October Fashion on a Budget Coords

Like always, I'm full of plans. Working a lot and an internship. The plan now is to go to Japan in March. So with that in mind, I'm trying to save up as much money as possible. Also network with some Tokyo-based bloggers to meet up with and get their view of the city. Lose some weight too cuz I'll be taking a lot of photos. This trip in march is just a sampler to see if I truly want to study abroad in Japan. As much as everyone keeps making Japan seem like the best place in the world, you never know till you experience it yourself.

So if you are going to Japan in March, let me know. Also in a couple of days- Galoween (gyaru x halloween) in Manhattan is supposed to happen. We don't have enough people as of yet, but if you want to meet up anyway. Also let me know. Just leave a comment below or on my facebook page. We can cordinate from there.

Now Lets Talk Fashion
 September into October had a lot of fashion going on. As you know, we came out of fashion month and moved into Halloween month.  I got inspired, saw some weird, and over worked myself into exhaustion.

Every few weeks, I take some of my paycheck and spend it on fashion. It's a necessity for me. I need to look chic for the things that I do, however it has to be extremely affordable. It's hard to shop through the sale racks too. Fast Fashion items aren't meant to last. If the item is on sale; it means its from one or two seasons ago, its not faring well with sales, or "just can't give it away". So most sale items are either fugly or you just wear it once and it hides in your closet until you throw it away. So I hunt mostly for cheap stores versuses sale items. Cheap stores like conway, prices are already discounted to under $10 and with good care, the item will last longer then it's expected lifespan.

My motto is: If it's more then $12 bucks and its not designer, it's not worth the buy. Exceptions to this rule will be clothes from discount resellers like Marshalls and Burlington then I cap off at $20 (more exceptions at the end of this post). Even clothes from HM and New Yorker which are mid-price are made from cheap fabrics so why pay the price for something cheap??

My favorite outfit :)
Top: Conway ($5)
Skirt: HM (sale) ($10)
Socks: Conway
Earrings: Charlotte Russe <3 p="">Hat: (which was my favorite thing in the world until I lost it =__=) Conway

I honestly don't get any respect as a blogger because I'm always posing in my school's bathroom lol

Jacket: Forever 21 (sale price $15)
Scarf: Charlotte Russe ($5)
Skirt: Jcpenny (gifted)
Tights: Dots (idr)
Booties: Dots
Sunnies: Midtown Manhattan Street Vendor ($5)

I'm obsessed with that scarf okay

Cardigan: Conway ($7)
Burgundy Leather Leggings: Forever 21 ($10)
Scarf: Charlotte Russe ($5)

Blouse: Conway ($7)
Skirt: JCP
Tights: Dots
Boots: Dots
Earrings: Charlotte Russe

Voila same outfit, 2 ways to wear it.

Now the last one preludes into some of the things I've been doing.

Blouse: Forever 21 (sale $15)

High Waisted Shorts:  Thrifted

Tights: Social Apparel (2.99)

Jewelry: Charlotte Russe

For girls like me, who continously buy clothes no matter how big my wardrobe is. There is no reason to pay the extra price for clothes. Stay cheap, look chic.

Other exceptions to the cap-off rule:
Items that are classics (things that aren't going out of style for a long time; i.e jeans, cardigans)
Quality fabrics (you can fee the difference)
Speciality Designs (i.e spray painted t-shirts)


Hopefully these tips help you :) Good luck and Stay Chic

P.S 1 step closer to my tech dreams:

My new laptop 

Now I just need a dslr camera and I'll be happy.

Kaichou Wa Maid Sama Review

Atlas, another end to a good shoujo. I think I'm going to run out of good reads at this rate. If you're in the midst of reading a good shoujo, suggest it to me in the comment box. Kaichou wa Maid Sama, or The President is a Maid?! is a japanese shoujo manga written by Hiro Fujiwara, (this is the title that creates her commericial success). This is a lengthy shoujo spanning 85 chapters, bounded into 17 volumes. As of this point of time, Kaichou Wa Maid Sama is one of the highest ranked shoujos out there.

Fairly similar to Special A, it has an atypical twist and rather strange romance. It has some shoujo cliches, some action, adventure, and quite a lot of funny and WTF moments. One reader described it as a smut without the smut. I wouldn't go as far as to say that but I will say it's... something else but not in a sexual way. Oh well, I don't want to spoil anything so I'll avoid talking going too deep into plot elements as much as possible.

