Fabulous

Simply fabulous by Chanel...


-Shirley

Spotted: Good Life for less + Opal Clutch

I am extremely fascinated with the fashionable talents that Jill has displayed by creating multiple outfits with just a single clutch.  She was able to match Mar Y Sol's opal clutch with 3different outfits, each for a different occasion.  I have to say, I love every one of them.  Here is a more detailed look at her three inspirational outfits.

OUTFIT 1:  A casual outing or even a date night in the city.  This outfit is casual enough for a quick brunch with your BFFs in the city, but with that cowl neck top and cream color wide waist belt are definitely calling out for a romantic date night with your significant other.

 

OUTFIT 2:  Spontaneous and live to inspire!  This outfit, Jill describes it, "it was like the perfect trifecta of pre-planning, spur of the moment inspiration and unbridled carelessness."  

 

OUTFIT 3:  Ready for party anytime!  Party in the house.  Party on the street.  Party in the club!  Party in this virtual world!!!  

Which one is your favorite?

Who is Jill?  She's the author behind Good life for less blog, Good tots and 100 Inspirations.  She's a stylish stay-at-home mom who's not afraid to use colors and shapes in her wardrobe and yet comfortable enough to wear while having fun with her two young children.  Talk about her children, her daughter, Abigail, is super cute(check her out in this video while her mom showcasing her scarves tutorial).

I want to send out our sincere “Thanks” to Jill for featuring us.  I can't wait to read more of her styles.  I wish everyone a happy Friday and a fun-filled weekend!

{ all images via good life for less }

-Shirley
P.S.  Did you enter our 2nd year anniversary giveaway yet???

Sneak Peek: LIN Jewelry Collection

This week went by so fast but I'm not complaining because I love the longer and warmer days; a pleasant reminder that summer is here! 

Talking about summer, in May, Coquese will debut amazing, I mean breathe-taking, unique pieces from the talented jewelry designer, LIN. LIN’s unique sense of style is inspired by her love for “integrating different but complementing components” to invoke originality, creativity and of course, eye-catching elegance. Her pieces are made from good quality material and they are also affordable. Here is a sneak peak of some of her gorgeous earrings.   

LIN Earring Set 1

Aint these earrings just beautiful? This "Set 1" comes in various colors too!  You can get one for each day of  week. 

LIN Earring Set 2

"Set 2", the dangling heart-shaped crystal earrings are my favorite. I'll definitely wear those on a dinner date with my hubby. I'm sure he'll fall in love with me all over again J  OK, just kidding.



Anyway, what kind of outfit would you wear these earrings with? I'd love to know.

In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Monday Inspirational: Mademoiselle en Fleur

What's more inspirational than to present you, Mademoiselle en Fleur, meaning Miss in Bloom, on a Monday morning with these beautiful photos. The exquisite pictures of the model, Sheila Marquez, clothed in these Spring inspired floral dresses for Marie Claire April 2011 issue were shot by the famous photographer Xevi Muntané.What I love the most are the gorgeous pair of  earrings she's wearing.  It can go with a simple white t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and yet still have many heads turning and asking, "where did you get that?"

 

{ image by marie claire, via honestlyWTF and Fashion Copious }

All things Felt

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I was so delighted to come across this felt pillow tutorial from Anne Kyrrö Quinn's new book, Felt Furnishing.  She uses simple technique of gathering and folding to create these Rosette clusters; and with bright orange felt material, it's calling out chic and stylish to any home decor.  Not to mention, it's economical.

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Felt is widely used in home decor as well as accessories.  Because of its durability and versatility, they can be used in various forms.  For instance, you can even make them into slippers.  Purl bee put together this easy tutorial with downloadable slippers template for anyone with no prior sewing skills.  You can go to Purl bee blog for the full instruction on how to make this felt slippers.

{ 1.Loop Necklace Ivory, 2.Loop Necklace Charcoal, 3.Link Necklace Ivory, 4.Plank Necklace Charcoal, 5.Slink Necklace Charcoal }

This brings to mind another talented designer that I'd love to introduce to you, Heather Keiko. Coquese just added her gorgeous jewelry line to our jewelry collections! She's an Australian textile designer who utilises her repetitive layering skills and loves for subtle details to create unique and yet playful jewelry.  Each of her creation brings out the true beauty of the material that she uses.  One of my favorite is the loop necklace in ivory.  Each loop is hand cut in different length and sewn together with the finest German wool felt.  Then, it's threaded together with stainless steel wire cable and finished with a silver chain.  This piece creates a bold statement of creativity and compliments to whoever wears it.

