7.26.2010

Some heels would be nice


This pic is actually from June. For the past few months, my sister and I have been emailing outfit pictures just to see what the other one is wearing on the other side of the globe. (We are raised by a very fashion loving mom after all.) Finally we set up this blog to better document the outfits. I look positively sleepy in this picture. It was the night of my aunt's birthday dinner and we came home late. I take my pictures at the end of the day which explains why I usually look drowsy. Will have to do something about that.



top - Zara; pencil skirt - Bayo; crop jacket - Iora; 
sandals - Charles and Keith; belt - Greenhills; pendant - Mango

7.24.2010

Military florals



We celebrated my aunt and uncle's 40th wedding anniversary yesterday night. It was a surprise party planned by their daughters. Really sweet. We were requested to wear their favorite color green so I chose this army green pants. I paired it with a sheer floral shirt I made a month ago. It's fairly easy to make since it's a loose top so there's no worries on the fit. I just used an exisiting loose shirt I own. Trace its outline over 2 pieces of cloth (plus 1 inch for seam allowance). Adjust the neckline and the armholes to be as deep as I liked. Cut the cloth. Stitch them together. Use bias binding for the neckline and armholes. Hem the shirt edge and ta-da, instant shirt. Although bias binding can be wee bit tricky. But still the whole thing is pretty straight forward. I want to make more!

And I just want to say: Happy Graduation Ach! Wish we were there celebrating with you!!


pants and belt- Zara; top - DIY; inner tank top - Supre; bag - Iora;
shoes - Charles and Keith (gifted by Achi :) ); jewelry - borrowed from ma

7.22.2010

Hotel Seeblick


While the day is long and the weather is warm, D and I try to take advantage of the summer by going out in the evenings for dinner. It doesn't have to be fancy. Sometimes, we cycle down to the park and grab sausages from the sausage stand. Or we would walk down to the Karl-Liebnickt main street and ordering 2-euro kebab wraps (doners).

One of our favorite "KarLi" haunts is part of an old abandoned hotel that has been converted into a small restaurant, called Hotel Seeblick. Inside, the bare walls are covered with fading retro wallpaper, and a lone painting hangs in one of the walls. It has a worn, comfortable, time-by-gone feel. Their food choices are not too expansive, but quality definitely trumps quantity in this case.


D almost always orders their tender, juicy burgers whenever we're there, while I tend to shop around amongst their exotic offerings. This time, I ordered their rucola salad with strawberries, halloumi, and vinaigrette dressing. Yum! Perfectly refreshing from the humid heat.

After dinner, we surfed with the iPhone and people-watched.






By the way, the first photo is taken in front of our apartment building! :) Outfit is inspired by the Glamourai's science of mixology.


top-Pimkie; skirt-SM Department Store
necklace-H&M; sandals - Zara

7.18.2010

No bend and snap in a crop top


Watched Legally Blonde last Sunday. Due to our last minute ticketing, we got seats on the very last row! Squint as you might, the faces of the actors are impossible to distinguish. But thanks to Elle's very blonde hair, she can be spotted instantly on stage.

Nikki Gil is really good as Elle Woods. Love her voice. Really cool to the ears. Even when she's having an exaggerated blonde moment, she's not irritating unlike some of the high-pitched sorority sisters. But when they all squeal together, oh dear, it was a reminder of why I wasn't a big fan of the movie, which led to the question of why I bought tickets to the play in the first place. But still, I had some pretty good laughs. And the "Gay or European" number was hilarious.


This shirt is my 3rd DIY attempt on clothes. I picked up sewing a couple of weeks ago and got pretty hooked. For this shirt, I followed the (awesomely free) pattern of this blog. I modified it to have sleeves so that the fabric will have more allowance in the chest area. I turned to this detailed shirt tutorial for the sleeves. Not perfect but I'm proud that the sleeves fit the armholes. I'll be steering clear of sleeved shirt projects for the moment though, they make me nervous and antsy.


crop top - DIY, skirt - Bayo, bag - Egg, 
studded sandals - People are People, necklace - Mphosis

7.17.2010

Zittau country girl

Dear Sis,

I don't know if I went a bit overboard with this outfit. Please advise. And be honest :)


Last Tuesday was D's grandma's 90th birthday! So D and I hopped on a train and chugged 4 hours eastward to celebrate with D's family.


When I was getting dressed, I thought that those blue sandals looked cute with the outfit, but now I'm not too sure. Then again, D was almost corralling me out of the apartment like a diligent sheepdog, so I hardly had time to mule over it. On the other hand, maybe the bright colors helped D's Oma spot me better :)

The black tights were a necessity the past week to hide a huge blue, red, and purple bruise due to a biking mishap. Don't want to add too much color to the outfit now, do we? :)


Plus, I'm not too sure about the dress either...is it age appropriate? Did it look too busy with the ruffles and prints? Maybe a belt could have helped break down the prints? Although the pretty prints did make me feel like a boho country girl :) And I love one-shoulder numbers. There should be more one-shoulder and asymmetrical tops and dresses in the world.

