jamiesque

Hello guys, as promised here’s my first Wednesday Style Post! Mixed in with some travel, of course. 

Right now I’m blogging from my mom’s home town in the province Mangaldan, but this post is about one of my favorite shopping centers in Manila: Bonifacio High Street. It’s an outdoor shopping center filled with fountains, flowers, and food (I swear the alliteration wasn’t on purpose!). The first time I visited Fort Bonifacio was five years ago when I went to the Philippines as a rising-sophomore in high school. Since then I’ve returned in the summer of ’12 and this year, and I’m always impressed.

Over the years it seems like High Street has gotten bigger and more beautiful, but that’s probably because I’m getting old enough to actually appreciate my surroundings. Not only is it close to other shopping centers like Market! Market!, Serendra, and SM Aura, but everywhere you go there is something to look at. Sunny walkways are covered by flowery trellises and cooled by larger than life art pieces. Elaborate fountains and pop art chairs are scattered around the whole area. Every single aspect of the shopping center is a work of art; Asia really knows how to do malls right.

Fort Bonifacio is one of the higher end shopping centers that features mostly Western brands like Mango, Speedo, Calvin Klein, etc. But you can also shop for Asian brands like The Face Shop and Muji. I did do a little bit of splurging and you might see a blog post reviewing my new products later! 

As for the weather here? Hot and humid.  I’ve been trying to keep my face mostly under control, but my skin is just not having it as you can see in the pictures. LOL

Honestly, you’ll never find me wearing pants above 60 degrees unless I’m dressing up for work or an interview. In order to keep cool I’ve been wearing lots of shorts and crop tops, but sometimes I feel like I can’t really show off my style just by sticking to casual wear. When I go shopping I always feel like I should dress up. You have no idea how many people have stopped me about an outfit and I’ve gotten to redirect them to my blog. Every moment is an opportunity!  To keep my sanity in the heat while also showing off some of my flare I opted to wear a black crocheted crop top from Forever 21, flowing skirt that I created from a high low dress from Forever 21, and black peep toe lace up booties. Half way in the photos you can see that I decided to change up my outfit and opt for my black eyeglasses instead. My mom said that it made me look “more emo” but that’s okay because pop punk will never die. 

I always feel like you should have a good balance in your outfits which is why I try to pair more revealing tops with either high waist bottoms, longer skirts, or a cardigan. Visually you can use that balance to accentuate the part of you that gives you the most confidence. I also try to do this with my jewelry. I don’t wear accessories often, and when I do, it’s very easy for me to go overboard. To combat this, I try to play up only one kind of accessory. A statement necklace with studs; long, luxurious dangling earrings with a simple necklace; lots of bracelets without anything else; or in this case, simple studs with one statement faux cuff earring.

How do you guys prefer to dress in the heat? And what your favorite place to shop? Leave a comment below and share with me! I always love hearing from y’all even if it’s only once in a while. 🙂

Bye for now,
Jamu