What does the public say for this manga?

According to mangaupdates.com, a database for manga readers worldwide, users by average scored this story at 8.37. This is extremely high for a manga since most mangas don't surpass a score of 9. My favorite manga of all time and one of the top 5 (completed) only has a score of 8.98 (meanwhile Skip Beat which is still at its peak has maintained a 9.08 wtf). Only 37 % of readers gave this story a 10 (only 2% higher than Vampire Knight and 1% higher than SA).

So here is my scoring for the manga

Storyline/ Writing:

The overall plot is worthy of 8.5

Why?
The story is cute, consistent, and coherent all the way until we start peering into Usui's past. Somethings weren't clear and others were irrational. The whole spin of his past sounds so cliche and so similar to Private Prince. Then the whole england arch, was just overdone and over caculated. Followed up by the final arch, the more their relationship evolved, the less engaging the story becomes.  The final chapter was efficent in tying up too many loose ends which is great in some ways but hurt some aspects of the story. It was a rushed reunion and just listing every possible loose end and tied it up (similar to Gokinjo Mongotari but less satifying). The ending was rushed. However 8.5 is reflecting the story as a whole which is excellent. There are many powerful archs, character growth, and love tryst that makes the story compelling. The twist of Misaki, who works so hard to achieve what she wants; for her family and herself, is extremely admirable. Thats something you don't quite see in media anymore. Shoujos no longer reflect that anymore, they mostly reflect on a damsel in distress type of writing.

Art:

Worthy of a 8

Not top notch, but good enough (in comparison to other shoujos), passable enough to be in a higher rank. In the begginning, every character had similar eyes and it made it hard to  differentiate them at times. The idiot trio looked way better drawn in the beginning of the manga. Usui did not look hot, overall the art was very 90s and similar to other artists that were popular in the 90s.Take note the manga began serialization in 2006. However the artist does a beautiful job of improving the quality of art. Things become more detail, more modern, the art is completely different from the first chapter by the last chapter. That being said, this story isn't a 10 in art like Say I Love You.

Literary Merit:

Worthy of a 9

Its hard to pick up on these, writing wise, but the ones you do pick up are good. There is a lot of character growth, a lot of chemistry between characters and good  variety  of dynamics. Its make the story a worthwhile read. This is probably why the story scored so well among readers. The story is rich in character dynamics. Every character is relatable, many foil each other (i.e Misaki two friends are foils), and their relationships are realistic.

Overall : 8.5

My scoring is higher by the general public by 13%. That is quite a big gap (because mangas generally don't score higher then a 9). My guess because I evaluate the literary merit sepperate from the plot. Had I not given the extra .5, my score would of been a 8.33 , in lined with the general public.


My verdict:

GO READ IT! Trust me, it's way better then some of the garbage thats being serialized right now. Depending on your interests, it's just as good as Vampire Knight. The anime is really cute too --->  One of the few animes I enjoyed watching.

Disagree? Agree? Want more? Comment below! Also make sure you like me on facebook for more reviews and other posts!!

How to Land an Internship in the Fashion Industry

Sometimes when I'm in my  suburban  home town, I pretend to be something like a local celebrity to these high school and middle school girls. I tell them all sorts of stories about dreams and ambition  yet I....I ain't shit!

There will always be someone who one ups you in life, there always will be bridges to burn, but the one thing I tell girls all the time "Keep going, keep doing, and never look back."

Trust me, I've burned a bridge or two (or 25) but I'm young, fresh out of high school and pushing myself beyond the boundary that defines what is a successful person.

Everyone's  definition of success is quite different. My  definition  of success is financial freedom (and liberation from my parent's grasp). In order to achieve the latter, I need to be able to work in a field that I love. There are many ways to go about it.

I love fashion and social media. Its extremely hard to break into the fashion world. Social media however---> blog, camera, brain-- and you're done.

So I combined the two and searched for some work in there. The thing was I  did a few campaigns some odd years ago and not much else I could run with. I wasn't  financially  capable to really participate in an internship in high school, even though I was offered a few. 

Right after high school, my friend introduced me to some work with a fashion show producer. After that I did two retail jobs and from there I was working in and out of the industry through various connections I built on the way. Come  September  I packed that all into my resume and I applied to a lot of places.

The one who replies back first, is usually the one I stick to. That's been my way of getting every job I've gotten so far. I usually do well on the interview process. 

