Thursday 27 June 2013

My Prom: Midsummer Enchantment & TIPS




To be perfectly honest, prom has always been a big deal for me. I've always imagined wearing the perfect dress and going all out in the limo and getting a cute promposal, everything. Since I've entered high school and known graduating Grade 12's, I've been stalking prom pictures. I over analyzed whether or not the dress suited them, if their hair/jewelry/shoes went with their dress, everything.

And then finally? It was time for our prom. My dad said to me once in Grade 11, "Diana, do you have nice Korean guy friends to take to prom?" and I laughed and said no. I remember joining the "GFSS Prom Dresses 2013" way back in like November? I remember first hearing about ticket sales way in the wintertime. I remember contemplating about which one of my guy friends I could go to prom with, (actually resulting in several awkward situations but this is not the time to relive that...)

So I suppose with this post (which will be lengthier than usual), I wanted to break down how I got through the prom experience and what I'd recommend for other people's proms in the future.

Overall, this is how much money I spent on prom:

  • Dress: $160
  • Prom Ticket: $85 (Early Bird Price!)
  • Jewelry: $30
  • Shoes: $30
  • Limo: $27
  • AfterProm: $17.50 (Refreshments/general admission fee)
  • Hair: $2.50 (I bought hairspray)
  • Nails/Eyelash Extensions: $70
  • Clutch: $15
OVERALL: $437... Wow... 

Honestly, that is a lot of money for one night. I know girls/guys who spend $300-400 on their outfit alone though, so I thought I did decently but wow now that I've actually calculated it, that's crazy. 

So here are some tips to SPEND LESS and ENJOY PROM MORE: 

1. Buy your dress AT LEAST TWO MONTHS BEFORE
    
One of the hardest parts of pre-prom planning is finding a dress. It is even harder if you try to find a perfect dress when you have two weeks to prom, and likely need it altered! It's already enough pressure to get a nice dress that isn't $400, so why add even more pressure on yourself by putting yourself under such a tight schedule. 

Also, if your prom happens to be at the end of June (like mine was), know that there are some people who have their prom late late May/early June! That means when you go dress hunting two months ahead, it's only a month early for the likes of them. Even going two months before your own prom, could mean that there is less variety than you'd like and smaller quantities of your size. 

I've never ordered a dress online before, but know what their refund policy is and make sure you'll receive it with plenty of time to get alterations if need be. 

2. Go in with an OPEN MIND

I would hope this is kind of common sense, but it really made a difference for how I was able to find a dress. Although it is tempting to go through our older friends' prom pictures and try to figure out which dress you liked best and what colour you want and all of the little details here and there, it's best not to have your dress thought of in a lot of detail before actual dress hunting in real life. 

Try on dresses of all different lengths, styles, and colours. You may think you want a green, short fluffy ballerina skirt dress with sequins on top, but after trying it on, you might realize that the colour is unflattering and the skirt falls on an awkward length. I thought I wanted a perfect strapless sweetheart neckline with sequin bust and flowing full length skirt, but after trying on several strapless dresses, I realized that sequined busts looked really silly on me. 

Especially with colours, it is so easy to just fall into a "comfort zone" and stick with safe colours like black and light pink or whatever is the norm for you. It's important to try new colours that you almost never wear to see what colours flatter your skin tone and what colours you like in theory but not in practice! 

3. Think BEYOND just prom night
My dress is so formal that I'm going to have a hard time finding an occasion to wear it to. My shoes however, are perfectly high black heels that I plan on wearing over and over again. My earrings are fancy but don't scream PROM like my headband does. My clutch is kind of satin-y, but a bright enough colour that I feel alright wearing it to special events. Does not scream PROM either. 

I mean, the two girls left of me in the group picture (both in royal blue) are wearing a short patterned dress and a high low dress... which can both be worn at significantly more casual events if they're dressed down a tad! 

4. BUY your prom ticket EARLY 

You will go to prom. Even if there's two months left to the day of prom, and you're contemplating whether or not you're going to buy a ticket... buy it. There are often early bird specials so people who buy their ticket earlier (aka not last minute) can get discounts. 


There's so much more I wish I could write about, but it's 1:30am and I'm exhausted. BYE EVERYONE! Have a lovely lovely weekend!


Wednesday 26 June 2013

Be Bright, Eighteen




Dress - Urban Behaviour 
Shoes - Nine West (Thirfted!)
Bracelet & Necklace - Gift

For Friday night, I wanted to look relatively attractive (hahaha...) without looking like I was going clubbing. I thought the bright colours would be perfect for the first night of summer and to watch Monsters University! All the monsters are so incredibly colourful! So scary! My brother bought me the necklace and I thought the shoes went well with my jewelry!

