Category: fashion

The ins and outs of being a wedding guest!

~ Emmie ~ Leave a comment
After the ceremony; I was there with my son and opted for lavender colors for a summer wedding.

The wedding season is more than half done or at least the bulk of it is done, and while I love weddings–the romance and the special feeling one gets when seeing the bride walks down the isle, or the splendor of flowers and pretty place settings, and luxurious stationary paper…it’s actually kind of nice that the season is almost over. Weddings can be expensive and stressful, filled with obligations, awkward etiquette dilemnas, and seeing distant relatives that one only sees well, at weddings and funerals.

I was anticipating one event of the summer for me…My little sister’s wedding that was announced since the spring and last weekend was when she finally tied the knot with her boyfriend of many years… it was a small intimate event, simple and fun. And as a wedding guest, I didn’t have to do any intense bridesmaids duties, but as a guest there are still many rules to be observe to be a great guest. And to have a comfortable time there myself as a guest. Here are some notes I’ve made about attending weddings:

Ways to be a great wedding guest:

  1. Let the bride get her way: I think that brides, with all the stress of getting hitched and planning a wedding, they get a bit crazy and it rubs off in weird ways, on the bridal party and guests. The best thing to do is unless it is something really important, I just let her have it her way.
  2. Look good, but not too good: Let’s be honest, the day is the bride’s day, not the guests’; wearing that red hot number or, a revealing bodycon dress is not the place to go. I rather go for innocence and friendship with pretty, simple dresses that are wedding appropriate and will not outdo the bride, but still have a sense of fashion.
  3. Wear neutral make-up. I really like expressing myself with make-up, but bold trendy make-up is just too much of a statement. As a wedding guest, I feel more comfortable blending in, and not standing out.
  4. Make polite cheerful conversation even if it’s hard: I find it very unnatural to be happy all the time and it’s always when I’m feeling a bit down that someone who would care about that approaches me. All it takes is one dour expression, and you’ll end up looking too stern and risk looking like a pouty party pooper.
  5. Fashion don’ts for girls: No black or white dresses, no mini skirts, nothing overly formal that would outdo the bridal dress…no bra straps or bralettes visible, cover up shoulders during ceremony, reception can bear shoulders. I also don’t thoughtlessly wear just any old dress. I want to show some effort was involved and that I care how I look to the bride, groom and other guests.
  6. I like to look like I’m having fun, even if I am not. Accept drinks when offered, and participate in toasts, dancing, and anything else that may be happening. And remember to congratulate the bride and groom! Be a gracious guest at all times!

Spring DIY: 4 ways to uniquely transform your T-shirts

~ Emmie ~ 1 Comment

Yay. It’s spring. So…ya…but it’s still cold here in Toronto. *sigh. In anticipation of warmer days, I wanted to keep busy with a few t-shirt DIY’s to get me through the last of the cold gloomy winter, as these days summer only feels far away…but it’s coming! And a great summer basic is the T-Shirt, and knowing that distressed cut up tees are still in, why buy when I can DIY? What I love about transforming these clothings is that it’s super easy, no sewing and wearing them just has got a crafty cool, edgy vibe to them. And when I saw Forever 21 recently had a buy 1 get 1 free sale on all sale items, I wanted to take advantage. Buying really cheap sale clothes to cut up makes sense, since the sale stuff are often pretty boring, they are left over stock after all…and asking for transformation via distressing/cutting! Here are the 4 shirts/shifts that I bought from there and will be cutting up:

My “buy 1 get 1” haul from Forever 21. Let’s start cutting and distressing!
  1. Long Beige T-shirt dress with cuffed sleeves:

For this DIY, I wanted to use this shirt as a sleep shirt, long and comfy, no shorts or pants needed to lounge in around the house! But with the thick cuffed sleeves it was not that comfy, or cool looking. So first I cut out the cuffs, for an unfinished sleeve look, and then, cut vertical slits 1 cm wide in the front upper portion and got this:

I like it a lot more now. It’s airy with the slits and so comfy to sleep in. Long enough to wear without sleep pants and not be scandalous!

2. Black tank dress with lace trim:

This dress had all kinds of wrong things going on. It was a thick stiff cotton shift material, the lace trim was too long and not delicate, and the way it hung on me originally was just not flattering. After cutting it up, and doing a “bow tie” tee cut up on the the back, I liked the way it hung a lot more, and it looks more like a party dress now, don’t you think?

