Rocker Chic | Origami Skort + Denim Vest + Black Lace

Black lace cardigan // Black tank top (underneath) //
Thrifted from Goodwill denim vest // Zara dupe black origami skort (bought from Threadflip) // 

Target suede black ankle booties // Wet n Wild lipstick in Wine Room //

Photography: self; tripod and remote

Believe it or not, I found the inspiration for this outfit from a character on The Big Bang Theory - in one episode, Sheldon's assistant Alex was wearing a lace top underneath a denim vest. While sometimes denim vests can look tweenish, the way she paired this unexpected combination made it look feminine and fresh. I wore this to chill in German Village with my friend Marie, where we tried to study at our favourite French patisserie Pistacia Vera (they have the best sweet potato tart - tastes like a mini pumpkin pie!), exploring the Book Loft, finishing with some rainy day coffeeshop productivity (9/29).

Threadflip has been a successful way to sell my clothes and window-shop others' closets too, and since I had $50 of credit from inviting friends, I tried out the buying experiencing with this Zara look-alike origami skort that everyone in the blogosphere was sporting this past spring and summer. It is an asymmetrical skirt from the front that creates an interesting geometric "origami fold" shape on the legs, and a sensible pair of shorts in the back. This pair pays homage to the glorified times as a 90s kid dabbling in fashion, since skorts were THE thing to rock when I was in the 4th grade. This rocker look reminds me slightly of Kat Von D, the black lace standing in for her tattoo sleeves.

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Trench Coat for Autumn Rain

Target khaki trench coat // H&M pastel floral peplum top // Forever 21 tan lace pencil skirt //

Predictions for Payless black pumps // H&M croc print faux leather skinny belt //

Lancome red lipstick in Rouge Baroque // Target clear bubble umbrella //

Photography: Cassandra Morecroft King

For this month's Bloggers Do It Better challenge, our task is to showcase our winter coats. While I recently invested in a long North Face puffy-yet-sleek parka for practicality and preservation of fingers and toes, the fleeting fall days are a great transitional time for light jackets like a trench coat. These are surprisingly water repellant to block out the freezing rain.

This outfit was from an entire year ago (10/19/2012), when the foliage in my neighborhood was absolutely striking. The explosion of fiery colours in the canopy above, reflected on wet pavement - one of my favourite images of fall, with natural confetti decorating the ground. Clear bubble umbrellas always seemed like fun raingear to me and make walking around easier when you can see right through them. They even show your outfit better than traditional opaque "rain-pellants." I tied the belt behind the coat to show off my layers underneath and liked the juxtaposition of the soft pastel flowers and peplum that are usually associated with spring against the vibrant shades of red and gold in the glistening leaves on the ground. Pop on a bright red lipstick and voila, fall workday to date night look.

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Fall Neutrals + Matching Leopard Details | Wear to Work

Old Navy beige v-neck cable knit sweater // Forever 21 burgundy wine lace pencil skirt //

Target faux calfhair leopard print flats // H&M leopard print super skinny belt //

Photography: self; tripod and remote

Because I'm impatient and need to catch up on kidney knowledge before delving into editing NYFW eyecandy ... today's outfit, a go-to work ensemble that gets me through hot summer days and chilly air conditioned indoors without losing pints of sweat. Featuring neutrals and matchy-matchy leopard print belt and flats. I never thought leopard to be too wild for work, as long as it's toned down with solid colours or used for accenting. In other news I was at the airport at 3 AM and arrived in Columbus at 11, drove directly to homemade brunch & mimosas with my friends, caught up on sleep all afternoon, back to my med school life on Monday. Our a cappella group sang a surprise version of Little Talks for the first years and I even squeaked out a solo into the mic. I may feel slightly like Clark Kent today ;)

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Wear to Work: Neon Florals + Lace Shoulders

Pink champagne long sleeve top with lace shoulders // H&M neon floral knee length pencil skirt //

H&M nude extra skinny belt // Kristin Perry gold rose cat eye sunglasses //

Aldo nude almond toe pumps //

Photography: self; tripod and remote

Today was my first day of the second year of med school - walking back into the same never-heard-of-a-thermostat lecture hall felt like the entire summer took place in a few nanoseconds. I always enjoyed dressing up for back to school and today was no different, pulling out all the stops with this neon pencil skirt in its classic knee-length cut. Though the print is so bright and busy, the silhouette makes it appropriate for work settings. Because it's long enough to hide my thighs, the skirt gives the illusion that my calves are super thin and lean with the one-two finishing punch of nude almond toe pumps.

