Author Archives: Barneys Girl

Where is HG?

02 Wednesday Sep 2009

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Has anyone tried clicking into Coffee with HG lately, only to be met with the same Alex Monroe Jewelry post again? I know that has happened to me a few times in the hopes for an update, even though she’s told me repeatedly that she was going to stop in August. I even personally asked her again when I was back in HK last week to reconfirm- just to be sure! And unfortunately my dear readers, it breaks my heart to say it but HG has really stopped blogging! Not because she’s tired of blogging, but because she has officially stepped into the corporate world, with all its corporate mandates about working on the side and all that. She asked me to let dear ex-I am Fashion readers who have followed us to our new blogs to know this. After all, it would be extremely rude and irresponsible to just disappear from the face of the blogsophere without a word- and we are ever the polite and responsible bloggers. Sigh, I suddenly feel so alone. Let’s hope that this is a temporary thing and she will some day come back to us!

The Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush

25 Tuesday Aug 2009

Posted by in Fashion

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I finally got a much needed eye brow plucking session the other day at Bobbi Brown- a very popular and frequently fully booked service here at the BB counters in HK. For me, this is one of my must do’s in HK whenever I visit- I made my mom make a booking for me way in advance! I also got a fresh bottle of their gel eye liner. Mine was getting a bit dried and hard to apply, so I was due for a new jar. I’ve been a big fan of for the past 4 years and when applied from under the eye lashes, it creates the most beautiful line that subtly highlights your eyes and fills in the gaps between lashes making them look fulller.

bobbi brown- brush

While there, the lady introduced me to the ultra fine eye liner brush. She says that the finer tips will get into the gaps between the lashes much easier, and I can skip the whole going from underneath thing altogether using the regular  eye liner brush. Always a sucker for artists who gives me beautifully clean and sharp eye brows, I gave it a try. This brush does make a remarkable difference! It’s SO much easier to apply I wonder why they even bother sell the regular eye liner brush at all!

I’m Home!

21 Friday Aug 2009

Posted by in Random Musings

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This was probably the longest stretch I’ve been away from home. I’d forgotten how loud my extended family talks and how funny their conversations are. It plays out like a sitcom. It still amazes me how they can repeat the same point over and over again and everyone else still just plays along like it was a new topic. Their criticism of my too thin physique, hagged looking appearance (that’s usually what happens after a 15 hour flight!) and unladylike/dark outfit, was as frustrating as usual. But it’s always endearing to witness their unfailing appreciation of little things like a boxful of good ol’ American cherries and huge nectarines. My nose allergies are acting up again (I think I’m allergic to my own room) and it’s really hot and humid over here- but it’s good to be home 🙂

Bedside Manners

15 Saturday Aug 2009

Posted by in Random Musings

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My friend A had a minor knee surgery the other day. Regardless of how minor it is however, he still needed to undergo general anesthesia (I mean, they are drilling a hole in his knee!).

He fancied that he could hobble his way home from the hospital immediately after the surgery and take care of himself. He even bought a whole boxful of ready made Nutrisystem food for his meals. Nevertheless, he still had to reluctantly enlist the help of me (to open the doors etc) and my friend (for the actual heavy lifting) to pick him up from the hospital, as otherwise the hospital wouldn’t release him. Does this remind anyone else of Sex and the City when Miranda had her lasik done?

He made it sound like a minor task- just come to the hospital and pick me up. It started out with pick me up at 9am, then to between 11-1.30pm. Factoring in the inefficiency of American hospitals, we arrived at 2pm and still had to wait another hour to see him. We walked through the complex maze of rooms and finally found him sitting there alone in a dentist chair, looking really out of it and really yellow. Like seriously yellow and it’s not just the bad lighting. At this point, you’d probably expect us to show our sympathies etc. But instead, we both considered whipping out our camera phones and taking a picture, but before we could put that into action, I burst out laughing and ruined the moment. He stirred in his chair and mumbled something we couldn’t understand. We giggled. He tried again, asking when he can leave. We looked at his condition and laughed some more. We only managed to pull ourselves together when the nurse came in to brief us. I know, very mature for two working twenty something year olds.

