lala's style on may 31

yesterday was a slumpy day. I did the ubiquitous t-shirt and jeans with sneakers combo. Nothing spectacular. Today I feel a little different. Colors! I love colors!

-blue knit beanie hat: 2.50 target

-blue shirt underneath: 1.50 express

-stripey top with awesome orange accents: 0.50 st. vinnies

-the love of my life aka green cardi

-jeans

-black cowboy boots: 6.00 local thrift

-leather messenger bag: from me mommy-bracelets: 0.50 the icing

lala's style on may 29

Here we go again.

got to test out my new headband today!
-leopard shirt (sweater cut up sleeves and neckline): 0.50 local thrift

-yellow jacket: PS for Target 10.00

-jeans

-flats: payless

-seatbelt belt: 0.50 local thrift

-handy dandy tote: h&m

-gemstone headband: made by me

Close up of the headband actually on my head:

i got bit by the DIY bug

Ahhh, sunshine, breezy beach weather, and the smell of suntan lotion on hordes of sorority girls can only mean one thing: summer is here.

And that can mean only one other thing: it's DIY season again. I think I got bit by the DIY bug a little early this year, school is not out yet, and all I can think of are the vast number of projects I want to do. Econ 11 has now officially become "DIY brainstorming" and attending two cool fashion shows on campus hasn't helped either. All I can think of now is rushing straight to my fabric pile and dashing towards my beloved $1000 pfaff sewing machine (it was a graduation present). Over memorial weekend, I got into super crafty mode and here is what I came up with.

EYE see you! (lame..eye know, sorry I just had to do that)

Before: Plain white "tennis" style dress (too short to be a dress). Never worn before because the preppy style just isn't my thing. Bought it because it was on sale at Robinsons May when they were having their big sale trying to get rid of everything (RIP robinsons may). I think I got caught up in the bargain frenzy and bought this

After: Witness the coolness of fabric paint and a little creativity. I love it now. I LOVE it now. I've always had a fascination with eyes. Every one of my doodles at least had one image of eyes. Now I have a dress/longshirt to show it off. I had to cover the little embroidery of tennis rackets by drawing two eyes next near the chest area. Hopefully it doesn't look to awkward.

Oh deer....

Before: Pink tank that I've never worn before. Look! It's still new with tags! A little boring, a little too mall-ish and a little too teeny-bopper

After: AHHH! It's a deer. Used old scraps of fabric, drew a picture of a deer, outlined with black screen paint and finally handsewed it on. Looks awesome.

I also wanted to make some headbands. The inspiration?

Marc Jacobs Gemstone headbands:

My version: Probably not as cool, but a hecka of a lot cheaper. It was pretty easy to make too. I found all these plastic gemstones I had in my arts and crafts shelf and my mind immediately went to "Marc Jacobs Headband, totally". I will post pictures of me actually wearing it a little later.

What you need: Ribbon (thicker the better), jewels, gluegun

I basically just found the right size of my head and glued the ends of the ribbon together. I placed a smaller sized ribbon around the thicker ribbon to make it a little more colorful. Then I just glued the stones on. Be careful, hot glueguns are NOT your friend.

My last project of the weekend were these pictures frames I made for my roommates. End of the year is coming up and I thought I would make something special for them so they will always remember me. And then once I become famous they can stare at the photos and say "Wow, I used to be her roommate!"

I wanted them to be funky and totally tacky, I think I achieved just that. I bought these boring black and white frames from the 99cent store. You can't even tell that they were ever that. I kinda want to keep these for myself now....

lala's style on May 25

wow, this week was crazy. Two people I knew made the news, and not in a good way. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. Crazy week. Seriously.





But on to my outfit.

