Tan lines fade, photographs are forever

Life's a beach.
Grin and bare it!

She's totally beachin'

The sweltering heat makes everything ten times more difficult, even dressing up. I always try to conceptualise an outfit around a particular theme and do what it takes to look the part. My taste is also well-defined, I will never settle for anything less than how I picture the entire outfit to look like. The key is to incorporate old pieces and trust me, your closet is a treasure trove of past season's junk that can be reconstructed. 

When it comes to beach dressing, the challenge is to bisect the points of comfort, style and functionality. Heavy fabrics should never see the light of day and so do bold colors, but says who, right? Perks of living in the 21st century, we get to exercise freedom! For my beach wear, I built the outfits around the swimsuits. 

Exhibit A: Saint Tropez street style. As much as I hate paisley (Per Elle Wood's mantra: Nobody looks good in paisley), this Princeton Slider Bikini from Roxy, has a hint of paisley at first glance. But if you examine closely, it's more hibiscus layered with another printed fabric. The contrast of teal against coral makes accessorizing easier and the collective effect of clashing prints swayed the entire look into a complete bohemian vibe. 

I threw on a plum colored lace kaftan as a makeshift swimsuit coverup. It served me well as an after-sun bathing dressy tunic that took me from the beach to brunch-ready. When travelling light, it's best to consider the functionality of every article of clothing if you want to maximize your baggage allowance. I opted for a more covered-up tunic (never mind the dense lace fabric) as opposed to lightweight sheers because I want something dressy enough to be paraded around even off-shore. It almost neutralized the busy prints I have on with the tribal printed Cotton On scarf, floral purse, bangles and rainbow flip flops. 

Exhibit B. Baywatch Betty. Say 'Baywatch' and bright reds and high cuts instantly come to mind. I chose this red bodycon tank dress to go over my geometric bandeau bikini from Roxy. The black and white geometric print looks great when it peeks through the exaggerated wide armholes. 

The straps are left hanging to prevent overlapping tan lines and to bring out the geometric print of the bandeau by accentuating it with a red necklace. 

Of course I brought with me my cut out clothes AKA the clothes I-cannot-get-away-with-on-a-normal-day for my nightlife/party outfits. Give the night time sea breeze to cool you down for ten minutes before you come into terms with the actual night time humidity. I cannot express my desire to wear this top but doing so could be lethal as my parents would never approve of the little coverage this top offers. So after 9874692 years it finally made its debut in Boracay. HAHA. This beauty is rather tricky to style given its length and coverage; it almost slips as an exception to my ultimate rule in balance. 

Topshop zip back cut out top | Topshop pansy print scallop hem shorts 

I would normally resort to jeans, but skin is in. 

Destination: Vacation

Careful planning goes behind almost everything I do that involves clothing (or lack thereof). Choosing beach clothes proved to be a challenge since I have not set foot in a beach for three years now (shame, I know). With all the academic surges inside my brain, I barely have time left to plan an entire 4-day beach wardrobe. 

Anything boho, aztec and 50s pin up are going straight to my duffel!

SKIN IS IN. 

Shop-and-Tell

'Cause when I shop the world gets better, it IS better. Then it's not anymore, and I need to do it again.
--Confessions of a Shopaholic

After losing myself for several hours down the rabbit-haul (get it?), I realized the awful truth that nothing fuels my blogging fire better than tossing in a little fashion-log. I decided to stay in on Bloggers United weekend, avoiding last-minute teasers on Instagram and live updates on twitter. The decision did me good as I was able to equally spend my weekend between my family and my dear girlfriends + Dean. 

Teasers tortured me to the core. But you know what they say discipline can trample down the borders between dream and reality. I knew it was impossible to egress empty-handed so skipping the event proved to be the most economically-sound move. I'm not giving up on Project Arm Candy and my B-Fund's looking as promising and I plan to keep it this way until I turn 23. Capisce!

It didn't take much to convince myself to stay behind; this is where my reasonable, working girl self transcends. After all, I was scheduled to claim my much-awaited ROXY haul from Kams which we ordered online over at ROXY.COM about a month ago. Just so you know, I'm not entirely comfortable with this whole shop-and-tell, thing. It's like inviting unwanted judgement from a mass of strangers but I have to keep this blog afloat with fresh entries every now and then. I usually try to prove a point when drafting an entry but I guess I'm pleading the fifth with this one. It is what it is. I don't need to go great lengths to prove this is not bragging.

So what do we have here? First, some of the stuff Nanay got me from their annual anniversary trip abroad. She sure knows me well. I absolutely miss walking into an H&M store, I have a feeling I will, sooner than later. Next is my Roxy haul fresh from the West Coast <3 THANKS KAMS! Finally, we have a bunch of not-so-recent Topshop finds which have been sitting in my closet for the longest time :| karamihan sa kanila last year pa. 

Steering my blog into a different direction. I criiiiiinge at the term blogger and I've grown fondness for trivial everyday-adventure posts. Thinking of rounding up my favorite cheap thrills next!

English Roses

Roses are red but sometimes, they look good with green too. With summer just around the corner, I went for a playful display of colors on a Sunday to celebrate the birthday of my favorite man in the world, my Tatay :) I am absolutely loving the new annex at ATC with a fresh strip of restaurants, boutiques and one-too-many milk tea hubs. #notcomplaining 

Two things I love: peplum and scalloped trimming!

Speaking of the new annex, we tried out the newly opened Crisostomo and I can’t be any happier with the choice since I’m all for local cuisine. Skipping lunch proved to be such a bad idea as revenge came in the form of over eating, and at a fast rate at that! I managed to snap a photo of my favorite balut sauteed in garlic and tomato, I shrieked in delight when I saw this on the menu. And here I am complaining about how expensive at 13 pesos balut is nowadays, this one’s priced at nearly Php 300 for 1 balut and 1 penoy! But hey, it’s worth the try :) It’s super good!

So apart from the awesome restaurant strip, which gave me the gut feeling that I’m going for a sweep once everything’s open, they finally FINALLY have ROXY in the new annex! I’m doing my happy dance as I type this, just so you know (Although they have smaller range of Roxy products compared to the branch in Nuvali). But hey, yaay for free stickers!