Time for a Change

06 Thursday Aug 2009

Posted by in Blogging

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I’ve been getting tired of the purple and random yellow flower lately, and wanted something a bit more somber and dark for the layout. Unlike past layouts for I am Fashion, where HG and I labored over it for hours together until we were 100% happy with it every 6 months, this is something I whipped up  in the last half hour- so I may still make some tweaks to it until I get to 100%. Right now, I’ll say I’m 60% happy with this layout. I should probably change the color of the headings to a more somber purple shade to match the over all mood. Thoughts?

This is a random picture that HG and I took on our trip to NYC last month. Anyone guess where?

Style is Saying NO!

02 Sunday Aug 2009

Posted by in Fashion

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The other day in a rush of high, I went to Neiman Marcus and bought the dress below (on the right). I simply loved the floral print and the color (my favourite!). Plus, it was on sale for over 50% off and still had my size. Is it fate or what?

Marc by MJ- Ice Lilac Dress2

As per my usual custom, I immediately showed a picture to HG. She was initially very excited for me, cause she loves this Marc by MJ print too. Nevertheless, she very frankly told me that something is off and that it made me look really washed out. My other friend told me I looked like one of those weak sick patients in a movie…….

Needless to say, my initial high for this dress went down a little. Then I came across this shopping article and thought #10 was pretty on the spot:

“10: Finally, no copouts or compromises. If you do not, there and then in front of that mirror, love whatever it is as much as you loved your favourite things when you were little (mine was a puff-sleeved cotton dress printed with yellow train engines – you need to know your benchmarks), then put it back on the hanger, thank the staff and leave.

Remind yourself, “Style is saying no” (Diana Vreeland, I think). Short of a third world war, those shops will be there next time with even more beautiful things. It’s life, not life and death. If it’s not perfect for you at that moment, simply do without.”

I realized that this is not really the purple floral print dress I wanted. What I want is the double tiered version on the left (above). The style makes the dress that much cooler, and I was only willing to settle for this one cause this one is cheaper. There’s something about the fringes that makes the dress look off (dare I say a little frumpy?). So bearing in mind that there will be plenty more fish in the stores next season, I went back and returned this one today.

Image source: Saks

Baptiste Giabiconi

27 Monday Jul 2009

Posted by in Fashion, Random Musings

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I mentioned him back in March in my FW09 Paris fashion week post on Chanel, but somehow last week I randomly got a lot of hits from him. I had no idea why, but it did get me curious enough to google Baptiste up some more. Seems like since March, he’s been even more in the spotlight, rising to become the number 1 in MDC’s Top 50 Male Models Of All Times Listing.

Baptiste 3

I don’t know much about male models, but I’m not surprised. With his dreamy dark and handsome looks, he looks like he just walked out of a regency romance. Throw in a charming and adorable personality (I don’t know a word of French, but I can just tell that he’s absolutely darling- and did you check out those abs???) and who can blame the fashion world for swooning?

Baptiste 2 

I can totally see why Jerry Hall  looks so giddy here with Baptiste giving her such a sexy smothering look. Can you believe that Jerry Hall is 52 here and that Baptiste is only 19??? And he might look like a sexy Italian, but he’s actually born in France!

I don’t usually obsess over celebrities/models that much, but Baptiste is hard to resist. Karl has good eyes, picking him as his new muse. Learn more about Baptiste here!

Recession Sales Tactics

26 Sunday Jul 2009

Posted by in Fashion, Random Musings

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I came across an interesting article today on the WSJ on the Art of Selling an Expensive Watch. Granted I am not in the league for >$35,000 watches (and I imagine most of you are not either), I thought we could still all learn from the sales tactics taught in this article. After all, knowledge is power and some tactics are quite universal. The gist of it went like this:

