Let's go star gazing!

Sitting on the white bricks of Griffith, with the Hollywood sign obscured in the background marks truly one of the most beautiful weekends in my life.

My new obsession would definitely have to be the Griffith Observatory. I was first introduced this magical place when I hiked the trail on Labor day with Alpha Phi Omega, which I mentioned in the Sex and the City 2 review. Like I said, the trail leading up to the observatory was pretty tiring, but the beautiful site that awaited me as I reached the top was worth any treacherous trail. Then last night, the service frat that I'm rushing for, APO, had another fellowship event at the observatory AT NIGHT. You can actually see the stars, bright and glistening, a rarity in this town. The event was a scavenger hunt, and I finally got to go inside!

I knew a couple weeks ago that I will attending several rush events at the Griffith. Given that our paths keep crossing, I felt it would be appropriate to do a photo shoot there! I asked my room mate Alicia for ideas, and she said that a lot of couples go on dates to Griffith for star gazing, so I should do a date night type outfit. I loved the idea from the start, so I couldn't resist taking my fellow Trojan, friend and blogger May from Summerinmay. I wish I could have taken the pictures under the stars, but for the best picture quality, we did the shoot at sunset, and I couldn't have asked for a better shoot!

I'm soo thankful that these photos turned out AMAZING! I owe it all to the wonderful photographer Spencer Davis, please like his facebook page here.

 Black tied up shirt- Brandy Melville ; double-colored sequin skirt- Foreign Exchange

Star and Moon Clutch Earrings- Claires

Envelope Clutch + Heels- Zooshoo.com

I chose this skirt was because I thought the shininess would go with the celestial theme of the venue. The skirt is actually really cool! The sequins are originally black, but died silver. You can actually create your own pattern of black and silver by flipping the sequins! May actually tried to draw the world map on it! Since the skirt was a bit on the flashy side, I had to go with a black shirt. Brandy Melville is known for their super comfortable fabric, and this shirt was no exception!

Since the colors of the outfit falls on a darker side, so I needed an accessory piece to add a pop of color. And the envelope clutch was the way to go! It's fun and it has a bright color, but it doesn't draw too much attention away from the outfit.

Did you notice my earrings is star-and-cresent? Yes, they were the very ones I mentioned about in my haul post! I was just trying to keep up with the starry theme :)

For more pictures, you can either go on my facebook or Spencer's facebook :)

If you haven't yet, you should definitely go to the observatory when you get a chance!

XOXO.

Joanne

Wild Child

Crazy for Plaid by joanneinazoo featuring abercrombie & fitch

Happy Friday!

I've been stalking allwomenstalk (see what I did there?) for the report of the latest fall trends. A lot of my posts--the dress I wore in the NYFW post and the hunger games post-- were all inspired by the different trends of  the upcoming season.

Well, another one of my favorite is the PLAID TREND! I think it could be so girly and preppy but casual and formal at the same time. Soo many adjectives right? As you can see, this outfit is Wild Child inspired. Whenever I think plaid and preppy, my mind automatically wanders to Emma Roberts and the scary UK Boarding school.

ONTO THE SET! I started building the set by looking for the right skirt. The reason the skirt was the item of choice was because the skirt doesn't automatically draw that much attention. Plaid is a hard pattern to match because there's so much colors, and sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming. Of course! There are plaid flannels, but that's a completely different style! So the skirt already has a lot of colors, the top would definitely have to be something simple. The white polo would be the way to go! But my favorite piece MUST be the blazer. It has double stripes on one side of the sleeve. I like the asymmetry and it's elegant at the same time. Did you see the bow? It's soo blair waldorf ♥ Last but not least, it's a UK-inspired outfit, how can I forget oxfords!?

This would be the perfect outfit for school or going out to dinner!

Have a terrific weekend :)

xoxo.

Joanne

The Ombre Chambray!

