Femtalks Blog

I simply love Swift’s look for her fragrance ad. She is stunningly gorgeous in the Christian Siriano‘s gown made for the Spring Summer 2011 collection. Love the whole dreamy and fairy tale concept behind it.

Her make-up is also a steal =)

It’s even more stunning to see the gown in motion, here’s her ad video from youtube:

Becoming a first time mom that has to do constant direct nursing, because my baby won’t tolerate bottle feeding at all is quite a disenchant for a lingerie lover such myself. During my last trimester of pregnancy I hunted many nursing bras but of course haven’t been a mom yet I have no clue what to look for in a nursing bra. I grunted in dismay because everywhere I look for nursing bras I found dull design and sadly but true most bras just don’t feel comfortable when I tried on. I just thought I’d share what I stumble so far on what works and what don’t on nursing bras.

As mentioned before I am a big fan of lingerie. So getting used to beautiful collections such as Victoria’s Secret, Chantelle, La Perla, Malizia by La Perla, Simone Perele, and more… it’s quite a difficult task to find elegant nursing bras with expectation of such sophisticated design encompassing great material such as the ever so soft and beautiful Chantilly lace. Yes my first hunt is for style not for comfort so here are couple of nursing bras having the style and great design: HotMilk Mama, PANACHE, and Cake Lingerie. I like them because they come with great support and no underwire.

Shown above is HotMilk mama.

Above is PANACHE and below is Cake Lingerie

Although these nursing bras are stylish and fashionable, the comfort level and practicality of these bras simply not at the top notch level. Of course this is based on my own experience because I am in constant nursing situation and nursing isn’t neat, period. If baby won’t latch it’s a mess, if there’s let down it’s another mess, so I ended up having to wash nursing bras all the time and hand wash isn’t an option because like most mom, I am so exhausted and tired with taking care of the baby so I opted for a more functional and easy to use type of nursing bra which is the sleep nursing bra with no clip. If I have to wear clip style nursing bra I’d opt for Bravado! Bravado! offers great support and comfort but its clip style to me means extra time and just extra hassle.

pictured above is Bravado!

Despite its fashionless look, sleep nursing bra is my most favorite nursing bra style. These bras are comfortable, fast to handle for on and off nursing and easy to maintain. I like Motherhood Maternity Sleep bra and Majamas sleep bra.

above is majamas nursing sleep bra and below is motherhood maternity wrap nursing sleep bra

The Majamas is made out of elastic material while the Motherhood maternity is made of 100% cotton.
At the end comfort and functionality has won me over design, because believe it or not motherhood is tough for a first timer. Having these sleep style bra is very convenient and to me is very user friendly. I’ll post another topic on how to nurse both in private and in public and why this no clip style bra is on my top preference.

Flip Flop is the most popular footwear in many developing countries due to their low production cost. In developed countries flip flop is more of a of seasonal footwear popular during the summer time. This popular foot wear have evolved from a simple rubber thin sole type to a more elaborate with fashion beeds and embellishment to make it looks appealing.

However the fact behind flip flop is not clearly visible until some years back, in 2008, where researchers from Auburn University found that wearing thong-style flip-flops can result in sore feet, ankles and legs. Here is a quote on flip flop wearing that rise safety concern:

Flip-flops do not provide ankle support, and can cause many foot-related problems. Some flip-flops have a spongy sole, so when the foot hits the ground, it rolls inward and the sponge allows it to roll even more than usual. This is known as overpronation and causes many problems in the foot. Each time a foot hits the ground, the arch is supposed to be locked to absorb shock. But during overpronation, the arch opens and releases this locking mechanism, leading to problems such as pain in the heel, the arch, the toes and in the forefoot. Overpronation of the foot also results in flat feet, especially if flip-flops are worn throughout childhood and adolescence when the muscles, bones, and tendons of the feet are growing and developing. Exacerbating this, some flip-flops force a person to overuse the tendons in the foot, which can cause tendinitis.

I personally love flip flop especially for summer or if you happen to live in hot climate country then it’s a perfect everyday foot wear not just for summer because flip flop foot wear let your feet breath and enjoy the hot air breeze – just a wonderful feeling overall! Just be careful when choosing the flip flop some are very cheaply made and only come with a very thin sole which not only will cause foot pain in a long term wear but also offer almost no protection because your feet is so close to the ground, imagine when you have a puddle of water on your way or stepping into small rough stone which can feel pretty bumpy at the ball of your feet.
I recently walk around to find myself a good pair of flip flop for comfort wear and I found this brand called FitFlop from UK and by far it is my favorite brand for flip flop since it produces great sole for it. Even better news for women – it is a high rise flip flop or you may want to refer to it like a platform flip flop. Just a little rise to our height is always a good thing but the good news is this is not a damaging rise like you’d find in most high heel shoes. Indeed Fit Flop is very comfortable to wear, although not so fashionable! The above picture show a FitFlop sole structure and below show FitFlop diagram chart to highlight its benefit. source.