-dali skull necklace: 7.00 etsy

-dress: actually its a night gown shortened, but i luved the pockets! 0.50 local thrift

-tights: old navy

-boots: 3.00 local thrift

FAST's "rebirth" fashion show makes my heart beat fast

Last night, I would have to say, was the highlight of my week. My life is rather mundane, so when I received news of an on campus fashion show I was there in a heartbeat. I cancelled plans to go to pinkberry for FAST (Fashion and Student Trends) Club's "Rebith" fashion show. I didn't really know a club like this existed until now, or actually, I didn't know that they put together such awesome events until now. But now I know and I will definately want to join next year. Sign me up please!

The theme of the show was obviously, Rebirth, and featured 13 UCLA students. The clothing featured the works of 13 designer. What I loved about this show was that the students are not fashion majors (or school offers no such major sadly) although most of them are art students. One of the designers that was interviewed in our school newspaper was actually a cognitive science major and planned to go to FIDM after she graduates this year. It was really inspiring because it is somethin I hope to do after I finish my Bus-Econ days at college. The collections were really good I though considering that these students did not have the professional training that fashion students get. However, there was one collection that made me puke inside. Okay, maybe I didn't want to puke but my first thoughts of the clothing/swimsuits/lingerie/stripper gear were slutty, stippers, slutty, slutty, oh did i mention slutty? I guess it got better towards the end with more swimlike pieces and not outfits that you can find at an adult store. No seriously, I'm not exaggerating.

The show was fun and energetic and it made me want to be apart of it. Plus, I saw Bobby Trendy in his infamous flamboyant gear and crazily tall platform boots.

lala's style on may 24

I feel like a pARTAY animal!!!

haha...not really, it's just that my shiny vest turns me crazy.

-grey shirt: target 2.50

-jeans: china town!

-sequined vintage vest: 3.99 thank you mart ( a cute lil junk/thrift/vintage store where everything is 3.99)

-same shoes

-beaded headband: target

-necklaces: native american, mommy

Linkin Park, where art thou?

The good ole days...

My all time favorite band, before I got into all this indie/alternative mumbo jumbo, was Linkin Park. Actually they were my first favorite band seeing as I did not really listen to music when I was younger. Hybrid Theory was the first CD I ever bought (crazy, I know) and I fell in love with their style, their beats, their lyrics. They are one of the few bands whose songs I can sing along too and actually remember the words!


A funny story - I was on a plane with my science olympiad team. It was my first time on a plane so I brought along my LP cd hoping to make the flight fly by quicker. One of the coaches saw me and my beloved cd and quickly ran over, shocked and confused: "You listen to that?"

I responded, "Uh...yeah?"

He said "Wow, I didn't know you were into that kind of music. You look like such a nice and soft girl."

Me: "oh *small awkward giggle*"

So yeah, I was a big nerd in junior high. I looked the part and I guess it was just funny seeing how shocked everyone was that I listened to Linkin Park. But anyways, my love for Linkin Park did not fade either when I received Meteora as a birthday present. Sure the songs sorta/kinda sounded the same as their songs from their first album, but that was the style that I liked. They were nothing like I ever heard before (or maybe I just hadn't heard a lot). A nice mixture of rap and rock with dj hahn adding in his own flavor. Yes, it was the first band I loved. It was the band that actually got me into music. *Reminiscent sigh....*

But now comes Minutes to Midnight - their third album in who knows how long. When I first heard that Linkin Park was coming out with a new album I was so excited. I heard the single, "What I've Done" and felt ambivalent about it. Eh, it was okay. The sound was faintly old LP style but I could definately tell they had changed a lot. Hey, there has to be better songs in the rest of the album, I thought to myself. I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, I admire the fact that Linkin Park is trying to change and develop as a band, but just listening to the songs, it just wasn't Linkin Park. Sure they wanted to depart from their pigeon-holed style and expand as artists, but I've think they've spread their wings out just a little too much and have lost what they were best at. Some of the songs reminded me of plethora of "cookie-cutter" type of emo music out there while others I was like, "wtf?" I miss the interaction between the singing and the rapping. I miss the old Linkin Park.