Eighteen is a milestone. As sweet sixteen is treasured as the be all and end all for teenage girl birthday parties, mine was mediocre at best. I didn't even want to drive, so my sweet sixteen was pretty typical. For my eighteenth however? Honestly, I probably looked like Mike Wazowski here from the moment I woke up to the minute it hit midnight.


See, unlike most teenagers who have outgrown the entire animated movie thing, I still happily go to the movie theatre every time a children's movie comes out. So on Friday, June 21st - my friends and I went to watch Monsters University! (and then to eat Korean BBQ... even though I'm vegetarian). It was ridiculously cute. I highly highly believe that the world would be a happier place if more people watched Pixar movies.

On that note, my friends are actually incredibly. They got me the full set of Pixar movies (all 13, only missing MU) and THIS INCREDIBLE CASTLE CHARM for my Pandora bracelet. As well as tea cup and tea and books and MU merchandise and wow my friends are fantastic.


 Here are some of my friends eating Korean BBQ. Needless to say, I didn't eat too much because I don't eat meat. I think they enjoyed themselves though, and that's what counts! Also, I burnt half of my vegetables on the grill... so even though I was the only Korean there, I probably was the worst at this! (Okay, but I was going around talking to people.... so not completely my fault!).  


Thanks for reading! Thanks for caring enough to go through this blog! Here's to a great eighteenth year for me, and a whatever age you are year for you!

I STILL EXIST


I'm so so so sorry for not posting for an entire week. No, I did not forget about this blog! I just have been ridiculously busy, and have been getting home quite late (thus, being too tired to write proper posts). 

Here are some quick instagram pictures of what I've been up to this past week! Mostly my birthday, and then prom! Everything in between has mostly just been work... 




I PROMISE to do really really nice posts about my birthday and prom, and all of the outfits I've been wearing... like today's which I absolutely adore (interview with an environmental organization woot!). 

Have a super lovely day and week! 

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Wishlist & the Week


Left: Brother's Grade 5 Graduation Picture vs. my Grade 12 Grad Picture
Right: Me experimenting with hair and makeup for prom

I was contemplating doing an outfit post, but really, the majority of the day I was in my work uniform. So I thought this could be a good opportunity to talk about my bracelet. 

I've never been a bracelet person, but I've worn this basically every day for the past year. 

My birthday is coming up and since my friends don't listen when I say don't buy me gifts, donate to charities... here's My Pandora Bracelet Wishlist.

Bye y'all! Have a super day/night/whenever you're reading this!

Sunday 16 June 2013

Moss Green (Camping's over & I'm clean!)




Dress - Korea, gift from Aunt
Shorts (underneath) - Gap (I think?)
Necklace - Van Heusen 

Mona is the girl in the last picture. She's pretty cool. She's off to Baltimore in September and I hope she doesn't get shot. If I were her, I'd be singing Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray the first morning I wake up there... but I'll have to figure out how to get a British accent in 8 months instead because everyone wants me to come back with one.

I got back from camping today! I promise I'll do a comprehensive post sometime soon about our camping adventure, but the pictures are not uploaded yet (since they're not on my camera). However, the rest of the "Call of the Wild" crew were taking ridiculously long baths/showers and relaxing at home today. As I sit by my computer typing this, I think I should have done so as well... My entire body is sore, but I've yet to turn down a last-minute hang out request (especially from Mona). So I put on nice, clean clothes and headed out the door for some quality bubble tea & dinner, yearbook signing, etc.

My transition from camp clothes (sweaters, sweatpants, rainboots, running shoes - absolute fashion crimes) to normal Diana attire, had to be done slowly. This dress is really flowy and loose, making it comfortable yet pretty. The slits on the side of the dress aren't too visible, but the shorts are only there mostly to not show off way too much skin. I also like how they peek out from the bottom. They're too large for me, which made them really comfy too. The shoes perhaps were badly thought out... but I did need to break them in, which I think I've done! I can now walk in them well and even run in them (carefully).

Yay for clean clothes, clean hair, and lovely lovely friends. I am now exhausted so bye. If there is no post tomorrow (Monday), it will be because I stayed at home all day and slept.

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Gone Until Sunday!



Sweater Vest - Thrifted! Goodwill
Long Sleeve Shirt - Smart Set
Pants - 
Shoes - GH Bass (Can you tell I like these yet?)

