Which is why after this week, ukaymanila.com will no longer point to this blog. Instead, ukaymanila.com will redirect you to the Ukay Manila Store. I have no idea where I’ll be moving my fashion blog to, or if I’ll even keep a fashion blog in the first place. If I do, I’ll find a way to let you all know.

Thanks for reading this blog and for helping me make the Ukay Manila Store happen. I couldn’t have done it with you guys.

I haven’t been able to go out or go shopping while the house was being cleaned (I recently cleared my closet for items to donate to Ondoy victims and now I’d like to be able to refill it), and only yesterday was I able to resume store operations. Really sorry for being unable to attend to those who purchased items last week, but I sent out some packages yesterday. Today, we placed the skirts, dresses, and tops from September at the Bargain Bin at discounted prices. There are so many pretty things that our customers overlooked, and anyone who gets them at the lowered price is definitely lucky. Expect new items to arrive next Monday as scheduled – assuming no horrible typhoon incapacitates us over the weekend, that is!

Last night, me, Liz, Helga, Madz, and our other online friends witnessed the launch of the Modu phone at Paul Smith in Greenbelt 5. The Modu is the Guinness World Records-holder of the world’s lightest phone, but this diminutive device is more than just that. The Modu is designed so you can customize the look and features of your phone with jackets (modules). Kind of like Nokia’s express covers back in the day, except some jackets have features that the bare unit doesn’t have, such as a 3.2 megapixel camera.

For the event, I dug out this leopard-print skirt I bought several months ago at an ukay-ukay in Cubao but haven’t worn since. I really need to invest in a full length mirror because I looked deceptively skinny when I left the house, only to realize too late that the top I chose to wear made me look fat. -_- Years of inactivity and beer drinking has given me a belly that should be hidden from the world, and I am not wearing any body-hugging clothes until I get skinnier. Liz looked impeccable in an ukay blazer and cream tunic top. She’s got better ukay juju than I do, because I have never been able to buy an jacket that cheap; the ones I have cost me at least 250 bucks!

What I like about the Modu is that the bare unit is pared down to the most basic mobile phone features – you can call, text, listen to music, and use its 2GB internal memory as a storage device. I think a lot of technophiles would be unimpressed by the lack of bells and whistles, but I prefer it this way because I’m not one to demand a lot out of my mobile phone. In fact, I haven’t bought a new cellphone since my sophomore year of college because I hate having to adjust to new technology. All these newfangled mobile phones come with all these crazy features, and I never even touch the camera or music player features in phones. The basic Modu unit is as simple and easy to use as my outdated and uncool Nokia 6020, and if I feel like I want more features out of it, I can simply obtain them by buying the appropriate jacket.

Starting September 18, the Modu phone will be made available exclusively from Globe for as low as P7,999 with a Globe Tattoo prepaid kit. Each prepaid kit comes with one free Modu express jacket and a year’s supply of immortaltxt. You can also avail of the Modu phone through Globe’s post-paid plans. If you get the P500 plan the Modu will cost you P7,999, but the Modu comes for free if you get a Plan 1200 or higher.

Liz and I also sell jackets and skirts at the Ukay Manila Store!

When it comes to seasonal wear, like jackets or boots, it pays to buy them at ukay stores – at least for me anyway. On normal days I like being comfortable in sandals and sleeveless tops or dresses, and it doesn’t make sense for me to spend a thousand or more on a jacket or a pair of boots I’ll only wear when the weather gets cold. Last weekend, I went karaoke-ing with my girlfriends despite the torrents of rain that seemed intent on forcing me to stay indoors. It took me ages to come up with an outfit that will keep me comfortable and warm, but I think I’ve managed to figure out what to wear on rainy days. Hopefully, this pseudo-guide will help you out too.

Stay warm with layers

Outfits look more interesting when you play around with layers, and it helps to buy a piece that you can easily throw over other pieces of clothing. I’m constantly on the hunt for clothes like that, but I haven’t had much luck since I bought this gray jumper dress for P180 at Cubao several months ago. What I love about this jumper-dress is its easy versatility. It looks great no matter what color or type of shirt I wear underneath, which means I can wear it on cold days with long sleeves, or on not-so-cold days with a tank top.

Throw on a hoodie/light sweater for extra warmth

The clothes I choose to wear are also largely determined by the activities/events I’d be doing that evening. Although it was raining that night, I chose to wear a black tank top because we’d obviously be drinking, and I get a little sweaty when I drink. And since the alcohol won’t keep me warm for very long, I brought my lace-trimmed black hoodie for when I wait for cabs out in the rain, or just in case the air conditioning of the karaoke place is too cold.

Tights will protect your legs from the cold

Unless it’s really cold, I stay away from jeans because they tend to restrict the movement of my legs. Recently, I discovered that tights are great for keeping legs warm, especially when you’re wearing a dress.