Change is...good?

I don't know. Maybe I just need some time to adjust to their new style, but I won't go down without a good fight (or a good complaint for that matter). It will take time to get used to, but I will try, because they, after all, are the ones who got me into music and for that I owe them the chance to reedeem themselves to my pointy little ears.

lala's style on May 23

I feel grown up today!

-striped top: macy's 7.00

-short jacket with faint plaid pattern: 8.00 rampage

-ben sherman jeans: 18.00 loehmanns

-same ole same ole wedges

-tote bag: 4.50 h&m

I just want to be a hero...

I've fallen in love.

Actually, I've been in love for the past few months....with the hit NBC show Heroes that iscourse. I watched the season finale today with my roommate. It's our Tuesday tradition to catch the show online since we don't have a television. I have not been so obsessed with a show since my "Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel" days and my recent "24" addiction. If you haven't caught the Heroes fever, I definately recommend that you start now. NBC.com has the shows online, with limited commericals! Go! Watch now!

The storyline for this first season is pretty simple: ordinary people finding out they have extraordinary abilities, stopping an exploding man, save the cheerleader save the world, and of course the theme of being a hero.

Not to get too off topic, but today my roommate told me some really sad news about a girl from my highschool (her sister was our age) who was murdered. I was shocked when she told me. You know you always hear these depressing, shocking stories on the news but you always brush it off (or at least I do). But when it happens to be about people you know, it just really hits you. Then, my roommate told me how another girl got attacked near campus last night, making it the second attack within the past week. The world is a dark and scary place. I think I have lived in a bubble for most of my life and did not have to face the cruel reality of death, illness, etc. With all the terrible things going on in the world, I just want to stay in my dorm room and never leave. At least I'll be safe and alive right?

The world needs heroes. Okay, maybe not people who can fly or regenerate or time travel (although I do wish I had my very own Hiro - he is just sooooo cute), but people who inspire us, people who bring hope and light to a dark world. *Wow, I realize how cheesy I sound right now, but hang with me here* Maybe that is why I love Heroes so much. The characters are really just normal people trying to be heroes. Everyone can be someones hero and change the world. And if maybe, just maybe the world were filled with more people like that, then the world will truly be a better place. As Sandra Bullock said in Miss Congeniality, "I really do want world peace!"

P.S GO WATCH HEROES!!

lala's style on May 22

Another post for my daily outfit. Exciting, eh?

-bright red/orange jacket with white buttons: robinson's may 15.00

-brown/patterned tunic shirt: 5.00 rampage

-jeans: china town

-peep toe wedges

-birdie necklace: from these Native Americans when I went to Grand Canyon

slave to target

Hi, my name is lala....*deep breath*... and I am a shopaholic.

Okay, I'll admit it. I am a shopaholic. Maybe not quite to the extent of Sophia Kinsella's Shopaholic character in which I am in debt due to my extravagent, but I believe that I am a 100% shopaholic nevertheless. I have dreams about shopping, I think about shopping on the weekends so time flies by faster when I am sweating it out in the gym. When our family goes to Las Vegas, the thing that comes to my mind is "Where are the outlets?", after daydreaming of the fabulous buffets of course. My monthly allowance is $100 and yet I think I spend 80% of it on clothing/shoes/accessories while the other 20% is devoted to vanpool tickets or a special treat of pinkberry with friends. While many of my friends stay the weekends here at UCLA, I alawys find myself returning back to my lovely suburban neighborhood and spending some quality ,ummm, shopping time with my mom and sister. Of course, weekends are also the time for my thrift shopping adventures. St. Vinnies is my twice a month stop - saturdays are 50% off everything! Now that's just too good of a deal to skip out on. The last saturdays of the month are also the days in which my favorite local store. $5 a bag baby!

