RIP

One of my favorite purchases of all time has left me. We've been through a lot every since we met because of my all-time favorite recycling program, Back-2-MAC. Of course I'm speaking of my Rebel lipstick, a vivid hot-pink with some purple undertones. Perfect hot pink lip for my skin color.

Rebel: every time I wore you I got compliments. I admit, at times I was a bit negligent, like that time I left you at a girl's house after a crazy night out watching Crystal Castles. Luckily, we were reunited. However, I seem to have lost or misplaced you. You were so good to me and things will never be the same; that is, until I make the effort to replace you by driving out to the Brea Mall and actually buy one.

RIP Rebel lippy and godspeed.

I went shopping today...

...But I want more. I think my head would explode if I had the kind of money to drop on an outfit like this:

For a night out by kcrosa featuring Jil Sander

Items in this set:
Evening Shimmer Dress, 38 GBP
Jil Sander England cotton-blend trench, $1,895
Spritney Suede Peep Toe, 565 GBP
TOYOSHIMA, $30
Crystal and Chain Multi Strand Bracelet - Bracelets - Accessories -..., $145

BACKSTAGE: CHRISTIAN DIOR SPRING/SUMMER 2010

BACKSTAGE: CHRISTIAN DIOR SPRING/SUMMER 2010


Ahhhh, love, love, LOVE!

1) Finger waves -- I need to try this out especially since my hair is naturally wavy.

2) The intensity and softness of the make-up -- especially on the girl in picture #2

3) The uniqueness of each of their outfits -- tied together with the common theme of a heavy black boot.

H-Ween

I forgot I hadn't posted my Halloween pictures. Oops -- a little late but better than never. Anyways, extra points if you can guess what this is all about before I reveal it at the bottom of this post. I spent my evening dancing the night away at HARD Halloween at the Shrine in Downtown LA.

I was pretty pleased with myself on how the ears turned out. It was my first go at them and I think they got the job done. I already had the gray headband and bought some gray and sparkly pink felt from Michael's. Its the only thing I bought so my outfit cost a total of about a $1.10 -- BOOM.

So back to the outfit....I was .....

a dead mouse.....
get it....like Deadmau5 (the DJ)?

You can't see it very well in this shot, but I put Xs on my eyelids

[vest: Forever 21, tank: H&M, leggings: 99 cents store, boots: ?]

It was a great night, especially because Deadmau5 played a surprise set! By far Justice's set was my favorite. Oh, and of course, I forgot to paint on my little mouse nose and whiskers. I'm sure I would have rubbed it off throughout the night anyway.

xoxo,
Karla

I'm liking the cold.

Yay. Its cold! Well, I'm a Southern California girl, so when it hits below 70, I'm cold! Either way, colder weather means I get to bring out the coats and scarves. Usually I find it hard to put together an outfit when I'm shivering -- I rather just throw on some sweats and a hoodie and be over with it. This is my first winter of me trying to be good and keep up with my "not look like slob" promise. I wore this outfit to work last week.

Coat: Charlotte Russe, white bow top: H&M, purple skirt: H&M, tights: Target

Also, I've been adding to my collection of shoes. These black cut-out zip-ups come from Forever 21

This whole exposed zipper trend is totally up my alley. I love it! And I like how it gives a fashion-forward edge to an otherwise simple work outfit. Pow!

xoxo,
Karla

Time for a wax?

Is it just me or does it look like Whitney Port needs to hit up the salon?

[Photo Cred: Google, click for a clearer view]

The black lace trim is cute on her halter bandeau top, but not so much on the bottom. It seriously looks like her bush is out at full force.

Note to self: make sure I don't look like I'm in dire need of hot wax when I head out the door.

LC by Lauren Conrad

Perhaps its titled LC for "Looks Cheap". Ok, so as much as I hate The Hills (but secretly watch) and this whole uprising in famous for nothing celebrities, I thought the LC line for Kohl's looked kinda cute on the website (which you can access here). Turns out the LC collection is what Cher Horowitz would refer to as "a total Monet". To refresh your memory:

It's like a painting, see? From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess.

That's totally how I felt when I actually went to Kohl's to find some new work clothes. The fabrics were cheap despite the higher price point compared to other Kohl's merch, the patterns on the clothing looked messy (further proving the whole Monet comparison), and the line itself didn't stand out as anything extraordinary. Now with point 3 I wasn't really surprised especially when she had her runway debut last year which was probably more disappointing.

Aside from that, I have quite a few outfit pictures I want to post. I've gotten better, I think, with dressing better for work and for play. My data comes from the number of comments I get from people around me. I still need to work on the hair though, because in that aspect I'm just a sloppy mess.

Until another day.

xoxo,

Karla

What's a girl like me to do!?!

According Glamour, size 5 shoes are slowly being phased out by shoe companies. Oh the horror!! I'm so thoroughly disappointed. As an under 5 foot girl I already find it hard to find a good, sophisticated shoe in a size 5 or 5.5, and now they're gonna make it even harder!? Ugh. My life is sad at the moment.

xoxo,

Karla

Some New 'Fits

So, as always, its taken me forever to put up another blog post. I've been slackin' so please forgive me. I have a great excuse though: I have a job as a middle school counselor now and it interferes with my WWW life.

