b-comfort, b-green, b-Burnetie

you must know this feeling: to walk for miles and miles, minutes beyond minutes (even hours), having your legs turn to jello and your feet give up because the shoes binding your feet are just too uncomfortable. 

walking is something almost unavoidable in New York City and you need to be able to survive on your feet the entire day, tourist or not. if you've never experienced the pain that completely exasperates your feet after a long day of walking, I am envious of you. I can only assume that 1) you have hooves that can mold to any shoe you put on, or 2) you only & always wear Burnetie shoes.

I got my first pair of Burnetie high tops last week and couldn't wait to wear them. with some friends in town visiting from SF, I thought a day playing tourist with them would be perfect to break in my new kicks. to my surprise, they needed no breaking in whatsoever.

just as a disclaimer: my feet are quite delicate. it's not uncommon for me to get blisters and soreness within just a couple hours of wearing shoes (don't even get me started with high heels..."beauty is pain" is an understatement). within a few steps in my new Burnetie's, I already felt like I was walking on clouds. kind of unbelievable, considering the last few pairs of shoes I bought have been a pain to wear - what a relief.

for starters, the fit was perfect. I'm usually a 6½-7 so I ordered the size 7 Burnetie. I had just the right amount of room and was a solid width for my feet. once I slipped on the high tops, it was like a natural feeling that my feet belonged in them. like the "glass slipper" if you may. not to mention, the zipper on the side makes it so easy to slip on & is SO convenient for days when you have to rush out the house! (aka everyday for me)

but in order to pass the comfort test, I had to take these pink high tops (the color btw is uber cute) out on the town. a full day of walking in NYC. now if you've ever walked more than 3 hours straight in the city, just trust me when I say you are guaranteed at least two blisters and an ice bath for your feet once you get home (if you ever make it home). believe it or not, I needed no such pain relief for my feet after a day in Burnetie's.

I made my way around the East Village, to Williamsburg via metro, gallivanting for God knows how long, to the Brooklyn Bridge, walking the entire thing to Manhattan. it was such an easy stroll along the bridge, I could've gone back and forth in my shoes, they were that comfortable. plus the view was incredible.

my day didn't end at the other side of the bridge. while my friends were already feeling exhaustion after the BK mile walk, I was the opposite. I was thoroughly surprised by my feet's stamina. of course, the only difference was that I was wearing Burnetie's.
a brisk walk to City Hall for the train led us to Chelsea for some pizza at Grimaldi's. perfect meal to equal out those calories burned throughout the day, am I right? story short, I literally walked for 3 hours straight in these shoes and I didn't complain, stop to sit down, readjust the lacing, air out, massage, or attempt to cut off my feet once. I'm officially a fan.

as a plus, ALL Burnetie shoes are made with zero waste & it's the only brand that utilizes vulcanized rubber to make completely new shoes [watch a video about it here]

not many manufacturing companies are eco-friendly, so I'm thrilled to have found a sneaker line whose mission is to reduce the amount of chemical products and toxic waste in the environment [read more here]

it most definitely is possible to be stylish, comfortable, and green all at the same time!

there's a ton of styles to choose from, for both men and women; you can find multiple colors, patterns, high tops to slip ons & they're all made with natural or recycled rubber.
I can't forget to add among being a great alternative shoe, Burnetie's are totally budget-friendly. the shoes range from just $20-100 & in this economy? not bad at all! 

here are some looks I created on polyvore, for other ways to wear these chic Burnetie pink high tops:

for a girly girl on a casual day

AX Paris owl dress, $29 / Green lapel vest / A|Wear lace handbag, $32 / ASOS engraved ring / Crystal stud earrings / Alexander Wang round sunglasses / Waist belt / High Top Vintage

perfect fall day outfit

Pull&Bear pull bear, $29 / Alice + Olivia leather shorts, $600 / Socks / Cross body handbag / Miso feather earrings, $11 / Triangle ring / 2b fedora hat / Burberry / High Top Vintage


want to see more?

shop the entire Burnetie collection here

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

heeeeeyyy, sexy lady!

this morning I found a funny little teaser vid (above) in my inbox of the supposed collaboration between designer Jill Stuart & South Korean rapper, Psy (who if you don't know, flooded the internet and dance floors of the world with his 'Gangnam Style' hit)
"what's the big deal?" you ask? for starters, the song is #1 in basically 20 countries. this is huge for an international pop star that raps in a language that isn't english. and now he's got everyone singing along with him. to add, 'gangnam style' is the most watched youtube video EVER, wrangling over 200 million views in 3 months. ridiculous. Psy is the cherry on top of this delicious recipe for success. he has his own wicked sense of style and is the antithesis of a "hot" male music artist...well, a hot male. which is what makes Psy even more lovable - not to mention his impeccable dance moves, which are very uncommon to find in a man these days (am I right, ladies?)

