Dress it Up Winter Style

At first I was afraid I was petrified. That would be the best line to describe how I felt when I learned of this winter thingy. Do you know the complete set of accessories you need to have to survive that chilly season? Well, you have to have a bonnet, mufflers, earmuffs, gloves, coats/jackets and boots/uggs. Very costly. I know it will be a perfect excuse for a shopaholic like me but I learned that we don’t have budget for it and that sucks men. Big time!

Instead of sulking on it, I just considered it a “test” for the fashionista in me and I’m up for the challenge. First thing I did was to google on sites containing my terms “Korean winter fashion.” I don’t know if I’m a poor surfer or what but I barely found pages containing pictures of the complete ensembles of above accessories. In the end I found myself gorging on endless Web pages on the sartorialist.com featuring styles on the streets of NYC. While some may be applicable, most styles are not really suited to where I am going. So I promised to become the sartorialist myself and gave myself an assignment to capture Korean styles during my short stint. That’s the least I can do to help this poor world. Haha!

Being the self-confessed Koreanovela addict, I know how eclectic the tastes of Korean girls are when it comes to fashion so the least of my objective is not to be left out. And with a flash of pure genius, I decided to watch again My Girl in Youtube. Haha!

Later on the invitation came and one fact hit me: we are required to wear corporate outfit. What the heck? We’re going to the factory. I worked for a production before and we can just wear anything we want. Well, I was wearing corporate styles back then but it’s different doing it this time.

My first dilemma: boots. I have a lot of shoes but honestly I didn’t invest much on this ‘coz it’s hard to find one in my size. I also know it’s useless searching in the mall because that would require a size 11 to make way for 3 pairs of socks in it. Also, I was advised by Leon (counterpart) in chat not to wear heeled shoes on the last day ‘coz I won’t be allowed to enter Everland (Korea’s Disneyland). My jetsetter friend Tytana told me to wear “Uggs” which is what most Jasmine wore in My Girl which I don’t think I can find anything here. So in my search for shoes, I found this boots from a local brand that costs Php400 (70% off). It’s in my size yet can still fit at least fit many socks that’s why I’m excited about wearing it. Ü Xiela’s right, the world conspires for the shopaholic. Haha!

Next would be layering. Sure, I’ve done layering in my life but the challenge this time is not to wear warm clothes without looking fat. As per Tita Millet, the -10°C would require 4 layers of clothes. So she lent me these grandma-knitted clothes that are very Baguio-ish and thick. According to her it’s up to me to funk it up and make it suitable for my age. I also bought one I found in the mall.

Mufflers or Pashminas. Why oh why haven’t I bought something like these before? Look at the mufflers Tita lent me. They’re so gorgeous. But I think the problem with them is it’s hard to find one to match your outfits. However, plain colored ones look so dull. So during an ordinary malling day, I found these mufflers and gloves on sale in Esprit. Weee!! They’re the last pairs and good thing their colors match. Yes, they’re made for me. Haha!

Coats. I loooooooove trench coats. But I don’t own one because wearing one makes you look so stand out among a crowd isn’t it? And it’s not appropriate for our weather. But this training gave me the perfect excuse to buy one. Hihi. Really, if there’s one thing I wish during my shopping is not to get so attached to the accessories ‘coz surely I will load on them. Gosh! Anyways, there are these export over-runs in Greenhills that look really smashing. I bought one in my fave corporate color black. Tried it this way:

Okayokayokay. I know, I know. Take off the shades and the stilettos but I love the whole package. Makes me feel like a New Yorker. Haha!! I know that skinny jeans don’t really look corporate-ish but I’m planning to be a pasaway and wear it on the last day. Ssshh!!

Just the sight of it makes me excited all over again. Ü Let’s see how I give justice to these pieces.