Tennis: Wozniacki redeeming herself??

What is a pusher? A pusher can also be called a human backboard, one who doesn't have much power and uses great timing to "stay in the rally" and often only win because the opponent self-destruct. Though it takes great skills and talents in order to become a great "pusher", the fact that their victories depends on other people's "mercy" render little respect for this particular brand of tennis player, and Caroline Wozniacki is...or apparently was such a kind of player.

Wozniacki made headlines at this year's US Open (which is having the women's final today, sans Wozniacki) by beating Maria Sharapova in the fourth round decisively 6-3 6-4. It was a display of power, skills, composure, and tennis wit as she completely outplayed Sharapova from most parts of the court. It was a performance that is worthy of permanently severing any ties she has with the word "pusher".

Most of the tennis world began to jump on the bandwagon soon after and all proclaimed Wozniacki a future champion, the new "it" girl...etc. The best part is, Stella McCartney for Addias, which made my favorite tennis dress this year for Wozniacki at the US Open, is FINALLY getting the attention they deserve by pairing with a player who has the ability to garner that amount of enthusiasm.

Too bad Caroline lost yesterday to Vera Zvonareva in the semi-final. But given her tender age of 20, there are many more years ahead for her to fulfill one of the many accolades bestowed on her this past week.

Fashion: Twitter gone crazy on FNO!

One of the great thing about Twitter is that you can receive instant status updates from around the world straight to your cell phone. It is a feature that I have enjoyed over the past year since I've joined...until tonight.

I've underestimated the amount of excitement generated by Fashion Night Out and that excitement was relayed to me through 58 text messages from twitter, 58 in the span of 4 hours!!

It is one of the most ridiculous twitter experience I've had so far. The only good thing is perhaps all the buzzing of my phone makes it seem like I am super popular, when in fact I was just one of a million who's being sent cyber space junk.

Other thank that, FNO was amazing in New York, as well as LA with events at Beverly Center, Fred Segal, Kill City, Creature of Comfort, Phillip Lim, Rodeo Drive...etc.

Fashion: Siriano's dramatic gowns

Two posts in one day (or one night) is rare for me now, not to mention 2 posts about the same designer of the same collection in one night. But this is just too good, haha.

In the same show, Christian Siriano showcased his signature feminine style with drama and color. While the designer is still maintaining much of his signature silhouettes, he is also exploring more wearable options such as button downs, a-line skirts, shorts...etc. But enough about the practical, the designer's first love remains dramatic gowns that are destined to be on a red-carpet soon (I even see a legitimate Oscar or Caines film festival gown!!)

Check out the last 4 numbers he chose to close the show today:

He started the finale lightly, with a relatively easygoing flowy gown, great shape, great color, and love the print, it definitely seems more of a resort gown, but spring...resort....same thing

Then he moved onto his signature silhouette, the one that Rihanna endorsed frequently this past season and I won't be surprised to see her wear this. Either that or some starlet on the red carpet of the Globes..OR...some not so chic Hip Hop singer trying to look glam. Not a big fan of this type of gown, b/c it can easily look like two mushroom clouds on the bottom, one would need really good upper body proportion in order to pull this off.

This one is my absolute favorite out of the whole collection. Simply stunning, pretty, and gorgeous. It's not just princess-y, instead it has intricacy and craftsmanship, and showmanship all together. The only thing is I think Siriano often suffer from taste in fabric choice, this gown would look so much more graceful and ethereal if the material for the bodice is a graceful lace or a chic crepe. It is also going to be a difficult gown to pull off, but I do hope to see it at some major film festival. It'll probably not make it to the Oscars since it's too far away, and that is a indeed a pity.

WOW.... I was going to leave it at WOW, but I really need to point out how beautiful is the color, and if a stylist decides to chop off all the top half of the "red foam/madness/whatever you want to call it", then this would make a stunning red-carpet moment.

Fashion Week: Shoppers Alert! Christian Siriano for Payless debut

Shoppers, or more specifically bargain shoppers with a particular passion for amazing sky-high heels, pay attention.

Remember that guy, Christian Siriano, from Project Runway? The outspoken and uber-talented past winner, who's now a reputable designer himself, has partnered up with Payless to create a ranch of affordable heels that does not lack any of Siriano's..um...character. The collection finally made it's first stomp today on the designer's new Spring 2011 runway in NYC!