Chambray shirt: Abercrombie & Fitch ; Skirt: Hollister

Teehee! The title rhymes :)

First off I would love to thank the lovely Caroline Sykes for taking this awesome pictures!

I don't know what is it about Chambray shirts, they just have an edge to them! I especially like my chambray because there's a white to blue gradient to the wash. Even though summer is technically long over, the weather here in California would definitely prove other wise. The long sleeve and the denim material of the shirt makes a good transition from summer to fall, but the skirt still screams, SUMMER DON'T GO!

Bracelets: Cotton On ; Bag: H&M ; Aviators: School Booth

Since this outfit could be classified as more of a boho look, I think leather bracelets would be a good pair. Yes, these are the bracelets that I mentioned in my accessories haul post! And I love how reflective the aviators are! We have these booths that sells sunglasses on campus, and I just had to get them when I saw them!

The boho nature of the outfit contrasted with the leafy background just spells a relaxing afternoon for me!

Happy Fall!

XOXO.

Joanne

Fashion's Night Out

It's day 6 of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York. In the NYFW post, I talked about Fashion's Night Out--a event in which retailers have special promotions and good food!

NYFW is 2,000 miles away, so I just went to the next best thing.

Last Thursday, I've had the privilege of attending FNO at the Beverly Center with two of my roommates and my friend Cheryl! Despite that traffic and the lack of parking, it was a terrific night! I had an AMAZING Strawberry Macaroon that they passed at BeBe's and a pretty nice cupcake from Guess. But I'll stop talking about food.

So here's roughly how the event panned out.

We arrived at about 6:30. There were so many people. I wouldn't complain about the spot we finally found, it was pretty close to the stage, but it was quite hard to see. Lucky Hale and Kendall Jenner, along with Lisa Love, came out and hosted the show. Lisa Love, the West Coast Editor of Vogue, our very own version of Anna Wintour introduced most of the designers, and then Lucy Hale talked a bit. Kendall, as stunning as she was, kind of just stood there. But look at Lisa and her Sun Glasses! LOL.

On to the Runway show!

Here's some of my favorite looks from the Designers :)

Max & Co.

I love this look because it combines my favorites: leather booties, a maxi skirt, and a hunter, fur-lined jacket.
It remind me of the Hunter style for the upcoming fall season.

      

Sorry, the picture quality is not the best. I was standing underneath a dark stage, and people were pushing me!

But here's another one of my favorite looks :) The Modern Military look is very cool, yet this look is chic at the same time! Max & Co had some great designers!

DIESEL

This model is absolutely beautiful! So the sweater dress looks great on her! And I've been wanting to get a sweater dress for a while, maybe I will!

Lacoste

These are some generic Lacoste outfits, but I really enjoy the fact that they are very elegant. They're simple yet elegant, and most of the outfits seemed like they could be worn for any ocation!

Lastly, my favorite, Bloomingdale's!

Blue Sequins
Sequins are a bit crazy for me, but seeing it on the model makes it so nice!

I love the blazer and the city worker gal look! :) It's a nice blazer, too!

I love the layering of this dress. Wow, I'm so into blue! haha.

Gold sequined dress.
This is such a unique and elegant gown. But the dress fits so great with the model's skin tone!

J. Lindeberg

A nice piece of eye candy. (:  Just wanted to share because I found it funny that almost every girl was screaming!

Here's a video of the final runway!

FNO Beverly Center, final runway from Joanne Zhu on Vimeo.

The highlight of my night was actually the post fashion meet and greet with Elle and Blair! They were doing a signing their new book, Beneath the Glitter, and I'm really excited to read it! I've been following the two sisters for a long time, Blair a bit longer. I was introduced to them by my friend Si Qi, and I'm really glad I got to know them because a lot of their tutorials are very useful!

 Elle and Blair + me at the book signing :)

signed book, WHADUP!

MAI BOOK!

So that's pretty much my entire night, did you feel like you were there?

XOXO.