If you are interested to purchase FitFlop the site listed some online retailers. Great things that this brand also sell boots and shoes other than flip flops.

I used to think I always have to buy fancy tank tops especially for evening out then after a while people will recognize this one of a kind fancy tank top and can’t wear it again and again to meet up with the same crowd. I don’t know if this is just me but most fashion lovers – they just get tired with the same thing fairly quickly

So I started seeing alternatives that last longer – statement necklaces such as those designed by Ranjana Khan, Vera Wang, Oscar De La Renta, Suzana Dai, etc. I figured these may be more versatile as you can move it around to wear with turtle necks, sexy tank top, or even cocktail dress. It trully adds flair and certainly makes a distinct statement =)

see sample of statement necklaces I am quite a fan of:

Ranjana Khan Black Crystal Bib Necklace – Nieman $880.00

Ranjana Khan Pearl & Crystal Chain Necklace $920.00

Ranjana Khan Pink Necklace

Tom Binns Crystal Necklace from net-a-porter $2,670.00

When it comes to accessories, especially necklace we female tend to think of the classy diamond, gold necklace to add that little glam, but wait till you see Suzana Dai‘s jewelry design – she creates stunning classy and chic jewelries from beads, feather, and fabrics yet it looks very sophisticated especially when a Hollywood actresses made it popular: Blake Lively as Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl looking gorgeous with Suzana Dai’s Antwerp Necklace against her blue mini dress.

After all a necklace is not only to accessorize the neck line and collar bone but it serves well to add spark to an elegant and simple dress as well – how thoughtful of Blake to wear it this way (love the way she looks)

here’re more pictures of the necklace:

Antwrep Necklace available for £231.50 from boticca.com or $382.00 from starsandinfinitedarkness.com.
And if you are curious about her bag this is a little info for it:

Notting Hill Design Wesbourne Bag in Sunset Orange Color made of Glossy Phyton leather. Price: £1,895.

The Vanity Fair magazine last summer’s issue somehow still leave me dreaming about those dresses worn by beautiful young hollywood rising stars pictured as their front cover. I love Amanda’s dress the most.

Above photograph featuring Cover girls from August 2008 Vanity Fair issue: Amanda Seyfried, Emma Roberts, Blake Lively, and Kristen Stewart (The Twilight and New Moon hot rising star, isn’t she cute and charming here?)

Another photograph from the same magazine featuring stars from the Gossip Girl show. The photograph above somehow reminds me of a high school prom. I love the fluidity look in the dresses’ they wore.

source1, source2.

Michelle Phan has always been my favorite inspiration for make-up, she’s just a naturally great artist. This haloween she shared two great make up ideas which I like so much one is for a cutie Barbie Doll look and the other is for the cool Seductive Vampire look, enjoy her make up tutorial to get the look.

I found this really modern yet elegant design of wedding band which reminds me of some traditional classic oriental elements/patterns.

The wedding band design is custom made and designed for the groom and the bride.

I think Ziyi’s dress in Coco Chanel Igor Stravinsky Premiere 2009 suited her very well. She rendered a simple yet elegant image of a lady here. If you asked who designed this – too bad I don’t have any idea who is the designer of this gorgeous piece of pink silverish dress, but I would love to hear a comment if any of you know the designer of her dress and her purse. The purse might have been a Judith Leiber but not so sure…
And I really love the backless part of her dress, see it below:

I like the low cut back that seems to drape perfectly on her petit body, however I dislike is the rather horizontal lining of the dress’s texture especially on the under breast portion somehow it appear as to stretch out someone’s belly and doesn’t really help shaping the body (unlike versace dress in where women’s body’s part always seems to be enchance to be better, in my own oppinion).

My friend recently shared her findings of CocoRose London with me. We both likes to wear our high heels for special events, but of course that little bit part of walking bother us – even just a short walk from the car to our friends’ house BBQ party. I can’t imagine how it would be for women that has to take tubes / subway must be a real pain walking for an event in those killer heels. This foldable flats by CocoRose is very friendly at least it doesn’t appear embarrassing at all because it looks good and secondly it is easy to carry just need to fold them into their fancy small bag (the bag come along with a purchase of every pair of CocoRose).

I am now waiting for the non-bow version of these fancy flaps to come out again. Personally, I am not into the bow stuff – to me it resembles my ballerina practice soles not a fancy flaps. I love the purple silver they pictured on their website header too bad it’s not in stock at the moment. Another good thing about CocoRose is their price point – so much more affordable than Sue London =P

source.