Dressed in Berry Creme & Wine

H&M pink blazer w/ side ruffles (Euro 4) // H&M light pink lace shoulder top (S) //

Forever 21 lace/tulle scallop hem skirt (S) // Forever 21 burgundy leggings //

H&M small black purse // Xhilaration cognac oxford flats/wingtips (5.5) //

Charming Charlie pink bauble and gold chain statement necklace // 
Taiwanese brand red frame glasses // Urban Outfitters double face watch //

Wet n Wild lipstick in Wine Room //

Photography: self-timer/remote & tripod

CONFECTION CONFESSIONS. My last-minute holiday mall-hunting outfit (12/22) coloured in ROMANTIC PINK + BERRY, taken the day after because it gets dark so fast. Don't let the warm temperature and palm trees fool you - it is still the dead of December. This colour palette was inspired by burgundy, which goes well with pink and cream, satin and lace textures. Burgundy is like a fine wine - complements well, not ostentatious. Been wanting a pair of these in my cold weather wardrobe for a while and their fuzzy lining will ensure lots of wear to come.

This lace/chiffon skirt is a perfect length and I got it for $4.75 from easypetitelooks' blogsale. It's a very tiny small and the wide elastic band makes it fit like an XS so I folded it in to prevent unsightly bunching. With raised floral patterns embroidered onto the tulle and a thick opaque underskirt, it's ladylike and girly at the same time. My favourite thing about this light pink top is that it balances out the skirt with a tinge of lace modestly placed at the shoulders. It's sexy in a subdued and elegant way. With my trusty H&M pink blazer over the bunch and my favourite pair of shoes (honest to God, wear them almost every day), mix in a heavy bauble and gold necklace in a matching rose pink shade and my med school interview purse - utilitarian, unobtrusive, and still fashionable.

At the mall, I did some major damage perusing the racks at H&M in their convenient pre-Christmas sales. All the best fall/winter items are leftover in sunny San Diego, where there is never much need for major Midwest cold weather staples. Forever 21 was also very well-stocked but as per usual, I tired of the long lines and visual overload and run clawing at my eye sockets and screaming. Meanwhile, the rest of my break thus far has been spent marathoning Psych and reading countless ebooks on my Nook Tablet (read my picture-filled review here).

Day 11 of the 12 Days of Fabulous (almost done!)

Click to see more pictures → → →

Modcloth Social Hour Crochet Lace Skirt Dupe from Pitaya

If you're lucky enough to live near these 17 locations, you should high-tail it to Pitaya. St. Louis has one right on the Delmar Loop, which is a popular dine/hangout/shop street that people from my college often frequent.

A while ago, Ann Taylor Factory came out with a crochet lace skirt (see on Jean and Jen here) that everyone went nuts for. It is an interesting vintagey piece that fits right into the work wardrobe. Many girls (Jean and Annie) turned to Modcloth's Social Hour Skirt instead, but this relatively affordable $38 version sold out very quickly as well. [Update 8/7/11: Found it here at Threadsence in S, M, L]

I was looking for work-appropriate skirts at Pitaya after dinner at Fitz's with friends (they have killer root beer) and I stumbled upon this beauty (apologizes for the dark blurry phone pics):

Either my eyes are deceiving me, or this is almost an exact dupe of the much-sought-after crochet lace skirt! Of course I actually forgot to check the real tag, since Pitaya is a boutique and carries many brands. Too bad it was a Medium, or I would have shelled out the $36. It is oddly fitting for work, and a good length.

The black one is still for sale on the site and there is one more in Medium in the St. Louis store. Hurry up and nab it before I go back for it!

Pretty close to its Modcloth Social Hour Skirt cousin, eh? (The colour is much more white than this nude tone). That is one helluva dupe if I ever seen one.

Dupes aside, right now Pitaya has cute bright belts for $10-12 and a bunch of sheer and chiffon tops and dresses, what I am dying for in this summer heat. I picked up two skirts that are quirky yet work-friendly on sale and splurged a little. Getting a big fat paycheck is pretty awesome - unfortunately I don't know how to budget. I think you can guess what I got if you don't already follow me on Twitter. Hint: it rhymes with BUCHANAN and you'll be able to see my world of fashion through a different LENS : ) Another hint: I hope I have enough funds left to feed myself. 

Photo credit: Pitaya.com and Modcloth.com

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Suburban Southern Belle

Yay! The first outfit post of pandaphilia.com *toots a melody out of my own horn* jk xD I'm just so pumped because never in my life would I have thought that I could have my own website or blog or all you wonderful supporters. I am so grateful that so many of you read my posts so closely and write comments that absolutely make my day. Giant panda hugs for my lovelies! ♥

Yesterday I woke up terribly late, even for a habitually nocturnal person. I had promised an outfit post so I wasn't going to let myself or you guys down! I ran outside with my equipment and tried shooting in the sunlight while avoiding nasty shadows. The usual shady spot in front of my garage is too dark at around 6 PM so I tried many different places along my street for lighting. This explains all the different backdrops.

