The New Perspective

I never used to like Mango. I could never find anything that fit properly and just didn't understand the craze (everyone in my high school wore something by Mango). But today I've gained some new found respect for the store. I ventured into the store as a last resort trying to desperately find a dress for a wedding. I came out surprised and happy, it was absolutely perfect. I couldn't believe it: I actually found something I liked, and I liked it a lot.


And while Mango has been around forever, it seems so new to me and I'm finding numerous pieces that I preparing to purchase. You see, I'm stubborn and once I don't like something, I hardly ever go back. But good job, Mango. You changed my mind.


These two dresses are beautiful! Especially the first one. I love those frills on the neckline! You could definitely make it casual by adding a pair of skinny jeans and converse/flats. You could also just wear it with a pair of pumps for the evening. And in winter...tights with legwarmers and boots! I just loved the silver dress, ever so elegant and very simple.

Image source: Mango, Mango Shop

Ctrl BG: A Shortcut to Financial News 11/7

It was another turbulent week in the markets.

It started off with a rally as election day approached and everyone was filled with hope for change. On Tuesday, America finally voted for our next president- President Barack Obama. Even though the result seemed obvious in the last few weeks, it was still a very exciting day here in Chicago. Everyone in the streets were hyped, retailers like Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's were giving out free coffee and ice cream, roads around Grant Park were closed for the rally, the over all atmosphere was just very exhilarating! Unfortunately I wasn't one of the lucky few to get tickets to Grant Park, but I actually thought that both Obama's victory and Mcain's concession speech were really well done. Mcain's speech was very touching and gracious (though whoever dressed him with an ugly yellow tie should be shot), while Obama's speech was very inspiring- yes we can!

The next day after this pleasent distraction though, the market turned its attention back to the economy and it went downhill from there.

• Retail chains posted the worst monthly sales data in more than 3 decades! Retailers are closing stores. Circuit City for instance is closing 155 US stores. Jewelers were also hit especially hard. Many, such as Whitehall and Friedmans, are being forced to hold liquidation sales, which in turn is creating temoporary price competition for its healthy peers
• As sales drop, so did unemployment. The job report this week showed that in October, 240,000 jobs were lost, taking the unemployment rate up to 6.5% from 6.1% in September, hitting all sectors. Companies such as GS, Circuit City, Mattel, Time Warner, Yahoo, Ford and GM have or are planning to cut back their workforces
• GM in particular posted worst than expected earnings and have called off their merger deal with Chrysler in order to focus on its own financial health. Chrysler is now in talks with Hyundai. The auto industry as a whole is not doing well in this economy (except Porsche, which posted a 46% rise in pretax profit) and the big three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) have approached the government for a $50 billion aid. The auto industry is in fact one of Obama's top priorities to save/ I guess since it takes up 3% of overall GDP it will have immense effects both directly and indirectly on the economy, and not just affect Detroit

Outside of the US, there was another gloabl rate cut, with the Bank of England cutting a whooping 1.5% and the European Central Bank cutting 0.5%.

The outlook is pretty pessimistic. Bonuses are slashed (ironically Bear and Lehman survivors are actually getting better deals from their retention package than their counterparts in other firms like Goldman). The next domino to fall seems to be consumer loans, such as credit card and auto loans. Predictions of when this will all be over just keeps getting postponed. Last week, it was middle of 2009. Now we're hearing beginning of 2010!!

Obama is already looking into all this at a meeting of the transition economic advisory board, which included a high-powered collection of business, academic and government leaders, such as Buffet, who called into Chicago from Obama- just like Charlie in Charlie's Angels! His priorities are to get a second stimulus package out asap (maybe even before Christmas!) and saving the auto industry.

All this talk about presidency and campaigning just reminded me that I've forgotten to watch Brothers and Sisters this season. Better go catch up!

