Sun Hats!

Packing for my previously mentioned roadtrip was a bit of a hassle…but I think I managed to find a common ground and brought only the necessities. And surprisingly, the one thing that I found EXTREMELY useful was my sun hat.

In South Korea, protecting your skin from the damaging UV rays is EXTREMELY important. Koreans take EXTREMELY good care of their skin and use all types of sunscreens and protective covers to keep their skin healthy, and...white. Most Koreans have very sensitive skin and it is VERY easy for them to get sunburned or tanned, which most particularly don't like. Here's a few candids of Koreans doing exactly that in one of the islands we stopped at on our trip. You'll notice all the big sunhats women wear and the "sun umbrellas."




People who have white, porcelain like skin are considered ideal and beautiful here. Whereas in most other parts of the world, porcelain, TAN skin is considered more attractive. Regardless, I guess Koreans are extremely smart for taking care of their skin like that...Korean women and men have the most BEAUTIFUL skin ever and they seem to be ageless. Baking under the sun is becoming less and less attractive to me.

I've been avoiding the sun in the hopes of not getting a sunburn and apart from wearing my daily sunscreen (which EVERYONE should use), I found hats to be a great way of protecting myself from the sun all while looking stylish at the same time.

My collections of hats has been steadily growing ever since I've been here (I don't quite know how I'm going to bring all my items back to Canada...) and there's two specific styles that stand out the most for me:

The Classic Sun Hat(I'm not a huge fan of these hats but they did come in handy quite alot during this trip. And when you put one on you instantly feel uber chic :)

Here's a cute one from Juicy Couture:


And here's a classic one from American Apparel:

and

The Classic Fedora (Yes, I know that the fedora has been "in" for a few seasons and what not and many people [mostly New Yorkers… I’m kidding :) ... kind of] think that they are overplayed but i think they look extremely chic [on some people], are great for bad hair days and protect your skin from the sun.)

Here's a "straw" fedora hat from Roxy that is great for summer:

I tried to rock the cute boater hats that were all the rage in Japan last season but the shape just doesn't suit my head? :( It didn't look as good on me as it did on the cool Japanese girls.

Boourns.

I'm Back!!!

I am back from my epic road trip all down the south of South Korea. The weather was RIDICULOUSLY HOT and it was rainy half the time but it didn't matter. It was a once in a life time experience and i saw the most beautiful islands, mountains,temples, waterfalls, caves, beaches and landscapes ever!

Here are a few pictures I took from the trip:













If the pictures seem to be out of place, it's because that's exactly what this trip was. Everyday was an adventure, we definitely didn't have a set plan and we stopped where ever we felt there was something interesting to see. We were in Busan, spent many days in Geoje Island, Danyan, and Uljin. I thought Busan and Goeje Island were the most beautiful though :)

All we had were maps in hands and our Korean GPS system, which was beyond helpful. But I suggest learning how to read Korean before jumping on the Korean GPS bandwagon. The cool thing I noticed about the GPS system here is that it lets you know in advance where the cameras are so you can stop speeding and the cameras don't catch you. It also let's you know when you are going over the speed limit. (I'm pretty sure the GPS systems in Canada don't do that right?)

This trip was so much fun and I encourage anyone who is in Korea to do something like this. :)

RoadTrip!

I FINALLY have some days off from work for summer vacation and me and a couple of friends have decided to get on the road! I'm going on an epic road trip across South Korea, concentrating on the southern part and I'm extremely excited to see the beautiful beaches and breathtaking sceneries down the coast.



There's still a couple of days left but I have to start doing one very important thing....packing...how i loathe thee. What's a girl to bring?! If there is one thing that I can NOT do is pack lightly. It's just impossible for me.

Regardless, I'll be putting up other posts before I leave but I can't wait to start documenting this trip!

OK...back to packing...or not.

Pretty is Back!

It's around that fabulous time when we finally get a glimpse of the Fall 2010 Ad Campaigns. Fall is my favorite season(as far as clothing is concerned) and I'm UBER excited to see these new ads!

