All about boots!

My office is sending me somewhere.  To wherever that is I would not reveal yet until I have that ticket.  Besides, it's too early for me to divulge and it's not that sure yet.  : D


But I just can't hide my excitement!!!


Anyway,  I am here to write about some things I have researched about...boots.  I love experimenting on my footwear.  And I would really love to wear boots.  However, since we are in a tropical country, I don't think it is practical to wear such.  However, I still had some opportunities in wearing one! Ha ha. 

Anyway, as I have done my research I found out that there are many...as in many types of boots and it really amazed me!


1. Chelsea or Beatle -- are ankle high with a pointed toe and side gores of elastic popularized by the Beatles in the 1960’s.

2. Chukka – (also see Desert Boots) are ankle high, with two eyelets, usually suede, unlined, cushy crepe-rubber sole. Originally worn by polo players and derived from chukka, a period in polo games. First worn in the U.S. in 1924 by the Duke of Windsor who had visited India, played a little polo and picked up a few pairs of these boots.

3. Combat – the ones your mother wears were waterproof, lace up the front and have a thick rubber outsole, and designed for U.S. Armed forces, especially the infantry. This is currently making waves in fashion runways!

4. Cowboy – pointed toes for slipping into a stirrup, high heels for keeping you there. The origins of the Cowboy Boot were as riding boots for the marauding Mongol tribesmen. This is especially popularized by Taylor Swift!

5. Desert -- similar to Chukka boots but usually lined, and made with stitchdown construction, where the upper is not wrapped under your toes, but turned outward, like a flange and sewn directly to the outsole. Desert boots were introduced by Clarks in the 1950’s for the general public. They were modeled after the boots custom made in a Cairo bazaar for Montgomery’s Eighth Army, which were patterned after the "veldtschoen" worn by Boer farmers in South Africa.

And of course, fashion has found a way to innovate this in its favor:

Can you imagine walking the desert with this? Lolz!

6. Doc Martens – A German Doctor, Klaus Maertens, was recovering from a skiing accident in Seeshaupt, Bavaria. His injuries made walking uncomfortable and he couldn’t find comfortable shoes. Along with Herbert Funck, an engineer, in 1945 he devised a method of heat-sealing a shoe sole to the upper creating a cavity or air cushion. He started to produce the "air sole" in 1947 and sold the shoes in Europe. In 1959 the Doctor licensed production in the United Kingdom to R. Griggs & Co. of Northamptonshire, England. Northamptonshire, north of London in the East Midlands is the traditional center of England's leather trade and over the ages has produced some of the world's finest footwear. The first Dr. Martens (Griggs anglicized the name) were produced April 1, 1960.

7. Engineer or Motorcycle – 12 inch high, straight sided, with low heel and leather strap buckled across the instep. Motorcyclists of the fifties to protect their legs from the heat of the engine wore the boot.

8. Galoshes (also golosh, galoches or pattens) – a waterproof ankle-high boot worn over the shoe. Originally a wooden platform, which buckled on, elevating the foot from the filth of the street. They were popular from the 14^th to 17^th centuries. Galoshes consisted of wooden soles, with a leather top. The footwear was serviceable, hardwearing and provided protection from the wet ground. The term also describes an overshoe originally of leather and or fabric and now usually rubber.

Aren't these what we call rain boots?

9. Hiking – Provide support above the ankle with suede leather upper, padded collar and soft leather lining. Lace up front usually with a cushioned insole and padded quarter and tongue. They often have Vibram lug-type outsoles and heel. See the section on how to break these in.

10. Hip – rubber fishing boot extending to the hips with straps to fasten to belt. I'm sorry but I find this type funny.

11. Hessian –A high, tasseled boot introduced into England by Hessians in the 19th century.

12. Heuse -- high soft leather shoes that were forerunners of modern boots, they appeared towards the ninth century AD. O! I love love this!

13. Jockey – made of smooth dark leather with a cuff than turns down to reveal a lighter color lining.

14. Mukluk – reaching to lower calf, originally worn by Alaskan Eskimos and made of walrus hide or sealskin, moccasin construction, tanned with the hair left on. Would the “ugg” qualify here?

15. Riding – high boot to below the knee, for horseback riding, may have bootstraps at the top for ease of pulling on the boots.

