Sharpaova: Auckland Outfit

Oops, this should teach me to check the order of play before posting next time, Sharapova's played already (and won 6-2 6-3). From the sound of the forums, looks like it was a so-so match for her, the serve seems to be an issue still and it took her a while to close out the match. But that could just be 1st match nerves, should be better the next one.

So instead of watching her match, this is her Nike Australian Summer series outfit, a pink and black ensemble, I like it, fits her well and it's simple, it adds some much needed athleticism back into Maria's on-court outfits, which at times can get too fashion-y. I'm sure she has something more elaborate planned for the Australian Open itself.

Watch the ASB classic on its website

The Auckland tournament, ASB classics is providing live streaming of its matches, check it out here:

http://www.asbclassic.co.nz/multimedia/live-scoring.html

They even play "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" during changeovers, quite refreshing from the "Teenage Dreams" and "Empire State of Minds" you hear at other tournaments.

Sharapova's making her 2011 debut later tonight

132 5. Issey Miyake

It's a new year and part of my resolutions is to resume blogging again. It is a rather convenient time to do so since the tennis year has started again and the Fall 2011 fashion weeks are coming up soon in February. So not only are there plenty of new tennis gears to be anticipated on the courts, there are a whole slew of new fashion waiting to be walked down the runways of NY, Paris, London, and Milan. As exciting as that is, I struggle to find a topic suitable for a relaunch, a topic that is important but yet fresh enough to kick-start the year of 2011.

So obviously I found a great topic (since you're reading it right now), and it's sustainable fashion. Sustainability is no doubt the future of our world; faced with limited resource and a growing amount of waste, each industry is fighting to march into the frontier of sustainability and fashion is no different. Though the topic itself seems red hot, the actual discussions don't steer too far from innovative material and stays at the surface of technology. Many of them lacks the integration of technology with arts and design, and not to mention the whole culture at large. So it wasn't until now when I came across 132 5. Issey Miyake when I finally see an innovative, inspiring, and artistic rendition of how to do sustainable fashion.

Famed Japanese avant-garde designer Issey Miyake's Reality Lab has created a collection in which 3D structured garments can be folded into two-dimensional shapes with one single piece of fabric called PET, a material generated with chemical recycling by pulverizing, melting, and "spinning" threads out of polyethylene terephthalate. The whole process is created by a computer software which interpret the design and then strategically designates creases and folds on the fabric to enable it to be flattened and reopened into structured shirts, pants, jackets, and single piece dresses.

The technology itself can decipher how to turn a 3D object into a 2D shape by placing folds, which eliminates the need of needles, stitches, and an excess of processing the fabric.

With a single lift, the garment can be "sprung" to life!

The question is, can the 3D dress be easily folded back into its 2D form? Can you sit on it?? Well, practicality often comes second when one is trying to chart the future, right?

The numbers themselves has significance also. 1 represents the single piece of fabric needed for each garment. 3 signifies the 3D shape and 2 represents the ability of the garment to be folded into a two-dimensional shape. The space represents the duration of time between creating the garment and the consumer actually wearing it. And 5 signifies a hope that there will be further incarnations of this initiative in the future.

The beauty of this collection lies in its ability to present art and culture through the modern lenses of technology. So often people talk about the emerging trend of sustainable fashion, but for the movement to really take hold and flourish in the high-fashion realm, merely using recycled material is not enough, it will be demanded from designers to incorporate sustainability in a more integrated manner.

Watch a video of the collection here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u2DL3CUJsw&playnext=1&list=PL55B82B04AE7279B5&index=9

Fashion: Sche Report's NYC SS 2011 Top 5

I've been so busy that writing a NYC follow-up is literally impossible. Good thing I found The Sche Report, an online trends and style forecast blog. I find my style and the blog's style to match seamlessly and in fact, their NYC coverage has been very beneficial.

Obviously I would still go to style.com or WWD if I want to see pictures from the shows, but Sche Report talks about the interesting things and let me know who to focus on.

Check out their Top 5 NYC Spring/Summer collections, I absolutely agree with each one. My favorite is Ohne Titel! And if I can expand the list I would add Prabal Gurung, Mandy Coon, J Mendel, Complex Geometry, Donna Karen, and Calvin Klein Collection...I'm quite a greedy one! There are also many new designers in NY who's taking risk and not being named, would love to see those as well.

Click here for The Sche Report.

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)

When Tennis meets Fashion: Rafael Nadal wears $525K Tourbillon Watch on and off court

Rafael Nadal, the new world #1 tennis player, has signed onto a new sponsorship deal with Richard Mille to wear a specially designed lightweight tourbillon watch on court and off court, the TOURBILLON WATCH RM 027 RAFAEL NADAL. The watch is worth $525,000 and is limited to only 50 for sale worldwide.

Not many tennis players wear wristwatch during matches because first it's extra weight on the wrist and secondly, sometimes even the slightest difference in what they're used to can make a difference in whether a down the line backhand lands inside or outside the line. But there are a few who does it, and Nadal is definitely doing it in style.

The watch is a black on black, square face, matte finishing, lightweight Tourbillon watch. The inner mechanism of the world is visible through a plastic cover where the intricate and precise workmanship is in plain sight. GQ just wrote an article on how cool black on black watches are and I personally own two such styles, they're the coolest thing and instantly add style to any ensemble. This particular one that is designed just for Nadal is definitely wicked, but it is also something I, or other mere mortals will never be able to afford, at least not for a watch...