Joanne

TAG: Different Ways to Wear Something

So on the YouTube community, users tagging each other is a common thing to bring the internet closer. I say, why can't us bloggers do it, too?

The topic was something my friend Si Qi suggested :) And ever since I started blogging, I've been visiting different blogs, and I felt like it would be kind of cool if I can tag a fellow blogger and we can continue the tagging! woohoo!

For this topic, the "different ways of wearing the same piece of clothing" I'm choosing 5 ways to wear a Maxi Dress, and I want to Tag Grace from Memo28!

And thanks Cally Zhou for taking this wonderful pictures for me :)

5 Ways to wear a Maxi Dress.

#1. California Love

Crotchet Top: Cotton On; Navy Maxi Dress: Forever 21

Initially, I bought the Navy Dress because it gave off a very beachy-vibe. But if I were to wear just the dress to the beach in just the maxi, it probably would have been to simple. With the crotchet top, the outfit would then look like a two piece in a way, and that's pretty different!

Then, top it off with a big sun-hat and boho styled accessories, it's Pacific Ocean, here I come!

All the accessories seen worn in this could be found in my accessories haul post.

#2. Electric Neon

Okay, these aren't my favorite combination in the world. Trojans, namsayinn?!

But hey, the color works. I'm a huge fan of contrast. With this simple yellow shirt, it easily turned the too-simple maxi dress into an outfit that could be worn for shopping, or for a more formal day look.



#3. Contrast

In the weddings post, my outfit consisted of a navy lacy dress with a red belt. Here's a more casual spin on the look, I just love pairing navy with red. I guess I'm patriotic with red and blue :p

#4. Valentine Chic

Finally! The moment we've all been waiting for, a look that matches my site name. I was very excited when I thought of the idea for this look of the collage. I wanted to come up with something more formal, and I came across this pink blazer. It's very chic, and it would be appropriate for a date night or even an interview. I just named this look "Valentine Chic" because of the pink color and the hearts. The shoes are the one I got from Zooshoo, as described in the cute accessories post.

#5. Navy Nautical 

Okay, I know. With the passing of Labor day, summer is over. Why am I still having summery outfits? The nautical trend have been so hyped for a while, and I really like the trend. Even with the passing of summer, this trend can still be useful for the fall for those family outings to the docks!

The rope belt is actually from another dress. But I took it off the other dress when I bought the shoes because they're a perfect match! Sure they might be a big over board (get it?), I think it will be fine because the length of the skirt makes the shoes a bit more subtle. I talked about these shoes in my accessories post, too :)

So which one is your favorite?

Hope you enjoyed and have a great weekend!

XOXO.

Jo + Valentine

I wear white after labor day.

In Monday's post, I mentioned that I went to Griffith Park for a hike. I just wanted to share that it was absolutely beautiful! It was a very trip up to the observatory, but once I got there, the hike was totally worth it. The view was breath-taking. I might do a shoot there sometimes :)

Look at this view!

Photo taken from USC APO Website

If you've been following me on Twitter (@joanneinazoo), you probably know by now that I am the greatest Friends nut. EVER!

So, I was just casually scrolling through the millions of Friends tweet when I realized, Labor Day JUST PASSED! Do you remember that episode where Joey asked Rachel to help Charlie shop because everything she owned had shoulder pads in them? Joey said, "Yeah Rachel taught me everything I know about fashion, like 'you can't wear white after labor day.'" What is up with that? So I did some research.

According to Times, one of the reasons why this rule is created is because it's a symbol of summer's passing and the oncoming of fall. People wear light colors in the summer and darker colors during fall, and like I mentioned in the Sex and the City 2 review, Labor Day is like a pivotal day that transitions summer to fall, so it's like a symbolic day in which people change their dress from summer style to fall style. But there are rule breakers like CoCo Chanel, who totally just makes up her own rules, you can read more about her in my other post.

So I've decided to take on CoCo's rebellious spirit and wear white :)

Summer didn't exactly pass here in LA, it's practically summer "all-day errday" of the year!