Well today, I started packing for my camping trip tomorrow... then headed off to school. See, being done IB isn't nearly as fulfilling as I expected it to be, because we don't know if we've done well and I guess for me personally, I've been feeling kind of lonely (since two of my closest friends were in Asia - India and China respectively). A lot of the time, if I don't have work, I just roll around at home. This is not okay, you know? 

So, when I went to school today, and people were like, "Why do you look so good?" which I think was total flattery. I wasn't even thaat dressed up today... perhaps the gold detailing on my sweater vest thing (I originally labelled this as a "short sleeve cardigan sweater until I realized that the word vest exists) and the accessories. And I'd reply to them, "Getting out of the house lately is kind of an occasion to dress up... oh how lame I am.   

I really do like this vest though (especially because I got it for $2 at the thrift store a few months ago!). It originally had shoulder pads but I took those ugly things out. However, I regretted wearing so much clothing today. It looked cold and gloomy outside, but the humidity was pretty awful. Ah, oh well, long pants must be worn sometimes. 

Today, I had a conversation with someone I quite like talking to, and realized that people read my blog just because they want to keep up with my life. So for all of you out there, who actually like me for me and not my clothes (haha), sorry for the likely boring commentary about my clothing and thank you for being loyal readers! I hope my posts can start becoming more lively and filled with adventure. 

Speaking of adventure, I'm going camping Wednesday June 12th to Sunday June 16th! We're off to Presqu'ile Provincial Park! Actually, a bunch of them (Ellen, Cindy, Jason, Kevin Z, etc) are already there and have been since Saturday. Kevin X and I are just the late stragglers, transitioning from first half to second half with a few of the crew heading back with my mom to Mississauga!

I've never been to this provincial park, and I haven't been actual camping in quite some time. PEYA (the Peel Environmental Youth Alliance) takes the executive and advisory committee camping every summer, but living in tents and campfires are about the only "camping" things we do. We cook meals in kitchens and stay indoors half the time and everything, haha. So, it's fun and lovely, but not real camping. 

But this time? It's hardcore camping. ROUGHING IT IN THE WOODS. Hahaha, apparently a raccoon stole their food yesterday night... so I'm bringing with us some replacement food. Pretty ridiculous.

I saw this picture on tumblr and thought it was adorable!


I think I'll be okay for five days? Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Sunday 9 June 2013

Brave Battleship (Grey)




Top - Disney
Cardigan - Bluenotes
Skirt - Forever 21
Shoes - Nine West

I'm not usually a huge fan of grey, but I absolutely adore Pixar and Disney movies! I don't think I've written much about this in previous posts, but yes, I'm absolutely enthralled with pretty animations and cute dialogues.

So I got this shirt from a Disney outlet (which has much much better prices for things than the regular Disney stores) and fell in love. The glitter detailing really just makes this tshirt incredibly lovely; it's easily one of my favourite tees.

I wore this skirt a couple of posts ago ( ) and honestly, one of the simplest ways to dress down an outfit is to not tuck in a top into the skirt. However, it doesn't do too much for my figure - because it's just simply not a form fitting tee. Still lovely though! 

This week will be super super exciting! I'm going camping Wednesday to Sunday! Unfortunately that means no blog posts for a couple of days, but expect a nice long one on Sunday or Monday. 

I'll try my best to have pretty amazing outfits Monday and Tuesday to make up for the lack of posts throughout the week. Toodles!  

Grad Breakfast in Pistachio Green



Cardigan - Fenn Wright Manson
Skirt - Ritz I (Chinese brand?)
Top (*actually a dress) - JADE (Korean brand)
Shoes - Nine West
Earrings - Laura 

Friday, June 7th at 7:30am was our grad breakfast. Crazy how time flies by, I remember that day last year (not that I attended it, but it was the day my friend Jad was told he was the valedictorian!)

I borrowed this lovely lovely green skirt from my friend Allison, who's in China right now. So I suppose she was at Grad Breakfast in spirit, because I was wearing her clothing, haha. But I really do love the pleating of it, the length, and of course the polka dots!

We're supposed to dress up for grad breakfast, but I wasn't really too sure what to wear. I didn't think this was actually too fancy, but it is still school, yknow? I thought the material of the skirt and the pearl beading, with my pretty long earrings made it perfectly appropriate for the occasion.

The girl in the second picture is Mathurey! I like how her shoes match her belt, and cream really looks quite stunning on her. She's been one of the best singers in our show choir (and she's beautiful), so shout out to her on my blog!

Anyway, y'all should follow me on bloglovin'! Follow my blog with Bloglovin I'll follow back? Have a good weekend everyone!