The collection features super high platform heels that are mostly cage or strappy styles in bright colors and prints. In full Siriano fashion, these heels lack neither drama nor flair; and they are absolutely an instant attention grabber. My favorite is the beige pair on the left. It is so interesting and you can take it from day to night effortlessly while not losing any of the fierceness frequently associate with Christian Siriano.

The best part? Given that these shoes will be sold at Payless, they would probably cost less than $50 each! So brace yourselves ladies, the shoes should land in a Payless store near you starting mid October to early November, don't forget to check it out and perhaps get yourself a pair of what I call "DIVA heels"!

Fashion: Yet another stunning Chinese inspired gown @ Venice Film Festival

I am once again mesmerized and tremendously inspired by yet another Chinese inspired gown!

This time around it's actress LI Bingbing, who wore a blush pink strapless fitted gown with red Chinese characters as embellishing detail. I love a great blush pink/red gown (when done right), so romantic and glamorous at the same time.

Li Bingbing looked simply stunning, mostly due to her confidence of wearing her culture with a modern flare. The gown is fitted but has a chiffon overlay, which makes it soft and works well when contrasted with the angular Chinese characters in bold red used as embellishments.


The character itself means blessings, and boy does she has a ton of those on her dress, scattered strategically throughout her hemline and the train. Chinese characters has great angular structure and I think it works great as garment embellishments! It adds drama and intensity without being cheesy (again, when it's done right...).


I might have liked this look even more without the giant character on the right side of the bodice. But it doesn't hurt, I just think it will be even more clean. But it's a stunning gown regardless.


Li Bingbing is also well accessorized. She was sporting Chinese vase and flower inspired diamond earrings and cuffs. The earrings are shaped like a traditional Chinese vase and it's simply stunning, elegant, yet interesting. Overall the glam factor is permissible at a glitzy film festival like Venice, otherwise I would've preferred no cuffs.


Here's a picture of Li with her co-star Corina Lau whose wearing a stunning Versace Fall 2010 electric blue gowns with thigh high splits and multiple cut-outs. Corina probably thought she'd get all the attention for her daring gown, but oh well...the both looked beautiful.

When Tennis meets Fashion: Let the fun begin: Azarenka

It's the US Open!! Finally, and of course, to match the electrifying energy of NYC, the tennis stars on both the men's and women's tour usually put on outfits that matches the city's vibe. I wasn't going to write about this until later when more pictures come, but I've noticed something very interesting...

While watching the US Open day 1 highlight, I stumbled upon Azarenka's match and was immediately captivated by her dress.
It was simple, yet very well fitted (yes, tennis clothes can be ill-fitted also), and the dress was so simple and elegant. As you can see in the product pic, It's fitted on top with a flair skirt (very feminine), the contour piping on the bodice is perfect for a slimming silhouette and I believe this is the female version of Roger Federer's Navy/White collar stripe polo. Nonetheless, I was surprised to see it on her because it looked like something much better suited for Serena (not to say it didn't look stunning on Victoria).

Long and behold, after some digging around, look what I've found!

It was meant to be Serena's US Open night dress!! And usually she gets exclusives, is this a case of dress stealing?? Don't worry, this only happened because since Serena has announced long before the tournament even started that she would be withdrawing, I guess she was gracious enough (or forced to) let someone else wear it.

I must say, I really like it on Azarenka, I thought it was very flattering and for once she's not wearing something that exposes her longer torso (which screws up her proportion). The higher waist on this dress really elongates her legs and she is trying to add an element of youth by donning the neon headband and shoes (not so sure about this move, bet you Serena would not have made the same choice). Sorry that I can't find a better picture....

Serena and Maria better watch out, with Vika's (that's how Azarenka likes to be called) stars rising and looking this good, someone might be sneaking to share the Nike spotlight very soon...

But yes, all in all, great start, now I need to start getting ready for Venus' and Sharapova's outfit (s).

Fashion: Barney's Warehouse Sale

It was Saturday, me and my roommate went to downtown for lunch, and coincidentally his mom called to let him know that she along with the rest of their family is going to a gigantic food and hospitality expo at the LA convention center. So besides tagging along for free food (aha!), a little light bulb also switched on inside my head (that's EXACTLY where the Barney's warehouse sale is!). Though, I was sold on the fact that there's no way I can afford anything inside even with the markdowns.

