Back to School! 5 Outfits from Forever 21

Hi everyone!

Here's a continuation of the Back to School outfits ideas, this time featuring Forever 21! I do apologise for the late posting due to some problems with the F21 pictures. Honestly, I was about to give up on using pictures on F21 since all the clothing items has people or parts of people in them. The pictures also show the way F21 styles the clothes which can be distracting. I tried editing those pictures but it didn't work, so I'm stuck with pictures of people in my outfit board. Anyway, let's get on with the post!

#1// For the Girl who wants the Laid back Edgy Vibe

Clockwise from Left to Right: Marled Knit Slit Top; Acid Wash Denim Jeggings; Art Deco Statement Necklace; Metal-Trim Sandals; Chain Link Bangle Set; Sophisticate Faux Leather Tote (Individual images of items are taken from Forever21.com)

 First outfit up is this grey ensemble that would have been too gloomy if not for the metallic elements brightening up the colour scheme. I like this outfit for the edgy vibe it channels, but still comfortable and has this laid back look. Love the grey top but it's probably more suitable for those apple-shaped girls and not those with a big butt like me. That's because the bottom part of the outfit will flare and make your bottom half look bigger if you've got a perky/ big butt. Channel some flair with a interesting design necklace, like the art deco necklace. I picked a pair of metal embellished sandals to go with the whole metallic element in the look, but feel free to sub that with a pair of combat boots.

#2// For those days when you need a dash of cuteness

Clockwise from Left to Right: Metal-Trim Sandals; Two Tone Faux Leather Tote; Layered Feather Pendant Necklace; Elephant Midi Ring Set; Pocket Skater Skirt; Knotted Elephant Print Tee (Individual images of items are taken from Forever21.com)

This one's dedicated for those days when you just need something to brighten up your day. You'd never go wrong with the red/white/blue combination when creating a fun look. A skater skirt is a girl's closet essential, and it's the best when it has pockets like this skirt! Up the playfulness of a red skater skirt with a quirky front tie elephant motif shirt! Elephants remind me of the time when my family called my ears elephant ears cos they jut out, thus elephants hold a special place in my heart. Match the elephant prints with a elephant ring to add on the fun. Plus, it'll make a great conversation starter :) Optional: Accessorise outfit with a layered feather necklace. Grab your book bag and wear a pair of simple cute shoes and you're ready to go! The brown sandals with the gold metal plate help to tie together the outfit making it casual, cute and chic!

#3// For the Minimalist Girl trying out Patterns

Clockwise from Left to Right: Tribal Print Pullover; Two-Toned Penny Loafers; Two Tone Faux Leather Tote; Slim Distressed Boyfriend Jeans (Individual images of items are taken from Forever21.com)

Here's an outfit that is both minimalist and cool. The toned down colour scheme of outfit creates a cool vibe which is further enhanced by the tribal print of the pullover. The outfit is quick to put together for those late days. Look as chill as this outfit for those days when you still want to turn up for class looking like you woke up extra early to prepare when you actually overslept and only managed to comb your hair and brush your teeth. Style your hair into a simple pony tail or braid it loosely to complement the look. 

#4// For the girl who wants to show some attitude

Clockwise from Left to Right: Killin It Crop Top; Woven Plaid Skirt; Faux Stone Ring Set Meow Canvas Tote; Buckled Lace Up Booties; Off-Duty Denim Jacket (Individual images of items are taken from Forever21.com)

This outfit is for girls who just want to be tough sometimes. Everyone needs a boost of encouragement and what better way to encourage yourself than wearing a shirt with a motivational message? "Killin' it all the time" just makes me feel like I'm ready to take on whatever the day may throw at me, so maybe it'll get you hyped up for the day too. Match with a plaid skirt and denim sweatshirt to give yourself a harder edge. The pair of boots with the metal buckle plus the black and gold rings add on to the girlish toughness that I want to emulate in this outfit board. To make your day better, carry a cute bag or tote like this "I Meow You" tote which will definitely brighten up your day should things still turn out less than ideal. We all have got those days where even if we try out best, things don't turn out as hoped for. That's when looking at cute things will help with cheering you and me up.

