♥ HAPPY TUESDAY! ♥

Padmé : (Armed with blaster) No, I call it aggressive negotiations!

-excerpt from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

My previous post featuring Natalie Portman in Star Wars Episode I was so much fun that I decided to do a sequel. Because everyone ♥’s sequels, right? And of course this post is in no way related to the fact that:

STAR WARS EPISODE I RELEASED IN THEATERS WORLDWIDE IN 3D LAST WEEK!!

Weirdly out-of-sync with the rest-of-the-world’s time-line? Indeed. I happen to be president of the Life Under the Rock club. Thank Hollywood for the glory of the rehash. Ahem. Now’s a good time as any to see Queen Amidala in all her out-of-this-world glory. Hope you enjoy my random Star Warsing! ♥

My die-hard Star Wars fiend of a brother calls this the wannabe-Padmé dress. Hey, at least it rhymes (...and at least this isn't cosplay, right? RIGHT??)

She wears this to a picnic. A. Picnic. It was a golden opportunity, after all. A very painful-to-watch-if-not-for-the-gorgeous-dress sort of opportunity.

Every girl needs an LBD. And a black feather capelet. And black glitter heels. And...

An all-white, skin-tight outfit. How diplomatic of her. Aggressively, persuasively so.

Between us, nothing
Exists but a smile exchanged:
Silent, quick, painful.

-haiku by drifterqueen

My favorite (one and lonely) wristwatch here was a birthday present from my dad *thanksdad!* I’ve had it for almost two years now, and I still don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. It’s become my #1 accessory! So, I figured that it deserves a blog-post/rave/national holiday of its own…

The best thing about it is the color: I just love that fresh shade of mint-green! (Rather rare too, I know *snob*) Plus, it being solar-powered makes it green in just about every sense of the word *eco-snob* Wearing it everyday makes for a nice, sporty accent that pretty much clashes with everything. Here’s to color-pops and all that! ♥

Words are born within:

A clicking clacking beating

Against my poor head.

-Haiku by drifterqueen

♥ Wishing everyone a Happy Lunar New Year! ♥

Here’s to the Year of the Leaping Dragon! <3

(And here’s to all those out there who prefer scrabble over mahjong)

―excerpt from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

[Photos courtesy of Vogue. And Google Images.]

Although Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace came out almost 12 years ago, I don’t think I’ll ever cease to be amazed by the costumes. Natalie Portman as science-fantasy-fiction royalty with gorgeous costume changes in nearly every scene? That’s some prime re-watching value there. I’ve been even more smitten since re-discovering photos of said costumes featured in a Vogue US May 1999 issue. Shot by Irving Penn in all their lavish glory, the regal gowns glow with an otherworldly elegance. Designed by Trisha Biggar, each costume cost more than $60,000 each. Something “of value” indeed, Obi-Wan.

Anywho, just trying to justify my geekiness here: I made Polyvores of ‘em. Yes. I. Did. Just being weirdly out-of-sync with the rest-of-the-world’s-time-line, making irrelevant sartorial tributes to yesterday’s geekdom in my own little corner of the bloggy universe ^_^ Or you can think of it as making yesterday’s geekdom relevant to the rest-of-the-world via totally-in-sync sartorial tributes. Whatever rocks your boat.

Enjoy! <3

Queen Amidala's famous red dress was inspired by the imperial robes worn by the wife of Genghis Khan, the Grand Empress Börte. Go figure.

Keira Knightley (who played the Queen's decoy, Sabé) was the one who got to wear this dress for the film. But Natalie Portman wore it for the promotional shots. Just sayin'.

Considering the beautiful Italianate scenery of her home planet, I kinda wonder where did all the royal wardrobe's Eastern influences come from. White kimonos would look quite out of place in Naboo. Plus, do those beads look like white dreadlocks to you?

A 100% Alexander McQueen ensemble. My brother dubs this the "nude peacock look".

PS: I really should get round to watching Black Swan, shouldn’t I?

Coraline: You must be the other cat. 

The cat: I’m not the other anything. I’m me. 

-excerpt from the film of the book of Coraline

I’ve tried to pare down my list of resolutions to the bare minimum this year. This was difficult, as I tend to get them confused with my to-do list and thus write out too many resolutions to actually keep ;P Anyways, I finally solved the problem by creating two separate lists. I also jotted down the “rewards” of keeping each of my resolutions: This will serve as a reminder as to why I even bother doing this ENCOURAGEMENT. I’m determined to keep them all!

Here’s to 2012!! ^_^

RESOLUTIONS

Study an hour a day. DON’T FREAK OUT ON ME DAD (I know you’re reading this!) My study time ranges from 6-8 hours on regular days. But I’m trying to study everyday, and I tend to forget about the time once I’m really into the textbook. So, yeah, I like playing mind games with myself. Weird, much?

Reward: I won’t have a ♥ attack every time I get called on in class.

Keep blogging. I know, I hardly need to be making this a resolution as I’ve been reasonably consistent with my 4 posts a month mantra. However, exams are coming up soon, and this is to remind me to create content well ahead of time.