Now although I am a shopaholic. I am a special breed of shopaholic. I am a cheap shopaholic. Is that an oxymoron or what? I love to find a good deal and I rarely buy anything at full, retail price unless it is something that I absolutely love and know that I cannot get it anywhere else/find another thing like it/never see it again. However, realizing that the things that I love are way out of my price league, I will stick to my cheap ways. For now that is.

One of my all time favorite places to wander around is Target. That bright red bulleye just lures me in everytime I drive pass my "down-the-hill" shopping center. As a kid, I remember how my mom would always buy me clothes from Target. During that sad sad time in my life, I cared less about fashion or what I wore. I do recall, though, how ugly the clothes were, but I wore them anyways. What am going to do, walk out naked? Even that is a little too liberal for me. But Target has changed so much. Their clothing have definately improved and rivals big contender mall chains such as Forever 21 for producing cheap and fast fashion, albeit the turn around is not quite as fast. Target has also been smart enough to catch on to the "designer does cheap" fever in which their GO International Line features "international" designers to produce wallet-friendly clothing for the masses. I liked this idea, I still like this idea even though this type of designer meets the masses collaboration has become quite common these days. But onto the point of this post - what I like even more is when Target marks down their clothing, down to 75% off! When the Proenza Schouler for Target line came out, I was uber pumped about it mostly because of all the hype. When I went there in person though I didn't find anything that quite fit and some of the pieces were still a little more than what I usually pay. But with time, come the sales. I got a tip from a slickdeals forum that the PS for Target were reduced to 75% off! 75% off? Now that I can work with.

It was destiny that my Oceanography field trip got cancelled because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to go into Target and find all my wonderful finds. On Friday when I came home, I literally had five minutes to go in, look through the racks, and buy the items since my mom and I were in a rush to pick up my sister from a birthday party. That day I spent $33 and found the following things:

• Yellow Jacket - 9.99


• navy/black leaf print cropped jacket - 9.99


• Stonewash denim pencil skirt - 7.49


• navy tissue tank - 3.24

Surprisingly, the clothes all looked lovely. A little basic, but still a great steal at those prices. Plus in my heart I can think of it as a "designer" piece. The yellow jacket is the best though! I feel like a little fireman in it. With all my excitement I wanted to go to my "down the hill" Target to see if that story had any more items on clearance. The next day I went and found these:

• yellow button up shirt - 5.49
• black tee - 3.74
• coral tissue tank - 3.24
• silk blouse - 8.74

I love the black tee. It's so basic yet very flattering. Did I mention it's super comfortable too?! I would buy it even if it did not have those cool looking Proenza Schouler tags. Granted, those tags did give me the incentive to buy the pieces just a tad more. What can I say? I'm a label whore. While shopping I did happen to catch a glance at the new Patrik Robinson collection. Nothing really caught my eye, I guess his clothing didn't quite suit my style. But who knows, I just might go crazy again when they become 75% off!

lala's style update

Finally! A week where I am kinda/sorta free...time for a style update :)

Monday, May 21

inspiration ~ taxi driver bumble bee

-black bubble dress (underneath): 8.00 kohls

-Proenza Schouler for Target black tee: 4.00 target (on sale!)

-checkered dress: 5.00 wetseal

-PS for Target yellow jacket of awesomeness: 10.00

-tote bag: a handmade gift from my very best friend

-tights

-leopard flats

Friday Last Week

Thursday last week

lala's style of the day

I wanted so much more from this blog, but so far it seems that I only have time to upload what I wear each day which is okay I guess. Hopefully, after school is done, I will be updating with more ideas on fashion/art/music/culture and whatnot. Thanks mei mei, you're the only one who reads this. I'll help you find the coolest dress ever!

yesterday: May 15, 2007

-plaid shirt: 0.50 local thrift

-jeans: china town vancouver-green cardi: 3.00 tjmaxx

-red yarn braided headband: homemade

-crab necklace: made by me

-black peep toe wedges-tote: 4.50 h&m

-favorite red leaf belt: 2.00 local thrift

today: May 16, 2007

-scarf: 1.00 from olvera street.

