Happy Camper

I love random adventures at random hours!

So here's my attempt on being Dora the Explorer for a day during my visit at one of Ayala Land's newest

real estate developments in Iloilo City just more than a week ago.

It was a two-hour roadtrip under the scorching summer sun from my hometown, hence the breezy top and the gym shorts. I knowww, I should have worn something sleeveless instead. But I felt that my shorts were too short so I opted for a sheer long-sleeved top to compensate for the exposed skin below. I added a hat in the same color scheme as my outfit for an adventurous, yes-I-am-in-for-new-discoveries vibe. And like all my other efforts to don a monochromatic look, I, once again failed. *sighs* This bag from Parisian was just too lovely not to bring along. Thank goodness, it didn't feel so much out of place because the pastel-colored houses made the turquoise tote look like it somehow belonged there. 

Look, Cresta even wants us to come in!

Don't forget to hype this on Lookbook.nu here and on Chictopia here!

| hat: SM Accessories | gifted Peter Pan collared top | vintage gym shorts | tote: Parisian Shoes and Bags |

| shoes: Janeo | photos by John Delfin |

This is just an outfit post and teaser for my mini tour around this village.

I hope you'd all visit again soon so I can show you guys what's inside of these houses.

Enjoy the rest of the day lovelies and please join this giveaway if you still haven't! 

OASAP x Wearismela International Giveaway

I will be officially closing it tonight at 10:00PM (Philippine time).

The winner will be announced here + in all my other social networking accounts tomorrow.

Good luck!

Much love,

Mela

Follow me:

TWITTER | LOOKBOOK | INSTAGRAM | CHICTOPIA

Written In The Stars

If you consider a Php1000 head-to-toe look as "thrifting", then I certainly am stingy.

Mom got this dress for Php700+ from a local boutique and never worn it even once. Hence, as the self-proclaimed *coughs* heiress *coughs*  of everything she has, I took this lovely out for some sunlight and fresh air. 

Peplum bodycons are commonly night dresses but since I couldn't think of any party that I'd probably go to in the next few days or weeks, I came up with a summery twist.  

Not a single centavo was spent for any of the items I'm wearing (because they're mom's) save of course for the shoes. I bought them two years ago when Solemate by SM Dept Store first came out. Buy One, Take One for Php399! I barely used them so they got buried under shoeboxes until I forgot I owned something like them. Only then when I looked for unused clothes and shoes to sell did I find them again. 

Everything in this post was written in the stars, ha! Need my sunnies say more? :)

| Photos by Sandy Delfin--who owns everything I'm wearing here except the shoes. XD |

Hype this on Lookbook.nu here!

Have you ever tried thrifting?

I'd love to hear your stories.

Much love,

Mela

P.S. Something about the sunnies that made my nose more pointed. Awkward. But I like it. :|

Follow me:

| TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | LOOKBOOK | CHICTOPIA |

From The Beach To The Runway

Merry Christmas everyone! 

I am back from the crazy buzz of medschool and the holiday rush with this super late intro/outfit post on my first ever Philippine Fashion Week experience last October. To those wondering how I got flooded by invites (with a total of 10 free shows to be exact), I've really been persistent (and prayerful!) since June. Searched online and connected with both designer and blogger friends from Manila just to get into this big fashion event until I landed over philippinefashionweeklive.com. They launched an online raffle in August and I got picked! 

I was never lucky with raffles and giveaways but I guess this one was just meant to be. Our family trip was packed hence I only got to attend one show. Cheers to extra invites, there was more than enough for me and my mom!

Preview Magazine's Daryl Chang in electric blue. Just look at those shoes! She's drop-dead fashionable, I'd trade my entire closet to take her place even just for a day. Front row in fashion shows, all-day, everyday, gaaaah! Me and Mom were given second row seats--good enough view for first-timers, eh?

Mom in a ruffled turtleneck peplum top. Proud stylist/daughter here! 

What do you think of our black-and-red mother-and-daughter combo?