Psy performing live on the Today Show

that said, he definitely caught the attention of Jill Stuart. seemingly an unlikely match made in fashion heaven, I think the duo fits perfectly & here's why: it's all in the definition of gangnam style
loosely translated, the song is about guy trying to find a girl that epitomizes the upscale, trendy Gangnam district in Seoul (think NY's meatpacking district but way cooler). there's a verse in the song that goes like this: "A lady who looks conservative, but knows when to play hard, a lady who knows when to let her hair down, a lady who seems fragile, but sexy at the same time." THAT'S a Gangnam style chick. & coincidentally, also a Jill Stuart kind of chick.
Jill's designs are ultra sophisticated & extremely sexy at the same time. she has the essence of the girl next door & the life of the party. I mean, picture Cher Horowitz in 'Clueless' (Stuart did design for the film after all). she embodies all the qualities of Psy's ideal Gangnam style girl.
I'm so looking forward to what the iconic designer & soon-to-be legendary korean rapper come up with.
sources: la times, mbfashionweek

do the creep

no, I'm not talking about The Lonely Boys' SNL skit, "the creep," with nicki minaj...

rather, in fashion terms the creeper shoes are what I'm referring to (though it's very possible to do snl's "creep" dance while wearing creepers)

thanks to the late 1940s - 1950s teddy boys, us fashionistas can strut around the streets in these rebellious-looking, yet upmost trendy shoes. of course, they're nothing new (designer Nathan Jenden even featured them in his 2007 runway collection) but like all fashion, each trend seems to relive itself more than once. so here we are again & creeper shoes are back.

I was inspired by Oyster Mag's article on 'top 10 creepers' to blog about these iconic shoes & compile some of my favorite designs:

underground 'camaro' $170, sold at asos

BANK fashion 'bronx' $120

topshop 'underground $250

AX paris 'brogue' $50

jeffrey campbell 'kipper' $84, sold at solestruck

UNIF 'grim' $196

what is your favorite creeper style? or do you even dig it? tell me in the comments.

unpierced

as some, or none, of you may know I have zero piercings on my body. yeah, you read that right. ZERO. unlike every other asian mother out there, mine never pinned me down to a chair at the mall to get my ears pierced. however, now it seems as though all the lost years of having a daughter without pierced ears caused strife and occasionally she'll say "you'll look good in earrings" or something along those lines.

so here I am, turning 23 in half a year still without piercings - though I did dabble in a little rebellion as a sophomore and got my nose pierced but that lasted for a good year or so. in the working world filled with cubicles and briefcases, it's taboo to have visible piercings in unconventional places like your lip or eyebrow so those are out of the question.

living so long with bare ears has made dressing up a ton easier, as I don't have an extra body part to accessorize. of course, I can opt to wearing just one pair of earrings a day but what's the fun in that? so the million dollar question is: will I ever get my ears pierced? perhaps... but just so I can wear these from Chanel:
 



besos.

cute kids modeling. 'nuff said.

When I was 6 years old, I can clearly remember the feeling of having a mother that is obsessed with fashion dressing up her one and only daughter (me) in the poofiest of poofy dresses, play clothes with a hat to match every color and pattern of the ensemble. It was a treacherous ride for the, nearly 8 years it took me to learn how to dress myself and develop my own sense of style, which you can imagine went the extreme opposite of the Gymboree or Nordstrom get ups my mom would force me to wear. Though I hated it at the time, I look back on old photos and think, "hey, I looked pretty cute in that polka dot jumper"...and sometimes I even wish my mom continued to dress me throughout middle school where my style got progressively Nike oriented (my tomboy phase). That is why, when I saw this article about the kid models for the Australian line Witchery, I couldn't keep silent.






Circling the world wide web is this photo controversy of the child models posed in Witchery's lookbook for kids. As you can see, the tots are not stanced like Gap Kids models, who are cheery and bubbly - just as kids should be...right?