 #5// For the Glammed up Active Look

Clockwise from Left to Right: Sophisticate Faux Leather Tote;Box Chain Bib Necklace; Perforated Knit Tee; Embroidered Bead Hair Tie; Fresh High Tops; Posh Origami Skirt (Individual images of items are taken from Forever21.com)

Last look is a fun look inspired by the athletic style that has been trending for a while. Go bold by colourblocking bright colours such as lime and blue as seen here! The perforated texture of the shirt and clean sleek cut of the skirt makes the outfit seem a little tennis inspired but still really fashion forward. For accessories, tone down the colours with black coloured jewelry like the black box bib necklace. There's also this pretty beaded hair tie which you can double up as a bracelet in Forever 21 which I find useful. Lastly, finish off the look with a pair of clean white high tops to give the sports vibe!

That's all for the 5 outfits featuring items from Forever 21! I hope this has been useful and stimulating for your brain :) Is F21 your shop of choice for getting your clothes? Which outfit is your favourite? Tell me in the comments section below or tweet me @Chapalanggirls! I would love to hear from you!

Till next time!

Love,

El

Back to School! 5 Outfits From H&M

Hi everyone!

It's August and that means it's back to school season for some of us. Christine and I start our university semester usually in August, and it is pretty sad that I barely relaxed at all for the past few months. It feels weird that school is going to start soon and all I've been doing during my summer break is working. If you're feeling the blues that school's starting soon, a good way to distract yourself from reality is to think of an awesome back to school outfit to start of the new school term with a stylish bang! Thus from now till end of August, I'll be publishing posts with one-brand outfit boards featuring things from common high-street shops that most of you will have access to. This week, I'm featuring outfit from H&M which I've compiled together while browsing the site(online window shopping is my way of dealing with stress!). You'll notice there might be some items that are repeated in the various outfit boards, but hey! that means more ways of styling a single item in your closet! Let's get started!

#1//The Outfit for the Sporty Chic Girl

Clockwise from top left corner: Short Mesh Top, S$59.90; Platform Sneakers, S$39.90; Cotton Cap, S$19.90; 7 Piece Ring Pack, 14.90; Necklace with a Pendant, S$9.90; Imitation Leather Shorts, S$24.90. (Images are taken from H&M Singapore webpage)

The mesh sleeves and pleather shorts make the outfit stylish yet comfortable for the athletic girl (or atheletic wannabes out there). Keep the color palette simple by sticking to bold red and metal accessories.

#2// The Outfit for the Girl Who Wants her Extra Sleep

Clockwise from left: Jersey Dress, S$19.90; Patterned Bomber Jacket, S$59.90; Chained Sneakers, S$49.90; Necklace with a Pendant, S$9.90. (Images are taken from H&M Singapore webpage)

This is dedicated to those girls who has trouble waking up for those early morning classes and has 5 alarms set for her 8am class. A simple basic black dress paired with something bright/attention-grabbing like this bomber jacket here makes it seem like you've put some effort in dressing up(when in reality you woke up with just enough time to brush your teeth). To complete the look, match a metallic necklace and shoes with metal chain to look more put together.

#3// The Outfit for the Girl Who Loves Her Basics

Clockwise from Left: Superstretch Trousers in Light Blue, S$39.90; Striped Top, S$19.90; Grey Marled Cardigan, $39.90; Pink Loafers, S$39.90; 'Hyped' Beanie, S$14.90, (Images are taken from H&M Singapore webpage)

Here's an outfit focused on the basics. The basics exudes an air of  minimalist chic when done right and is a style that never goes out of trend. Here with have the classic blue jeans and striped shirt combination. Warm yourself up with a knitted beanie and long grey cardigan for those cold days. Add a pop of color with some pastel flats!