Oh, Kate

Has anyone watched Stylista? I watched the Pilot and all I could see was Tyra Banks making Elle Fashion News Director, Anne Slowey, appear to be an exact copy of Miranda Priestly of The Devil Wears Prada. Example: Anne Slowey enters the office by throwing her coat on the receptionists desk...really? It was so utterly unrealistic that all I could do was sigh and skip chunks throughout the episode to see what the point of the show was. They call it "Stylista" except it's less about style and more about editing and seeing if people can figure how to do a nice layout on a page...using scissors and glue. Boring and just terrifyingly superficial.

BUT! The wonderful Kate Lanphear was their first guest judge, and I find Lanphear simply stunning. Usually makeup-less (except on the show) her style speaks for itself: strong, elegant and a risk taker. She pulls off androgyny extremely well. Lanphear was the only redeeming factor, even if all she said was at most two sentences.





Her outfit in that first photograph is just amazing! These beautiful photographs are from Jak & Jill.

Loyalty in Design

I'm one of those people that once I find a brand, I stick to it. Then if they change designer I feel betrayed and angered until I find something else to feast my eyes (and empty my pockets) on. But it takes me a while to get over my loss.

One brand that I am extremely loyal to is Kookai. I found a simple black dress for a high school formal and I still wear it to this very day. Their cutting fits my body type perfectly and their cool relaxed style is something I'm very fond of, eclectic and different. Their pieces are very versatile, which is by far one of their greatest qualities. Buy only a few things and you will be able to churn out a multitude of looks with whatever else you have in your closet.

I absolutely love their colours of their Fall collection, I would wear every single one of these runway looks.

Those grey trousers up there on the right, I'm definitely going to go find myself a pair.

Image Source: Kookai

I want it all and I want it now

Standing five feet eight inches, I'm not that tall. But slap on a pair of 4 inch heels and I will tower over you, which is actually a great feeling; that is until my knees fail, my feet fumble, and suddenly it's impossible to find the ground beneath me. Even with the training of classical ballet in my back pocket, balance (or shall we say off-balance) always gets the best of me.

However, in all seriousness, adding heels tends to make you feel empowered. Your posture will be better, because that’s the only way you can walk in them, that leads to your head being held higher and ultimately you’ll be walking the streets flooding them with your confidence. This can then result in feeling a rush of greatness, which is the most important part.

I believe in always looking put-together, and neat and tidy when leaving the house. And a good pair of heels (or kitten heels, or flats, or boots), styled properly, can really make an outfit.

And just a little something for you to lust after…

My great obsession with Giambattista Valli is only increased with this pair of beautiful red shoes. And look at that beautiful shattered crystal heel detail, Versace.






A tad dramatic, but nonetheless, platforms are amazing. Gucci, Louis Vuitton & Marni



Christian Louboutin does no wrong [ever] at Rodarte.

Lacroix, oh Lacroix, tout ce que vous créez est beau. I have a strange affinity to those white sandals by Emilio Pucci. And do you SEE what I mean when I said I don't know what I've been doing NOT looking at Celine?

A good pair of heels always make a woman look powerful, strong, elegant and sexy. So don't worry about being "too tall." Enjoy your new found height - or as long as your feet will allow it.

Image Source: Style.com

Youthful or Sophisticated?

This weekend, I came across a dilemma. I found two very very good bargains and can only get one. Both are 70% and both are very hip this season items. They are also very different however and cannot exactly be compared apples to apples, but here I go trying anyway.
I first came across this skirt on the Marc by MJ sales rack at Bloomies. It is not exactly my usual style, and in fact, if I saw this picture (above) I wouldn't even consider it (you got to admit, it doesn't look that great). But I decided to try it on anyway, along with a bunch of other stuff, for fun. It was one of those items where you put it on and WHAM- you look great in it and you really want it! Thats what happened for me anyway. I've never owned a pencil skirt, cause I always thought they'd make me look short, but this one was just hot. The cutting was flattering, it is different from what I already own and it definitely has hip edge to it, with its shiny fabric, fishnet pattern and zips. And then I got out of the changing room and the skirt accosted me again on the mannequinn. So despite the hip being just a tinsiest bit loose on me, I bought it 40% off at Bloomies.

