REALLY literal - vancouver fashion & travel blog by Christina Chan: November 2010

Wednesday 24 November 2010

separate suits, same shade

(high/low cut American Apparel swimsuit, Forever 21 sunglasses, mom's old necklace)
photos by MC & me
Apologies for the decrease in posting. I'm falling ill (damn you cold weather!) and looking at these photos from Palm Springs make me miss the sun even more. I promise the torture won't go on for too long and I shall provide you with more winter worthy posts soon enough. In the meantime, imagine a bulbous little girl due to many layers of jackets, scarves, gloves, and all things wintry! Now onto the sunny photos... before heading to California I (stupidly) realized that I only have 1, singular bikini to bring. It was only after buying this GORGEOUS swimsuit (that also looks like it belongs in Eric Prydz 'Call on Me' video) that I (once again, STUPIDLY) realized it was the same shade as my other one. I love it though. If you look closely in the 2nd photo you can see juuuust how little fabric is holding the top and the bottom. A mere 2 inches I'd say. V high cut crotch + v low back = a v self conscious me. After numerous hours of sunbathing we went to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. I urge you to eat there as soon as you can and order the roasted pear and blue cheese pizzette and the avocado spring rolls. As for the cheesecake... red velvet with cream cheese. Now if you'll excuse me I need to find a napkin to wipe away all this drool xxx
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Monday 22 November 2010

weekly wants 05

Today in Vancouver it was -7 degrees Celsius. RIDIC. The cold was actually biting at me and my little hands definitely did NOT appreciate being in a not-so-warm-but-ever-so-stylish silk pair of gloves. The other pair I've got are a little too big for me though... perhaps I could go on a mission to attempt (key word being 'attempt') to make them smaller somehow? Hmm... I believe this would mean unstitching the whole thing and sewing it back smaller? No clue. Seeing as how I'd probably fail miserably at this task (and don't want to harm my beautiful pair of Lorick driving gloves) I'll end up wearing tight bracelets on each wrist as a means of securing those babies down. ANYWAY, I've rounded up some lovely pairs all of which include either perforated leather or ribbed cuffs or... both. And for a dash of cuteness there's always Kate Spade xxx

P.S. Not too sure what warmth the Mila and LV options are going to give... Heck who am I kidding. Everyone knows they both purely exist for aesthetic purposes. I guess (in reference to the Mila's) I find it interesting for your hand to look like you're always holding a gun?
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Friday 19 November 2010

the living desert

(random dress, H&M sandals, random pearl bracelets, Topshop dinosaur necklace, mom's old Fendi bag)
photos by EY, MC & me
This is actually day 3 part I of our vacation. Seeing as how day 2 consisted of outlet shopping, free (GOOD) buffets, and the casino... I thought I'd just skip ahead to our trip to the zoo. See, EY has this thing for animals. It's pretty cute actually. Whenever we go on vacation with her the only request is that we go to the aquarium and/or the zoo. Probably not the best day to go (although I don't think ANY day would be considered a good day when temperatures were at 48 degrees Celsius - UGH SO HOT). Even the animals couldn't be bothered to come out of the shade. I don't blame them really. EY couldn't be happier as soon as she saw the zebras and giraffes. I ended up taking more pictures of the plants than the animals... xxx

P.S. What I love about this dress is the halterneck strap that's in the design of leather belt. You'll have to look closely in the 2nd photo to see it. Reminds me of an All Saints dress that I still continue to covet to this very day...
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Wednesday 17 November 2010

madame carven

photos via carven
Check out french label Carven's SS 2011 collection! These are just SOME of the looks I love (I felt like if I uploaded all of them the post would be a little TOO image heavy, so I filtered it down to these 6 beauts). As you can see I love cutouts. Everywhere. Arms, chest, back, waist, sides, neck, you name it - I'LL LOVE IT. And how ADORBS are those shoes?! SO cute that I'm going to ignore the fact that I just wrote 'adorbs' and we'll never speak of this again. Okay? xxx
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Tuesday 16 November 2010

palm springs day one

(Topshop teal bikini, my mom's old necklace, Topshop leather tassle earrings, Forever 21 sunglasses)
photos by EY, MC, GM, and me
My sweethearts! How are you all? The photos above were taken on my vacation to California. These are just photos from day one ;) Wait till you see the rest. The first day mainly consisted of grocery shopping (does anyone else LOVE doing this? No? Just me? OH WELL), checking out the pools, and of course... having a few cocktails throughout it all. One of my girlfriends even fell asleep in the hammocks because we were that relaxed xxx
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Monday 15 November 2010

weekly wants 04

photos via rickowens, sykes, topshop, & dollypearl
This week I'm feeling everything asymmetrical. From hair to garments to makeup to that SICK Rick Owens oyster colored skirt that could also double as a loincloth (at least the Sykes one offers more coverage)... Lusting over the Topshop version with the lingering tail to the soft and feminine Dolly Pearl dress in a magnificent mustard color you'll start to feel like anything symmetrical is just so boring! xxx
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Saturday 13 November 2010

the honeymooner

photos via laurenmoffatt
These are my favorite pieces from Lauren Moffatt's 'The Honeymooner' SS 2011 collection. Delicate boater hats, subtle pastel colors, scalloped edging, crochet, knee high socks, tousled hair, and a dash of coyness is all you need to achieve the look of a newlywed according to little miss Lauren xxx
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Thursday 11 November 2010

society

(Topshop mesh vest, American Apparel tank, Urban Outfitters bralet, Topshop skirt, Value Village belt, Baker's fringe boots)
photos by EY, MC, & JN
As a welcome back gift for JN (after travelling) and myself (from England), we went for a nice dinner at Society in Yaletown. The atmosphere and interior was lovely accompanied by THE cutest waiters. My only regret was not ordering the candy cotton cocktail. It is an art piece in itself! As for the photos... well we ALWAYS have to do a typical Asian pose. Why? BECAUSE WE CAN. I hope my sarcasm translates well from my photographs and writing...

OH! Also, the lovely Danna of Label Lovers Boutique has featured me on her blog and her Facebook page! Thank you dear! Click the links below to view and comment! xxx
1// Label Lovers Boutique Blog ft. reallyliteral
2// Label Lovers Boutique Facebook page ft. reallyliteral
Instagram - @REALLYliteral

weekly buys 03

photos by me via naked eye magazine
I picked up this magazine the other day and the first page I flipped to was the interview on Semi Precious Weapons. No joke. I had met the band while I was in England and they were (and currently still are) touring with Lady Gaga so I was lucky enough to go to a few gigs. I met them before I heard their music so I'm probably biased in my opinion but their stuff is worth listening to! Check out their cover of Lady Gaga's Dance in the Dark mixed with their track Statues of Ourselves during a sound check!

HOWEVER, let me reiterate that this is NOT the main reason as to why I bought the magazine. The editorials were just too beautiful! The geometric patterns and the bubble wrap hat photos above are my favorite! xxx
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Tuesday 9 November 2010

love labels?

Then you'll love Label Lovers Boutique. The wonderful Danna emailed me saying that she wanted to give my readers a 10% discount (Enter code: RL1) when shopping at the site! The prices are affordable already but who doesn't love to save?! They've got a great selection of designer pieces that I've not seen before and the stock is limited so hurry up! And besides, with the slogan 'a chic designer resale shop', who can say no? Here are my picks from the online boutique xxx

1// Gucci Green Leather Clutch
2// Ralph Lauren Leather Fringe Jacket
3// Marc by Marc Jacobs Sequined Velvet Jacket
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