#4// The Outfit for the Preppy Girl

Clockwise from Left: Heart Patterned Blouse, S$19.90; Black Braces, S$14.90; White Sneakers, S$19.90; Ribbon Hair Elastic, S$5.90; Plaid Pleat Skirt, S$39.90. (Images are taken from H&M Singapore webpage)

Penultimately, here's an outfit that is super preppy and girly and cute without being too costume-like. First up is a sweet looking, short sleeve blouse with heart motifs. Pair it with a pleated plaid skirt that reminds one of those school uniform skirts seen in mangas. I chose this color because the blue in the skirt matches the blue of the blouse. Add in suspender straps and wear a pair of white sneakers. If you've got long hair, tie it into a high ponytail with a ribbon bow. For those colder days, add in a pair of black knee high socks

#5// The Outfit for the Girl Who Loves Her Colors

Clockwise from Left: Heart Patterned Blouse, S$19.90; Short Gold Chain Necklace, S$12.90; High Waist Stretch Trousers, S$24.90; Pink Loafers, S$39.90; Green Fine Knit Cardigan, S$19.90 (Images are taken from H&M Singapore webpage)

Lastly, here's a colorful outfit to chase those Monday blues away, featuring the same heart motif blouse as outfit #4 (more ways to wear the same thing yay!). For bottoms, I picked a pair of black high waisted pants for the contrast against the brighter colors. Add in some color blocking by layering the blue blouse with a green cardigan and pink flats! To accessorise, wear a simple necklace pendant or go loud with a thick gold chain necklace as shown.

I hope these 5 outfit boards helped stimulate your brain and gave you more ideas on new outfits that you can wear for school! Which one is your favourite? Tell me in the comment section below or via Twitter (@chapalanggirls) or on our Facebook page! My favourite item out of everything shown here is the bomber jacket!

Although everything is from H&M here, there's no need to get everything listed here to create the same look. I created the various looks mixing new items with clothes that most people probably already have in their current wardrobe in mind, such as jeans and striped shirts. Thus you need not spend much just to recreate a certain look. Moreover, H&M Singapore has this offer ongoing where you'll get a $10 voucher to use on your next purchase with every $60 spent (till August 3rd I think), plus there're great items on sale too. 

If you need more BTS outfit ideas, you can look back at our Back to School Outfit Ideas from last year here!

Look forward to next week where I'll be featuring Forever 21!

Till next time

Love,

El   xoxo

How To: Hair Inspiration from Bride of the Century-- Na Doo Rim's Hair (Yang Jin Sung)

Hello everyone!
It has been a while since I did an individual post. So today I've got 2 hair tutorials for you!

Recently, I've been watching this Korean drama called Bride of the Century and I've been seriously loving the hair that they do on the main female lead (Na Doo Rim)! Maybe it's because her hair length and style is pretty similar to mine, so I really appreciate that I can get some hairstyle inspiration from her.

One of the things I've been noticing is the way her fringe is pinned up. It's a casual pin back look but there's a lot of thought put into it. I decided to share with you all here if you've not watched the show because the way it's done really helps shape the face!It's a great style for those of you who're in the awkward phase of growing the fringe out. I've also included in a tutorial on how to do the fancy braided fringe look because one can never have too many ways to style the fringe. So if you're in the process of growing out your fringe or you want to change the look of your bob, this post is for you!

The Casual Pin-Back Look

Here's the first look. It's a simple pin back but it's to the side. Notice that not all the fringe is pinned but a few strands of hair is left such that they drape diagonally across the face to shape the face. This is much more flattering than taking the whole bunch of fringe and pinning it (unless your face suits it). It's a super practical and good way of getting annoying fringe out of your eyes and look nice too :)

Photo: Screengrab from Bride of the Century drama

Also, the hair is not flatly pinned to the head. The person made it puffy by twisting the ends so the head doesn't appear flat (Look at picture on the right).

So what's different in these 2 pictures? 

The first picture is a depiction of the way I often see people pin their fringe up. It's not very flattering for people whose forehead is squarish like mine because it emphasizes on the broadness of the head, thus making your face look bigger.