Our school also rolled out ipad mini's as part of our educational tools so we spent a good deal of this morning setting them up and of course, goofing around on Photobooth (it's junior high graphing calculator games all over). After a summer running around clinic, I felt more at ease interviewing our patient for an audience of peers, even about touchy gastrointestinal topics (a flashy outfit may or may not add +10 confidence haha).

To another crazy year - as American Authors sing, this is gonna be the best day of my life ... my life-i-i-i-i-ife! (rinse, lather, repeat!)

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Summer Work Uniform: Lace Colorblock

H&M cobalt blue lace detail top // Forever 21 burgundy lace pencil skirt //

Pitaya yellow faux patent leather skinny belt // Merona faux calf hair leopard print flats //

Photography: self; tripod and remote

Happy Tuesday! Though I was a public school kid growing up, I quite admired the look of uniforms. Since college, I've developed my own personal formula for a no-brainer uniform. By now you know my year-round go-to is a top+skirt combo, always tucked in and usually belted, often mistaken for a dress. It'd be nice to have this many dresses, eh? This morning I grabbed two lace pieces and added a yellow belt to make it into a primary color palette for clinic. Props to the women who can strut in clinic for 10 hours in 5 inch heels and not complain a peep, but a few inches of vertical help aren't worth the toe-squishing for me (and my patients are kiddos so I'm usually taller ... usually).

New concept: take < 10 pictures and magically blogging the way out of my outfit backlog become less of a dreaded, harrowing task. Apparently everyone has figured this out years ago but obstinately, I keep snapping away for different poses to fulfill my OCDish-ness. From now on I hope to streamline this process so that even during my busiest weeks I can still update. Last week: swooned by crooning Bruno Mars in concert, painting a night skyline while munching on cupcakes, chasing giant butterflies through the conservatory greenhouse, attempting to birdwatch, spontaneous dinosaur origami making, getting lost in a 32-room bookstore, David Sedaris, Pacific Rim, buffalo chicken grilled cheese. Have a great rest of the week and stay cool in this heat!

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Adore Me Tristin Set Review

"Tristin" push up lingerie set in black with red lace, bra in 34B and thong panty in size S

As you'll remember back in September, I featured a pretty little magenta lingerie set named Jenna. Adore Me kindly let me choose another set to try and love, and their spring offerings featured a lot of delicate lace used as sexy accents over the traditional tshirt bra shape. The Tristin has a sultry black base colour with delicate red lace overlays. Inspired by how French women always wear matching lingerie sets underneath no matter the occasion, I am excited to start curating my collection with pretty (but functional) little things like this.

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Adore Me Jenna Set Review

"Jenna" push up lingerie set in magenta, bra in 32C and boyshort panty in size S

PRETTY LITTLE THINGS. Sometimes we need a bit of lace and glamour even if no one can see it! That's why I prop up my floor length mirror in my room so my legs look just a little longer and leaner - major self esteem boost every morning :) When Adore Me contacted me a while back asking if I'd like to try one of their special lingerie sets, at first I was hesitant because I am the tshirt-bra type of gal. No fuss, no fluff, throw it in the laundry with the rest of my clothes, simple and gets the job done. I chose the Jenna set because of the fun colour and ultra-feminine details on top of the most important thing - substantial coverage. The straps are covered with feminine delicate ruffles and the inside has cushioned push-up for an extra boost. For the panty, I chose the boyshorts version because thongs make me nervous and I have always liked the coverage this shape provides. The sexy placement of lace makes sense and leaves more private regions covered with opaque cloth.

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Cowgirl at the Disco

Chicwish lilac button down blouse with watercolor floral sleeves and pearl buttons (Chictopia Rewards) //
Forever 21 light pink tee (underneath) // H&M white floppy sunhat //

Sugarlips white flared disco pants with side lace detail (c/o) (buy here) // Forever 21 leopard print bootie wedges //

Chicnova spiked gold hardware necklace (Chictopia Rewards) // Revlon lip butter in Lollipop //

Photography: self, tripod + remote

DESERT ROSE. So today I feel like a Southern belle dreaming of being taken back in time to the disco era (7/28). Originally I meant to do this shoot by the poolside but when I hiked out there with all my gear and tripod and floppy sunhat obscuring view, a pack of teenage boys (yes I mean pack like Twilightian werewolves) were busy cannonballing and ... yeah I wasn't about to go strike a few poses to get chortled at. Good thing because a deserted desert background actually works better. The sunlight never fails to amuse me with how it basks everything on this side of the planet with an orange glow, turning hair fiery red and kindling all sorts of fanciful dreams. But good thing it does go down because #fashionbloggerproblems my colours would be distorted otherwise.