Afterwards, of course I went online and googled it up and sent it to HG and all my other girlfriends for their opinion. Most thought it was not me, but HG thought it was really cool. The two of us then proceeded to spend all night analyzing its pros and cons and how to wear it. It's tough, because it's a bit in between officey and casual, being too hip for the office but too formal for the streets. I was originally thinking just a black top and boots will do the trick. HG pointed out that it would look very officey and too formal looking, and that I got to wear it "hip" with bright colors like in the picture above. As I said before though, I'm not very fond of the styling above. A good alternative would be to wear it with black and add on a large pink scarf like this one. But I'm not about to spend more so I can wear a skirt. Oh, guess what else I found? I found that Saks was selling the same skirt for 70% off! Yes, I am the type of girl who must have best deal in town. So I made the trip to Saks (good thing everything is so close together) and I came across this:
This tulip shaped pink skirt also 70% off, also from Marc by MJ. As I said, they're not exactly an apples to apples comparison. This one is more youthful, fun and punk, while the pencil skirt is more sophisticated and rock. This one is also easier to pair though. Since it is already so colorful by nature, wearing all black everywhere else is a given. I can even pair a hip short jacket with it. Plus, this skirt can definitely not be mistaken for office wear!

So in the end, I opted for the fun, youthful and easy to wear skirt instead and decided to leave sophistication for later. It all sounds very logical now, but trust me, it took a LOT of debate for me to get to this stage!

Image Source: Saks

Ctrl BG: A Shortcut to Financial News 11/1

It was a good week for the markets this week. The DOW went up 11.3% for the week- the biggest one-week gain since October 1987 (also the time of the last market crash) and it was generally very positive globally too.

It's actually kind of strange seeing as there wasn't exactly any positive news coming out this week. The GDP data came out and we are officially in a recession with an annual GDP decline of 0.3% in the third quarter. It is expected to continue until at least the first quarter of next year. The consumer confidence index is at an all time low, since they started tracking it in 1967. It fell from 61.4 to 38 in a month- the third steepest drop. Companies continue to report declining earnings. The only highlight is that as a result there are some amazing sales out there. Saks is already taking EXTRA 40% off already reduced items- I got something at 70% off today! If only I had the capital to fully utilize the opportunity. Maybe the market is just so used to all this stuff by now that it has already been factored in and now everyone is just looking for a bargain.

One piece of good news was the Fed cutting its rate again this month by another 0.5% to 1%. Experts were not expecting it to help much, but since the market reacted very positively, I guess they were wrong. The rates are expected to hold from now- or so I hope. They've got to save something in case of an even rainier day- or month! Another factor contributing to the positive market may be because some of the government actions are finally taking effect. The commercial paper lending program started this week, and I heard it's doing quite well. There are signs that the credit market is finally thawing. JP Morgan also announced that they are halting home foreclosures for 90 days and modifying loan terms to help those living in the home and show a "willingness" to pay, which is very nice of them.

Then there is the upcoming elections next week. Historically, regardless of who wins, there will be a rally in the market as investors are more "sure" of the future. From the looks of it, Obama seems like he is half way into White House. Personally I'm not very up to date with the intricacies of politics, so I don't know what the winning of either will mean for the economy. But for those of you who are not sure to which camp you belong to, I did stumble upon an interesting quiz on ABC, where they sum up each candidate's views on certain issues. I am surprisingly more of a Republican than I thought- I got 6 to 7 for Obama. Close call! I guess you have to be a little Republican to be a capitalist.

Employment data will also be coming out next week, where more unemployment is expected. And in the coming weeks, we can also be expecting news of a $600 billion bailout for troubled home loans (which sounds a bit repetitive of what JP Morgan is already doing) and another stimulus package worth $300 billion (tax cuts!). The government is seriously on a serial spending spree!