No labels in Manila

Hey guys. Here is that I said I do about the fashion part of my Manila trip. Before we get to all the accessories, I just want to share my experience too. You see we only went to a mall on my third day in Manila and ways before we even started packing for the trip, I did my research and found that one of the malls that our guide had included in our plans was Mall of Asia that had a Forever21. Considered to be Manila's biggest mall and boy were they not lying. I get to lay my eyes on brands I have always desired and lusted for to shop in but know that would take years for any of them to come to KK but this mall was like a haven of all my fashion dreams. My Mom wasn't fond however when we were told to only spend 3 hours shopping and including finding lunch however I was unpredictably optimistic. 

I actually had goals when I was confident we were going to F21. My first priority was to get a blazer. Those trimmed ones? Then my second was sweaters and before you go "Why would you want to wear a sweater with our weather here?!", its because I'm a quirky person and at the same time I'm a sensible dresser but there are time when I honestly don't care for comfort and just want to give my "sensible goddess" the finger. If you're desiring to do something that goes beyond you usually do, you can expect the "no pain, no gain" being applied. Sue me for having the desire to come out of comfort zone once in awhile.

So when I roam around the Mall, I immediately went for F21. The F21 was bigger than any other F21 shops I have ever been. Its more like a warehouse okay? Only its a magical warehouse where your inner fashion goddess can roam around in a field of oxfords, animal prints, and long high-waisted skirts that you see in the 20's. And no one will judge you. Not ONE. Trust me on that. The workers speak just enough English that will serve helpful and they let you roam or run across the huge room just to snatch the last item. They respect you in that way and I love them for it. So those who goes there, my advice? Just go wild. Seriously cause thats what I did. I was a monster that day and no one seem to mind. 

So Mom and I spent about one WHOLE hour and a half there (lunatic, I know) and I got loads of stuff to combine with the awesome stuff I found in street markets (the fake "prada" or "coach" there are well made so I say its worth the money and I enjoy shopping in local markets just as much as the mall ). So we were rushed on time later since we still had to go get lunch. While roaming around for a food court, I take in the people of Manila. There are people who dressed like their STILL in prom, even in the mall. Their are people rocking that polish sport look like they just met up with Tiger Woods. There are women who dress way more better than the women here but they don't catch others eye like how the same women here do. Its like no matter what kind of dresser, crazy or way too baggy casual, they treat everyone an equal. I love that quality about the people in the mall. Its like if you're a nobody standing next to a celebrity, you aren't all that different.  You can't really stand out here but you won't feel like a sore thumb since anyone who pairs sweatshirts with khakis is neither looked down nor ignored.

I admire also the very young and the very old society in the mall. The very young that I mean is like teenagers and they are many (about thousands from my observations) who comes to mall in their school uniform which is mostly your basic (and always a vintage/chic item to use) white collared shirt with their high waisted ankle long skirt that gives them that lovely classic 20's look. Usually here you'll see about a dozen of kids at the mall in their uniform with their hair still in a neat ponytail as it seem more better than letting your hair go (Its practically a trend that all the high school girl do when they go elsewhere before going home in KK), I so want to kill this tradition but there is a point because letting your hair go with Malaysia's school uniform draped on you is a huge "DON'T" which is why we rely on braid styles for a twist from the ponytail. 

Manila however is different, even if it looks a bit not right in my opinion the same way it is here but most of the girls there do put their hair down. And they carry that confidence when they do it. I mentally saluted them. What more these girls got class. They bring their backpacks which look to me a bit odd with their uniform look until I passed by a few schoolgirls and realized something that exploded within me.

Like I felt the Big Bag theory was taking place in my world of style. These girls were carrying branded bags (Real or not, they certainly weren't your typical roxy or oreefs). I'm talking about these girl carrying either a floral backpack with a Dolce & Gabana label kay? I momentarily gawk at these girl for like a few seconds before being pulled back to reality. That was a crazy reality there.

The old however I salute and respect more. They aren't afraid of whether people think their outfit looks great or not. I said before, the people in the mall aren't stereotypes because all the hot and not mix together in harmony. I think however if you've seen the old women I saw (in a range of age 60 to 90), you can't help but to judge even a lil bit but I love these women. They pair up men khakis that reach way past the waist and they belt it with a hot pink sweater and peacock feather rings. They wear those weird shaped bold colored shades with red polka dotted headbands with a hair updo. These woman don't dress for anyone but themselves. To express themselves. To dress how they've feel like to. They carry these outfits with a confidence that shows they don't give a shit about what anyone thinks. Its very much like Advanced Style. Very very much. Like their saying "You don't have to worry about getting old, you can still have fun dressing up.". And that I've feel is a very powerful thing. Will be learning from them during my spare time. 

