Little sneak-peak of the Printemps x Dior Christmas windows!

And pile of meat for lunch before shopping, naturally.

Here she comes! I’m here Marion, kiss me.

Coat – Zara. Khaki silk shirt- Iris & Ink. Midi-skirt – ASOS. Heels - Christian Louboutin Corneille. Bag – Reiss Mira. Belt – LV via Vestiaire Collective; Outfit shots by Kit

I’m sorry if lately it’s just been Paris this and Paris that, but let’s be honest, you can’t really blame me, can you. Same way you can’t blame me for sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to eat Nutella out of the jar while burning up the refrigerator lightbulb, which is pretty much always. It’s universal magic, we all know that. And seeing that my life is spectacularly, extra, extra ordinary (mind the gap), a quick trip to Printemps in Paris with Kit for an early taste of Christmas should no doubt be considered, extraordinary. Especially when it includes sparkling windows and a whole world of Dior behind a sheet of glass. Glass of course, makes this magical world much easier to reach than 1) the thick wardrobe doors of Narnia, or 2) a brick column to Platform 9¾ – technically at least. Plus I bet that window smells like Miss Dior from the inside and actually full of Helium gas that’s leaked out from the balloons. Squeakiddy-squeak-squeak, sang the dolls.

Thank you Ykone & Printemps for having us! (See last year’s mini-Karl domination in Printemps x Chanel windows)

Leather knot bracelet – COS. Watch – Sekonda. Wallet - Stella McCartney Falabella wristlet (c/o Harrod’s)

Studded boots – Chloé Susan (c/o Net-A-Porter). Shoes - ASOS

Coat – Mango. Jeans – James Jeans. Cashmere sweater- Uniqlo. Shoes – ASOS. Bag – Kurt Geiger Rhubarb rock. Snood – DIY Knitted. Silver necklace – Gift from mummy (Korea)

Sometimes I forget that my ‘normal’ friends have no idea I’ve been blogging for the past four years, and by blogging I mean scrambling around in a hamster-wheel charging for the vague unknown, and generally being occupied full-ish time doing so. I didn’t plan on letting this define my life, and if I still have a say, I’d like it not to, but I’m slowly starting to realise that I’ve subscribed to a very particular brand of lifestyle brought on by this business of web logging. It all became clear, really, when Carrie and I went to Paris for a night (yes, girl-on-girl details if you come back after midnight, you know it) for a small project with YSL Beauté, and all throughout I had this odd sense of comfort. The type of comfort that comes with the fact that I can hand her my camera and then pose as if the camera isn’t there, or the fact that we’ve mentally agreed on meeting at my room in twenty minutes, fully dressed and ready for some outfit shots. She will know exactly why we’re going out on a five-mile walk in 4-inch heels with a pair of foldable flats in our bags, and why I insist on hovering over our rapidly-cooling crêpes that we waited half a frozen hour to get our hands on for the sake of a photo (which, as you can see, didn’t even make the cut). Is this all getting a bit weird? Are we perhaps editing ‘the moment’ and never enjoying it as is? With that said, I had a swell time with Carrie and the YSL Beauté team, and Paris is even more stunning in the autumn.

DIY Scarf-print kaftan dress, a collaboration project with Styleslicker

Head on here to see the complete tutorial

Kaftan dress – Park & Cube x Styleslicker DIY. Nude shoes – Zara. Bag – Bottega Veneta. Watch – GUESS Rose gold

I realised the only time Kit and I join hands to collaborate is when we’re both hunched over her bowl of phô fishing out red meat so I can gobble it up like a bear. We’re also DIY enthusiasts and happen to share the opinion that if you need glue-gun to attach fabric onto fabric then it’s not DIY – it’s pre-school craft, and don’t get us started with stapling shit to shit. She’s a trained pattern cutter with ninja scissor skills, I’m a webdesigner sensitive to misaligned pixel – in a nutshell we’re both just anal and you wouldn’t want us as mothers or wives (sorry hubz). So we decided to team up to do a few DIY projects that might be educating in terms of garment construction and produce end-results that you might actually wear more than once. Remember this H&M panther scarf? Turns out there’s a lot more ways to transform it with just a few tools at home – for this one you don’t even need a sewing machine – check out the tutorial here to make your own scarf-print kaftan dress!

Check back often or tune in for the next one!

Tokyo, last day

Stella McCartney Falabella pouch

Rose-gold watch, GUESS.

Shoes, Alexander Wang via Vestiaire Collective. Watch, GUESS.

Floral top - Zara. Belt – LV via Vestiaire Collective. Shorts – DIY cropped black jeans from Zara. Sheer balloon skirt – ASOS. Shoes – Alexander Wang via Vestiaire Collective. Bag- Bottega Veneta.

Last day of Tokyo: 9,000 windows and berries for breakfast; ¥8,150 left in my pocket to buy presents for hubby, ¥500 left after a trip to Comme des Garcons, 20 minutes to meet a Japanese friend for coffee at the BVLGARI cafe in Shinjuku, 15 minutes to shop in a twelve-storey Uniqlo (impossibru), 5 new types of sushi tasted at lunch, 4 new favourite types of sushi, 2 minutes fitting the Prada flagship store designed by Herzog and de Meuron into sight while passing by in mini-bus, 1.5 cats seen in total (0.5 = tail and a spotted leg), 1 minute pondering what the Japanese word is for ‘STOP’  as the airport car passes by a Issey Miyake Pleats Please, 0% eagerness to enter homebound plane.

That about sums it up! Thank you Perrier-Jouët once again for a wonderful experience.

Uniqlooks August: One item, three looks - Ankle length trousers

Look 1:  Black silk trench coat, CK gift from mum. Leather crop-top old Topshop (bought in vintage store). Trousers, Uniqlo tuck tapered trousers. Shoes, Kurt Geiger Elsie. Mini-clutch, Falabella c/o Stella McCartney

Look 2: Jersey top, Zara. Trousers, Uniqlo tuck tapered trousers. Heels, Pierre Hardy for GAP. Bag, Bottega Veneta. Boyfriend watch, Sekonda. Glasses, YesStyle

Look 3: Cap, I Love Ugly. Silk top, Carin Wester via Heilee. Clutch, Kit’s Marc by Marc Jacobs pouch.  Trousers, Uniqlo tuck tapered trousers. Heels, ASOS Sienna

I would call this mostly ‘Uniqazillian ways to communicate impending toilet run’, but there’s a bit of ‘If I stand upright and look into the camera I WILL DIE  A SHAMED BLOGGERS DEATH‘  in the mix too. In fashion blogging bootcamp I was taught to renounce the habit that my mother so earnestly enforced in my blooming years – stand up straight, look into the camera and show a sliver of teeth – a tactic which usually ensured that the 24 (or 36, if on holiday/birthday party) snaps will be worth its money. For example, the Park family photo albums from 1990 to 2005 is just eyeballs. Then in 2008 I crawled through mud under barbed wire and struggled over walls made out of logs and to learn a new habit that will win us the Blogger badge, namely the ‘I think I need to pee’ pose (pretzel legs), ‘My lover in the sunset horizon’ pose, and ‘Is the the floor flirting with me’ pose – all three of which you can find above. Alternatively it’s a self confidence issue… one will never know. Here we have a pair of dusty pink tuck-tapered ankle-length trousers for the August instalment of Uniqlooks - the material is light and satin-y, which makes it a perfect summer-autumn transition piece for those countries that don’t have permanent PMS for a climate.