Keep your feet dry with a pair of boots

My biggest pet peeve about rainy days is getting my shoes or sandals wet, but thank god I had heavy duty boots to help me wade through puddles in peace. The boots I’m wearing were actually my sister’s when she was in high school, but she outgrew them long ago. I think you can tell that they’re a little dated because nobody makes platform boots that look this clunky anymore. Despite their awkward shape, the boots are comfortable, they add an extra inch or two to my height, and I don’t mind getting them wet because I can easily replace them when they’ve outlived their usefulness. If I were wearing a pair of boots that cost me two grand, I’d be very careful about avoiding puddles or getting them dirty, which totally defeats the purpose of wearing boots to begin with. That’s the awesome thing about ukay boots – they look good and they’re cheap enough so that you don’t feel bad about abusing them on rainy days.

Thank God it stopped raining for now, I much prefer going out in sundresses and shorts.

Lately, I’ve been stocking up on tights, an accessory we often neglect because it’s too hot and humid to wear them for most of the year. The fact that we don’t always use tights is totally understandable. I believe in comfort over fashion, and it’s ridiculous to wear tights when the weather is obviously too warm for legwear. But when the temperature is right – by all means, every girl should invest in at least one black pair. Besides adding texture and more visual interest to an outfit, tights can also keep you warm on cold and rainy days – and thank God it’s going to stay cold (by Philippine standards) until early next year. I’m glad that my appreciation for hosiery came at a seasonally appropriate and practical time to wear them out.

I’m loving these tights from Kate Torralba’s Leg Love line because they look like they’re tattooed onto my legs. In New York, I saw a pair of nude tights with large peacock feathers on the calves, and I’m kind of kicking myself for not buying them. But maybe it’s for the best, because I was well on my way to overspending, and I’m sure those would have cost me at least $20. In any case, I’m glad Kate Torralba’s tights are priced reasonably – only P299 for the textured ones! I’ve been seeing them around for a while, and I don’t know why I thought to buy my first pair just now, especially since I window-shopped at her store twice the last month. Planning to get two pairs in cream and black the next time I’m at a mall.

As for the ukay items of interest: cream eyelet tunic top is for sale at the Ukay Manila Store has already been sold (but there’s still tons of pretty items left). The green Italian leather shoes are mine and not for sale. I just realized that these shoes look kind of strange when worn without hosiery.

Today, I finally found the energy to get off my lazy ass and install this bag organizer I bought at a bazaar several weeks ago. I’m by no means a bag person, but I’ve managed to accumulate quite a number of bags over the years – especially since bags at ukays are so cheap. I own maybe ten bags or so, but I only use about two or three of them on a regular basis. To make it easy for me to choose which bag to use, I usually dump by everyday bags on the chair of my dresser. The rest of my bags are sitting in a pile at the bottom of my closet.

The bag organizer was an unplanned purchase when some friends and I were passing through an Eastwood bazaar. I wish I remembered to take down the name of the store, but they’re probably bazaar regulars and easy enough to find. The organizer cost only P150 and it comes with six or so hooks that close with a large automatic button, allowing you to let your bag hang by the handle. Just get some hooks (the kind you nail to the wall, not the adhesive ones), decide on the placement, and hit those nails as hard as you can. No more having to dig through a heap to find the bag I want to use for the day!

Contemplating getting rid of the bags that were left in the closet, seeing that I don’t use them much anyway.

I’ve always been curious about how I’d look in “hipster glasses” – you know, those large vintage-style frames all the hipsters have been wearing ever since it became cool to be smart, or at least look smart. Ever since I started wearing contact lenses at age twelve, I never wore my glasses out in public because I always felt ugly behind them. I still rarely ever wear glasses out, until I noticed vintage frames being worn by all these trendy hipster types in New York (just the frames, sans the lenses). I am ashamed to admit it because it makes me feel so shallow, but I am so glad wearing glasses is considered fashionable now.

What with mall optical shops being so mainstream and all, I figured that the only way I can acquire a pair of hipster glasses is to either look at vintage stores, or find a pair of shades I can convert into glasses. I found the perfect pair while window shopping at The Ramp, and had prescription lenses fit into them at the nearest optical shop. Yes, I actually use them to see, and thank God for that. Knowing that my hipster glasses aren’t just there for the aesthetics makes me feel slightly less shallow and less guilty for emulating hipster fashion.

And yes, I actually picked out a coordinating ukay top just so I can have an excuse to blog about my new frames. I bought this at Cubao back in college but I haven’t worn it out in a while, mostly because I haven’t really gone out in a while either. But I shall fix that in ten minutes when I go off to meet my boyfriend for dinner and drinks!

PS. Should I splurge and pay P1,000 bucks to get coated, non-reflective lenses or should I just be cheap and stick to the shiny lenses because I’m only going to use these glasses when I go out?

The Ukay Manila Bargain Bin is filled with items for our End of August Sale. Clothes are selling for as low as P199 and selling fast, so take advantage of these great discounts while you can! Don’t forget to check out our new arrivals tomorrow too.

(PS. That’s Liz in the photo. I love her sweater!)