“Bow tie” cut up at the back consists of two horizontal cuts and then cinching the material together with another frabric. Super easy and shows off the back…

3. Plain White tee with Pink Trim

I loved the open neck line and soft material of this tee even before I DIYed it. But this tee was still a bit on the boring side, and the big side. I figured that a back weave and side weavings might make it smaller if not more interesting. If you really like this look, it’s easy to find instructions on line on how to do it. It’s actually as easy as braiding hair.

I thought the back/side view of this tee was more interesting, but I did keep the pink collar v-neck trim more visible from the front.

4. Super plain blue pocket tee:

So this t-shirt reminded me of a shirt that an artist/painter might wear in her studio. Loose, flowy, and distressed beyond recognition. But as a new tee, this  shirt wasn’t going to tell that story. So, after sandpapering holes, cutting holes and just destroying the colour of the shirt with bleach, I got a more raggedy worn-in look. Now the shirt tells the story that I might be a struggling artist and this shirt has been destroyed since I use it for art making and everything else the imagination will allow. Kind of cool…

Faded, and with tons of holes, this shirt is just asking to be replaced…but loving that worn in, and careless look.

So after 4 T-shirt transformations, I’m not sure which is my favorite look. Do you have a favorite? Just a note about why I didn’t post instructions on how to do these looks; I wanted this article to be more about being inspired to transform your own clothes in easy effortless ways, but not as a tutorial. But I learned all these techniques online via articles and youtube, so just type in “DIY shirt cut up” and you’ll find all you need to do this too! And other tutorials would probably explain it better than me anyways. Happy Spring DIY-ing!

Hair coloring obsessions and other thoughts on my birthday…

~ Emmie ~ Leave a comment

So recently I’ve been coloring my hair like crazy…check out my post about soap capping. It’s been a goal of mine now to have ashy, cool toned hair colour, because well, as a dark haired asian girl, that is near impossible. Black is my natural color, and that’s as cool toned as my hair wants to be. But as I age and become more pale, black hair is actually too harsh for my skin tone (plus the occassional white that hair creeps in). But when I try to lighten even just a few shades, my hair screams a bright red/orange tone, even harsher than black hair for my complexion. I actually had to go through a lot of chemical processes to get it to be the cool toned light brown I have now and I’m ashamed to say it, since I kind of fried my hair with a chemical soup to get it…But now I think I got it, and really don’t care if it’s not exactly the colour I want…me needs to let go.

So this is just part of the chemical soup I subjected my hair to trying to make it ashy: developer, bleach lightener, permanent colors…additives…etc.

Today is my birthday, I’m another year older, and I’m really thinking today about how unimportant hair color is…all the cosmetic procedures, chemicals and efforts us girls put into altering our natural appearance doesn’t add up to much. When the truth is, nobody cares about the color of my hair…I recently reviewed some lipstick on here and to think I about it, I doubt anyone really cares about my lip color either. It’s fun, but that’s it…The truth is, cosmetics and fashion is a past time I enjoy…but not ultimately what people care about in me. My dad’s obsession for example, is seeing me eat more, eat healthily and sleep.  Ha ha. Really that’s all he cares about. Most people just want others to be healthy and happy. So I know that taking care of oneself’s mind and body is ultimately the most important thing to do…

Time to say sorry to my body and hair for everything I put it through for the sake of my vanities.Whether it is soap capping twice in one night to lighten it, or putting in harsh dyes and toners to perfect my hair color, or not eating bagels since they make me bloat…I have start seeing as to how I am pretty mean to my body…and it’s time to say sorry. How do I say sorry to my body? Some ideas I have are:

  • Don’t wear make-up on my off days, I just moisturize your skin and drink lots of tea
  • Do have that pastry/cookie/candy I’ve been thinking of
  • sleep in that extra two hours…I will never run out of chores/work that I gotta do, but I know I can always do it later
  • give my hair a hot oil conditioning treatment and not worry about what it will do its color
  • Feed your mind: Do something that has NOTHING to do with being gorgeous. (no fashion/make up stuff) Write an article or read a book about something cerebral. Create something that will bring value to your health, or learn something about the world your never knew.
  • Don’t look at trends and covet them on social media. Look at yourself and what you want to accomplish and achieve…

Remember the important things in life…and be happy. That’s what I’ve been thinking about on my birthday today. Nothing is worth doing if it doesn’t make us healthy and happy. It’s really easy to get caught up in getting the latest fashions and make-up trends, and cosmetic procedures…but knowing when to stop is key.