So we got there to the food expo, it was alright, some great food, but not as big as I have imagined. We walked around for maybe an hour or an hour and a half, pretty much the whole time I was thinking about the Barney's sale next door (I know right, two gigantic wings and more than 10 halls, and the sale was RIGHT NEXT DOOR).

So me and my roommate along with his brother (who's apparently an avid denim lover) went to the sale to "check it out". Then long and behold there it was, the denim section, where each pair of jeans are discounted from hundreds of dollars to around 70 to 90, and then there's the sign that reads "Take and ADDITIONAL 70% OFF". I was like what? All of a sudden the possibility of taking advantage of this occasion just became a reality, each pair of jeans cost about $25 to $30!

After quickly grabbing about 10 pairs to try on, I ended up settling on a pair of J Brand slouchy/tapered jeans that I have read about a couple months ago. They're the perfect relaxed wash jeans but at the same time looks sleek because of the tapered legs. It was originally about $280 after tax and I got them for $29 after tax at the check out!

Barney's warehouse sale: SCORE! Some pictures to come later, it's too late for that.

When Tennis meets Fashion: Roger "Neapolitan" Federer

Roger Federer made his return to the ATP world tour at the Toronto Masters after his Wimbledon quarterfinal defeat....in Neapolitan ice-cream?

After strolling through my usual tennis blogs, I picked up a hot-topic, and that is Nike's questionable new ensemble for Federer's summer hard court series. Seems like the designers over at Nike, was having a bit of a sweet-tooth, hence why we see Roger sporting a pink polo, chocolate shorts, and a pair of white sneakers...mm...now I want some Neapolitan ice-cream (it's my favorite!!)

And for those of you who can care less what Roger wears on or off-court, he's found a little something extra in himself to beat Berdych in a tight three-setter, winning the match 6-3 5-7 7-6 (5). By doing so he also avoids a 3rd straight defeat to the Czech Player and advancing to the semi-final.

And for those of you who do care what Roger wears, what do you think of his Nike summer hard-court ensemble? I don't think pink's a great color on Roger, or any tennis players b/c they're just too tan (anyone remember Radek Stepanek???), and I don't like the pink against the blue hard-courts.

Fashion: Biker Chic

Here's a photo from my last bike-themed photo shoot. It's the first image that was published with my name attached to it (if you squint and look at the bottom left-hand corner, haha). The look is pretty edgy and cool. It's a pair of black/white patterned leggings paired with matching boots and a denim vest with chain necklaces draped diagonally across the body.

Vest: Triple Five Soul
Legging: Cinema (Downtown LA)
Shoes: Virgo (Downtown LA)
Bracelet & Rings: Hellkats LA
Necklaces: Stylist's Own

UPDATE: I couldn't do this without the help of my AWESOME assistant Stephenie!!! Thank you so much.

Fashion: Something similar between me and Richard Chai: Socks

Oh wow, I know I made a mental note to space out my postings, but it's been way too long since my last post. Though, I have a good reason for being MIA and that is because I've started a new internship at this amazing showroom called Joey and I've been starting to have a few styling gigs. (more on that later)
So, me and Richard Chai, similarities, both in fashion, both Asian-American, oh and I found one more! According to my trusted source, GQ, we share the love for the same pair of socks also! GQ have this column called "10 essentials" where they interview famous fashion folks and ask them about their 10 essential items, simple enough, and this time around it is Richard Chai's turn. Richard Chai is one of the rising Asian-American designers from NYC, he owns his own womenswear collection as well as a hugely popular menswear collection called Richard Chai Love, mainly grunge streetwear inspired ensembles.


In Richard's 10 essentials he features the MUJI reused yarn ankle socks, which happens to be my favorite also! The yarn is space dyed (meaning every certain inches is a different color), so when you knit with this yarn, the socks or whatever it is will have a strip-y effect with alternating colors. These socks are the ultimate cool wardrobe stables because they don't look outrageous but they can instantly upgrade an otherwise routine office attire. Chai puts it nicely by describing it as "looking like a Missioni sweater" (oh Missoni...). Looks like Richard Chai has good styles too (not all designers have good style).

Oh and Richard Chai says he owns about 50 pairs of these, and I only have about 5....so far =) (These socks are only sold in NYC in the US)