Key Things to Getting an Internship

1. Apply, Apply, and Apply again: I think I filled out about 120 applications for internships in a 2 or 3 day span. My current internship replied back to me within an hour, thats how I knew they were the one. It can be a good or a bad thing.
2. Networking: I had a 30 year old retail manager that couldn't find a job in her field after college. She didn't have any connections and had only 1 internship. If you want a job once you graduate, then you need some serious networking skills.

Give 200% to everything you do and you should be fine. 

You should know however, before you can break into the fashion industry, you have to do a lot of work for free. Even then, it's hard to break in, and stay in. I didn't quite find that a problem with PR internships that weren't directly in the fashion world. Your best bet, to skip a few innneccesaries, do an unpaid internship in fashion and do a related paid internship. Because I work at the pace, I do now, I aim to have an entry level job by the time I have my associates and move on to something big by the time I graduate.

How to ace the interview:

I can only give very general advice on this because I never had been turned down because of a bad interview. I just know that the best thing to do is be yourself yet be the image they want. Never lie or anything but if you know you aren't what they are looking in their target audience then you might want to pick up an acting book or two.  

Key things is to be modest stylish. Show some style and show some restraint. Bring out the Devil Wears Prada's Andrea Sach's smarty attitude but don't forget who you are.

Keeping the Job???

Internships aren't as  glamorous  as they are made to seem. It often or not, a lot of hard work. Even the simplest task seems to kick you down. I know for fact, schooling full time, working full time and part time internship was kicking my ass every day. My blog was vacant for too long!!

Most of the time you might not being doing any work towards your field. Sometimes you will be doing minor work. Just make sure you keep a balance of everything that needs to done and put all effort possible towards it.

I thinks that all I can say towards interning in the fashion industry. The industry is quite different between the creative side and the business side so I know it's a bit vague but that all you really need to know towards getting and keeping an internship.

So if I have any more advice, I will update this post! I hope you enjoyed this post!

Liz Lisa/ Tralala/ Jugetta A/W 2013 Concept

So lately I've been wanting to get in touch with the side of me that was rambunctious and creative like I was when 16. I think in some ways it's a maturity thing and other ways it's  suppression. I used to never care what others thought of me, flaunt my single status with no cares in the world. I dressed the way I somewhat wanted to and wore whatever man-repelling style I wanted. Back then gyaru inspired me but high school pressure made me not pursue it beyond my bedroom. Then I got a boyfriend and had to bring it down a  notch. I brought it down about 10  notches  down. Now I'm free, f@ck the social order that compressed my style freedom to a box.



Soooo if you've been reading my crap blog for that long then you must know that when I was 16, I was obsessed everything that was Liz Lisa (I still blame Xiaxue and Cheesie for that). 2 years later not much has changed. It inspired my style and even now, I look for look-alikes when ever I enter a Forever 21.  This season, Liz Lisa did a super well job bringing together my current style: French Retro! They even swapped their typical catalog for a magazine! I'm in love.

This is the exact style I've been loving this season; french, retro and girly. I love every piece that is being displayed here and the best part is, I work at a mall where I can find tons of similar items.


Tralala wasn't a brand that I was  into last spring. They also went for a retro french concept.

If only I could wear this stuff as good as these models O.o...


Jugetta was the only brand from the company that owns Liz Lisa to really upset me. It was nowhere as nearly as good as it was when it first debuted.  I guess they are having a change in target audience or something because the whole look was 10x maturer then before thus no longer suiting my taste -__-.

The stuff above was the items I did like. Everything else in their collection just was meehhhh.


Anyway what do you guys think of this collection?

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Ariana Grande + Skater Skirts

If you keep up with my instagram, you must know about my obsession with skirts. But just not any type of skirts, I love skater skirts.  I like the flippy, flirty image the skirts create. If the skirt is pleated it makes a very schoolish look. If the skirt is fuller in shape, it create an illusion of fuller hips (and hides my muffin top lol)

This probably explains my love of casual lolita and schoolgirl uniforms.

This explains my love of Ariana Grande's style. To be honest, everyone (including myself) in my graduating class never quite understood how or why she wasn't casted as the title character in Victorious. She was ten times the singer and actress than seasoned actress Victoria Justice was.  I mean everyone in the cast just seemed way more talented then her to me.

