Ethnic Influence ( Indonesia)

This is my Ethnic Influence project. The influence that I chose is from Indonesia's Kebaya. Kebaya is all about lace and corset. My target customer is a high-end fashionista that love to shop at Opening Ceremony, a career woman with base salary is $100.000, she is confidence and easy going. My designs are paired with pants including jeans, short silk and drawstring cropped silk pants. For the fabric I used allover lace for the kebaya and I used silk velvet for the corset.

How To Wear Jeans to Work

1. Get a Boyfriend Blazer
Before you slip on a pair of weekday jeans, consider your workplace and what is appropriate—if you are a banker or a lawyer, you might be limited to twill trousers even on Casual Friday! But if you work in a more casual profession, try upgrading a sleek pair of jeans with a structured blazer. For a classic look, pair a black jacket (like Sarah Jessica Parker's velvet number) with dark denim or a bright white tuxedo design (like Gweneth Paltrow's with a lighter or acid-washed pair. Think suit and match light colors with light and dark with dark.

2. Embrace Sequins
A bit of shimmer is an instant outfit upgrade. If you're a risk-taker (and your office is fashion-forward), try a bolder sequined piece, like Rachel Bilson's popping blazer. For a more understated look, try a shimmery tank under a cropped jacket a la Rihanna.




3. Throw On a Cardigan
Embellished sweaters lend retro charm to a pair of jeans. Look for crafty details that will dress up denim, likePenelope Cruz's rilly ruffles or Heidi Klum's beading.






4. Buy a Silk Blouse
A sweet silk blouse will give your jeans a feminine feel—look for tops with pretty patterns or intricate necklines.







5. Try a Little Leather Jacket
A cropped leather jacket gives a jeans-and-a-T-shirt look a luxurious spin. Just skip the heavy motorcycle jackets in favor of light, soft skins in classic colors, like gray, brown or black.






6. Look For a Chic Button-Down
A crisp button-down shirt is a no-fail piece for the office. For a streamlined appearance, tuck a light-hued blouse into matching skinny jeans like Kate Moss's and take it to the next level with chic heels and a status bag. Or, if your workplace is more laid-back, try a patterned version, like Sienna Miller's and add boots and a bright satchel.

10 Things Every Woman Must Own!

1. Black Blazer
A tailored blazer is classic, feminine and looks great on all body types. Pair it with anything: jeans, little dresses, trousers, skirts. Make sure to find one that fits you well and accentuates your waist.








2. Leopard Print Scarf
if you're wearing a basic T-shirt and jeans, use accessories like a printed scarf as the 'bright' piece to complete your look.









3. Red Flats
Black is the obvious choice, but red flats provide a pop of color and work for every season.









4. Striped Shirt
It looks great paired with brights or prints or peeking out from underneath a blazer.











5. Statement Necklace
The statement necklace can make a simple outfit look strong and feminine.












6. Little Black Dress
Every woman knows she should have a little black dress, but it's important to invest in one that's special. Look for a dress with a detail—an interesting sleeve, an embellished belt—that makes it unique.








7. Black Opaque Tights
A great pair of tights can make your legs look slimmer and help you get away with wearing a dress that's a little too short.










8. Oversize Watch
A watch is as much an accessory as it is a timepiece. A gold watch is a great way to dress an outfit up—try leaving it loose so it looks like a bracelet.









9. Classic Trench
Think of this as an investment piece—you'll wear it forever, even if you fluctuate in size. Look for a classic A-line silhouette that will cinch you in at the waist and wear it over everything from suits to jeans.







10. Flared Jeans
This is a flattering shape for most body types. Pair them with platforms or wedges to get extra height while keeping the look casual and comfortable.

Look Sexier in an Instant!

Want to look sexier ever than before? I want to share some tips from one of the articles in InStyle Mag on May 28, 2010.

1. Undo the button: loosen up a button-down just enough to reveal a delicate collarbone.








2. Wear anything with red.









3. Sport a pencil skirt.







4. Show your sexy leg.










5. Wear skinny ankle-length jeans. A pair of cropped skinny jeans can be the key to going from all-American sweetie to sexy siren.








6. Try sparkles: shimmer all summer with small hits of sequins or shining beads—a little dose of sparkle is an easy way to draw some eyes.









7. Bare your shoulders: shapely shoulders are begging to be shown off.











8. Add a dash of leopard: wear a leopard-spotted shoe with a loose-fitting dress for an unexpectedly sexy look.











9. Throw on a leather jacket: the leather jacket has graduated from rebellious extra to wardrobe essential, but it still looks sassy when paired leg-baring separates.

Sex and the City 2

I bet that most of you are aware of this movie; Sex and the City 2, will soon be on theaters on May 27, 2010. As you know, this movie is not only about love and sex, but also about "Fashion". Each of the main characters on this movie has a very distinct style i.e:

• Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is fearlessly fashionable: her style ranges from uptown chic to whimsy to sex kitten. Stilettos are a staple, and field mixes designer with flea market finds for Carrie's unique look.
• Samantha (Kim Cattrall) wears sexy styles that exude confidence. She is a Woman (with a capital "W") and the message comes across loud and clear through strong styles and bold color.
• Charlotte (Kristin Davis) has a sweet, preppy style that is always accompanied by the proper bag and shoes. Bows, cute prints and feminine styles play up the kind nature of her character.
• Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) was portrait as a well-dressed career gal with chic corporate suits and androgynous styles.

