Outfits: Dark and Stormy Night

SHIP'S LOG: On a dark and dreary afternoon, B explores a nearby neighborhood and finds a grand but decrepit mansion. The abandoned estate seems like the perfect setting for tales of murder, hauntings and...rainy day outfit photos!

On a gloomy afternoon, what is a blogger to do when she planned for a fun and sunny outdoor shoot with her dog? Improvise, I guess. What better time to finally reveal the 'opera coat' that I thrifted in Tagaytay?

This is definitely one of the most challenging shoots I've done so far. It may not be obvious but it was really raining and my brother/ photographer had to stand under an umbrella to take these. I was getting a little soaked and my french braid came comepletely undone so I had to be extra selective with these photos, editing out the ones where I looked like a drowned rat.

To do the coat justice, I threw on my most sophisticated go-to outfit: a striped top and high-waisted black skirt paired with my trusty oxfords. I also grabbed my boater hat, tied a jaunty blue ribbon around it to complete the over-all Parisian feel.

How awesome is this mansion? I always stare at it in wonder as I drive by on the way to school. I wonder who lived there, why did they leave and why is it still untouched after all these years? I would just love to take a closer look but the gates are firmly padlocked. I could easily scare myself looking at the windows and waiting for a ghostly figure with a candle to walk by.

The mansion has all the perfectly creepy palatial touches. There are angels faces etched on the fountain and aged with time, large roman-esque columns and jutting balconies! Even the gate is quite gothic and ornate. I'm sure someone else can come up with a less terrible description. Architecture major, I am not.

This coat is a seriously amazing find, if I do say so myself. I had it hemmed a bit since it was too long but the draped shape remains. It is almost on the verge of looking like a toga but the bow details keep it in check. In our first adventure together, I happily discovered that is is light and effectively water repellant. Perfect for Manila! If it had an oversized hood then that would have just been too perfect.

This is me climbing the fence of the house to get a closer look. A big mistake since when I stepped down my hands were black and smudgy from clinging to the iron.

B wears coat, oxfords, striped top all thrifted, high-waisted black skirt from Promod (not pictured) and straw boater from Greenhills Market.

They're Playing Our Song: Just Like Romeo and Juliet

SHIP'S LOG: While B is not a big fan of boy bands, she can't help but share her undying devotion to doo-wop groups of the late 50's and early 60's. To start off, she puts the spotlight on: The Reflections!

While some people may find the vocal renditions of doo-wop groups corny, I can't help but love them for their wholesome-ness. Their songs evoke images of milkshakes, poodle skirts and snazzy mint green Cadillacs. I usually have my 50's playlist on in the car so by the time I get to school I have a little spring in my step!

I think it is also safe to say that boy-bands were assembled with more than just pretty faces to their names-though it was certainly a factor (hello, teen idols!). Groups were made up of a good mix of tenors, baritones and basses- ideal for harmonizing. They may not be the toughest or coolest looking guys but they sure knew how to serenade the ladies.

The Reflections were a one-hit wonder group from Michigan. I wish I could share interesting facts about them (others have horror stories about drug abuse, womanizing or near death experiences) but I can't seem to find a thing on these guys. Disappointing because it's always fascinating to read about the crazy behind-the-scenes lives of these squeaky-clean-imaged teen idols.

In any case their most popular song (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet is definitely one of my favorites:

Findin' a job tomorrow mornin'
Got a little somethin' I wanna do
Gonna buy (gonna buy) somethin' I could ride in
A-Take my girl (take my girl) datin' at the drive-in
Our love's gonna be written down in history
A-Just like Romeo and Juliet

Another thing is that these groups capture the melodramatics of teenage love so perfectly! And their lyrics definitely still ring true today. Except for maybe the parts about drive-ins and diners...

Outfits: Bug Bites and Bows

SHIP'S LOG: A and B visit Ateneo de Manila University and find a shady wood complete with malaria-ridden (probably) mosquitos and wildflowers. They distract themselves from their bug bitten legs by cooling off with some snow-cones.



Before you guys go on and think A and B share a single brain, this kismet in clothing was very much on purpose. A showed up at B's house at 8 in the morning (yawn) in an adorable, monochromatic, mixed-prints outfit and B followed suit.



B says:

I know it is too early in the blog to be posting a dress I've shown before but it just complimented A's top so perfectly. I took much inspiration from the well circulated twentyseven names collection. If you haven't yet you must must check it out! It is the most inspiring collection I've seen in awhile. It made me realize that my sock collection is sorely lacking. I believe the pair I am wearing are the socks they hand out for free on airplanes.