So society in fashion feels like a free country in Manila. Even most of the men I saw dressed ways better. Including the teen boys who were much more diverse than from only ranging sport pants and cool graphic shirts. If anyone is going to Manila, just be crazy with your clothes. You'll love it as much as I did with dressing. Okay enough. Now to bring out the accessories. 

First off is my new purse. I got this from the streets and it was so well-made that I had to have it. I always wanted a Cath Kidston ,whether real or fake. Its longs enough to hold and have many compartments for several cards. I had to pick between the red white polka-dotted pattern, cartoon Paris scene pattern and this floral pattern. Obviously you know which I've chosen. One reason, it was versatile with most of my outfits and the future ones that I plan to wear. It might not match with edgier looking outfits which to me is the only downside. I keep holding it in my hands because it feel so right for it to be there. Its original price was real high because the stall lady told me it was really a good quality purse for a fake and though she discounted it, I still feel its a tinsy bit pricey but took it anyway. I needed a new purse and our currency is the bigger currency over there so it was much cheaper than the ones here in KK.

Next is this gorgeous golden bag that is versatile cause it has as you can see a chain to it but you can easily slip in the chain back in, still have plenty of space and it turns instantly a gold clutch for a special dinner or even prom. I saw this bag sitting alone on a white shelf in F21 and thought I was undeserving of this magnificent bag. I showed it to my Mom and she simply said "take it". Suddenly I feel worthy and outfits to match this bag just manifest itself in my brain. Well that was such a short period of feeling unworthy. Ah wells~ Moving along.

Here we also have another F21 item (I told you I spent more than hour there didn't I?). Just when I think it was enough and thought of paying everything and get going, my Mom had to mention "What about shoes?" and I was like "Oh yeah....". This pair of red strap wedges caught my eye because I like the one and half inch height it gives me. Its not too high nor too low that I can wear it out a lot. I also bought it because I never had red shoes and I simply adore the idea of wearing a totally simple outfit (black top with dark jeans for example) and then just simply wearing these classy shoes that are enough to make my outfit pop. Plus they make my legs look good no? They were sort of pricey. Not too expensive and not cheap either but so far wearing them, its quite comfortable.

Next are these two pack belts that I've been really into. I always believe that if you belt it, you show off your hips and waist that are the flattering parts of your body and its a really nice look. I got these from Dorothy Perkins. I always wanted something from Dorothy Perkins because I love the brand. Especially the dresses and bags but I'm still a year or two young to wear the dresses so I settled for their belt. My first Dorothy Perkins. So yeah this came in two. They were other sets with different designs but I chose these because I thought the fish scale pattern belt would look great on my dresses as well as giving it a quirk to it. The other dark shimmery teal-colored belt reminded me of Saturday Night Fever. It really gave me that retro vibe that I don't really have in my ever expanding and exploding closet. These I had to admit was pricey but I never really encounter any Dorothy Perkin in KL or Penang though they are available there I think. On its tag, they even have an image of how to tie the belt in this loop style that I think is slowly climbing to be a trend. Thats an extra bonus to buy this and I'm so looking forward to using them in creative outfits in the future.

Since I got my piercings, I've bought these really girly earrings set. Another F21 I thought were nice and I could even wear for school. Hoorah for that. I like how they bring the earrings together with a diamond earrings (obviously not real of course), pearls earrings and floral bow earrings. I so plan to wear these when I'm either feeling elegant or want a girly touch to my look. I will say that the bow on the left, that little strap in the middle of the bow did come off and my Mom, being the wizard that she secretly is, fixed it. I have no idea when it was damaged. I don't think it was when I purchased it so I'm gonna conclude it to be that it snap off during the flight back home.


Oh before I forget, real sorry if the quality of these pics aren't as HD. I used my laptop cam for all of them and then used a bit of photoshop to get the lighting right so it took a few days to take all the pictures (including the clothes), not because it was hard to edit but mostly because it was hard to take a good picture before editing. So apologies there. My laptop cam sucks.

So next is this gold guitar earrings I got from Hard Rock. I didn't buy the tees instead because they didn't had anything I like and the simpler designs were WAY too expensive. Too pricey that I mock a heart attack when I saw the price tag. Still shiver at the thought. This was from the Hard Rock in Makarti which is like an hour and a half drive from where we were which is Clark and over there its pretty much those high lifestyle city with clubs and glamorous malls and shops. People in limos and women in bodicon dresses. The good city night life I say.