16. Wellington – Named for the Duke of Wellington, British military hero who defeated Napoleon in the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. He eventually became Britain’s Prime Minister. The boot is to the knee with a seam below the ankle giving the appearance of a shoe to which the upper boot was attached, and seams down the sides to the ankle with strap and buckle at the top to keep water and shrubbery out. The boot is high in the front and cut away in back to let you bend your knee on horseback. Wellington’s originals were of soft leather, but in the late 1800’s Gates Rubber Company of Scotland started making the style in soft dark green rubber! They were successfully put to the test again during World War I along with the Burberry trench coat.

Any more types I haven't mentioned? Whew!

Source: www.askandyaboutclothes.com

Then came Reymar

Everybody dreams of having their knight in shining armor…their prince charming. A person who would sweep them off their feet…a person who would fight for them against all odds…a person who will walk the beach shores with them…or a person whom they would talk to infinitely about life, love, its problems…

I am a very idealistic person when it comes to love. I always told myself that my first relationship is going to be my last. However, that didn’t turn out to be true. I had some imperfect relationships in the past. Heartaches were inevitable.

Then came Reymar.

Reymar was…different. I could remember the first time I saw him. He had spiky hair, was wearing loose shirt, cargo shorts and sneakers. He had shades clipped on his shirt and was eating burger from Burger Machine. His cousin, who’s also my kabarkada, introduced him to me. He was a good conversationalist. I was amazed at the numerous topics we could converse in. But that time, I had biases against Manilenos. I thought they were babaero and mambobola. To simplify, I had no trust with boys from the Big City.

However, we still became friends and constantly texted. But I clarified to him that we can be no more than that. Though he tried to express how he felt for me, I tried to ignore it because I simply wanted him to be a friend. I didn’t want to ruin such friendship. For almost four years, he was OK with that. He was always there. Whenever I needed someone to talk to, from deep problems to trivial topics, he was always there. I liked conversing with him because he makes life so light. He seems to view things in a funny way. He can think of funny things at simple objects. We would talk about movies and would debate about whether it was a good one or not. We would converse about songs and would agree whether the lyrics were well-written or what. Our conversations would last for hours. And never did I feel bored.

And then one day, I just realized that I was constantly looking for his messages. I longed for his advice and stories. I felt so happy whenever I am able to talk to him. I really felt comfortable. I felt uneasy whenever I couldn’t receive a text message from him. And that was when I realized that I already fell for him.

Reymar is not the leading-man-in-a-hollywood-love-story-movie type. He is…funny. His actions are awkward and that makes him more funny. Just a sentence coming from him and that would send me bursting into laughter. In short, he is my knight in shining armor, who, while rescuing me, stumbled into a stone. Then, when he was about to draw his sword, he realized that he forgot it at home. And then my love life, which I thought would be a romantic movie, turned out to be a comedy. LOLZ.

Everybody dreams of having their knight in shining armor…their prince charming. A person who would sweep them off your feet…


Mine may not be as charming as Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise…he may not be a person who would really fight for me because he is against any sort of conflict…he may not be a person who celebrates Valentine’s Day because he thinks it’s corny…and he may not be the type who I can seriously talk to because he would laugh at things anyway…but he’s my Reymar. I am happy with him. And I love him. And I believe that no matter what genre of movie my life will turn out to be…I know that with him…it is always going to be a happy ending.

ADVANCE HAPPY BDAY MY DEAR REYMAR!

On make-up

Ok guys, first of all, I would like to put a disclaimer that I am not really good in putting make-up on. I am still in the process of learning how to.LOLZ.  If you really want to know how to put the best make-up on, go to You Tube and search for "Michelle Phan". That's how I learned in putting make-up. By watching her o-so-famous You Tube videos.

Anyway, as I've said, I initially did not like putting make-up (except for powder and lipshiner back then) because:

1. It's a waste of money

2. It's a waste of time

3. I have a very very sensitive facial skin that exposure to some unfamiliar powder or chemical would immediately make my face itchy.

However, I am currently changing this and finding ways to avoid (3) problem above.  Why the change of heart?

1. I need make-up in my profession.  I constantly communicate with the client and do not want to scare them by looking like a ghost with my paleness and black eyes.

2. I have learned that make-up serves as our facial skin's protection from the environment.  True enough, my current foundation has a sunblock. :)

3. Since my work demands hours and hours of toil and tons of stress, I get breakouts a lot.  So make-up is also a means of covering these flaws for me.

So what am I currently using?

