Colours of Spring Summer 2010

Colours play a vital role in fashion. It sets the mood, expresses feelings and sends messages across. Pantone has provided their top ten key colours for this spring summer.

The classic warm colours of red (tomato puree), yellow (aurora) and orange (fusion coral) are still popular choice as happy colours to express the sunshine-ness of spring and summer.

When there is the Sun, the next thing comes to mind is beaches. Turquoise and Amparo Blue are just the right colours to represent the memories of beach vacations, the calmness and blueness of the seas.

Violet is the new pink. Just add a touch of violet to set a romantic mood. It is a sweet colour as well.

Pink champagne, tuscany, dried herb and eucalyptus are neutral colours for this season. Pink champagne is the newest neutral and can be the new white. When pairing tomato puree with fusion coral, to soften the combination, add pink champagne.

With some notes of key colours of spring summer 2010, have fun experimenting mixing and matching different colours of this season's palette.

Wardrobe plan - part 2

Since you are aware of the benefits of having a wardrobe plan. What is the next step? Set a day, put away laptop and mobile phone and select a feel good CD to put you in the mood to rummaging and sorting out your wardrobe. Or perhaps you could reenact the scene from 'Sex and the City' where Carrie and her friends helping her deciding which of her clothes are to keep or to toss. Let the party begins...

Try on everything you own
By trying every clothes you possess, you know which one looks good on you and vice versa. Whilst doing this, make three piles of clothes - to keep, to toss and to repair

Make an inventory of clothes that you want to keep. Mine is attached. There is no particular format to use as the most important thing is that you know how your inventory system works.

Sort the clothes from 'to keep' pile into outfits, say which top goes which bottom. Make notes and if possible snap photos (thanks to digital camera, you can snap photos as many as you want). If you come across a bottom without a top or a dress needs a jacket, put the item aside. The missing items can be your new addition to your collection.

Work through the 'to toss' pile by analyzing and learning from these mistake purchases. Ask yourself , 'where did it go wrong?'. Was it an impulsive purchase? Not the right fit?

Send your 'to repair' to a tailor for fixing. This helps to salvage 'to repair' clothes especially your favourite pieces.

Going through your wardrobe and preparing the plan take a long time but once it is done, you face lesser problem of mixing and matching clothes and shopping for the right or needed items. Hence you save money and time.

Reference:
How to find your personal style and look fantastic every day! by Olivia Goldsmith & Amy Fine Collins

Wardrobe plan - Part 1

How many times have you staring hard at your wardrobe, scratching and cracking your head and most probably shrieked "I don't have anything to wear!". I guess almost everyone of us experience this at least once in our lifetime.

Putting your wardrobe together with the aid of wardrobe plan is just like navigating with a map. You know what you have in your wardrobe for you to put together your attire for the day or function.

Benefits of wardrobe plan:
Assist you make better use of clothes that you already own
Assist you decide what you need to add to your collection
Serves as a guideline for clothes and accessories that are suitable to you and your lifestyle

Wardrobe plan takes up loads of time and effort but once it is done, it makes your life easy - know what to mix and match with, know what to add and what to toss. And also save money by avoiding buying unnecessary clothes or accessories.

Vintage - The Next Big Thing?

I think vintage bug has bitten me. My new addiction is vintage clothes. Since one of my new year resolutions is to stop facebooking, I have been checking out various vintage clothes websites and blog shops.

Since last year, I spent quite a fortune on shopping (for clothes, shoes, necklaces), so for this year, I am cutting down my budget on clothes, shoes, necklaces etc. The thought of saving more money for raining days suddenly hit me just like that. What should I do? No shopping?! Oh my God!!

Then I figure out that I could only afford vintage clothes and clothes on sales. Well, if that is the case, I would prefer to shop for vintage clothes. Vintage clothes is one of a kind therefore it is ideal for those who want to stand out from the crowd and show ones style.

Since there the economy is yet to recover, vintage clothes would be an alternative for fashionistas to be stylish without spending a lot. The lowest price of a vintage dress I bought was at RM10 (of course, the blog shop was having sale ;-)) What a bargain! :-)

Vintage clothes stalls in flea markets and vintage blog shops are mushrooming just like after rain, I wonder would vintage be the next big thing this year?

Vintage craze

I was introduced to vintage clothes in the late 2008 through flea market. My first purchases were three vintage dresses, which did not cost over RM50. Wow, what a bargain - I thought to myself. The dresses are one of a kind and I do not need to worry about bumping into another girl who would be wearing the exact same dress. This is a pretty good deal. And it is cool too.

Thereafter, I find myself tracking and hunting down the next flea market hoping to get more vintage dresses. Most of the purchases are from Pick n Grab flea market - DeOldies and Vintage Biri-Biri. Some nights, I would log on to the Internet to search for vintage blogs shops. I am delighted that I found some vintage blog shops to my likings.

When shopping for vintage clothes, it is important to keep in mind that the design and cut are not too costume-y, otherwise one would look like has traveled through time. The idea of vintage is being exclusive and different in a fashionably stylish way.

Vintage clothes may need some alteration to fit perfectly into one's body. Do take this into consideration before purchasing. Would the alteration change the original design or cut? Some basic sewing skills may come handy at this point.

Have a good stain remover. Very little vintage clothes come with stains. If they do, so far based on my experience, the stains can be removed. Check the clothes thoroughly for stains, holes and etc. One may even bargain for a lower price due to such defects.

Vintage clothes give another alternative into ones staple wardrobe. Add some spice so to speak. Whatever ones fashion style or taste is, fashion is all about experimenting different styles, having fun with it and being effortlessly chic.