Style Musings

It’s the last day of Winter and there’s a sigh of relief at the thought that it is ending. While this year is probably one of the perfect Winters I’ve had in Sydney, just a few days that we had rain and lots of sunshiny days, my “tropical body” is nothing short of excited to welcome the warm season ahead.

As my way of saying goodbye to Winter, I’ve prepared a list of items that helped me get thru each and every cold day. For those in Australia, these might give you an idea on what to look out for in winter sales (currently on-going!) and for countries about to experience cold weather, this list might give you an idea on winter essentials to buy.

Puff Jacket. I’ve got trench coats for different levels of winter coldness but there comes a point when I would only wear my puff jackets because they’re the only ones who can keep me warm during negative degree temperatures. The one I’m wearing below gives me maximum warmth as this jacket’s insulation is made of furry material (“Carpeted itong jacket na ito!” is what I always tell the Husband). Although puff jackets make me feel like I’m a walking marshmallow and make me look shapeless, I don’t care. Once it’s hugging my body, I’m able to face any coldness the winter brings. My tip in finding a puff jacket: try it on and see how the insulation feels on your body and how thick the insulation is ( “is it keeping your body warm enough?”).

Scarves. Like the puff jacket, I have different kinds of scarves to cater to different levels of coldness. Scarves are your neck and chest’s bestfriend as it adds warm and protection to your body.  The knitted scarf is the one that ultimately keeps me warm on very cold days.
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials

Knitted Beannies. On very cold and windy days, wearing a beannie is a must. It keeps your head covered and hair in placed. 
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials

Knitted Gloves. All the gloves I wear during winter are knitted as I love the cozy feel of them. 
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials

These two pairs below is gadget-friendly.  The brown pair has the finger part cut up but if you’re not using your hands for tapping gadgets, you can wear the top part to cover your fingers. 
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials

This fuchsia pair has grey tips on the thumb, pointing and middle fingers so when you wear this pair, your fingers are able to tap gadgets. You can wear this pair of glove without taking it off in order to tap your phone or tablet. Very clever!
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials

Knee-high socks and toe socks. Although I wear tights on some days, I have a lot of days when I only need to wear socks as my legs doesn’t feel cold much compared to my upper body. However, these knee-high socks are helpful when I’m wearing high boots.  The toe socks on the other hand are helpful when I’m at home as it keeps my toes warm during bedtime.
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials

Winter Boots for the Home. I found this cute winter boots at Target on sale and got it so I can use it at home.
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials

Laced-up Boots in Canvas. Another great find for me as it was on sale. I use this when I’m tired of wearing heavy leather boots. They keep the feet warm and so comfortable. Since it’s canvas, this can be worn during Spring and Autumn. 
Style Musings: My Winter Essentials

Tomorrow Spring will officially start but it will still be a fair bit cold on the first two-three weeks. I’m no plans of putting these pieces that kept me warm this season as yet but the thought of wearing lighter clothes excites me.

Hope Winter was kind to you this year!
Pandora, one of the world’s famous jewellery designers and creators, has launched its Spring Collection 2012 and it (finally) included the Camera charm. I’ve visited their stores for the past two years hoping that they’ve come out with a camera charm but I always come home empty-handed. Last week, a friend gave me a tip that it is available in stores. I called the nearest Pandora branch to my office (to make sure that my visit won’t be futile) and the staff confirmed that they have a few pieces in store. Dropped by after work and voila! I went home with a big smile on my face and a pretty little box of Pandora.
Style Musings: Camera Charm From Pandora
Style Musings: Camera Charm From Pandora


That little box contained my first ever Pandora charm, the Camera. It was fascinating how detailed they’ve created this little piece of jewellery. The Camera is complete with distinct lens and dials.  And the back of the camera amused me to no end as it even has a screen, viewfinder and dials too. I love it!  I feel that a camera is befitting of being my first charm because like a charm bracelet, the camera is beautiful tool that captures great moments in life. And that’s what I want for my future charm bracelet, something that will hold pieces of my life’s charmed moments.

Style Musings: Camera Charm From Pandora
Style Musings: Camera Charm From Pandora

I’ve always been fascinated by charms. I’ve searched a few sites online for options on which store I’d like to buy my first charm from and I chose Pandora because we have stores here in Australia. Two years ago, I thought to myself that I want my first charm to be a camera and the idea stuck. I don’t even have a bracelet that will hold all the charms I plan to have because I’m in no hurry. I also don’t know when I will buy a bracelet. For now I’m happy that my wish to have a camera charm came true. 

I want my future charm bracelet to be special so my plan is to buy each charm in my own sweet time. Acquiring each one will be based on milestones and celebrations of my life. Now I wonder what my next charm will be. 