I wanted to do a cute Western look inspired by all the kawaii models in Popteen magazine earlier this summer. Chambray/denim shirt, white skirt with brown belt, cowboy boots, curly hair, cowboy hat. Unfortunately I had only half of the materials so I decided to revamp the look into more of an "urban cowgirl" outfit. Instead of ankle cowboy boots, I had brown peeptoe wedges (that fit like true 5's) from my outlet mall Payless stop. No cowboy hat but I recycled my big white floppy sunhat from my sailor dress outfit. The chambray-ish shirt I purchased at Forever 21 this weekend for $17.80 (is it just me or are they getting SO much more expensive!?) and the skirt at rue21 in the outlet mall for $21.99. The sales associate helped me grab this last Medium off the top hook after giving me a look that said "Girl, how you gonna wear a Medium..." Fortunately this belt is very, very adjustable and I tightened it a lot for the perfect fit : ) Since I didn't try out this chambray-ish shirt inside the store, I felt a little uneasy. I think it could work for casual wear because it's super long and has a tie attached that I can bring around to the front. I would wear this top with chunky accessories and black leggings or skinny jeans. Remix, remix! I like the ruched shoulder detail because it makes such a masculine style more feminine and gives my frame a little more "oomph" to balance things out.

The only thing I'm missing is a giant red beat-up pickup truck. I'm trying to break this bad habit of fashioning an outfit in my head and then going to buy pieces - I feel like my life has become a daily dose of costume party haha. For makeup I curled bits of my hair and tried to curl others pieces with my straightener but both failed. I spritzed in some 4-year-old Garnier Fructis shake effect gel (gross, I know) and scrunched my ends and flipped my hair around like a rockstar until I got a nice volumized crazy curl going on. I was sweating so much I'm pretty sure half my foundation melted. A bronze eyeshadow and bronzer instead of blush created a kind of dirty look that I liked. It feels like I just went out and drove a tractor or chased some tumbleweed. It's so funny because even when I lived in Oklahoma for 5 years, I never embraced the suburban cowgirl look. In my town, most of the kids were very prep but broke out the cowboy boots and oftentimes owned family ranches.

An interesting challenge: I have been waiting for ELF to restock a lot of items I've been wanting to try for a long time and I placed an order last night for $23 worth of makeup. I nabbed a Lilac and Mint Polish, several of the new shimmer eyeliners, and all the new $1 lipsticks to try, along with the long-awaited hot pink Studio blush (not even the full list). I realize that though each item is cheap, I have shoeboxes and shoeboxes full of ELF things and I actually probably use 0-7 of those items on a daily basis. My dad still is paranoid about anything technology related so he won't give me bank info to set up a Paypal account so I think I'm going to have to get rid of my makeup the hard way - any suggestions? Would you be comfortable mailing money in an envelope and receiving a big box of goodies in return? I wonder how blog sales get by without Paypal xD

Point is, I am going on a makeup-up ban UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR. Yes! Until January 1, 2011! I figure I have wayyy too many things already and I simply don't use them as much as I should. Eye makeup actually severely bothers my eyes during the day because I tear up and get bloodshot awesomeness going on with too much shadow on (and can't rub my eyes in fear of becoming the shimmer fairy). I love pandas, but the ring of death (aka your eyeliner melted and now you look like an emo kid during training) is not hot in any shape or form. So why do I keep spending money on it!? This is going to be crazy hard. I'm going to allow myself a trip to Walgreens to pick up some Wet n Wild items I have been wanting all summer and some gifts for lovely girls and that's it. The main challenge is avoiding the hype. I almost fell prey to the UD Naked Palette but in all honesty I wouldn't even use it that often and $44 is better spent on food and clothes xD

Wearing:

Chambray-ish ruched shoulder top, F21 (size S)

White doily skirt w/ brown belt, rue 21 (size M)

Brown peeptoe wedge, American Eagle for Payless (size 5)

White floppy sunhat, H&M

Little House on the Prairie Suburbia

Do you do-si-do?

This is my "look" every day living in Oklahoma - true windswept blown halfway across the parking lot

Am I smizing? Nah I just look like an angry cowgirl that just found out someone tipped all her cows hahaha

Camera facing the bright sunlight darkens everything :(

Love lens flare!

The shadows crawl, they prowl and prey

All over the still frames, devouring the day

Near the doggy "rest area" haha

And here's where I turn into a vampire ... these are completely unedited. My eyes turned red too! Camera must have an auto-vampire setting ... turn you super pale and then give you flaming red hair and eyes o_o At least I can still see myself in mirrors? Whew :D

These are back in the shade now. The first two are unedited and pretty dark so I brightened them up in Picnik (auto fix saturation, 25 saturation 20 temperature). It may look too reddish but I like how my chambray shirt brightened up a lot

Details!

I love these wedges! They're quite small for 5's so it's perfect for my narrow and teeny tiny feet. I might have to break them in with some baggy socks - I spy a future outfit coming up! They were originally $25 at Payless but since they had a BOGOHO deal, I got these babies for $12.50! They're really easy to walk in so I can strut in style without looking crazy in class. Love!

FOTD: Revlon Photo Ready Foundation in 04 Nude, ELF Studio Blush/Bronzer Duo (bronzer as blush), Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash, Wet n Wild Vanity E/S Palette (shimmery bronze shade), ELF Studio Creme Eyeliner in Black, Geo Nudy Brown contacts, Hair: Garnier Fructis shake effect gel

After sweating off half my makeup during the shoot xD This is my natural lip colour - absolutely nothing on them right now. Crazy pale, right?

I'm really sad thinking about this summer ending so quickly, but I'm ready to be back in the game and see all my friends at school again. I'm flying back to St. Louis Thursday morning so I will be packing like crazy. I have no idea how to fit my entire closet into a few suitcases! 95% of my luggage is always clothes - symptoms of the fashion-obsessed. I probably won't have the luxury to blog this thoroughly but I will try to keep taking outfit pictures : ) I will probably continue self-timing but also have my boyfriend spruce up his photography skills. That means ... playing with an SLR! xD I plan on making a lightbox and practicing taking photos of things other than my eye hahaha. Seize the day, pandalicious lovelies ♥