This was another item I got from Hard Rock. I've been going through Magz, Fashion websites and blog and there are some really creative quirky teens who like to dress with pins on their jackets or even on vintage dresses or their sling bags. So I've got into it too and when I saw these particular set of pins from the other pins at the Hard Rock souvenir shop, I thought "I must have these pins." We have the "Live, Love, Rock" pin, the kiss mark pin, a pigeon carrying a scroll saying "Hard Rock" with some roses and a "Admit it, Girls Rock." pin. I have yet to have fun with them but I got some ideas that it'll go really well with edgier looks as well with my Converse bag. I am however giving two of the four pins to my friend Christina as her souvenir. Fingers cross that she'll like it. There were however a bit pricey for pins so I from just think I'm not gonna shop there again unless I find a different Hard Rock with a cheaper or more reasonable price.

This is another from F21. The collared necklaces are on display for the buy if you haven't been staking out a lot of the shops and boutiques (ex: Lovett) here in KK.  Though you could mostly only find ones that are made of cotton, beads and bedazzeld necklaces like those lace ones here. I have yet to see much people using these here so it has yet to really trend despite being in most shops. I wouldn't buy the ones here anyway because one, I've feel the one I have here would be more versatile for most tops and the design is really basic so you can pair it up with a lot and two, the ones here have a much more complicated design which you can't necessarily match with everything. Fyi, there are even these long pins behind the gold collars for better adjusting and placing on your top. Real cool right? Price for this was reasonable. They had more detailed and more regal designs that I admire though so maybe you should keep that in mind when you go shopping there if you're interested. They are a total statement accessory after all.

Okay, this picture is the last accessory of mine which is the bottom hand and the upper one is a souvenir to Lonelyness! There are these colorful skull bracelets and mine has peace and crosses signs while the upper hand is simpler because that gives you chance to pair it with a bunch of other bracelets while mine is enough with adding one or two bracelets only because it'll look too much. So lucky you! The simpler one is more versatile and I chose this for Lonelyness because I never seen you in a really tribal look from head to toe. This bracelet is like boho meeting edge and it can be worn alone because I've feel it really brings a casual or boho looks a step up. Maybe with a striped maxi dress or bright oversize tee? I bought these two from the streets. They were a bit pricey then I would have like but otherwise considered sort of reasonable. Sort of. P.S. Lonelyness, their made in Korea. 

So now that I brought the first souvenir out, you guys can get excited now. So last time I ask and not_so_lucky_girl requested earrings. And here are these cute Christmas tree shaped silver earrings from F21. To me these pair of earrings says the sentence "I'm celebrating X'mas even though I'm in Santa's bad list". Otherwise, I'm just saying its really edgy and it be great to see it on an edgy look on you (which I never quite seen before) and you could pair it up with boots, on some leather or with black singlets with those universe images on them. Just go crazy with them cause I think you can even put it on a quirky outfit too with bright tops and shorts. 

The next one if for Violets and Rayne. I chose these set of gold rings consisting of (from the bottom ring to the top order of the index finger) one with a crystal, a thin band with a short line of crystals and one ring that looks like those screw gears. I would wear this for a fancy or feminine look that has an added quirk thanks to the gear ring. I had to wear them with spaces between them so you could look at each individual ring better. If you wondering why their no longer with tags, lets just says it went through a malfunction in my luggage too when we take off home. Its from F21 and I would love to see what outfit you can concoct that will do these rings justice. Maybe with a pastel dress or with a cream colored lace top?

Last but definitely not the least, is to Life. I got you a silver set of rings and unfortunately it's tag went through the same tragedy as Violets and Rayne's rings. From F21 and consists of (bottom to top order too) a crystal ring, a rope ring that has two small crystal that acts as ears making the ring look like a bear shaped, a chain ring and a spiked ring (I really loved the first and last ring the most of this set). I like to see this sets of rings gives me that classy badass vibe which I never seen you interpret when you dress. Its the same way with not_so_lucky_girl's souvenir. Price was reasonable. Hope you like it.

So that comes to the conclusion of this post. I hope you like your gifts cause I love them that I thought of buying an extra for myself but I resist that temptation. Each gift was chosen with a lot of thought so consider it my Christmas gift to you guys. I do wonder whether I make a great secret santa so comment what you think kay? Like it or hate it? Do add in what you think you would do with your gift though. I may have put in a suggestion of what you can do to embody them in an outfit but I like what you would have prefer to do with them too as well as what do you think of this purely fashion post. I await your comments and just wait for my next post (maybe tomorrow or the day after most likely) on the apparels I bought too. Seeya guys! Ho!Ho!Ho!