There have been quite a few campaigns that have popped out already, but the one that has caught my attention the most, so far, is the Louis Vuitton Fall 2010 campaign featuring Natalia, Christy and Karen.



It's absolutely stunning, from the angles, to lighting, to clothing. Perfection. And I LOVE the cinematic feel to it.

PS. On a side note, I've been taking some great street style photos of people in the Seoul area and I'm working on a summer wrap-up piece...LOVING some of the shots so far. They will be posted up soon :)

You're Welcome.

I present to you Francisco Lachowski(Ford Modeling Agency)...This beautiful specimen hails from Brazil (where else?) He's been making the rounds for about a year or so, gracing the catwalks of pretty much every important designer and working with the best photographers in the industry.

Vanity Teen recently did a shoot featuring the stud and made this amazing vid to go with it.



I'm not really one for ogling over male models. Yes some are extremely attractive but for some reason this one really caught my eye.

There's something about him and i can't quite put my finger on what exactly that "something" is...

Regardless, I'm asking Santa for him as my early Christmas Present.

Calling All OnlineShoppingAddicts !

Some say online shopping can be quite addictive, and it can. There are multiple reasons as to why online shopping has been so successful.

For one, it’s convenient: there’s no need to go out and purchase something when that item can be directly delivered to you.

Second, bargains: some online shopping sites offer hefty discounts, most notably Ebay.

Third, you can shop in your underwear.

I hadn’t done much online shopping in back home in Canada…but now it’s a different story. Online shopping in South Korea is beyond popular. Everyone and their grandma shops online for simple reasons: It’s easy, you can buy pretty much ANYTHING, and delivery is usually free and EXTREMELY quick (especially in the Seoul area).

There’s a specific site that everyone knows about and shops at: GMarket. Think of it as EBay but on crack. You can buy ANYTHING from clothing to groceries. Check it out at: http://www.gmarket.co.kr/ (It’s in Korean but you can get a basic English translated web site by clicking on the top right hand corner)

Cute Jumpsuits (which I LOVE right now) for 10 bucks?! These are some cute ones I found on GMarket.





Apart from GMarket, Online Shopping Malls (as they call it), are extremely popular and successful. The best thing about these web sites are the prices. (1,000 Korean Won is equivalent to .86 cents…you do the math on the web sites)

Check some of these out:

Yubsshop(Not as cheap as GMarket but def. more on the trendy side and you can find a lot of unique items)

Chicgirl2 (I just bought this cute crop top for about $5.00!)



T-aradot.com (They carry a lot of “pretty” and cute things, but they often have a lot of trendier individual items) I’m loving this vest at the moment…for around 20 bucks Canadian Why not?



Modne (More Casual and Cute but you can still find some trendy items)

Some of the items these "stores" carry are super trendy and often difficult to find over in Canada/America etc. So I'm taking FULL advantage of these deals while I'm here :)

American Vogue: You bore me.

I walked by a newsstand the other day and instantly noticed this cover of the July 2010 issue of Korean Vogue:



Eye catching isn't it?

This January Cover was STUNNING as well:



I've been an avid Vogue reader of American Vogue for years but as many of you readers know, American Vogue really doesn't push the boundaries as far as their covers are concerned. I especially LOATHE the fact that they use mostly celebrities on the cover.

The beautiful French Marion Cotillard was on July's 2010 US Vogue issue... the cover itself is absolutely BORING, but I will US Vogue credit for taking a "risk" by putting a French actor on the cover.



Here is Blake Lively on the June 2010 US Vogue Cover. Boring! She is a gorgeous girl but I should mention that she was also on a previous February Cover...honestly use someone else and stop recycling your celebrities and use an actual model!



American Vogue should learn something from Paris, Korean and Russian Vogue. Their covers are AMAZING, unique and EYE CATCHING and don't always involved celebrities posing on the cover. I say Bring Back the Models!! No wonder American Vogue is struggling to sell magazines.

*Cough* Anna Wintour...are you listening? *Cough*