When I first saw these pictures, I couldn't get over how cute the kids looked in their cargos and booties. My thought process went a little like this: "OMG! ... I would probably wear that ... how cute! ... this is a little weird, though ... I wish I was that cool looking when I was 5 ... I wish I looked that cool now.."

Nowadays, I get the feeling that kids are growing up way too fast. The availability of cell phones, the ridiculous television shows they watch (in comparison, my '90s generation shows had it made), their increased curiosity/experimentation of sex now begins as young as kindergarten, from what I've heard. Knowing this, I was not surprised to see these "disturbing" images from Witchery.

Personally, I love the photos. If anything, it shows how good these kids can model and how chic they look in these clothes. On the other hand, I do see the arguments being made from neurotic parents and children's charity spokespeople that hate the photos. One said, "The whole point of early childhood is to be joyous and free." So true in this case where the child models keep straight faces and hold high-fashion inspired model stances. In all honesty though, do the photographers expect children to act this way naturally? I'm sure a great amount of direction was made to achieve these vogue-esqe images, being that kids run on sugar constantly. Still, it surprises me how good the children are at posing this way, maybe they've been interpellated to believing this is how a model should look like - even at age 5.


>


Witchery says "the next generation is here," and it really is. Think of how many child actors we have today.. there barely are any that are at least relevant to me. Still the only person I can think of is Dakota Fanning and to my dismay, she has grown up. Maybe the problem here is not with Witchery, but with society in general - it is moving fast, the economy may not be, but I'm sure as hell that the population is and their obsession with media and technology is along for the ride.

Also, how often was it before (aka 1999) to see kids in gossip magazines for adults? Every other second we see Suri Cruise or the Jolie-Pitt clan on the glossy pages. Do kids even read Bop or TigerBeat anymore? Do those magazines even exist still?

My whole point here is that the images are far from disturbing because they are highlighting the type of grown-ups that kids look up to these days. Models, bikers, hipsters...whatever you see posed in this spread is a reflection of the "coolness" society is heaving on its jovial offspring.

images via The Cut, Witchery

she had that bad hip like a fanny pack

it all began with this moment in Sex and the City (as it always does-we see something on Carrie Bradshaw and need it the next possible minute) when Carrie wore that Gucci fanny pack and since then, the fanny pack was never looked at the same way it was in the 90s.

I know this is nothing less of a random subject...there's no recent moment in fashion where the fanny pack was in the spotlight, at least not recent enough for me to blog about it, but I saw this entry from Sea of Shoes that featured a Tatsuyuki Tanaka fanny pack and I almost shit my pants because I want it so bad. as strong supporter of the fanny pack, it's no wonder why I fell victim to the Gucci craze started by SATC. I remember buying this in Paris with my mom in 2006 thinking, "am I really going to wear this?" the idea of a fanny pack is so dorky, so detached from being fashionable...but that's why I love it. the designers that transformed this bag to become less of a staple for unfashionable tourists and more of a statement piece is enough for me to wear it. and though I haven't gotten much use out of mine, it's been a lifesaver for the times I have used it...probably the most convenient purse I own (especially for running errands or going to Disneyland). even if I get flack from my friends for rocking the fanny pack, I could give two fucks. because by my wearing it I can say that A) I have balls and B) I can bring back a '90s look like it's my job

to read more about the fanny trend, click through to this article in the NY Times

p.s. these pictures of me are old...if you consider 2-3 years ago old...but I look at least 5 years younger soo yeah, I'd say these are old.



though I'd love to own each and everyone of these, this Alexander Wang fanny is probably my favorite & the most versatile


buy it here

more rouge?

so here I am watching the season 3 dvd box set of Beverly Hills, 90210 wondering if any '90s trends will come back. I open my laptop and boom. my questions are answered. coincidentally the latest post from Forever 21's blog, The Skinny, featured "berry dark lips," the look of the season. it's no wonder why I've been contemplating buying dark lipstick-I see it everywhere, but most recently on Beverly Hills, which is funny because that was...oh, 10 years ago? what other than the '90s exemplified the beauty of taking rouge to another level..

case in point: Brenda Walsh



are we getting '90s fever? I think I am. it's better than having swine flu.

here are some new inspirations for both you and me. ALSO WhoWhatWear has great advice on tackling this look, where to buy the perfect shade, etc. etc. here!