The second picture is a depiction of the way Na Doo Rim's hair was done-- it has a pretty deep side parting, in the 8:2 or 9: 1 ratio. the longer fringe is let down to cover the side of the forehead so it's more flattering on the face. Overall it looks better no? If you're interested in how to replicate the style, keep scrolling ^.^

Steps:
1 &2: Create a side parting in the ratio of 9:1 or 8:2, depending on how wide your forehead is and how much of your fringe you want to leave out. Here, I have done a pretty extreme parting because I was feeling like it.
3: Grab a small section of the fringe to pin up, around 3-4 cm wide a section. Basically just take up the part of the fringe that falls over your eyes.
4: Grab some hair from other parts of your head along the axis of your parting. Just the top layer of hair will do. Pull the fringe slightly towards the back of your head and give it a tiny twist.
5: Hold the twist and push it towards the top of the head slightly to create a tiny puff( because you don't want your head looking flat!).Pin it using bobby pins or use a claw clip like me.
6: And there you go! A simple and easy way to deal with that annoying fringe you're growing out and still look good :)

The Fancy Braid Look

Here's another look that I adore. The fringe has been incorporated into a french braid that starts at the crown and hair is taken in on both sides of the braid.This is like an upgrade from the simple fringe done in look 1.

From what I could tell in the video, only the fringe at the peak of the forehead is taken in the braid. The rest of the hair is left to shape the face like the first look. The first section of the braid takes in hair from both sides. After all the fringe that is wanted to be braided is incorporated in the braid, then the rest of the braid becomes a lace braid where only the hair from the back is incorporated in the braid. The stylist ended the braid slightly after her ear and pins it and covers the pins with the rest of the hair.

Photo: Screengrab from Bride of the Century drama

Here's my take on it:

Steps:
1: Choose your side parting as you did in the first look.
Do this step if you want a neat line (if not, go to step 4):
2: Segment your hair as shown. Basically take a comb and separate the part of your hair from behind you ears and tie that section so you can get a straight line as seen in the photo. This is the part which you do not want to incorporate into the braid. Use a clip or hair tie to secure.
3: From the fringe area, pin away the fringe that you do not want to incorporate into the braid.
4: Now let's start braiding! Take a small section of the fringe that you want to braid along with some other hair from the rest of the free hair and divide into 3 sections. Do a dutch braid by taking the some hair from the left side of the braid and add it to the leftmost section and then crossing it under the middle section.Do the same for the right side of the braid.
5: Keep repeating step 4 until you have incorporated all the fringe that you want to braid in the braid as shown.
6: From this point, do a lace braid. Only take in hair from the back part of the hair to incorporate into the braid. Do this until you reach the edge of your head.
7: Now, braid the rest of the remaining hair normally for a few more centimeters.
8: Secure with bobby pins behind your ear.
9: Remove the hair tie and clip and arrange your hair properly and ....you're done! Good job getting this far!

Get creative by adding hair accessories!

Holographic Flower Pins: H&M
I got these at $2 on sale a few months ago. There's a black version too but the white is prettier :)

For those of you who feel like you're pro or is too lazy to section your hair, it'll still look as good! Here, I've included a photo of my hair when I did it by feel (Picture 1) and a photo of my hair when I did it with proper sectioning(Picture 2). You can see that in Picture 1 that I took in hair from a wider area of my head.

Well I hope you've enjoyed this hair inspiration + tutorial post! I think this look is great for everyday wear or if you want to feel special. With it being wedding season, I think this hairstyle is great for attending outdoor weddings! This hairstyle goes great with curls/waves but I think it'll also work well with straight hair :) I think one of the important things about these 2 looks is knowing where to stop the parting at and how much fringe to pin up. You'll only know this by trial and error because each person's forehead and face shape differs. If you've liked this post, check out an earlier how to guide on crown braid here. It's a super easy and chic look!

That's the end of today's post! Have you watched Bride of the Century before? I feel sad that the drama is so short compared to other korean drama series. I really enjoyed this drama alot, even with all the cliched korean drama scenes. If you've not watched it, you can watch it on Dailymotion (or google Maplestage or Tiveee.com for Chinese and English subtitled versions respectively).

Till next time!
Love,
El   xoxo