-heart necklace: made by me-blue tee (underneath): 1.50 from express

-blue tank: 3.00 UO outlet

-purple plaid flannel (too big but so comfy): 0.50 local thrift

-leopard print belt: 0.50 local thrift-gold chain belt: 0.50 local thrift

-jeans: express, skinnied in and attacked by me... haha no i just painted it and ripped it apart.

-peep toe wedges

quick update on my life...no i was not dead

crayola crayon dress of awesomeness

-crayola halter dress: made by me from my sisters bedsheets

-white long sleeve shirt: 5.00 mall

-black bubble dress (underneathe): 8.00 kohls

-grey leggings (folded up to keep thighs warm): 1.50 old navy

-black tights: 1.50 old navy

-brown boots: 3.00 local thrift

I have a tendency to dress up on mondays. Most people hate mondays, but I love them. I'm on campus all day and I always look forward to creating an outfit for mondays. Maybe I'm deep down an attention whore. I like people to see what I wear, and hopefully they like it. I saw a lot of people staring at my dress today, I hope they don't think I'm too weird. But yeah, mondays. When you have class from 9-6, it just feels nice to dress up and be happy with what you are wearing the whole day. Clothing makes me happy. Dressing up makes me happy. And today, is definately my happy day.

I was suppose to update daily...but what do you know...I get caught up in something known as college. Last week was pretty fun actually. It was one of the most relaxing weeks I had in ages.

• My friend and I got to go to free Autolux concert. I thought they were pretty good. Plus, I've never been to a real concert so I didn't have any high expectations. Oh yeah, did I mention it was free? The drummer, Carla Azar, wore this really cool shirt (or was it a dress) but it was white and had this huge farbic flower in the center. It was reminiscent of Marchesa's famous rose dresses but in a little more "in your face" sort of way. I feel a lil DIYing coming my way.





blurry pic



• On Thursday, my roomies and I roamed Westwood Village! Ate at a Thai House, which was such a nice treat and break from dorm food, although I have an inkling that the people were cheap with our orders. Pad Thai chicken AND shrimp was really just some chicken and TWO shrimp. But it was delish nonetheless. Also, we went to pinkberry...yes the trendy hollywood new craze. It's yummy...what can I say?

back to my outfits for last week

lala's style on may 7 2007

It's already been a week and so far I have managed to update this blog. Go me!





Today was amazingly hot, but I looked amazingly stylish nonetheless. Haha..just kidding.

why is it sooo hot today!?
-red and white floral top: 4.75 from rampage

-big plastic light blue necklace: free! stolen from sister who I think got it at a garage sale

-jeans: 5.00 from mall-headband: bunch of yarn twisted together, looks pretty cool

-black peep toe shoes: 11.00 , new shoes, too bad they hurt

-awesome tote bag: a gift from my dearest friend who made it for my birthday... says "Happy Thrifting"! oh she knows me too well

lala's style

yay! It is finally the weekend. I can't wait for tomorrow where I will be watching SPIDERMAN 3! exciting no?

lala's style on May.2.2007

happy wednesday everyone!

hope you all enjoyed ur baskin robbins icecream because I sure did. There was huge line at the campus baskin robbins and the icecream got all melted because the employees working there just left the freezer open the whole time because there was no stop! Rainbow sherbert was delicious.

-grey baby doll top: 5.00 rampage
-red jacket: 15.00 robinsons may
-ribbon in hair: free from victoria secret gift box
-black pants skinnyfied by me: forever 21
-mint socks: 1.50 from old navy
-shoes: payless
-Fake Dooney and Bourke bag: 5.00 thift

Lala's style of the day

A little hippie, a little messy.