All characters represent most women in America including you; so don't miss it and learn the style!

My 2nd Flat using Illustrator.

I still can't believe that I am actually using this software to make flats.The fact is that the more you use it, the more you fall into it. This software is so awesome and I can't wait to learn its world famous sibling, the Photoshop. Now, I want to continue what I have posted previously which was about Historical Research. My research for my current collections were influenced by 1947's-1950's era. In that era, it was all about full skirt, A-line silhouette, Y-line silhouette and H-line silhouette.



The collections that I made are for Fall 2010 and the signature colors are lipstick red, pink coral, blue lagoon, oyster gray. When I designed these collections, I got reminded of Marylin Monroe's red halter dress. It was a classic full skirt dress which became an inspiration for me.




Three of my designs were using flower embroidery and the other one were using bow on the hip area. I also used pleats, princess seam line, V-shaped collar and layered dress for these collections.

Shoes shoes shoes,,,,,,

Break from clothes, I kinda make a left turn to the shoe's world. I saw these awesome shoes from Vogue mag. The article is called, "The Verdict's in: The Warm Weather Ankle Boot", which was published on Tuesday, April 27, 2010. From what I have observed, each shoes represent each respective designer's style; Balenciaga is distinguished by its bold color choice, Chloe with its earth tone color and Tommy Hilfiger with its Contemporary look.

Trend Shopping at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Ave

Me and my friend, Anne, were using our spring break to go to Rodeo Drive to do some trend shopping. It was quite interesting to see designer's clothes, bags, shoes, and all the good stuff. When we were there, we saw two gorgeous models were trying on some clothes. Well, it's Rodeo Drive after all.




Back to the topic, from the trend shopping, I saw a lot of printed dress and nude color influence. Military influence was still going on. Tie-dye technique were seen on dresses too. I saw printed dress/ tie-dye technique by Alexander McQueen and Pucci. It brought fresh and feminine look.





I really love nude color and on this trip, I saw a dress from Valentino that was made from sheer fabric on the top and accompanied by silk blouse from Chloe; both were incredible. Last but not least, a pants from Chloe that brought military look.

Spring break is around the corner and yet school projects are also tailing along with it, so it means that there will be no actual "break" for me. Well I don't have much choice but to finish up the projects before the deadline..sigh..

I want to share a little bit about my fashion class project. This time we were asked to research about historical of fashion and I chose 1947's. It is about Dior's new look era which was all about fitted jacket with a nipped in waist and full calf length skirt. I am so excited about it because my line will be formal wear which I love to design. I am posting some pics about past trend of 1947's and current trend.

For the current trend, I am inspired by Elie Saab's collection. I extremely love with his designs and his choice of pastel colors. His designs brings sexy nude, feminine and elegant look.

My 1st Flat using Illustrator.

Within the last three days, last night was the first time I could sleep early and allow me to tell you why... It was because I had fashion class project very recently. The project was about sport influence research and I chose "baseball" as the subject. Aside from the research, I also need to prepare flats and all the stuff that is related... I chose digital as my method of presentation mainly because of my ongoing Adobe Illustrator class, although I am still considered very basic. At least I can try my new skills, right? Another reason??? Simply because I do not want to spend $25 for the portfolio hahaha...... there..... I said it loud! haha...

I have started the project since last Friday and finally finished it up on Sunday night. During the past three days, I have learned a lot about the illustrator and one of them was the "shortcut". It is something really simple but it really helps me a lot. I.e. if you press Control+I, the cursor automatically changed to Eye Drop, Control+P, it will be changed to Pen Tool and etc. It sure fasten things out.

So long story short, I was finishing up my project on Sunday night and getting ready for tomorrow presentation so here I go... I went to the class and while I was preparing all the stuff, suddenly my teacher gave me a comment that nearly made me crazy but one thing that I hate was, her comment was right. She said that the way I layered my designs could deliver unclear message to customers and also my color designs was too pale and so on and so on. On that time, my brain froze for a sec and the only word that came out from my mouth was, "Ok." When she was done, my brain started to think, "why why and why?.... after I put all my efforts to it but at the end the result was a negative." Well, the good thing was I could immediately changed what I needed to change and added what I needed to add. It took me almost half day to make it perfect.

One thing that I learned today was "not to be easily discouraged when people gave you a negative comment of your work or your creation" We should take it as a means for us to improve... more excellent in what we are doing. So finally, I presented my project at the end of the day and to be honest I was quite impressed by my own work... That I can finally create flats using illustrator :) so here it is...

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Inspiration

Vancouver Olympic was about ice, cold and gold. Even though it has already ended but I still want to show some pictures that I have found. It is also not coincidence that we are having school project that related to sports influence and maybe this pics can help some students that do ice skating or skiing to get some inspiration.




Every athlete in Vancouver Olympic aims to win a gold medal. Inspired by them, the gold dress is back. I posted picture of mini gold dress.

I also posted 2 design sketches by Ralph Lauren that I have found. In this world class event, Ralph Lauren Company has the honor to design the outfit for the Official Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony Parade Uniforms as well as a unique collection of village wear apparel and accessories.