ShopDiary

Which IT Bag Are You?

You’re an Hermes Birkin. Confident, graceful, and discerning, you are none other than the legendary Birkin bag. Like the pantheon of purses, you portray a portrait of supreme elegance and status. Not one to be on the wrong side of the red rope, your aura of exclusivity and privilege makes people crave having you by their side.

Hmm. I’m not entirely sure if this is true but I’ll take it. Maybe choosing a catered affair and George Clooney did me in. If they had Keanu Reeves in there, I probably would’ve ended up as a Louis Vuitton Murakami or worse. Bwahahaha. No offense to those who love the Murakami. I probably am one anyway.

Take the quiz at Glam.com and let me know which It Bag you are.

ANTM’s A.J.

I must have jinxed A.J. of America’s Next Top Model. I was planning to feature her last week as she was one of my top faves to win. Majority of the contestants look more like actresses than models (hello, Melrose, Brooke and Caridee!). Aside from Meghan, who was booted off in the second episode, A.J. looked to be the most “model type” to me. She can walk with a blindfold on and project herself very well. But remove the bangs she hides behind from and her confidence just sags. I didn’t think her inability to express herself and do interviews would affect her that much since Danielle, the last ANTM winner, couldn’t talk either. Last night, A.J. was booted off the show.

So what do I know about this show anyway? I’ve only begun watching recently again. Maybe, I should just watch Top Chef.

eBay’s 2006 Holiday Hot List

eBay just posted its Holiday Hot List for 2006. A quick peek in their apparel category shows the top keywords for women’s clothing are “gap”, “abercrombie”, “juicy”, “couture” and “seven”. Interesting.

Item specifics for women’s jeans show “skinny jeans” alongside “boot cut”, “flare”, “low rise” and “Zac Posen”. On women’s shoes item specifics as “Christian Louboutin”, “Jimmy Choo”, “Manolo Blahnik” and “UGG”, among others. Which means that there’s something for everyone on eBay.

This probably also means that it’s never too late to get rid of those UGG boots that you stopped wearing a long time ago while making a few bucks for the holidays at the same time. Cheers!

ThisNext Launch and Shopcasts

Finally! After keeping mum about ThisNext for more than a month, being a private beta tester, I can now announce its public launch. ThisNext is a shopcasting network where you can recommend, share and discover great products. If you’re a blogger create your own shopcast, or a list of your favorite products, to share with your blog readers.

For those of you who have asked for product reviews, check out my own shopcast here. I know we all have our own faves and it’s great to discover new things via like-minded people. So make your own too and drop a link here!

If You Love Sushi …

… you just might love these:

SUSHI PILLOWS!

Yeah!

[via Some Like it Haute]

Out and About in Santa Monica

We met up with friends yesterday afternoon at Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. There you’ll find an eclectic mix of people from all walks of life walking down the street. It is an interesting place to people watch as you can see in these photos. I brought my DSLR with me and, all afternoon, I had this urge to shoot street shots yet I felt I had the need to ask permission first. Ah, the opportunities that went by.

I took photos of the stores instead.

How lame. And I didn’t even shop at all. Not even at Zara. Why? The summer clearance items had been picked over and it’s too warm to shop for fall. Also, I planned to go to the Target pop-up store on Melrose Place and La Cienega to check out the Paul & Joe line for Go International but we ended up in Santa Monica instead. Ooh, wow. I guess I’m finally becoming resistant to the lure of a sale. Hooray!

Sorry for this pointless post. I’m going to bed now. Good night!

Keep or Sell?

When I saw this I agreed with Alex when she said that she doesn’t keep things that she doesn’t wear. Sadly, this is something that I still have to do myself. My closet is overrun with things I don’t use or need anymore. I trimmed my closet last year but I decided that there’s a lot more to get rid of. A lot.

Like this Chloe Paddington that I hardly used and don’t use anymore. This whisky color was new for Spring 2006 and was back ordered for two months. Luckily Chloe opened a store in South Coast Plaza and I went there a week after it opened. Soon after, it sold out everywhere. But like I said, I don’t use it anymore. My friend offered to buy it from me but suddenly I wanted to hang on to it. Hahaha. I’m so fickle about my stuff. I have other handbags that I might want to sell as well but I’m not so sure.

Should I sell or should I keep?

Photo Source

I Wish I Could Wear Shorts To Work

I’m not digging the heels but this photo shows that you can look decent while wearing shorts. I’ve worn bermuda shorts (in fact, I just did yesterday!) and leggings (two weeks ago, but avoided the boss) to work so let’s see if I can get away with wearing shorter ones!

[via The Sartorialist]

Wearable Tech

Headbands are big right now and if you wear headphones with your MP3 or cellular phone, wearing Swapsets are a stylish alternative to them. Drop by the Swap Shop to create your personalized look by mixing and matching headband fabrics, headset or headphone styles and even dangles that look like earrings.

Hmm. I wonder if they’ll be coming out with wireless alternatives for those who don’t want to be bothered by all those wires?

(sources 1 and 2)

Hollywood Fashion Tape

Despite not having any red carpet events to attend, it’s a good thing I had the foresight to purchase a box of this double sided tape a few months ago at the kitschy store, Kitson. I finally had the opportunity to use it when I wore this Rachel Pally two tone top for the first time yesterday.

As I was rushing out the door (late again!), I realized that the top has a deep decolletage that needed to be covered. Aha! Double sided tape to the rescue!

It really is easy to use. I got a strip from the box and, finding the 3-inch strip too long, I cut it in half with my nails (no scissors needed!), removed the strip backing, applied it to my clothing, removed the other backing and stuck it to my skin. It really is “peel, stick and go!” Voila! It stays put all day. No worries about any wardrobe malfunction. And the clear adhesive is easy to remove. If you’ve seen the adhesive that comes with your new credit card in the mail, that’s what it basically looks like (although I wouldn’t recommend using them instead, haha!).

I wonder how this is going to hold up in hot summer temperatures because it will surely be handy with barely there summer clothes.