White Sheer Shirt: Foreign Exchange // Red Shorts: Forever 21

Bag: Cotton On // Bracelet: Shanghai Boutique // Sam Edelman Ballet Flats: Nordstorm Rack

Turn to page 394!

Studiously waiting to learn!

Photos taken by: Caroline Sykes

I've been monitoring Fall Trends to get ready for the season for a while now, as you can see from posts like The Hunger Games Post, or the NYFW Post. Another one of my favorite trends is The Scarlett Fever. I really like the color of these shorts, they add that "Pop" that I value so much. Of course, since the shorts are such a bright color already, I had to pair it with something neutral, and white was what I had gone with. There goes me, breaking the "no wearing white after labor day rule!" But! In my defense, white and red is patriotic colors, so I'm paying respect to our country, and our country is built by laborers. So, by transitive party, I am respecting the laborers and workers!

Anyways, no more lameness. I like this look because it' spretty simple. Yet, it's not boring. Ideally, this outfit probably would have been better with a pair of red shoes, but the fact that the gold contrasts with the entire outfit worked out quite well!

Talk to you Friday,

XOXO.
Joanne

P.S. I have a super exciting idea to debut for Friday :) So don't forget to come back and visit me on Friday!

Sex and the City 2: The Breathtaking Fashion and the Inspirations

Happy Labor Day everyone :)

Savor this day! It signals the end of summer and the coming of school (for those who are still on vacation). For the observance of this labor day, I've done quite a few things to have fun and stay well rested (sort of). Kind of sad that summer's almost over, but there's not that much of a difference here in Southern California.

Well what did I do?

You guessed it! I treated myself to yet another must-see-fashionable-movie this weekend! My aunt has been wanting to watch Sex and the City 2 with her for a while now. Finally, this weekend, as we don't have much to do, I pulled up the movie for her. She loves this movie for its fashion. I actually gave her Sex and the City 1 DVD for Christmas once!

Here's what I absolutely loved about the movie. As mentioned in the NYFW Post, I love the style of this City. I feel like watching the movie gives me a better sense of what looks good, too. Again, who knew watching movie could be such a treat and have so many purposes!? Props need to be given to Patricia Fields! Every single outfit the qudrio (like trio, but 4) wore made me wish I was them. One of my favorite outfits had to be an original Carrie Bradshaw. Like I said in Tribal Love, I love the styles of SJP/Carrie Bradshaw, this is no exception!

doesn't she look stunning?

What I loved about this outfit is that it's so effortless and casual, yet so unique and exotic! Perfect for Abu Dhabi. Sure she's glowing in this picture, it may have something to do with the fact that she just saw her ex-fiancee "60,000 miles away from New York," but the outfit definitely brought more light!

Aside from the fashion, which I can go on and on about, this movie really opens my eyes about the places I could go with the PR career path that I've chosen. Samantha started out as a bar tender, but now she's grown into this amazing publicist. Just look at the fact that she's turned Smith into a huge star! But because of her expertise, her and her best gal pals were invited to an all-expenses paid trip to the exotic UAE with complimentary butlers and everything! One of the reasons why I chose New York to be my life's next destination is for the wide range of opportunities! I truly admire Samantha's professionalism...most of the time. Unfortunately, for Samatha, her promiscuity and albeit unprofessional urge has gotten herself out of a business deal of a life time. But hey, it IS only a movie. I will only set goals based on Samantha's competence and strength!

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Here's what else I'll be doing for Labor Day, going on a hike! Yay!

This organization I am rushing for will be going on a hike to Griffith park today! I'm super excited, I've been wanting to go there for a while, but never found a chance, too. I wanted to visit for the Haunted Hay ride, but I chickened out a bit, maybe this year! But Haunted Hay Ride or not, I'll be getting a taste of nature, and I'm super excited :)

Enjoy the long weekend,

XOXO,

Jo.