Lala's Style of the Days and a Happy New Year's Eve soon to be New Years!

I have not been very "fashionable" as of late partly due to the fact that I'll I've been doing this week and weekend has been sleeping and sewing like a bum. I look like a bum too. I like how hair looks when you just roll out of bed. It's so fresh. It's so organic. Love it.

YESTERDAY/YESTERDAY-YESTERDAY:

• Yellow blouse with ruffle collar: 0.50 local thrift.
• Jeans: $7 target
• Bow belt: 0.50 local thrift
• Wedged moccasins: $5 loehmanns
• Nordstrom ribbon in my hair: free!

TODAY/NEW YEAR'S EVE:

The family and I went out to celebrate the finishing of my sister's college applications. We ate yummy sushi. A funny story today, my sister tried to pass as 12 years old because if you're 12 and under 5 ft. you get in for half the price. She's under 5 ft. and she kind of looks 12 so we tried. My dad tried. But we failed, because the waitress was like "Nooooo, I can tell! You're not 12 years old. You can't fool meeeee." So then she asked my sister how old she was. My sister just sat there smiling like a buffoon. And then the waitress was like "I know! You're 14 right. See I know..." She left. We laughed. My sister's 17 and 18 in 12 days.

• Stripey tunic: $10 express
• Pants: skinnified by me from forever 21. many years ago.
• Black converses: a Christmas gift last year
• Green oversized wool coat: from my mom. My mom did her first online shopping and was a little disappointed when she got her coats because they were too big on her. She gave them to me. I have wide shoulders. I should be a football player.
• Thing around my neck: It's a little belt thingy for a dress
• Red quilted purse: Alright alright. It's a fake Chanel. I know it's so bad to get fakes. But my mom got it from my aunt and I went shopping in my mom's closet and I got it.

Behold! Sushi!

We saw little puppies out in the mall. I hate pet stores because it makes me want to buy all the doggies and kitties and let them roam free in my house.

We're the Girls From Beverly Hills, Shopping is our Greatest Skill

My elementary school life, as I remember, was filled with nap times, desks with little cubicles in them, carefree "whatever" math problems, overalls, stirrup pants and after school daycare where me and my posse hung around the parking lot playground as if we ruled the school. With the exception of having some boy flick a playing card at my butt that left me crying away in shame and fearing the lunch table hangout area ever since, I would say elementary school was the life. One of the most memorable parts of this period in my grand life was the two hours I spent every afternoon in daycare. Although I did not like to admit it to my mom because I wanted to make her feel guilty for leaving me there, I enjoyed the time I spent at daycare. Me and my friends would hang out in the bathroom after class so we could arrive fashionably late to the multipurpose room where the day care teachers checked attendance. I thought I was a little rebel back then. I also couldn't wait until 3rd grade because that was when we were allowed to walk over to the 7-11 and get the unhealthy junk food - you know, the good stuff. However, there was one thing I didn't like about day care and that was Tuesdays because on Tuesdays all my friends went to Girl Scout meetings while I was left along wandering the desolate parking lots looking for stray crayons and lucky pennies.

After hours of begging and pleading, my mom finally let me join the Girl Scouts in the 4th grade. Too bad I switched schools the next year because I so would have rocked it as a Girl Scout. Although I tend to do things my friends do even though I initially may not be personally interested such as joining the Girl Scouts, I did have another reason for wanting to get dressed up in those high waisted green khaki shorts and little vests with few badges (I wasn't as "active" as I would have liked to have been) and that was because of watching Troop Beverly Hills, one of my favorite movies as a kid (That plus Teen Witch rocked me and my sisters tube socks! Oh! I don't forget The Next Karate Kid!)

And as fate would have it, the movie was playing tonight on ABC Family. So I gathered up the troop (my sister and my mom) and huddled around the heater to watch this delectable movie. I remembered how awesome Phyllis Nefler was always dressed and the most memorable outfit was what I like to call her "Pringle Chip Dress" because it well, looked like the shape of a pringle. If you don't remember, it's when she's throwing a little party in honor of her becoming the new troop leader. So tonight, I relished in the outlandish, fabulousness of her outfits and the little girls funky late 80's get up. I managed to snap some pictures from the tv because I just could not find many images on google.

I wish I knew how to make my Juniors Girl Scout Uniform that chic when I was young.

Hand me a green beret please! And give me a diamond that sings and I'll be yours.

Ms Nefler manages to make aerobics look fashionable.

This reminds me of doing Jane Fonda aerobics workouts with my mom.

An adorable Jenny Lewis with an AWESOME hat. Killer dress too.

90210 children sure do know how to dress!

Hehe...I want to attach a bird looking object to my outfits.

Annie finally came out of her shell when she got dressed up in this frou frou dress. I seriously wanted this dress since I was a little girl. Don't even get me started on the little hat.

But this lady will always be the belle of the ball!

As I finished the movie, I could only sit there reminiscing all the good old days of being a kid and suck up my fear of growing older. But hey, if I can dress up like Phyllis Nefler when I get to that age, sign me up baby!