I am definitely starting to envy A's new found flair for mixing prints. If you haven't noticed so many of my outfits are matchy-matchy. Even this belt shares the exact same colors with with my oxfords and socks! I guess one day I should be more adventurous (I super admire Kani's fearless use of color) but I'm quite comfortable with my style at the moment. One day!

We drove A's uncle's car to Ateneo de Manila University where most of our friends went to school (Shout out, Ateneans! Especially you, Harvey King, only male A Plus B in the Sea reader, saan yung comment mo?!) and, without a doubt, the cleanest college campus in the Philippines. A loves visiting its Catholic chapel which is a pyramid of glass and white concrete.




While A was practicing macro shots on flowers and a statue of Jesus on Gethsemane, B found a path into a forest. Our shoes sunk into the leaves covering the ground while we walked in dappled sunlight. It was a wee bit cannibals-in-the-jungle movies and Fangorn Forest for A. Then there were the bugs.



B says:

The bugs were not apparant at first. We trekked into the dark and damp forest and took some photos under this magical beam of light (thus the 'beam me up' look on my face). All was well until we stepped out again and started scratching! I was literally just clawing at my legs, almost sure that I stepped on a patch of poison ivy! I scared A too by pointing out the swarms of mosquitoes by her ankles. It was as if it was the first time for those blood suckers to see flesh!

A says:

I don't particularly like this picture. It's feels a bit coy, but B thinks it fits the mood of the forest shoot. She was directing me to be "a creepy dead child" and I'm no actor so the result is . . . awkward.

B says:

I know this does not sound pretty but my legs were so covered in bites that A wanted to cart me off to the clinic. I sat down and counted 21 bug bites on both legs. And that was from stepping in that forest for 3 minutes! 3 minutes! If my legs look odd in these photos it's because I had to re-touch all the bites. I looked like I came down with a bad case of the pox!

B says:

The Dooney and Bourke bag was my mom's when she was an office girl. It was apparantly one of the first she bought with her own salary. Good taste, ma! I haven't really been taking good care of it because it was my go-to schoolbag. It's now raggedy along the edges. A shame since it is probably the only D & B bag I will ever own . . .

The morning was humid so we soon found ourselves craving tall glasses of water and maybe a Cherry Coke. Then we found two smiling ladies selling snow cones next to the boys' dormitory. Never have we had so much root beer and apple syrup poured over shaved ice. Sweets for the sweet?



To end, we give you some 90s love—

Oh, by the way check our fun little Robo.to on the sidebar. The debut of B's precious kitty: Leo! We want to work a shoot around him sometime but aren't sure exactly how to go about that. Ideas?

A wears beribboned artist's smock, thrifted black polka dot skirt, mother's black LV bag, S.O.A. style headband, and So Fab ballet flats. B wears Dorothy Perkins black bow dress, cream socks, Dooney & Burke bag, thrifted belt, and thrifted brown brogues.

Outfits: Roses are Red

SHIP'S LOG: A had a uppity-downy day at school, so she went out into the dying sun in red red red. Skirt sewn by the seamstress at UP Shopping Centre totally worth PHP 200.



I was thinking of titling this post Lawtown Blues until I realised that I was wearing a stoplight red ensemble. A nursery rhyme is a way happier choice.

Roses are red, violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet and so are you.

Though in one of my favourite storybooks The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye—all of you should find a copy at your local; the delicate pen and ink illustrations are to die for—there is a lovely version.

Lavender's blue, rosemary's green,
When I am king, you shall be queen.

Children's books, they make me so happy.




I just got back from UP Shopping Centre where a lady with an extremely old Singer sewing machine turned my yard of rose-and-leaf fabric into a brilliant sack skirt. Though I've seen tons of crafty bloggers sew up a storm of homemade but always fashionable dresses and skirts, I have yet to touch a needle without pricking myself or turning the hems into a horrible, scrunchy mess. Still, PHP 200.00 or USD 4.00 for tailored clothes is not bad at all.



I particularly love the vibrant shade of red. My mother thinks it's too loud, but I don't care. Sometimes I feel the roses look so real that one can almost fall through them into a Wonderland, particularly Disney's technicolour film on acid. Hilariously whimsical for a prosaic law student, but there it is.



Short and (hopefully) sweet because I've got books to hit and I'm a wee bit sleepy from last night's World Cup match between England v Slovenia. Unfortunately Twattenham Spxrs man Jermain Defoe score a goal to take England to the knock-out rounds. Sorry, English readers, I love you and your literature but there's nothing I dislike more than John Terry's cheating mug flashed across my television screen.

A wears white Esprit blouse, faded turquoise Forever 21 shades, mother's belt and bag, and red Ylla ballet flats.

