Fashion & Style

A large comfortable scarf has always been a staple to one’s winter outfits. In the past few years, the trend seemed to be of plain, mono-coloured scarves. But ever since Balanciaga’s FW07 show, ethnic-looking scarves have become more and more popular. Walk in to any high street store, Zara in particular, and you would notice that they have been selling a lot of Balenciaga-inspired scarves. Think tie-dyed, or coin/ round metal pieces-embellished scarves. I actaully bought a tie-dyed silk scarf from Zara when I was in a runway-fashion haze, but I returned it later becuase I decided it just wasn’t practical. Speaking of Balenciaga, if you haven’t seen one of the Balenciaga scarves in real life, go see it and feel it! Your brain might just irrationally equate the quality to the huge price tag.

Anyways, I usually buy myself one to two scarves per FW season. This season, one of my scarves is this green printed scarf. (Excuse the crappy styling and photography.) It’s half silk and half wool, so it’s not the thickest, warmest scarf around, but it’s good for those not-too-chilly days. I especially like the purple and green blocks of colour at the ends of the scarf.

Tags: fashion

Who knew you can DIY your own wedding? Who knew you could shave off 1000 calories without giving up the good life? Check out what’s happening this week in the fab world of the fashion blog-o-sphere!

Just in time for holiday shopping, Stiletto Jungle found 13 Junk Food vintage-look rocker tees on sale for 42% off.

Goyard caught the go-green bug with the new environmentally conscious Goyard St. Louis Shopper Tote. Bag Bliss has more..

Not sure what to wear this holiday? Grab a bit of Bottega Veneta from Bag Snob!

Beauty Snob explores the sexy scent of Elle from YSL.

You can DIY your wedding without skimping on style. Enter to win a free copy of The DIY Wedding by Kelly Bare at Coquette.

FabSugar Trend Alert: Pointed Toe Flats. 

Stay gorgeous & skinny by shaving an extra 1,000 fattening calories off your holiday feast without giving up the good life…Fashiontribes shows how.

Now that there is finally a chill in the air Second City Style has your winter wardrobe essentials and even tells you where to buy them. How easy is that?

Over at StyleBakery.com, the editors share what they’re loving now.

Celebrity Styleaholic Najwa Moses gets up close and personal with Jennifer Hudson.

Shop till you drop! The Jewelry Weblog has the scoop on a jewelry and beauty show coming up with weekend in the Toronto area.

WE LOVE BEAUTY.com is intrigued by the new beauty collection from Coach - especially the three lipsticks.

How a perfume smells is important and all, but if the bottle is fugly, the morning spritz loses some of its luster, don’t you think?

Which is why we bring you our slideshow of yummy fragrances that look just as good as they smell. Whether it be sweet and gourmand, musky and sensual, or clean and fresh - there’s one for every nose and eye.

Hive Tip: Not sure what scent to get that picky girlfriend? Check out the very end of the slideshow for the ultimate perfume gift idea (you’ll thank us later).

See the SLIDESHOW.

And check out the rest of our 50 Days of Christmas here!

Tags: fashion

Though London is known as a breeding ground for new labels and provides good a starting point for a fashion graduate, that’s not to guarantee that any degree commercial of success will come your way.  Johanna Ho, from Hong Kong, graduated from Central St Martin’s and her collection was marked as a standout collection by the then fashion editor of the UK Times Iain R. Webb.  She started her own label in 1998 and though it was well-received at London Fashion Week in the beginning, getting stocked at Browns, Barneys etc, she soon turned to concentrating on the Asian market, getting stocked mostly in Japan by basing her company in Hong Kong. 

I think we are reaching a point in time wherby success in fashion can’t simply be measured whether you make it to the catwalks in the four fashion capitals and whether you get a ton of international press.  There is no shame in the commercial success that can be achieved by concentrating on a market such as Asia where spending power is getting to dizzy heights as highlighted by this WSJ article on young Hong Kong designers and of course, the fiscal advantages of being based in Hong Kong, compared to London are pretty awesome (I’m lamenting why Inland Revenue have taken half of my pay cheque….?!). 

So yes, Johanna’s  old English website is defunct because she has decamped to a much cuter, updated Japanese-based website which has her latest collection’s lookbook.  I really like how she has put a spin on girly by mixing in a hotchpotch of 20’s/30’s/40’s touches that are barely noticeable as being ‘period’.  A few weeks ago, I raved about Nuan+, a Japanese e-boutique and they sell a decent selection of Johanna Ho’s collection.  As I’m not longer able to get the best of both living in London and travelling to Hong Kong frequently, I guess I’ll have to content myself with staring at look book pictures and pondering whether I should enlist the help of someone to procure myself some Johanna Ho….

In short, I do think that just because us Western-based peeps have not heard of a designer, does not mean they’re not making waves the other side of the world.  Like the Disney ride ‘It’s a Small World’ though, I do feel (and hope!) that the world is getting smaller and that we aren’t just looking at fashion within the supposed ‘important’ fashion spots.   

Tags: fashion