What Work in Progress Looks Like

Lala has spent the second week of her short but sweet winter break sewing like a madman isolated in a dungeon called the downstairs spare room. Listening to french music while sewing, ripping and resewing is super fun she says.

Here's the progress:


They are not complete at all, but at least she's going somewhere.

I went fabric shopping again in LA and bought a whole mess of fabric.

Enough chatting, time to continue watching Troop Beverly Hills. Brings back wonderful childhood memories...

So This is my Family

My dad called my sister a "b*tch".

But that's only because he couldn't pronounce "peach" correctly.

I guess being english-impaired runs in the family.

Lala's Style of the Day and A Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! And for those who do not celebrate Christmas, have a wonderful day nonetheless! I, for one, will be spending my time trying to figure out how to make my designs come to life. I'm still only like 3% complete with one piece so far. Hmph. My sister will be working on college applications and my dad will be working on scraping paint off the garage so it will be a very fun filled Christmas indeed.

Last night, we went over to my aunt's house to celebrate Christmas. We had hot pot, but I feel that most of the night consisted of my dad's arm in front of my face and having to babysit a cute but troublesome little niece. This is what I wore:

• Super Hot Pink Silk Dress!: It was a free thrift find from my friend's mom's donation bags. It originally was an 80's shoulder padded dress like this. When I saw it I knew it had so much potential. I just moved the waist line up to the bust and with a little sewing and no cutting, it turned out like that. Ta Da! Here it was before it was transformed:

• Black Tights: $1.50 old navy
• Little Blue Cropped Jacket with puffy shoulders: $2 st. vinnies
• Green Clutch: A gift from the lovely fashaholic
• Platforms: 0.98 local thrift.

Peace out folks. I need to go be the child labor for my collection.

P.S I luv french music

P.S.S I luv degrassi. Hehe

Winter Break

Now it's time for another wonderful update on my life.

So Thursday was Todd day. KC came over to go over but before we could go I just had to go over to the thrift store to buy Ms. Mannequin. I saw the mannequin the day before but I just didn't have enough cash to buy it. They wouldn't hold it for me, so I dashed over there the next day. It was still there. YAY! $50 bucks well spent.

Miss Kaymen. That's her name.

It's the mannequin I've been looking for. On ebay it goes up to $80 plus. Afterwards drove to Todd's house. Helped wrap presents and went free thrifting in his mom's donation bags. I got a bag full of 80's goodies. Hehe.

Ate dim sum. Did a little thrifting then went to downtown fullerton and went into the awesomest vintage store. I found a furry soldier hat. I would have bought it. I should have. It's just so cool.

The Spice Girls aint got nothin on us:

Sorry for my psycho eyes.

Went home with KC and watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Aww, grinch is so cute. So round. So hairy. Ate mongolian noodles. Yum.

Saturday was fabric shopping.

Little Baba looking at fabric. Awww..so cute.

My loot.

I'm bored of this boring post. My doggie's horny even though he's neutered and my feet are cold. Goodbye.

Lala's Style of the Day

I went fabric shopping yesterday and this is what I wore. My mom almost called me a "hooker". It was a funny and awkward conversation. I LOVE fabric shopping especially in the traffic filled downtown LA. Sniffing up the pollution makes me happy.

• Overalls: $3 tjmaxx. I'm reliving my elementary school fashions.
• Pink cashmere sweater: $10 oldnavy
• Tights: $1.50, oldnavy
• Socks
• Boots: $6 thrift
• Cameo belt: $3 tjmaxx
• Belt as a headband: mi mama's
• Bag: $1 thrift
• Jacket: 0.50 thrift
• Sunglasses: $1 thrift

Beginnings of a Designer

So I like fashion. Scratch that. I love fashion. If it wasn't painfully obvious from my blog, then oh boy is someone super slow today.

Ever since I was a little girl, I loved art. That is quite hard to imagine now...I am turning the big two zero next year..GASP! I don't know how or why because my parents don't have much artistic genes and I wasn't forced into doing it, so by logical deduction I must have naturally loved it. Art has been the only thing that I've actually kept at for the longest time. I am a proud drop-out of music, sports, and girl scouts. And now as the college clock goes ticking, I realized that is really time to think of that wonderful question little kids always get asked : "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

Well, I want to be a fashion designer. I know there are millions of girls just like me who love fashion, love to sew, love to design, love to create and all are dying for a chance to be a successful fashion designer. So yes, I am one of these girls. I can't prove that I am the best out of them all because in life, there will always be someone better than you. But for now, I will eliminate these millions of other girls away from my thoughts and just focus on me, myself, and I. If I work hard and believe, things will come true. I am overly optimistic in all aspects of my life. I've got no complaints so far.

My first dream career was to be an architect. However, taking an architecture class in high school made me realize I'd rather design wearable art than livable art. I ended up going to a traditional for year college instead of an art school. I don't regret making that choice because I wouldn't change it for the world. But now comes the time to think of what to do afterwards. My plan is to go to fashion school afterwards and use my undergraduate business economics degree as a "backup". That's my idea for now, so we'll see how things end up. I seem to change my mind a lot.