  • Instead of asking a client a yes/no question like “Would you like to try it?”, where they can swiftly say no, invite the client to try it on, “I invite you to try the watch. Please take a seat.” – so next time someone tries this on you, don’t feel pressured to take the bate!
  • Lavish attention on clients coming in to service their watch, in order to rebuild brand loyalty- this tip works for me!
  • Say “value” rather than “price” and to sell “romance” rather than “products.”
  • The article talks about the “macaroon technique” where they sandwich the number in with romance i.e. “Madam, this timepiece (or diamond or handbag) comes from our finest workshop and it has a value of $10,000. If you buy it, your children are sure to enjoy it for generations to come.” –It’s all in how one words it! Sneaky
  • Flattery will get you anywhere. So they encourage sales associates to compliment the customer’s own watch even if they are from a competitor to build up positive emotions- !!! I’ve had this done on me before!! And it totally worked!
  • Don’t bargain with a client because the minute the client leaves, they forget the discount. Instead, offer them a gift to remember you by. – very clever! But I think I’d rather have the discount… it’s definitely more useful than another random cup!
  • Lay the client’s well worn watch in between two new shiny ones to subtly suggest that it’s time for an upgrade- hmm don’t think this applies to fashion items
  • Distract the wife-not to sell her another watch but just so she wouldn’t get bored and say, “let’s go.” The longer they stay the better – I think sales associates have tried to distract me this way while my mom is shopping! It works too and creates a lot more goodwill
  • They’ve also discovered that men buy more when their other half is not around and have created men’s only sales events. They even suggest, “sorry gifts” of another time piece for husbands to appease their wives who might be mad about their big splurge- I agree, guys are in general such unsavvy shoppers. They are never patient enough to wait for the sales or bargain. Not so sure how effective the “sorry gift” idea is though… they’re trying to get you to apologize for splurging by splurging even more?

So watch out for these tricks next time you shop!

Prada Pumps etc

21 Tuesday Jul 2009

Posted by in Fashion, Travel

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I’m back and I’m happy to report that Peter Luger didn’t catch on fire this time and I finally tried Pink Berry and Carnegie Deli’s! The steak was crispy (not burnt at all) and deliciously juicy, but the yoghurt was not that wow. I failed to see the difference between Pink Berry and Berry Chill (which has cooler bowls and spoons). The cornbeef sandwich was not bad, but it was ridiculously huge. The primary purpose of this trip was to actually do touristy/culture stuff and just to have girly bonding time since HG and I haven’t seen each other in forever.

DSC04987

On the touristy/culture stuff, we went to the Met and to watch Lion King the musical. Finally, after blogging about it for so many years, we made it to a costume institute exhibit. This year it is the Model as Muse. I really enjoyed it. Instead of just costumes on mannequins, they showed the photos when the costumes were originally shot, which really puts them into context. They organized everything by periods. It started with the 20’s (I think) and as you walked along you slowly moved through the decades. The room decor and background music were also designed to reflect the mood of each period. Magazine covers/photoshoots were lined up on display, showing works of various supermodels with mini bios etc. It was all incredibly interesting and educational. If I lived in NYC, I’d definitely go again and spend another hour or two there absorbing everything and reading every small script! If you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s not too late. The exhibit is on until August 9th.

 The Lion King was also quite amazing. I am still super impressed by the stage costumes and set design. They looked so real, that if you exercised your imagination just a smidge (or squinted your eyes a bit), they’d actually look like real animals on stage singing and dancing around! Though it did take HG and I 4/5 of the show to realize that a certain character is actually a baboon.

Prada Pumps

Of course we still managed to squeeze in some shopping in our primarily “touristy/culture stuff” trip. After all, what is a trip to NYC if one doesn’t visit the only shoe department with it’s own zip code? With that in mind, we pulled ourselves out of bed early on Saturday morning and made our way to Saks at 10.30am to beat the crowd so then we can tour around with ease. We weren’t really expecting to buy anything, since it is almost the end of the sale season and all the good stuff are gone, but it’s still always fun to sit and try on shoes. So we randomly picked out a few pairs and tried them on- one of which are the Prada sports nude pumps above. I tried them on, peeked at the price tag and knew I had to have them! Perfectly pointedly rounded, at just the right height in a nude shade with the signature Prada rubber soles, they are the epitome of summer classic pumps. They are also so comfortable that I can jump in them with joy(and in fact I did, right there at 10022-SHOE!). It also helped that HG was there to give me immediate feedback, thus eliminating one of my regular shopping steps of going home, showing and analyzing them with her before making the decision. Did I mention that they were originally ~$400 and are now less than $180?? I happily carried it around midtown/upper east side for the next 7 hours of sightseeing 🙂