1. On a clean face, they say it is best that we tone first.  I currently have two kinds of toners (and I use one depending on my mood..haha!).

The first one is for my pimples and the next one is to elimate the yellowness that is inherest in Asian skin. 

However, I would also like to confess that there are mornings when it's really hot outside or when I am in a rush (which is almost always) that I skip putting this on.  However, these come handy when removing make up at night.

2. Moisturize. However, since I constantly get breakouts, I no longer moisturize. :(.  However, back in the days when I did not know this,  I bought these moisturizer to partner my toners above:

I am currently not using these now. Any buyers? Lolz.

3. Foundation.  Since, as I've said I have a very sensitive skin, it took a while before I found the perfect one for me.  Since I do not use moisturizers, it was adviced that I use liquid foundation.  I tried Revlon's and Maybelline's liquid foundations but I think I was allergic because my face got itchy whenever I put it on. 

Lucky for me, there's VMV Hypoallergenic products for persons with sensitive skin.  So currently, I use this one:

4. Concealer.  O, this is helping me alot.   I used to constantly wear Maybelline's light beige perfect concealer but I got guilty in putting it in some of my blemishes for fear it might irritate it further.  So currently,  I am using Body Shop's concealer because it also has a curing effect on these blemishes.  Byebye, guilt feeling.

(I also have a facial mask from the same tea tree line. LOLz)

5. Loose powder for extra touches.  Though I rarely use this, my loose powder is currently L'oreal's mineral loose foundation.

But of course, I still retain my usual Maybellineg pressed powder for those o-so-lazy days.

6. Brows.  I have the perfect eyebrow pencil ever.  No further explanations needed because this is just the best!  It's from Revlon and it's fast-selling in malls!

7. Eyes.  For me this is the most complicated part in the putting-of-making-up process.  This is the one that takes longest to do.   Good thing for me, I have Maybelline's pink pallet which has a guide on the back on how to properly put the 4 shades on:

 I use the same rule (from darkest to lightest), in my brown L'oreal Wear Infinite Eyeshadow quad with different shades of brown (my favorite so far).

I also have this from Revlon but I am currently figuring out how to properly apply it, because it's kind of metallic:

8. Blush.  I sparingly use blush because I have not found that perfect blush for me yet.  I am eyeing VMV's lip and cheek tint.  But for now, I am using the one given by my Lola from L'oreal:

9. Lipstick - I love pink shades of lipstick.  I think they look more natural.  I don't like shades of red, for now.  I love Maybellines' watershine series, I have the B24 and MF21 shades. I also have a pink shade from the same brand's Forever Lipcolor series:

And I also have a metallic color from Revlon. But I still don't know how to use it currently.

I also have Maybelline's Champagne Passion for lip gloss, whenever I need one.

And do you know that I have a "pouting lipstick" which Tita Aimee gave me.  I thinks it's from Wet and Wild, I forgot. When you put it on, it's supposed to make your lips look "pouttier".  But you also feel like a tingling sensation in your lips.  It's fun putting it on though! But I rarely rarely use this.  Just for laughs.


So there you go! Whew! I just realized now that I have really invested much in these stuffs! No wonder my bag is o-so heavy all the time.  If ever I get to learn something unique or informative about how to put these on, I will let you know.  For now, I am just stuck with the basics!

The shopping guilt

Just bought three pairs of shoes this week and one of them is the most expensive I bought so far. 
It's a Joezee black suede platform from Nine West.  Look at its beauty:

Now I'm having this post-shopping guilt.

I'm gonna spend less next week. I promise. 

Eccentricity

Haven't you noticed how eccentric fashion statements have suddenly become the "in" thing these days? Take Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Rihanna, for example. 

Lady Gaga has been noted for some of her...well, unconventional fashion statements.  Some of her unforgettable fashion pieces are as follows:

yes, that dress is made of meat!

nope, I don't think that's her real hair

yup, she wore that to last year's VMA

And we also have Katy Perry....

well, that's a good way of promoting her new album...

talk about not knowing what to wear!

i wonder who she voted for president...

And of course, Rihanna.  Eversince she made her comback from that "domestic violence" controversy, she has become...rather bold with her fashion statements....



Some of the other celebrities who are trying too much to be " unique" but are becoming too trying hard are Christina Aguilera (with her bionic whatchamacallit) and Kesha's WWF looks.

Hmp, could these spell a trend?