So this year I decided to join our schools fashion club. I had no idea one existed until last year when I saw their annual spring runway show which was actually a huge production. I didn't know it would be that big. After that night, I knew I had to join the club and hopefully become a designer for the show. As the story goes, I sent in my application full of sketches and ideas and then I got it. I was seriously a nervous wreck for that whole week because I really wanted it bad. Like really bad. When I got the congratulations e-mail my heart burst with joy. Seriously y'all, little joy bubbles where fizzing in my veins all over. Now this is my chance to show my first ever collection. The theme of the entire show is called "Grounded", but my sub-theme is "Senses". The idea is how people are grounded in reality through the use of our senses. Connections and relationships are built through our senses. The way we live and function as human beings all fall back to our senses. So yeah, just think Senses. I have 9 pieces in the collection. For me, there are nine senses, not the normal five.

Here were my sketches I submitted. They're just first draft ideas but so far I really like my concept. Take a look and a glance:

The designs are a bit surreal, a dash of whimsical, a streak of odd, and a whole lotta girly. I like them. I think they really say "me" as a designer. Because you all know from PR, you have to show "you". I would like to take a fashion drawing class because my sketches are a little stiff. I tried sketching all those model-y poses, but they just ended up looking like deformed-really-tall-skinny-girls.

I don't really know how to start and that's what I'm worried about. I checked out sewing books and looked up patterns. I am pretty okay with the design and concept aspect, but as for technical skills? Uhh... that's just asi-asi, if not below asi-asi. But not to fret, I will try to bring it. Not try. I will bring it with all I've got.

Tomorrow I'm going to fashion district to buy fabric! I have my new mannequin with me and will have my fabric and will get ready to go! I just hope this time my friend Mr. Procrastination doesn't call me up to go hang out.

Gossip Girl Inspiration

Ever since Gossip Girl first aired, a lot of fashion bloggers have been getting some fashion inspiration from the fabulous girls - especially the lovely Blair Waldorf. I too am a GG fan. I like to keep it a secret though because it is so bad for my brain. What can I say, it's my guilty pleasure.

But this post will be a little different. Things will be a little reversed this time.

Anyways, tonight I got a chance to view GG on tv. I haven't watched tv in such a long time. My laptop has been my tv for the past few months. I was watching not really paying attention because I was getting an order ready and presents ready when all of the sudden I saw Blair wearing this headband:



Sorry for the bad quality. My sister told me to get my camera to capture it. What a little genious she is. She's bound for Stanford for sure. But that's beside the point. When I saw her headband I literally yelled, "OH MY GOD". Was this not the exact same headband "crown" that I often wear??

Yes, I believe it is. Take note of my lovely headband in action from previous photos:




The second picture was when I first wore it way back in May of this year. I thought it was off da hook. (do people say that anymore? I really need to get with youth culture).

Either I am ahead of the time or I am the inspiration behind B's headband. I like to think I'm the latter. It makes me feel good. I'm all warm and tingly inside now. Hehe....

P.S You all should check out Project Runway Canada. I just watched the finale this afternoon and I think these three designers in the end are a lot better than the American finalists. Go CANADA! (You can find the video on youtube or veoh...isn't the internet such a great invention?)

It's only the second day and I'm already bored

I'm sitting on my chair, bundled in my jacket eating Ghiradelli Eggnog Chocolate awaiting the coming of my second chin. It's only the second official day of winter break and I am already bored. I should be working on my designs but its just so hard when I don't have the fabric and when I don't have a dress form for a "models" body and when my feet and hands feel like a Popsicle. The excitement of the day was when I went thrifting. And once again I was a madwoman and came home with three bags of goodies.

• I found this cute rain coat/windbreaker jacket. It looks a lot cuter in person. I think it was from the children's section, it has these lil bell sleeves with butterflies. It was pseudo-raining today so that in part inspired me to buy it.

RainCoat: $3

• I grabbed this fogy sunglasses right before I purchased. Haha, fogy is such a good word. Say with me. "fogy, fogy fogy".

Sunglasses: $1

• I found this heinous 80's upholstery fabric-esque dress. I don't know what propelled me to buy it. I think it was the rufflyness on the bottom and somehow I actually thought it would look cool. I feel like splattering paint all over it and then wearing it. It would be my Jackson Pollack 80's heinous dress instead of the upholstery fabric 80's heinous dress. The first one just sounds so much better, no? It's a new dress from Windsors. I didn't know Windsors existed back then. I see this is what kids wore to their school dances. How lovely.

Floral Dress: $3

• I've seen a lot of those polyester elastic band dresses everywhere. I bought this one because I liked the color and the floral. It's quite sheer. OoO..scandalous!

Floral Dress 2: $1.77

• I found this green dress in the "vintage" section. I love green. I shortened it.

Dress: $2

• I saw this gorgeous plaid silk dress and I knew I had to have it! I guess what, I have it now!

Ralph Lauren Silk Dress: $4

• Finally this is an awesome vest. It surprised me in the back with its animal print. Rawr!

Pierre Cardin Vest: 0.98

I'm going to be productive and knit a scarf that I still haven't finished since last year.