Outfits: Leaves of Grass

SHIP'S LOG: B takes outfit shots in an abandoned lot nearby and hopes that these pictures fool people into thinking she lives in a lush, green countryside instead of the smoggy, crowded city.




When trolling for new blogs to follow, I usually find myself drawn to bloggers who take photos outdoors in pretty dresses on pretty landscapes. There is something about the elements of nature that make a picture so much more dynamic. There is wind blowing, grass swaying and sun shining. There is so much to interact with!



Before Lookbook and Chictopia were around, I used to be a part of this little style network My Style Diary. The pictures I took would be wall and mirror shots-with the camera fully visible and slightly obscuring my face. I dressed like such a little punk back then! Sometimes it amazes me how style can evolve.



If you are lame with the poses, like me, it is just so much easier to walk around a woodsy area and just click away randomly. I love 'action shots' even though sometimes I am just pretending to peer at the sky or examine a flower. Ha!





Anyway my boyfriend and I ran a marathon this weekend and it was pretty crazy. As I feared (or hoped because I wasn't really ready to run 10k) it started raining just around race time! We had no umbrella and ended up splashing through the streets to the race venue to see if it was still on. There were a lot of jerks in cars who were honking at us too. Couldn't they see we were getting wet! People sometimes...



Well, apparantly it was still a go. The gun had already fired for all distances but only a few runners actually got to start. There were bigger clumps of us huddled together, confused and puzzled as to what to do next. Eventually, we decided to just go for it!



It was seriously so fun -not hot at all!- the rain spraying into your eyes and everyone cheering you on as you jog past. Everyone was laughing, screaming and splashing and it felt more like playing than racing. We didn't finish the 10k though because he was scared we might get sick. I still made sure we ran enough to cross the finish line-so it felt like I had run the whole thing. I'm going to pretend that wasn't cheating. Still, it was the silliest and best marathon I've run so far!




B wears dress, belt and boots all ukay-ukay (thrifted) / photos by: B's brother M. Thanks, bro!

Inspiration: Erin Fetherston

SHIP'S LOG: A discusses in brief the wonders of Erin Fetherston's Resort 2011 collection. She admires the elegant simplicity of draping and sweetheart necklines and praises Fetherston's choice of the colour coral red and silky crepe fabric.



When I am a big shot corporate lawyer sealing the deal on multinational mergers here and there and earning bucket loads of moolah (fingers crossed) there will be a special portion of my income that will be diverted into the pockets of Erin Fetherston. The American has a genius touch for creating clothes that are class with a down-to-earth cuteness almost hidden away. Note the heart buckles on her Spring 2010 belts and the ruched bows at the back of her Holiday 2008 ball gowns. And I'm sure that everyone remembers her effervescently twee stint as a Target designer. This upcoming season, she has got boater hats and a spot of denim in store for us.



Erin Fetherston's latest delight is her Resort 2011 line (I find holiday collections most suitable for the tropical weather we have all year-round in Manila. I thank god for minimal layering and breathable fabric) with its tapered trousers and silk shirts with Peter Pan or bow collars. It is elegant and infinitely wearable with a lot of mixing and matching in store. There are dresses in cream, black, and coral. I adore the coral, which gives pop and circumstance (pun intentional) in an otherwise understated collection. The choice of neutral colours actually brings the focus to the cut of the dresses. The fabric either flows downwards—shape is created with an over-sized bow or belt—or exquisitely tailored with geometrically inspired sleeves. Fetherston puts two of my favourite things together: structured dresses and sweetheart necklines. Es perfecto!



I love how all the clothes are casual and classic, very reminiscent of a 1960s French film so cosmopolitan yet ironically sweet. If I had a Fetherston outfit, I would totally channel Anna Karina, conservatively demure with an undercurrent of knowing more than a young girl ought. Also, the faces of the brand are Erin Fetherston herself, Zooey Deschanel, and Karen Elson—wouldn't you want to be friends with a Fetherston girl? I certainly would!

Outfits: Poker Face

SHIP'S LOG: B recreates a poker night outfit from the day before and types this post while listening to A and her 5 siblings arguing in their 'study' room...



I've always enjoyed watching Yours, Mine and Ours, The Brady Bunch and other fun family flicks like that. When I'm in A's house I feel like I just got sucked into one of those movies. A has like 5 siblings (and 2 funny cousins who pop in once in awhile) and they are such a blast to be around.



It's fun to hear them all talking over each other about dictatorship, the dark force and bodily harming stupid classmates-among other fascinating things. I would provide an exact transcript of their conversation but the focus of the discussion moves at the speed of light! Zing! Zing! from topic to topic. My head is spinning. May I suggest a family vlog, A?