Ariana Grande has just a beautiful innocent look that vibes the 1950s style. Maybe I'm just in love with anything that's not modern, I just hate this 2000s time period. The music isn't as good, the style is lame, so many things. However every period except the 70s and 60s, gets me so inspired  and
 want to adapt that into my style. Everything about Ariana from makeup, to music just vibes that "I'm born in the wrong time-period" feels that I just can't help but love.

 

Several Ways to Wear a Skater Skirt:

 

My favorite way to a skater skirt is just with a nice blouse. Typically for me, it's a nice collared button down.

#2 Way is to  pair it with a blazer and blouse. This is awesome way to make the skater skirt office appropiate.

If you want casual it up, pair it with a loose knit  sweater. 

For a night out on the town, any night-life top looks great with a skater skirt.

Last but not least the ultimate casual look is with a denim jacket. EVERYTHING looks casual with a denim jacket.

From sidewalk to catwalk, I really feel that skater skirts are going to be such a long lasting trend. Might even persist into becoming a classic item like pencil skirts or cardigan. *Crosses fingers with hope*

 

This would be my typical outfit, if I was trying to mimick Ariana Grande.

I own about 6 different skater skirts but I only wear only 2 or 3 of them rather often. 

What;s your favorite item in your wardrobe? 

The Things You Don't Know feat. My Darling Rainbow

Hello lovelies!

There aren't many blogging Queens this far west and Carisse Iris is one of those on the rise. If you haven't heard of her, SHAME ON YOU! But lucky you, I got the exclusive details on this blogger. She has unique style, impressive makeup skills, and 2 awesome blogs. Now you get to find out more about this super cute blogger. 

I skipped over the most commonly asked Questions and went straight for something different so here is "Things You May Not Know about My Darling Rainbow"

Q. Can you tell us about yourself?

A. Okay! So, my name is Carisse Iris and I run a blog and operate  under the title My Darling Rainbow. I'm coming upon 24 years od age and I don't have much to show for it but my Makeup Artistry certificate and a few wrinkles.

Q. How would you describe you style?

A. My style is something between himekaji gyaru and oneegyaru in a pastel spectrum.

Q. What made you get into blogging and what push you to keep blogging to this point?

A. I started blogging when I first got my MUA certicifate and I would post my client's makeup looks. But then, I got bored of it and just wanted to talk about myself, point blank. Eventually, I realized that people likes what I had to say and I wanted to post things not only about myself but that could help others be it tutorials, reviews, or just random life experiences... What keeps me going now is making my readers happy.

Q. What is the most worn item in my wardrobe?

A. Probably my American Apparel light blue skater skirt. It's perfect for summer.

Q. Since you are by profession, a makeup artist, how does fashion play a part in your life professionally and personally?

A. It plays a pretty big deal. As a makeup artist, you are your own billboard of your skills, and if you look good and put together, you get more clients and it helps instil confidence in your clients.. On top of it, I always like looking good when working with other people since I'll be in their face for a good hour and they'll be getting a good look at me.

Personally, It's not a big part but more something I do for fun and it makes me happy to look/dress the way I do.

Q. What inspires you the most as a makeup artist?

A.Gyaru makeup. Though, I'm never asked to do it on clients, I love doing flawless contour, blush and highlight on clients and using and amplifying their favourite features. Which is used quite often in gyaru makeup. I'd also be downsizing the fact, but obviously, my clients inspire me because once I see my canvas I get to visualize what to do to bring out and polish their natural beauty!

Q. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

A. Let's see... In 10 years I'll be 34. So, hopefully by then I'll have my business degree and maybe have my own desert cafe and it'll do well enough to support me and make others happy.

Q. What major tips would you give out to girls who are aspire in the world of makeup, fashion or blogging?

A.My major tip is to just go for it. If you don't know anything about what you want to do, don't be afraid to contact someone you look up to and ask for help or the steps they took to get where they are. I've realized that hesitation won't get you anywhere. It's better to keep trying and failing than to watch from the sidelines and trying to make a master plan. Also, networking will get you anywhere and everywhere! Never turn down a party and talk to everyone. The best thing you can learn is how to fake a smile and how to treat everyone nicely even if you might dislike them, because you get more flies with honey than with vinegar. 

I want to give a special thank you to Carisse Iris! She was super sweet and really kind enough to let me interview her for this special blog segment! If you don't follow her, go read her main blog and tumblr.

Thank you for reading and I hope you guys are keeping up with My Darling Rainbow!