Nadal debuted this watch at the French Open and will be wearing it throughout the Olympus US Open series up till the US Open in NYC during September. You can catch him on TV on ESPN every weekend or the Tennis Channel.

Fashion: A long shopping day

Today I went around town to collect clothes for the upcoming photo shoot that I'll be styling. A few days back I brought my sister along, my pseudo-assistant, and she came back saying it was much more difficult than she had imagined, it involved much more thinking than she had anticipated, at least not for shopping.

Anyway, for today, I went to downtown to two vintage/trend shops, Cinema and Virgo, and they lend clothes for a 20% restocking fee. Since I'm new to this, I'm sure there are better deals to be found elsewhere, but since I don't know much being a newbie and all, this is pretty good. I have to say, being able to just point at items and just say "I want this" "That one's nice, I'll take it" is pretty nice =).

My last stop of the day was Buffalo Exchange at Sherman Oaks. It's one of my favorite store in the valley. This particular one boast a wide selection of style (though they don't swing far from the general B.E. aesthetics), and maybe I can even style the whole shoot there =) The store staffs were nice enough and patient enough to help me throughout the process and they even waived the restocking fee!! Thank you God! And check out what I saw among the racks!

I love JC!!

King James Version

I think I have all I need for the shoot, obviously a bit more options would be nice too. So, fitting tomorrow night, then shooting Wednesday night, ahh, so nervous yet excited at the same time. I know if I do my best and leave the rest in God's hands then I will be better than alright.

Here are some pictures of the things I stumbled across today.

Kenneth Cole, vibrant color and a feel of luxury (for $18 haha)

Marc by Marc Jacobs, a great contrast between classic shape and gold studs

Nine West, love the red and gray, a great pair of fall transition shoes

Big summer wedge trend

Steve Madden, a sensual and sexy purple hue

Awesome Onitsuka Mid-tops (not my size)

If you use your own bag at Buffalo Exchange, you get a 5 cent token to donate to 1 of 3 charities available in the store!

When Tennis meets Fashion: Stella McCartney for Addidas US Open Dress, STUNNER!

I'm ready to say this: the best, most innovative, most fashionable tennis dress I've seen. It's simple, sexy, glamorous, sporty, exciting, and it's everything Nike wants but haven't been able to produce and now Addidas is BRINGING IT! I love both color and seriously can't say which one's better. Too bad Maria Sharapova's tied down with a contract with Nike, she'd look so much better than Caroline Wozniaki wearing this...sadness.

Update: Caroline modeled it wearing a neon yellow bra/tank top underneath, where as before it looked elegant and chic, now there's an instant youthfulness and so much more urban and perfect for a fashionable youngster in NYC.

When Tennis meets Fashion: Serena and Venus @Seren's pre-ESPY house party

Check out Serena and Venus at Serena's own Bel-air pre-ESPY house party in celebration of the ceremony and her recent win at Wimbledon.

I know Serena is sporting a Dolce & Gabbana dress, not sure what Venus' wearing, but it looks great! Also, soft and sultry make-up really suits Serena.

Tennis: The Wimbledon-US Open Series layover

Though many die hard tennis fans try to make the gap between Wimbledon and the start of the US Open Series sounds exciting, it really isn't (not to me at least). And how can it be? You simply cannot have the energy after witnessing the drama unfolding at Wimbledon and anticipating the battles that will take place in the summer leading up to the US Open. And not helping the matter at all, for the two weeks in between, there's oddly some clay court tournaments, Davis Cup quarterfinals, and then a grass court tournament, the Hall of Fame induction, in Newport. Those tournaments are not only odd, they also feature match-ups and quality of play that are as unassuming as the outfits of some of these 50-100 ranked players. Let's face it, even though intriguing players are still around, generally it's not that exciting outside the top 20, maybe top 30 for men's. Plus, I simply need some time to recuperate.

So recuperate I go, and what a perfect time to switch my attention to finding the perfect stripe tee for the summer,OH, or a stripe tee for tennis, especially after spotting this mini street style trend on the internet.

And random question, when people say the US Open, do you think of tennis or golf?

Fashion: J. Crew Jewelry

I had the best time having dinner with my cousins in San Francisco this weekend! It was good food, good city, and the company made it extra special; I always have the best time spending time with them. My cousin Ellen sat across from me and I couldn't help but notice the dazzling yellow/gold ring on her finger, which matches perfectly with her "grape juice" (Ellen I hope you're reading this). It has a big brown/taupe-ish gem in the middle and was surrounded by smaller clustered yellow/gold crystals. It was very sweet yet glamorous and it was something that will always catch whoever's attention. It was from J. Crew.

This reminds me exactly how wonderful is J. Crew's jewelry collection. On top of great American preppy style, J. Crew really provides some outstanding jewelry options to complement their hugely popular clothing lines (largely thanks to a big push by a certain Mrs. O). But the jewelry of J. Crew are often statement pieces that are affordable for what they are and always remain stylish and unique enough to add that extra special touch to your outfit.

Unfortunately I couldn't get a good enough picture of the ring Ellen was wearing. But click here to check out the latest collection and below are a couple pictures of the pieces.