Tottering around on 5 inch wedges, even pine needles on the ground form a formidable landmine. These unique white disco pants were superrrrr long too made for someone closer to 6 feet tall. However, the extra flared bottom is super pretty and it's made of a soft stretchy cottonlike material instead of denim or leather (oh yeah, 70s). Sugarlips sent me these wayyy earlier in the spring but better late than never. I don't really like the skirt foldover part but it conceals the side lace that extends all the way up to your undies. Not petite-friendly, but every-size fun.

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Maxi to Hi-Lo Hem

H&M lace chest sweater dress (S) // Pitaya/Solemio sheer pleated maxi skirt (S) (tucked in as a hi-lo hem skirt) //

From Taiwan opaque teal tights (M/L) // Pitaya yellow patent skinny belt (S) //

Fioni for Payless zip up black cutout booties (5) //

Photography: JJ

BUSINESS IN THE BACK, PARTY IN THE FRONT. Hi-lo hem, fishtail skirts, mullet skirts - there's a different name every week for this style of skirt. What makes sense to me is the fact that it's high in the front like a mini/knee-lengther and long in the back like a maxi. It shows off your legs, shows, and you get a big tail trailing behind you when you strut. While I've been hunting high and low for these all season, I decided to faux it by tucking in the front of my sheer maxi skirt into the waistband and secured with a bright yellow skinny belt. It's not exactly the same thing, but it's more like a really long tulip hem and shows a bit of leg (which I dutifully covered with bright tights to vibe up the black-black block). This also made it slightly easier for shorty me to walk without tripping.

JJ helped me snap these shots in the walk of naked gingko trees quickly after a delicious carvery wrap lunch at Holmes Lounge (1/27). Their house sauce plus a tad of spicy barbeque makes my mouth water just at the sound of it (like right now ... man I feel like one of Pavlov's dogs). It was freezing, so campus bystanders onlooked quizzically while I threw off my coat and pranced around for a few minutes trying to look as un-cold as possible. This weekend consisted of hanging out, attending the best ever Lunar New Year Festival performance, eating dim sum, pho, bubble tea, and Asian supermarket shopping. Somewhere in the fun, there's work to be done. One is as a poet, in the mood before you know it. (Ima dork, forgive me)

By the way, I announced the winner of the Poshlocket giveaway in the original widget. Congrats! Don't worry there's another giveaway for you lovely readers tomorrow!

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Checkmate, Metallica

Forever 21 checkered peacoat (M) // H&M sparkly metallic silver light sweater (XS) //

H&M light pink lace shoulder LS top (S) // H&M black and white striped pleated mini skirt (Euro 4) //

Forever 21 burgundy tights // CLAWS jewelry turquoise trio gold ring necklace (c/o WhitWatWear) //

From Taiwan fringe heeled boots with bling (35) // H&M super chunky long beige scarf //

Photography: JJ

CTRL+P MIX. So it was freeze-my-butt-off-like-a-wart cold today. And yesterday. And tomorrow. Thank you JJ for braving the bitter temperature to snap these pictures outside (1/19). Oh what I won't do for fashion. Last night, as I tried picking out my outfit in advance for once, the sparkly thin knit came back to mind, along with the lace top and burgundy tights from the pink blazer outfit, yielding a remix of what was in my Winter Break suitcase. While I had plans for my pink tulle skirt again, it just looked downright silly for a day of science madness, so my favourite go-to pleated skirt took its place. Better luck next time, tutu.

OFF THE SHOULDER, PEEP LACE. I remember getting the inspiration for peeping lace shoulders in the H&M dressing room during my pre-Christmas sale hunt. Pulling down the lightweight sweater to reveal a bit of dainty femininity, I tossed on a favourite small statement necklace (if there is such a thing) to top it off. To cover everything up and switch things up, this checkered coat rotated to the forefront to temporarily replace my plaid one I've been wearing daily this year. It was purchased on sale for about $13 last last winter, on a whim of course. I liked its dolly shape and potential layering space for a medium size. Like is to chunky as my scarf is to soup.

Meanwhile, I LOVE second semester senior year. I LOVE my science classes (never thought I'd confess that aloud), and I love having free time to catch up with old friends and do the things I love. I also enjoy sitting in a room bursting with intense neuroscience majors and feeling like I know something for once ; )

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