But let’s backtrack a little and talk about my closet’s latest acquisition. For those of you who haven’t been following the Ukay Manila Store, I now run it together with Liz of Project Vanity. Since she’s got an awesome sense of style, we decided that she’d be in charge of the shopping while I take care of maintaining the site and shipping out items. Last week, I fell in love with one of the dresses Liz bought for the store. It’s a blue, empire-cut floral sundress with lacy straps, scalloped eyelet hem, faux wood buttons, and ruffly lace embellishments on the center of the bust. If I had seen this during an ukay run, I would have definitely kept it for myself, but working on the store with someone else means that I can no longer just keep the items that I think are pretty.

I told my boyfriend about the dress during one of our idle conversations, not knowing that he planned to get it for me as soon as it was up on the store. In fact, he actually waited a few days to make sure that no one else wanted it before purchasing it like any regular customer. For this and many other reasons, he wins the Awesomest Boyfriend of the Year Award. <3 This also makes him the first male customer of the Ukay Manila Store.

I wore the dress out during the Globe Tattoo blogger event at Makati, not knowing that I’d end up getting my first tattoo on that same day. You see, I had absent-mindedly entered a raffle where the prize was a free tattoo from P&P Tattoo, and a lapto. Guess who ended up winning the prize? I should have been thrilled when they called my name, but the truth is that I was panicking inwardly. Sure, I had a couple of ideas about the tattoos I wanted for myself, but they were all just ideas – I’ve never gotten around to actually designing them because I figured my first tattoo would happen in the far future. But according to the event’s host, my first tattoo was going to happen within the hour and I only had minutes to figure out what I wanted. Me, the most indecisive person I know.

It took almost an hour of Internet research and arguing with my mom (who happened to be at the event and wanted to make sure I didn’t get skulls or bones or the huge angel wing backpiece I wanted), but I eventually settled on my design. I always thought that before I commit myself to a large tattoo, my first should be a tiny one to see if my body accepts the ink. The design I had in mind: a barcode or QR code that should ideally read “Not for Sale” when scanned using the appropriate scanner. There’s a bullshit-level explanation for why I choose this design and it has to do with my radical political beliefs, which I don’t feel like discussing right now. Unfortunately, with only less than an hour for me to get inked, there was no way for me to check if the design I got from an Internet barcode generator would actually read “Not for Sale” under a scanner. So, just to make the message clear, I decided to include the words “Not for Sale” under the barcode.

Finally, my turn under the needle finally came. I was very worried that it would turn out looking like a black rectangular thing. Apparently, if the design is too small, the lines will end up bleeding over each other, and I didn’t want my barcode any longer than four inches. I had images of me ending up with a black rectangle, which would have been incredibly embarrassing, especially since I’m sure everyone will want to see it when it’s done. Oh, I was terrified of the pain too. But I was surprised to learn that getting tattooed doesn’t hurt more than digging your fingernails deep into your skin and scratching the surface slowly and deliberately. The tattoo was finished in about 45 minutes and when I saw how well done it was, I was the happiest person in the room.

So there you have it, my first tattoo. It could have gone wrong in so many ways, but I’m incredibly lucky it was done by such a skilled artist and that I had more or less a good idea of what I wanted. I don’t entirely trust the barcode generator I used for the design though. Who wants to bet that my barcode says that I’m an air rotary hammer drill if I get it scanned at the supermarket?

I never travel to see landmarks or buy tacky souvenirs; I go because I want to visit people I love. Last Sunday I landed in New York City to see my long lost friend Kurt, and yesterday I finally got around to doing a few inexpensive touristy things, like Central Park, Times Square, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Statue of Liberty was on my list as well, but I changed my mind when I learned that it costs around $25 to get there. There is no way I’m paying that much money to see a fucking statue up close.

Of all the outfits and ukay clothes I wore in New York City, I think this was the only one really worth posting here because I love how I put it together.

Black tank top: Greenhills
Royal blue top: ukay
Textured corset belt: H&M
Leggings: H&M
Sneakers: Converse
Purse: ukay

I bought the royal blue top at for around P120 before I left, and used it to layer a black tank top and paisley leggings from H&M. (The leggings cost me $17 but I was too in love with them to care about the price tah. I figured I probably wouldn’t be able to find them in the Philippines anyway, so I might as well grab them here.) I’m not one to do layers because it’s always too hot in the Philippines for that, but I’m starting to like the look and will probably spend more money on loose tops like this, if I can find them for cheap.

The textured corset belt was something I bought at a nearby H&M that same afternoon. My outfit looked like it needed either a long necklace or a black belt to complete it, and I went for the latter because I’m not really one to spend on necklaces. The belt was love at first sight, and the perfect example of the only shopping advice my mom has ever given me: ask and you shall receive. The belt didn’t have a price tag on, and I damn near died of a heart attack when the lady at the counter said it cost $25. I asked if there was a chance that this belt was on sale; the whole store was getting rid of last season’s items, and this one was the last of its style. Checking with her supervisor revealed that the belt’s sale price was a mere $5! Definitely the best thing I’ve bought in New York, price and style-wise. (Yes, I’ve been shopping a bit more than I’d like; I’m kind of afraid to see next month’s credit card bill.)