I’m glad that knitted jumpers made a comeback this year.  For the past few years, it wasn’t as prevalent as it is now.  It’s about time for fashion stores to make more of these as it’s getting colder each year.  Some days it’s not enough to wear just not-so-thick knitted shirts as the ones that give more warmth are these oversized and thick knitted jumpers. On days when it’s cool but sunny, one can get away with just the jumper over two to three shirts underneath instead of a winter coat. They make one look bulky, shapeless even, but who cares? What’s important is that one’s warm during cold days. 

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Yesterday, we caught the sunset at North Strathfield where we had dinner and coffee with friends. With just a camisole and thermal underneath my oversized knitted jumper, I stayed warm enough until we went home.
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Pink Oversized Knitted Jumper: D.P Shop
Striped Skirt: Big W
Tights: Voodoo
Ankle Boots: Shoe Shed
Satchel: Valley Girl
Accessories: DKNY watch, The Bead Shop, Diva

My Mum had these reminder bracelets made at a store called The Bead Shop in the Philippines.  Each bracelet is a reminder of my favourite words and each word are some of the things I believe in and my passions in life.

WANDER.  For my love of travel and learning.  This word reminds me to live curious, think of possibilities and adventure, and be open to changes in life.  When I lust for wander, I don’t only lust for a place to see, I lust for adventure and learning too.


CHARMED. For my strong belief that all good things happen when we believe that it will and that God and the universe conspire to make our dreams come true as long as we work hard for it.


LOVE.  This word inspires me to be kind, to think of love first before anything else; to love myself, my family and friends.  This word reminds me that the universe will never run out of goodness because love is within all us.  


CHERISH.  “Live in the moment and enjoy being”–this is what I always say to myself all the time, that’s why I cherish everything in my world.  Life has taught me to never take anything for granted–such a hard task–so I try.  


INDULGE.  I love this word it reminds me to truly enjoy the things that bring me joy and to also shower my loved ones with things that make them happy. 


These reminder bracelets are available at The Bead Shop Philippines.  Subscribe to their Facebook page and know more about their products.

January is my birthday month and I’m grateful that my month’s looking pretty damn good. Two weekends in the lead up to my real birthday, I have celebrated and will be celebrating it with friends.  I feel really blessed to have friends who find time to celebrate my birthday with me.
My first birthday party was held last weekend with my Tweethearts and we’ve decided to have an 80s themed party.  So my inspiration for an outfit were Madonna and Molly Ringwald (Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club).


(image source: The Stiletto Effect)

I like seeing outfits that make me remember an era.  I remember when my college friends and I would shop for clothes, we’d hear ourselves say, “This reminds me of a movie” or “This reminds me of the 70s!” when we see a certain outfit. 

I don’t exactly have an 80s outfit so as I thought of preparing for the party, I decided to come up with an 80s-inspired ensemble instead of going full on 80s.  I wanted an ensemble that will remind me of the 80s and one that I can still wear any day.  When I buy clothes, I try to be practical and find pieces that will be used for more than one occasion. 

The Shirt. I didn’t find it difficult to find a shirt that represented the 80s as it seemed that there are a lot of clothes out there likened to the style from that era.  I found this pink chiffon shirt with heart graphics and I instantly thought of  the movie “Pretty in Pink”.  It’s pink, feminine and the style is similar to what Molly Ringwald was wearing on the first photo above.  The clothing material is also perfect for the warm weather.
Fashion Fridays: Inspired by the 80s

The Accessories.  It’s only recently that I’ve become comfortable wearing a pile of necklaces.  I found this bundled necklaces in an accessory shop in Sydney on sale and thought that maybe I should learn how wearing these kind of necklaces.  I wore this when I watched the KPOP Concert last year and since then, it has become a favourite of mine.  The bracelet I wore is also my favourite from Swatch.
Fashion Fridays: Inspired by the 80s
The Skirt.  I love wearing denim skirts because they’re so easy to pair up with anything.  I already own a short denim skirt so I didn’t have to buy this one anymore.

The Shoes. One of my last few buys when I was in Manila.  I chanced upon this on my last day and was easily charmed by the feminine eyelets of this pair.  Celebrities of the 80s wore short boots with their outfits and this pair of open-toe ankle boots were perfect as it is Summer here in Sydney.
Fashion Fridays: Inspired by the 80s

So here’s my interpretation of an 80s inspired outfit.  Simple, feminine, a touch of ruggedness and a tiny bit of edge.
Ensemble:
Pink Chiffon Shirt: Paper Scissors
Denim Skirt: Esprit 

Open-toe Ankle Boots: Unlisted

Bundled Necklace: Diva

Bracelet: Swatch

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