these girls really get it!

(photo courtesy of Gloria Oldham)

Disclaimer # 1: I am not a fashionista. At least, not by definition. But I enjoy watching ladies play with mix and match. (I see that a lot of young Belgian women are so good at it, wonder if they learn it in school).

Disclaimer # 2: I don't buy branded just because it's expensive. The cheaper I can get them, the better, and that means I'll get them in their cheapest no matter where (outlet stores, thrift shop, ukay-ukay). I prefer branded for the sake of comfort, for durability (a point always contested by my wiser shopper sister) and for the stylish detail (I know that what I'm really paying for is that degree of intelligence and talent put in making the product).

For the longest time, I have been in search for that perfect website that would give me sound fashion advice. Unfortunately, there have not been much that suited my lifestyle as a frugal graduate student in her 30s. My case was just too unique for magazines to care about.

Not until I joined twitter and discovered academichic.

This is a blog site run by three PhD students in feminist theory who argue that going for the pretty and stylish look doesn't make one less academic. I loved their website in an instant. Fashion and philosophy --these three girls nailed it so well. They make you remember that wearing and matching clothes is first of all innocent play. You first enjoy it for it's own sake. When fashion merely becomes a status symbol, a weapon for power struggles, or an instrument of seduction, it ceases to be enjoyable (not to mention, human and responsible).

summer surprises

Summer is about to end. Before the winds of autumn blow its memories away, I'd like to list down the new things I experienced this summer(with a promise of writing more about each item in the future--I'm crossing my fingers here!)

1.that the cold air in Manchester has the scent of Manila on a stormy night
2. that the rush hour in London train station can almost make a "provincial" girl like me drop dead out of stress
3. paris -- simply that. I experienced Paris. Was telling my papa and lakay on our way down from the Eifel Tower: If Germany boasts of precision, Paris embodies symmetry and beauty.
4. that the people in Rome are as warm as their weather--notably different from the colder and northern parts of Europe. (my second time in this place and it still captivated my heart.No wonder I'm a sucker for Italian cuisine.)
5. that Germans are often more than willing to help you out when you're lost or when you look like it (this one I learned from lakay's account)
6. that my sister lives 20 minutes away from a theme park that is so un-disney yet has its own sense of fun
7. that my sister lives 20 minutes away from a shoe haven, and a house ware paradise
8. that summer in Belgium can be extreeeeeemely unbearably hot
9.that guacamole goes well with roasted porkchops (thanks to Ven and Ellen)
10. that lakay can cook (real surprise for me here)
11. that friendships grow deeper due to crisis (and intervention) ahem-ahem. Anne and Tita C