The best things are hidden at the most unusual places! Got this ombre dress for only P899 from SM Ladies' Fashion's resort line, Coco Cabana. Yes, yes, yes, I am wearing a beach dress! Lesson learned? Never underestimate the resort wear section. Their maxi dresses are way cheaper and they look absolutely fit for formal events, too.

And my luck didn't just end there. I was also spotted by the Style Bible team! Oh that night was certainly a dream come true! I finally have a photo with the StyleBible.PH logo on it. View it here: http://www.stylebible.ph/gallery/popup/parties/4330#18_1351570201103012

A lot of good things happened to my blog this year because of all your support. I believe it's just about time to stand alone and get my very own domain. What do you guys think of wearismela.com? I'll be posting the runway photos plus all the other backlogs next. Happy holidays!


Much love,
Mela


This giveaway is extended until January 3rd!
WWW x Superb Finds and The Couple Store Giveaway
 Join now while you still can :)

Follow me on Twitter: @meladelfin
Instagram: @wearismela

Wonka Nerd

I'm always on a rush and when it comes to last-minute styling, my mantra will always be "When in doubt, colorblock." With the color-loving person that I am, color-blocking is something that I have already mastered. Just a tip: On occasions when you don't really need to be dressy, why not sport a top and skirt in the same color family and leave the print-on-print trend on your bag and shoes? That would be like hitting two birds with one stone!

I love how this ensemble made me look a little grown-up without compromising my fun, youthful side. I feel like I taste so sweet and sour a la Strawberry and Grape-Flavored Wonka Nerds. Childhood nostalgia but yum! This is definitely something that I'd wear when I go on hospital rounds 5-7 years from now.

(top,skirt,sunnies : random SM Dept. Store brands | bag : Gap | photos by : Ralph Delfin)

And I am finally on Lookbook.nu! I've been receiving a lot of queries about why I don't have one. With the kind of schedule that I have, a blog and three or more social networking site accounts is just too much to handle. Chictopia has been the home of my outfit photos for over two years now and starting all over again with Lookbook.nu is a step out of my comfort zone. This is just my second LB post and I will be archiving my previous looks there. I hope to meet more amazing fashion inspirations and get some support too. Cross your fingers with me, please? I'd love to check your LBs out, send your links over! 

Also, thanks to everyone who stayed up late and took time to vote for me 247295627461846x just so I'd be StyleBible.PH's My Style Star for November. You're efforts were all worth it because I WON! Yiheee! *happy dance* Really, I am just a microbe in the blogging world but I wouldn't be who I am or where I am now without your support. So from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SO MUCH! May you all be blessed a hundred more times the votes you shared.
Happy weekend, everyone!

Much love,
Mela

Follow me on Instagram: @wearismela

Join my giveaways:

WWW x Put It On

WWW x Superb Finds and The Couple Store

Outfit Repeater

If you happen to be a 90's kid like me, you could have also watched Hillary Duff's The Lizzie Mcguire Movie in your teenage years. Remember how she was humiliated by Kate Sanders for wearing exactly the same powder blue dress from the spring dance? Dreadful. Or Jamie in A Walk To Remember--mocked for wearing the same ugly sweater since kindergarten. Just typical mean-insecure-it-girls-bullying-the-class-nerds high school scenes, uh-huh, but those kind of stuck on me.

 As much as I want my closet to be an endless pit, it just isn't. There will always be that favorite dress or top that I will never get tired of wearing over and over again. Or that only pair of leather jeans I have that does magic to whatever top I pair it with. We all have our own outfit-repeating stories to tell. In fact, we're all guilty of being outfit repeaters once or twice or even a dozen more times in our lifetime. And guess what, nothing's wrong with it! 

Now let me tell you a little secret. The sad part of personal style blogging away from home (as I always say) is not having a camera and a brother (who patiently takes my photos) handy. It's attending events and wearing blog-worthy outfits and not being able to document them.  