Anyway this is the tanktop I thrifted in Tagaytay. You can see how quick the weather changes in these photos. In the first set they are sunny then suddenly...gloom! See the clouds blanketing the city? Sheesh, we had a window of 5 minutes to take decent photos.



Oh anyway, poker night yesterday with some of my best boy buddies. We've been playing every week this summer and I've learned a lot (both about poker and the general workings of the male mind). A few posts ago, Gela left a comment on being the only girl in her group who plays poker. A girl after my own heart! It's a great training ground though because they never show mercy and have no hesitation about taking my money. Haha!



At last night's game I won for the first time ever! I've never even reached the top 3 before but last night a new B came to play. The last hand I played was a pair of aces too. It was World Poker Tour material. I was so pumped and had to hide my mouth behind my hand to keep from giggling.

We also watched Karate Kid before playing so a favorite phrase of the night was: 'that is not Kung-fu!'

B wears thrifted tanktop, purse from Sportsgirl, belt and denim shorts from Greenhills market and Aldo sandals

Outfits: Walk in the Park

SHIP'S LOG: A and B try in vain to chase the afternoon sun but get caught off guard by Manila's moody weather. Some flashy pictures ahead!



One of the most exciting things about living in Manila right now is trying to outsmart the weather. It is so unpredictable. You can leave the house in a pair of flimsy sandals—feeling safe because the sun is shining brightly—only to find yourself stranded in a sudden downpour later that afternoon! That is sort of what happened to us for this shoot. Earlier in the day we anticipated rain and dressed in wool and cardigans only to suffer under the bright and sweltering sun. We thought we learned our lesson and switched into much breezier dresses mid-day when suddenly rain clouds came out to cast a gloom over the city.




We took this at a park in A's neighbourhood, right next to a girls' school. It was funny (and sad) to see all the little girls in white and teal uniforms slowly going home. They looked so depressed and miserable, with their gigantic stroller bags and tightly bound pigtails. Don't think we ever had anything but grins on our faces in our alma mater. Nope, we had floral print smocks and pyjamas in pastel pinks, blues, and greens! Style: it's ingrained in kindergarten.


A says:

The red dress from ukay-ukay is one of my favourite thrift finds because it fits perfect and has got bright red buttons. It's a bit 90s and too eye-catching for me, but I figured now's the time to break my ideas of "Me" and get out of my comfort zone. I think it goes perfect indeed with the playground and gloomy day (ironic!).

B says:

The tricky weather has pulled one over me so many times just this week! I peek out my window to see the sun shining and toss on a light summery outfit. As I step out of my car though, rain puddles are already flooding the sidewalk and I look a fool skipping over them and screaming to avoid ruining my sandals! I can't complain though-makes life exciting and mostly the irony makes me laugh.

The only downside would be that the gloomy weather is making me horribly lazy! I have a 10k marathon coming up this weekend and I have not trained much at all. My boyfriend and I share this goal to run 10 marathons in a year and so far we've done 4. He's really sweet during the races and never leaves my side though I am sure he could leave me in the dust. Even when I am about to barf all over the finish line (true story!). Usually, I see the finish line and forget all the pain and exhaustion but during our last marathon I just felt so sick. I wanted to toss my cookies and the only thing keeping me from doing so was sheer embarrassment. All those cameras and people at the sideline! Now we just laugh and re-enact that moment.

This photo was extra-complicated to shoot. Just imagine this: trying to climb up on a see-saw that is at least two feet off the ground in a flimsy summer dress. Then once you are teetering on it you have to try and take photos of the person on the opposite end! We were laughing so much and it just made us forget the stress of shooting in such poor sunlight.

Also, A disclaims picture of her and the slide. That pose is totally unintentional and B is a demon with quick shooting on the camera.


A says:

I've been looking for a satchel bag, as you all know, and this is the closest thing I've found. I was going to use it for school but I found out it was too heavy, even without codals and my collection of highlighters. So now I keep it perky with a swiftly knotted bow.

B and I have lots of fun figuring out the print. Is it spades and buckets? Or spurs and saddles? You tell us.

B says:

Oh, I just wanted to thank you guys for all the comments on the last post. A lot of them made me laugh out loud! It was so interesting to read about how different bloggers feel in front of the lens. I am really starting to feel a sense of community here—especially from our regulars—and it is such a nice feeling!

A wears thrifted red sundress with a French daisy print, thrifted brown belt, white Aldo sandals, thrifted bag, and B's nautical handkerchief (now mine!). B wears white dress, canvas backpack and leather belt all from ukay and brown sandals from Aldo.