April Showers Bring May Flowers

Flower power has been a prominent in fashion even before the day's of Woodstock, and these days it's basically a given that floral prints will come back in some way or shape during this time of year. It's a really great way to add some flare to what could otherwise be a boring outfit (e.g. t-shirt + jeans). Though I think it's gone a little overboard in recent years, let's face it, there's really never a better season than Spring to wear flowers. Floral has it's ability to go awfully wrong, but I'm really loving some styles I've been seeing lately - many of which are reminiscent of the 90's.

Outfit: Lace & Harem

Lace Crop Top - Crossroads Trading Co.

Denim Vest - H&M

Harem Pants - Audrey (from Crossroads Trading Co.)
Quilted Flats - Unknown
Drawstring Bag - American Eagle Outfitters

Hello all! So it seems like I haven't posted for quite a long time, sorry about that! I've been wrapped in a few other things, but now I'm back and I'll be making a conscious effort to bring more posts :) I've been digging harem pants for the longest time, but never got the courage to actually try them, since it was just assumed that shorties like me couldn't pull them off. But to my surprise, they look much better than I predicted after cuffing them up. So y'all can bet I'll be wearing these come summer evenings in California. Overall though, I have to say my favorite buy was the lace crop top, which was on sale for just $4 at Crossroads, a thrift shop that I have a serious love-hate relationship with.

(Also, sorry about the mess in on the floor...heh)

So what do you guys think? Let me know what you guys think of this outfit and be sure to leave a comment below! You can also find me @mildlyfree on Twitter or follow me @mildlyfree on Instagram.

Asian Fashion: Spring Looks

Asian style is interesting in that fashion trends can go be "in" one day and "out" the next. It's so easy for youth to follow trends closely because street wear is generally made to be very cheap. The quality may be poor, but it won't break your buck every time a new trend starts up again. Since fashion is so experimental around those parts, it's really hard to narrow down the trends currently out there - a lot of which can really swing in different directions in terms of actually being stylish. If you've heard of "FOB" (terminology for the slang, Fresh off the Boat) fashion in either a negative or positive light, you'll know what I mean.

For most of my teen years, FOB fashion had been notorious for its outlandishness (a la poorly constructed English words screen printed on shirts, tacky screen prints, going overboard with the cute, etc.). But lately I've noticed myself liking some styles out there more and more. It must be a combination of the newer trends being more of my taste, as well as the fact that my style has also evolved drastically in the past few years.

Even though it looks like nowadays, Eastern and Western fashion is converging, the Eastern interpretation of it is always a nice breath of fresh air. And also, though I didn't include many of these types of pictures in the post, I find that some of these Asians have an amazing knack for combining brights and primary colors in a very tasteful way.

But enough talk - here are some styles scoring major points with me right now. FYI, in case it isn't obvious enough, I love love love the androgynous styles!

Style Icon: Alexa Chung

It'd be hard to find somebody to top Alexa Chung on my list of favorite style icons, heck, even my list of favorites in entertainment. I totally have a girl crush on her - she's the embodiment of vintage, effortless, and grungy-yet-feminine fashion. Alexa has a distinctively quirky style has been largely responsible for the surge in geek-chic fashion these past few years.

Thrifting at the De Anza Flea Market

The De Anza College Flea Market is the first Saturday of every month and also one of the biggest flea markets in the South Bay. While I don't get the chance to go often, it's always a fun time whenever I visit. From vintage goods to potted plants and used books, this flea market is definitely full of interesting knick knacks. Though there were tons of awesome things, I didn't end up picking anything up. Instead, I do have a bunch of pictures to share ^^ Enjoy!

Fall/Winter '12 Collective Haul

Back in New York, I had been meaning to do hauls for the longest time. After all, there's never NOT a good time to go shopping in the big city! And since I had started working again, I had a little extra cash to spend on vanity purchases, lol. But time got the best of me, and I just never got a chance to even blog about a single haul :(

So I've decided that I'm just going to combine some of my favorite finds from the last few months into one collective haul. And it actually turns out that there is a central theme to many of these pieces - many of them are very much what I would consider to be pretty basic "essentials" - button up collars, blazers, and pullovers.

(Just a warning, since I went a little crazy with the shopping, this is going to be a little photo-heavy, so click below to see the whole post.)

Trend Report: Wax Coated Jeans

courtesy of LFStores.com

Wax coated jeans have been around for a while, but I never really took notice to them until my workplace started to carry them in the past month or two. While the old high school and unfashionable me would turn the other cheek at the funky trend, but I've since learned to keep an open eye when it comes to style.

So, I've really begun to take a liking to the shiny (yet not too metallic-y) look of waxed of jeans. In fact, I'm actually entertaining the idea of possibly investing in a pair! They are so versatile and really have the potential to look good with anything from a loose fitting band tee to a classy, feminine blouse.