For the most part, the promise I made to myself about actually making an effort when dressing has work. The hair, still a fail as clearly shown in the picture below. This is from my hella NorCal trip for my cousin's wedding in Placerville. I asked my sister to dye my hair red but its mostly like a brown orange. Oh, and to top it off, my bangs are darker than the rest of my hair. Nice sister, nice. Anyways, this is my Fonzie outfit:

faux leather jacket & bag= H&M, striped shirt = Target, jeans = F21, sandals = Cathy Jean

Another positive style change in my life: I now work at a new school which means that dressing differently isn't a big deal anymore. Before my work attire was pretty basic. Slacks and a dress top, same black work shoes. BORRRRRING. The first time I wore a skirt at my old job even the principal made a comment and asked if I had something to do after work. WoW. Now its a new year, new co-workers, so I have a clean fashion slate. I've hardly worn slacks, I've even worn a dress, and I've put all my heels to good use as now they've also become work shoes. I love it. I get a good amount of compliments from the junior high girls about my shoes, accessories, or my clothes.

xoxo,

Karla

Good thing your sister's famous

So anyone who knows me IRL, knows that I like to talk a lot of crap when I don't like something. Hating, if you will. In the same tradition of Hilary and Hailey Duff, Trace Cyrus moves from obscurity to Z-list given a famous sibling. Also in the same vein as Hailey, Trace is the obviously less attractive sibling. I enter this picture into evidence:

[Photo Cred: Evilbeetgossip.film.com]

I think what bothers me is that someone who looks as douchey as he does automatically gets some fame because of someone else. Ick. High School just called, it wants its teenage angst back.

xoxo,

Karla

It's been a while

Well, I've been home for 2 weeks. The trip was amazing and seeing European style definitely makes me want to dress better. I honestly believe clothing stores on the other side of the pond sell better clothing (in terms of fit, variety, quality, price, etc.). I didn't get to shop in Spain or Italy, despite the fact that it seems July is when all the stores post their major sales in order to get ready for the new season. Oh well, I did a hefty little shopping spree last week and got some purchases I'm really excited about. One recent thing I've bought recently that I believe needed its own post was.....(drum roll)....a fanny pack. Yep, I said it.

I've actually wanted one for a quite a while. My reasons are pretty lame. Sadly, I've wanted a fanny pack to rave with just because purses are so impractical and I usually don't have pockets (and I wouldn't even trust to keep my things in my pockets to begin with). I had wanted the American Apparel one shown here:

Not bad for $14, considering I think AA is completely overpriced. I'm glad I didn't buy it thought because I think I found a great bag to get rid of my AA want.

I present my new bag that can work as a 1) a clutch, 2) a shoulder bag (with a length I can change), and 3) a belt/fanny pack. I wore it out last Thursday and given my friends' reactions, I think I done gooood:
I really like how it went with my outfit, but that'll be a later post, when I upload some pictures from my camera. :)

xoxo,
Karla

Oh to be young.

I'm leaving for Spain and Italy in a week from Tuesday. I'm definitely excited as me and my partner in crime (Aurora) have a crazy, exhausting, exciting itinerary planned for the 3 weeks I'll be visiting. Now, with that excitement comes intense fear. Fear that I only have a small suitcase to deal with for those 3 miraculous weeks. We'll be flying around quite a bit, I think about 3 flights for sure and because we got the airfare so cheap there are most definitely restrictions on our baggage as long as we don't want to pay the exorbitant fees for taking something more than a carry on. Not to mention that I need to make my way back to Barcelona from the southern coast of Italy to make my way home with only a whopping allowance of 10kg (approx. 22lbs) for my baggage. Holy moly. And just to give a visual of what I will carry with me for 3 weeks of jet setting in Europe...
Yup. That small pilot size, as its actually called, wheeled bag. I don't even get to have a 2nd bag like this guy has. According to the website for ClickAir (flight from Napoli to Barcelona), any other carry ons must fit within one bag. I've never been a big fan of this phrase, but I think it's quite appropriate: FML.

xoxo,
Karla

New Clothes.

I've been experimenting with color now. Apparently that's what's "in". I don't know how I feel about reporting on trends. I figure as long as you're dressing for the decade you're good. Who cares about certain cuts, colors, etc? Hmm, I guess Anna Wintour would eat me alive for that comment.

What I wore to go out with my sister and her fiance:

I was definitely not feeling my face, but this is the overall look.


Up close on the top half. Red necklace = F21, purple shirt = F21, Jacket = F21
Close up on the jacket


Brown faux leather bag = H&M

Leggings = Giant Dollar (99cents!!!), Shoes = Payless

I've noticed there's a difference between how I dress when I'm out an about and then how I dress for work. Its a bit of a mismatch. I like my work clothes, I've got some good slacks and tops, but they way I put them together looks older and not really my style, so I'm trying to put some more effort in that too. Hence this outfit for Thursday:

I really like the sleeves. Shirt = F21, necklace = F21, slacks = Kohl's.

xoxo,
Karla

Inspiration.

I think for the past few years I've been too sloppy with how I dress. I believe it is more than time for me to step up my game a bit, but trying to re-stylize yourself is tough stuff! Here are things that currently give me some inspirado:

(click for a larger version)

I think I've at least started dressing a bit better as of late (maybe the past 2 months?) so I think I also need a change in hair. Hmm, now that's definitely something to ponder for the next post.

xo,
Karla