUSY!

These are my questions for the people I will tag:
1. What was your least favorite subject when you were studying?
2. Skirt or pants?
3. Would you buy an expensive pair of shoes or an expensive necklace?
4. Where would you want to go for a vacation for a week?
5. What is your current job?
6. Single or married?
7. What's your fave top or blouse? (Post a photo)
8. What do you do to relax?
9. What's your favorite holiday or occasion for dressing up?
10. What's the name of your bestfriend?
11. What musical instrument would you like to learn to play?

These are the bloggers I'm tagging:

Tofi of http://stylebycarola.blogspot.com/
Marie Antoinette of http://shegoesthrifty.blogspot.com/
Jacqueline of http://jacque-g.blogspot.com/
Amber of http://www.ambersweet.net/
Sankalpa of http://www.fashionpastiche.com/
Ruxandra of http://from-brussels-with-love.blogspot.com/
Amarachi of http://www.amarachiukachu.com/
Marge of http://pisofashion.blogspot.com
Katherine of http://www.ofcorgisandcocktails.com/
Rio of http://oliviairene.blogspot.com
Iman of http://imancoco.blogspot.com/

Send me your links when you finish your post! :)

Love y'all and have a great weekend!

Friday Chill Music: Toe

Isn't it great that it's Friday already?

Well, it's not. (WARNING: Brief ranting coming up.)

I've had a very very VERY hectic schedule lately, what with my regular tasks and additional tasks at work AND my MA classes. And this Friday is particularly stressful because of MORE MORE MORE work responsibilities being followed up and problems with my upcoming report for the MA class. I had hoped the week would come to a slow pace today -- but it didn't!

So even with such a busy sked, I'm spending a couple of minutes on the blog to share with you a chill playlist for days when you need something to calm you down. Meet the Japanese band Toe. :)

Feel free to enjoy a glass of wine or a bottle of beer while listening. ;)

That's all for now! Have a cool Friday

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Pinterest Picks: Peplum

In the world of fashion, trends and styles get resurrected, rehashed or revamped every so-and-so years. Didn't someone say everything has been done before? Or not. While it's true that certain motifs or styles make comebacks, that doesn't mean designers can't inject their own personal spin or inventive take.

One of the styles on the comeback is peplum. Now I'd like to know the etymology of this word because I can't connect "plum" to the shape of it. A simple Google search yields the wiki page for "peplum." Two relevant terms come up: overskirt and peplos. I go for "peplos" and find a Greek one-piece garment described as follows:

"A peplos (Greek) is a body-length garment established as typical attire for women in ancient Greece by 500 BC (the Classical period). It was a tubular cloth folded inside-out from the top about halfway down, altering what was the top of the tube to the waist and the bottom of the tube to ankle-length. The garment was then gathered about the waist and the open top (at the fold) pinned over the shoulders. The top of the tube (now inside-out) draped over the waist, providing the appearance of a second piece of clothing. (The Caryatid statues show atypical drapery.)" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peplos)

Huh. Come again?

Here's a statue of Athena in a peplos:

From Wikipedia

Ah, quite possible then that peplum came from peplos. So how did it turn into a plum?

WiseGeek provides a historical view (no citations) to the mystery of the peplum:

"The peplum, a term dating back to the 19th century, is a short overskirt that is usually attached to a fitted jacket. You can see early examples of this in old copies of Godey’s Lady’s Book, a popular magazine in the 19th century that featured poems and especially discussion about fashion. This early peplum was usually not attached to a jacket, but was merely an extra overskirt flounce sewn onto, and dropping from the waist. The modern version, as we now know it, became popular as a design in women’s suiting in the 1940s... The fashion faded in the 1950s but came back with a vengeance in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This was part reactionary to the boxy menswear style jackets with large shoulder pads that proliferated during the mid 1980s. Most jackets with peplums in the late 1980s still had shoulder pads, but feminine curves were emphasized by a fitted waist and either a flounced or straight peplum, usually covering the hips and stomach." (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-peplum.htm)

Satisfied yet? Ah, well, enough of the semantic exploration! Let's move on to the fashion inspiration!

Peplum-style swimsuit

Vogue, 1969

Peplum corporate dresses

From www.cocosteaparty.com

Peplum on a body-fitting maxi skirt

Orange maxi with peplum detail, from http://lefashionimage.blogspot.com

Couture peplum

Jason Wu, from NYMag

Ziad Nakad Couture, from http://lefashionimage.blogspot.com

Structured peplum

Badgley Mischk: Spring 201

Emma Stone

Peplum on jacket

MOSCHINO: Bouclé wool-blend peplum jacket

I really want to get my hands on some peplum skirts, but I don't know whether it will suit me since I have big hips. :p Would you try it yourself?

Love,

Pinterest Picks for the...

Remember when I used to post my weekly top picks from Pinterest? Well, times have been busy for me and I have a massive backlog of pins to go through for my pickings.

I decided to make separate posts for pins that are thematically connected, and I'm starting with this post with the theme: RANDOM. :p

Francesco Scognamiglio via Cammilicious

Dannijo Lindsay bracelet

Elemiah Deelecto bracelet

Colorblocked wedges

Yellow pleated dress from Burberry

Maxi dip-dye skirt

Sass and Bide graphic print

Sherbet and color-blocked from Lulus.com

And finally, two photography pins I would LOVE to copy!

Next post will be my Pinterest picks with the theme: PEPLUM! Watch for it. :)

Love,

Thursday, July 12, 2012

What I Wore to a Wedding

At my age, when one of your batchmates or friends gets married, you're supposed to feel pressured and worry about why you are still single. But times have changed! Being single when you're 25 or when your friends have all gone to the altar is not such a big deal anymore. So when my high school friends Kiko and Jessamine invited me to their wedding, I did not have any qualms or jitters about attending. Well, except for the what-to-wear department.

Their wedding was my first wedding event as an adult, and as a guest rather than part of the bridal entourage. I suddenly had no idea how people dress for weddings! *Panic mode* I didn't want to be too formal nor too typical. After going around the mall for hours, I decided on buying both a red mullet skirt and a mustard yellow tube mullet dress. (Like I showed in the poll here.)

Days before the wedding, I eventually set my heart on the mustard yellow mullet dress from Apartment 8. It's my first ever piece of clothing in yellow! Since it was a tube dress, I bought a vintage-inspired necklace with various colored gems from Girlshoppe to dress up the neckline. Then I got a bag in pink with Aztec print and fringes (I fell in love at first sight!) from Tonic.

On the day itself, I had my hair curled a bit since it's a disaster when left just as it is. I used light makeup and Revlon Really Red lipstick. I added my red cinch belt to accentuate my figure and add some oomph. For a final touch, I figured I should wear my patterned stockings... because I didn't want to shave LOL! I wore my nude pink open-toed heels.

Mustard yellow mullet dress, Apartment 8

Colored gems necklace, Girlshoppe

Pink Aztec and fringed bag, Tonic

Patterned stockings, Payless

Nude pink heels, Payless

The wedding was very touching because Kiko and Jessa have been together since we were in high school. Never broke up, no sir. That's true love right there and it felt uplifting to see them tie the knot. The reception was also full of sweet surprises which got us all saying aaawwww...

Getting together with my high school friends was also super fun. I haven't seen them for years, and I wonder why now. We had a great time catching up with each other and taking photos, as you'll see below.