Reward: I’m hoping this pressure will help substitute focused blogging for mindless drifting on the internet. Plus, with all the studying I need to do, methinks my little bloggy habit will help keep me SANE.

11pm bedtime on school nights. Believe me, 11pm is a huge improvement. I especially like how the last three words sound like a caveat. (It’s not. But don’t tell my brain that.)

Reward: Makes me more productive in the morning; Kicks my caffeine addiction; Gets rid of dark under-eye circles.

Keep a planner. I love planners. Blank ones. But I’m determined to fully utilize them this year.

Reward: Better time organization. Plus, I’ll know how many days are left till the world ends…oops, I mean, till my exams.

Work out 5 minutes a day. I usually get excited about exercise only 5 minutes AFTER I start. I figure that instead of terrifying myself with the thought of a daily workout, I’ll trick myself into doing it instead – by making it sound TOO easy. (Even if this doesn’t work out, I’ll still enjoy the torturous mind games. TMI?)

Reward: Makes my body work better, makes my body FEEL better…and makes me feel better about my body :D Plus, it helps me sleep at night!

TO-DO LIST

• Crack the denim code. I need a pair of jeans for family vacation. We’re visiting a lot of theme parks this year. (Oh, the joys of having a huge age gap among siblings ;)

• Watch all the Studio Ghibli movies in my collection. I keep putting this off. I’m pretty scared that they won’t all be as wonderful as Spirited Away.

• Make more Polyvores. ♥They’re fun!♥ 

• Write the sequel to my Wardrobe Staples: Real vs “Ideal” (Part I) post. This is waaay over-due.

• Comment on more blogs I like. I’m shy, so this will be hard.

Congrats if you made it all the way to the end. As a reward, you get a magical unicorn! *sprinklesrainbows* However, since there are no such things as magical unicorns, you basically get nothing ^_~

Oh wait…Here you go! :D

Apologies for missing last week’s post. I’m back in Penang for the holidays and didn’t bring my laptop for the ride. With everyone (including my geeky, Unix-obsessed dad WHO I KNOW IS READING THIS) at home for Christmas, there wasn’t a computer to spare for my little bloggy habit. That is, not one that could sustain my love of Photoshopping sorcery. *magicalsparkles* Anyways, I finally got my grabby hands on one unattended machine, so here’s a picture-heavy post to make up for all that.

The above photos were taken last weekend. I’d spent a lazy afternoon with my sister at the flea market held at Straits Quay. It’s one of my favourite places in Penang. There, I was weirdly fascinated by a stall that was COMPLETELY OWL-THEMED (as if I needed to bold that.) According to the stall-owner, she’d sourced them from all over the world. Cue the jaw drop of awe. She was also a darling about graciously ignoring my whole camera-snapping thing :D

Anyways, scroll down for more hyperglycaemia-inducing eye-candy. Mouse-over any photos for my completely unnecessary commentary and all that.

Hope you wonderful people had a MERRY CHRISTMAS! ^_^

PS: I’ll be doing an extra out-of-routine post on New Year’s. Here’s to 366 days of a brand new 2012! *confetti*

Enjoy my Polyvore suggestions and Instylesque commentary! :D

This hovers dangerously close to steampunk territory. But I think the clean lines help balance it out. Plus, the repetition in the details help with the overall cohesion.

Gold and khaki make for old school glamor. But the flowing lines of the shirt and the shortness of the skirt keeps it relaxed. The mint-green accents make it fresh.

One of the comments in the previous post suggested I go for the "Girl Scout" look. I decided to make like a hipster and go for irony: Nothing says "Girl Scout" like berets, cookies, and the Cookie Monster! This shirt is 100% cookie inspiration. *MEWANTS*

The brocade on this Vivienne Westwood skirt was just screaming DECORATED OFFICER.

Lastly, but not leastly - a homage to the Crocodile Hunter! :D Khaki shirts are synonymous with wildlife documentaries for a reason, after all, so perhaps I should just stop fighting it...*embracesconcept* I'm loving the "urban huntress" vibes of this look ;) *EDIT: I just realized the irony of using a leather skirt in a homage to Wildlife Warrior Steve Irwin >.< I'm not against wearing leather (I'm an evil non-hypocrite. Yay me ;P) ...but this is clearly inappropriate. Let's just pretend it's faux, ok? *self-loathing*

Hope you enjoyed my Polyvore efforts ^_^

Please let me know which one is your favorite and why! (It’s for my own personal shopping-research purposes ;)

***Special thanks to lovely reader Levisque for the fun “Girl Scout” idea + helpful tulip skirt tip!! :D***

Confession/Attribution of Inspiration: This was inspired by a post from one of my favorite bloggers, Maja Piraja. She, with the help of the lovely Maria, did a gorgeous Polyvore post about “How to wear a beige skirt”. Unfortunately, I didn’t (and still don’t) own a beige skirt. I do remember comment-complaining about how I had a lot of khaki in my wardrobe though. Hence, the conception of inspiration – and a post was born :D

Hope you don’t mind, Maja >.<