Thursday 6 June 2013

PEYA Annual General Meeting



Dress - H&M 
Rain Boots - Hunter
 Cardigan - ??? 

So today was the Peel Environmental Youth Alliance's Annual General Meeting! It was my last meeting as an executive member (crazy how fast two years have flown by!!!), and time to elect the new executive members. I'm super proud of the amount of Glenforest representation on the new executive, but it's also a little concerning that this exec is not very representative of all of Peel region. 

Anyway, I decided that I wanted to dress up to this event! It was a little more formal than our usual meetings and events. I chose to wear my semi-formal dress this year, and dress it down! Instead of just wearing the dress as is, with heels, as I did for semi-formal. I layered a cardigan and belt over it and coloured tights underneath to make it more whimsical! I played it up with sparkly earrings though! I wish I had a better picture.

Here's a picture from semi-formal with my lovely friend Cindy. 


Here's a picture of my hedgehog. Isn't he cute? 


Bye y'all! Waking up super early tomorrow for grad breakfast. Going back to school........

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Vitative Vanilla



Blazer - Mossimo 
Pants - lululemon 
Shirt - ??

vitative: concerned with the preservation of life

Tuesday, June 4th was my last City of Mississauga's Environmental Advisory Committee meeting! It's been a good year sitting on such an important city council committee, working with city councillors and amazing citizen members.

This isn't a super super formal committee to be on, but I still like to dress up a tad more formal than my usual day to day wear. Here I have a blue checked dress shirt, with a vanilla coloured blazer, and black yoga pants (okay these weren't super formal... but I didn't feel like wearing actual dress pants or a skirt). Please ignore the shoes, I wore them because I have a ridiculous scab blister thing on the back of my left heel and these were the only shoes I could find (that weren't flip flops) without a back part.

I like the combination of the blue and vanilla, but quite feel the black pants are a tad overwhelming. Not one of my favourite outfits, but I suppose we all have our off-days!

Work is fun! But again, no actual clothes worn on Wednesday (today, or well yesterday because I'm writing past midnight). Bye y'all! Have a great rest of the week.

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Black Prom Shoes (& SUPER ANNOUNCEMENT)



TShirt - Abercrombie & Fitch
Shorts - American Eagle
Cardigan - ??
Shoes - ?? (I'll check though!)
Headband - Aldo

Realistically,  the shorts kind of make this outfit... but I actually took them off right after taking this picture and changed into longer jeans. Also, these are my prom shoes! (which won't be seen at all, because my dress is full length...) I wanted to show them off anyway; they're pretty comfy and super wearable to other fancy events.

Also, update! I'm heading to this beautiful castle next year for university. CRAZY.


Herstmonceux Castle, also known as the Bader International Study Centre of Queen's University. It is located in East Sussex, England! I promise to keep up my style blog next year, and take beautiful pictures around this castle. I can't even wait.

So there. That's my announcement! I realized that as much as I adored Northwestern, it wasn't right for me. Go Wildcats anyway. <3

Lastly, I'm working two jobs... so there are going to be days where I'm only going to be in my work uniforms. They're not pretty... Fewer outfit posts, I'm afraid. Starting September though, it'll be better - I'll have to work out how to make beautiful outfits from a lot less clothes than I'm used to.

To everyone who has school still, hang in there! Everyone else, hope you're having a great summer!

Sunday 2 June 2013

Pale Pink Pabouche



Skirt - Old Navy 
Cardigan - Old Navy
Belt - Joe Fresh
Shoes - ????? (from Grade 8 Graduation hahah)
T-Shirt - Korea? No tag?? 
pabouche: a slipper, soft shoe

Yesterday was a lazy lazy Saturday, which resulted in me basically changing from pajamas into home lounging comfort clothes (they're really gross). So I tried to dress up a little today, especially because it's nice to look your best for church!

My feet haven't grown at all since Grade 8... which is a tad ridiculous. Also ridiculous is how cute these sandals are, and how I've actually never worn them since then. They're not actually
"pabouches" because they're not soft... but they do slip on? Haha.

In terms of wearing a cardigan, tshirt and skirt combo, you can wear it belt on top or belt underneath the cardigan! It changes the look entirely, don't you think?

The belt on top instantly polishes up the look, making everything look well put together and tidy. The belt under the cardigan, however, has a breezy more casual feel which can be great for some occasions!

Show me how you wear your tshirt skirt cardigan combos! Do you prefer belt on top or under? Anyway, hopefully the weather will get warm enough to not need a cardigan soon!