But, what was important was that the birthday went well--champagne bottles were popped, cake was eaten, sausages were grilled and gifts were opened.

Still, I would like your advice :)

Love,
Jill

P.S. I thought I'd follow the other fashion bloggers out there and don heeled sandals while traveling. My verdict? I will hide a back-up pair of flipflops in my bag the next time! I don't know how those extremely fab-looking women run about town doing errands in killer footwear! Hat tip to you guys!


dress - Mango; jacket - H&M;
shoes - Deichmann (absurdly cheap!); earrings - H&M

7.15.2010

Hotter than in Manila


Here I am, contemplating if I should go out under the scorching 35C degree sun for a German class. (And, while contemplating dramatically, I decided to take out the SLR and set it on self-timer mode. Haha :))


I managed it to class, albeit 15 minutes late and not without a cover-up to play down the maxi dress. (I think my altmodish German teacher would have keeled over if she saw a tube top.) My vest from New York 101 provided the best solution, because it covered my shoulders and yet was loose enough so that it did not stifle. Plus, I like how its asymmetrical structure played off the softness of the maxi dress.



maxi dress - Zara; vest - New York 101;
headband - Forever 18; flipflops (hidden) - Havaianas

7.14.2010

See you at Cospunder See


Germans call their lakes "see", which is linguistically similar to the English word "sea", resulting to occasional mix-ups. To add to the confusion is that many times, these "see" are old open-cast mines, now unused and are filled with water.

That doesn't stop the people from dressing up like it's a real beach though. And this makes me happy since opportunities to go to beaches in Germany are few and far in between. (Although, if I were to go to a beach in Germany, it doesn't really feel like a beach, because well, they're missing palm trees. Not to sound like a spoiled brat, but it's true :))

Last Sunday, D and I cycled to Cospunder See and met up with some of my MBA mates. Now that summer is upon Germany, I can finally joyfully rummage through stuff I had brought over from the Philippines months ago. The white blouse was a spontaneous buy from SM Department store. I like it's exaggerated shape and poof, but it's bordering on a "table cloth" look. (Hello, the dining table called and wants its table cloth back.) So I decided to cinch it with a obi-ish belt. Now it's a white table cloth with a red table runner.

Hee, I kid :)


top - Cococabana; shorts - H&M; tankini (underneath) - Speedo;
belt - Greenhills tiangge; sunnies - Mango

7.12.2010

Into the blue


Had dinner at Chilis gb5 with some Beijing friends I haven't seen in a while. Pretty fun. A dinner is always too short when you're catching up. I also invited an HK student intern whom I met a couple of weeks ago. You should see us practice our rusty Mandarin with her! It's been what, almost 4 years since our Beijing days? Time flies man.


blue button down - Zara; jean shorts - Greenhills tiangge; 
brown belt and sandals - SM dept store; black bag - Jelly Bean

7.11.2010

4th of July


My American classmates prepared a little BBQ in the field behind our school and marked the our picnic area with patriotic red, blue and white pinwheels. Grilled chicken, funeral potatoes (apparently a Mormon tradition--baked potatoes with cheese and cornflakes!), cake topped with strawberries and blueberries...yummm. To clear away the artery-clogging stuff, there was frisbee afterwards, although the girls chose to idle away the afternoon chatting under a tree whilst sipping sparkling white wine.


D and I decided to hang around after the party dispersed. An electronic band was playing across the river and the sound was mesmerizing. However, junebugs were a-plenty that day and were in attack/sting mode. So D and I snapped some shots in the twilight then packed up to head home.


tube top - Greenhills tiangge; harem pants - Promod;
necklace - gift from sisters; earrings - H&M; sporty sandals - Teva (D had forced me to cycle)

7.08.2010

Summer is here


We're sisters living in two different countries, two different continents. This blog is to document our styles, swap ideas with each other, see how trends evolve in two very different places, create inspiration boards, post DIYs and the occasional recipes...anything fun really!

H is currently in the Philippines, where it is perennially summer with short bouts of rain. J has been in Germany for 5 years now, where it is luckily currently summer but is usually mostly winter and bluster.


This is our first post--we still have to figure out the lighting, the logistics, the stuff, etc. But there will be more to come... :)

On H: shirt from S&R ("the best white shirt ever!"), skinny jeans from Terranova, peep toe flats from Charles & Keith, bag from Jelly Bean and pendant from Mango

On J: blouse from H&M, pants from Zara, slingbacks from Charles & Keith, bag from Mango and necklace from SM Kultura