{ Loop Necklace Ivory }

Do you have any felt piece to share?  Feel free to send us an email of your work.

weekend color

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I live in NYC and this winter, we've gotten quite a lot of snow. I tell you, the first few weeks of winter was beautiful. Just seeing everywhere covered with snow is an amusing sight. Even more amusing is the sound of snow especially, in the morning when you're the first one to step on them. The crunchy noise coming from your shoes as you lift them up and back down onto the snow sounds like a symphony. It's all wonderful and magical! And yet, I can't help looking forward to Spring.

You know why?  It's because this morning, I saw this amazing colorful skinny narrow leg trouser in the Zara and the Jazz collection.  I'm drooling over these pants so bad I can't even decide which color to get.  I wish I could get the pants in all four colors so I can wear them four times a week. As soon as I saw the pants, I already knew how I would wear them.  I would accessorize them with a white belt and this Audrey Blossom Robert le Heros handbag. This multi-colored handbag matches all the colors these pants come in so I don't need to change the handbag four times a week. 
How would you accessorize these pants? I'd really love to know.

Bo's Art Salome Bronze Handbag

Bo's Art Salome Bronze Hangbag and the black taffeta short bubble hem dress from Elegant Mart. What a match for a cocktail party! 

Winter Bags

Winter is fast approaching, to brace for this season one’s clothing and accessories change from the bright-colored, shorter and skimpier ones in the summer to heavy sweaters and coats, longer thicker pants and boots in the winter. Although the transition starts out in fall with cold longer nights and shorter days, we don’t fully experience these changes until winter when the nights are so freezing sometimes one forgets what it’s like to feel the sun on one’s skin. With all these weather changes, one question that comes to mind often is which handbags are good for the winter? While many factors influence ones decision in selecting the appropriate bag(s) for the winter, these are the most important ones -- the weather, color, size and your personality.

A key factor in choosing a winter bag is what your winter is like. The winter experienced by someone living in southern California is very different from what one will experience in Chicago. So while the west coast fashionista can still carry bags from the summer and fall collections in the winter, the average woman in Chicago is restricted to winter collections. A moisture repellant and water-resistant hand bag (see our previous blog on water-resistant bags) seems more appropriate for that person living in Chicago who is concerned with keeping her bag looking good after many raining and snowy days.

Most winter clothing tends to be dark or dull colors like black, brown or grey so we naturally choose matching accessories with similar colors. I think it’s worth venturing out a bit this winter by trying multi-colored bags with dark and light colors like these multi-colored totes. If you are edgier, you can try bolder colors like red, yellow or orange. It would definitely brighten up your short winter days.

Size matters a lot when it comes to winter bags --if you will be carrying many items like winter caps, neck scarves and umbrella back and forth because of the weather, then you need bigger totes instead of small hobos or clutch bags. This is when dual function bags help the most; for example, the bag can be used as a clutch during the summer and a tote in the winter. For such dual purpose bags check out our Marielle collection (in an Espresso/Natural or sunflower/ocean).

Finally, knowing fully well that our personalities vary widely, my only tip here is that you express yourself freely with the style of bag that you like as long as the other important factors are fully covered! So browse through the Bo’s Art, Marysol and Robert le heros collections @ coquese and see if you find any bag that satisfies your winter needs!

Bag spills don’t have to fatal

Have you ever spilled coffee on your handbag? Ever had a cosmetic accident leaving your purse smeared with lip gloss or lip stick? Ever had a hand sanitizer spill all over your bag leaving it dripping with liquid? Yes, this happened to one of my friends; she’s been carrying hand sanitizers everywhere to avoid contracting the H1N1 virus -- I really don’t blame her. If you are like me or my friend, you've experienced these type of incidences too often than you would like. One moment of indiscretion, and your handbag might be ruined. Well, I found out that spills don’t have to be fatal; with a waterproof handbag one doesn’t have to worry about spills because you can just wipe them off. So if you are in the market shopping for waterproof bags, check out the diverse collections of water-resistant bags, pouches, travel cases and totes at Coquese. Here are pictures of two of my favorite water resistant bags -- the Audrey Blossom tote and the Blossom clutch. These bags also come in Audrey Indigo, Audrey Lily and Audrey Clair.

     

                                  Audrey Blossom tote and Clutch                                                                                                                                                       

                                                   

  Interior of the Blossom Clutch

As you can see, this clutch would have saved my friend from a hand sanitizer spill, LOL!  Well, hope you found this article helpful. We at Coquese would love to hear about your interesting “bag spills” and solutions that have worked for you so leave us a note and let us you stopped by. We look forward to hearing from you!