-black floral embroidery peaseant top: 1.50 st. vinnies

-beige paisely scarf: 0.50 church rummage sale

-brown belt: free from momy

-"Nuevo Idea" brown headband: 0.50 local thrift

-jeans : 15.00 china town in Vancouver

-shoes: payless

-tote: 4.50 H&M

Celebrating International No Dieting Day

Today, I am celebrating INDD (International No Dieting Day). WoHOO! I've been taking this seminar at school called, "So Cosmo Says You're Fat, I Ain't Down With That". It's all about health and nutrition and the non-dieting approach to life. Yesterday we discussed body image. Ah yes, that dreaded topic of body image.

It's very interesting to notice how our ideals of the perfect body has changed with each passing decade/century, especially for women. Men always seem to have it lucky, dont they? In the past, big curvy pale broads of the elite class were the symbol for beauty. They didn't have to work out in the sun doing manual labor (thus their paleness) and they had the money to eat roasted pork, delicious pastries, bread, oodles of chocolate to satisfy their bellies.

Then coming into the modern age our views have dramatically shifted. There were the Gibson Girls of the late 1800's followed by the sassy flappers of the 20's. In the 1950/1960's the curvy blonde who sang happy birthday to JFK - Marilyn Monroe was the epitomy of beauty. Then the Mods came along with Twiggy, making everyone want to look well, like a stick thin twig. Now, today, what is our idealized notion of the perfect body? I would have to say thin, thin, slender, but thin and thin. It is no surprise that many celebrities are underweight for their body-type but we now view it as normal. We idolize them, they are our new icons, our new heroes. Young kids look up to them. They want to be like Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie...which is a scary thought.
Mommy, when I grow up, I want to make a sex tape and drive through opposing traffice while under the influence and become a pile of bones and skin just like my favorite celebrities! please..no.

I hate magazines that read "Lose 10 pounds in TWO weeks!", "100 ways to make your body look sexy!" They are everywhere. Just look at the magazine stand next to you and you'll see what I'm talking about. But I admit, I read those because just like almost everyone else, I have issues with my own body image. I want to be able to lose 10 pounds in TWO WEEKS and have a nice body. It's hard living in LA and seeing all those perfectly tan/perfectly blonde sorority girls skimp around in their underwear during our quarterly Undie Run and feel just a tad jealous that I was confident enough to prance around in my hello kitty undies and bra. Even if I did have the most smashing body in the world, I still wouldn't participate though. undie run seems like one big excuse for the school to have one massive orgy if you ask me. girls in underwear + horny guys in underwear = trouble. But onto body image... I find it funny how my friends complain that their fat..when in fact, hello! they are not!... "if you're fat, what am I? Obese?" Everyone has these issues, if only my stomach wasn't so pudgy, if only my thighs werent "thunder" thighs, if only my calves weren't so huge.

I learned that 1/3 of our self esteem comes from our body image. That's a lot folks. Granted, I don't always have good body image. Some days I feel huge and other days I think I look great. I really admire people who dont give a f*** about their body size and dress in whatever way they want to. That shows me they have great body image. I love looking at streetstyle sites and seeing the "curvier" looking gals rock all types of clothing styles. Even the naturally thin girls are beautiful in whatever they choose to wear. While fashion certainly plays a large part in telling us what is the ideal body image, (just look at all the size 0, 6 ft. tall models today), fashion or actually style is a great outlet for boosting our body image.

I know that when I dress up, dress crazy, dress the way I want to, I feel really good about myself. Looking for clothes that flatter what god gave me is way better and easier than running for miles on the treadmill just to loose those extra 500 calories. I'm not saying we shouldn't exercise or eat healthy, I just believe that there is so much more that we can do to give ourselves a positive body image. Face it - there are some things in life that we just can't change, I know I cannot lose those 25 pounds unless I starve myself and run all day. But I think just by dressing up and using style/fashion as a way to boost your self confidence is a fun and wonderful way. So, in honor of INDD, I am going to think positively from this point forward the best I can. And tomorrow, I'm gonna be first in line for Baskin Robbins 31 cents a scoop promotion...after I go to the gym of course.