I celebrated my birthday with a few friends and classmates last October 13 and as a yearly tradition, I get myself a new dress, a.k.a. birthday dress. So on that same day, I searched for April and ambushed her on a party just to take my photos. How desperate! Anyway, it took her a while to send me the photos (no worries girl, I totally understand!), so I re-wore everything from eyewear to shoes during our vacay just so I'd have my birthday outfit taken. Good thing, my hair's digipermed already (yes, yes, yes, I am now curly!) and I forgot some accessories at home; thus making outfit-repeating a little more subtle. Oh, what a hairstyle-change can do! XD 

And finally, the original birthday outfit photos! Thank you so much, April!

| eyewear: SM Accessories | necklace: Mizar Clothing | dress: SM GTW | bag: Guess | shoes: AsianVogue | First 5 photos by: Ralph Delfin | Last 2 photos by April Garcia of Sugar Plum Studio |

Call me outfit repeater or whatever label you want, but I will surely wear this dress again. It's just so pretty not to! :D

To those wondering why I still haven't posted the PFW photos yet, I'm sorry I forgot to bring them over when I left my hometown after the break. :( I hope this makes up for my forgetfulness in the meantime. Besides, I'm also very excited to share with you guys that the Style Bible team approached me after the show to take this photo!

 

Click this link to view it on their website: http://www.stylebible.ph/gallery/popup/parties/4330#18_1351570201103012

Check out the other photos in the gallery as well!

Have a blessed Sunday, everyone!

Much love,

Mela

P.S. Have you joined this giveaway? Giveaway Alert : WWW x Put It On

I'll be giving away loads of neon accessories soon, so keep posted!

P.P.S. I am finally on Instagram! Because I shall be busy in the coming weeks, I might update it more often than my blog! Follow away: wearismela

Heelless Is Not Flat

It was disheartening when I found out that our Singapore trip wouldn't push through this sembreak. So to make me feel better, I just thought that everything happens for a reason and more often than not, it always is for the better. True enough, the domestic flights that we booked last May fell on the Philippine Fashion Week--something that I've always dreamed to attend but that never happened of course because I'm not allowed to travel alone on a faraway, foreign place. Yes, Manila is already faraway and foreign for a probinsyana like me. :) But that's another blogpost story. :P

My parents have been followers of Bo Sanchez for more than 15 years and I have read each and every issue of Kerygma magazine since gradeschool and finished reading and re-reading Bo's books too. I was also a regular attendee of The Feast in Iloilo until circumstances prompted them to stop holding it for awhile.

We missed The Feast so much so we attended the 10:30AM schedule at the PICC last Sunday. The arena was packed and the Holy Mass was spectacular. Bo's talk again exceeded my expectations. It was a wonderful experience--full of laughter and happy tears and songs that left me LSS-ing for days.

Because I was rushing when I packed my clothes (not again?!), I just brought whatever stuff I saw first and even forgot my accessories. :| I wasn't in the mood to go girly-girly sweetie pie so here's what I came up with:

When I was little, I was often taunted as wer-wer (thick lips). Now you see why. 

Never have I pictured myself wearing heelless shoes before because:

1.) I find them pathetic.

2.) They're a bit pricey.

3.) I can't even have a decent walk with heels, what more with heelless shoes?

4.) They're not wearable on regular sidewalk-walking days.

But when I saw these hidden at the lowest, darkest, most rejected shelf at the SM Department Store, I just knew that I have to adopt them because:

1.) They're on sale, yayyy! 50% OFF!!!

2.) The platforms aren't that high.

3.) They're super comfy when worn.

4.) They're totally safe and stable to walk on. More like wearing wedges!

5.) I don't have plain black shoes yet.

6.) Unbelievably, they still have it on my size. :D

(top: gift from cousin | leggings: SM GTW | bag: Coach | | shoes: Janeo - SM Dept Store)

It was starting to drizzle but thank you Papa for patiently taking these photos!

 My efforts to hide my chubby cheeks made me look maldita. :| I'll try to figure a friendly smile without my cheeks puffing next time. XD

What do you think of heelless shoes?

Much love,
Mela