I have seen through two and a half episodes of Jane by Design. I have all four episodes in my external hard drive and am tempted to delete them. I just find the premise and the acting so terribly off.

Don’t get me wrong – I have my own guilty pleasures when it comes to TV shows. FRIENDS and HIMYM are mainstream favorites but then Pretty Little Liars is my deep-dark-double-dutch-tub  guilty pleasure. The deceit, the scheming, the surveillance can be too much but I love the whole secrets-and-danger element.

But Jane By Desing’s high school girl-fashion executive assistant is just too much of a stretch. I wanted to like the show because of the title and the fashion appears unique and wearable. But the plot just demands too much of a suspension of my disbelief I just find the show so belch.

First, Jane annoys me. She’s supposed to be more mature for her age (with her mom leaving them, her dad’s death, the impending eviction) yet she seems so naive. And this makes me hate India, Gray’s second-in-command, because how could she allow that doe-eyed cluelessness outwit her? One proof of Jane’s naiveté is that all India has to do to create chaos is invite everyone to an exclusive only party. When villains are weak, it’s an indicator of just how limited the protagonist is.

Same goes for the company Jane keeps – like her best guy friend, Billy. How he allows himself to hold up one stall in the girls’ washroom with all Jane’s clothes is beyond… human. No girl would do that, no dog would do that. If Jane had been sharper and smarter, with a dash of attitude and none of the saccharine sweetness, it just might work. Like if Jane had something on Billy.

Finally, Andie MacDowell as Gray is one lousy Anna Wintour-wannabe. She poses and struts but I just cannot find the viciousness and the perfectionism. For one she seems so out of touch from her workplace – and any leader will tell you to hold the fortress as a matter of national security. The whole globe-trotting part seems so fake on Andie MacDowell – like she’s not sophisticated enough to even portray a jet-setter. She does look like a Botox ad.

That time she had Jane break up her romance with Brad was just too much, too silly. Handing over a personal matter to your subordinate just might be asking for it.

Overall, this Jane by Design has sunk on the runway and in my review. What a waste of time and imagination. And what does “Jane by Design” even mean here? Why waste a perfectly promising title on an inane character, whose puppy attitude matches only that of her best guy Billy?

Once again, Facebook has provided a venue for fabulous finds in Florence Fling. An online shop, it showcases Tessa Nieto-Villalon‘s eye for design and form. The structure of the clothes makes for an effortless fluidity and an excellent fit; it reminds one of the need to have the clothes embrace and enhance your body’s natural built. With its careful attention to how clothes should fit, Florence Fling pays homage to the icon of nineties minimalism, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy:

(Bessette-Kennedy’s color hues were rather basic and the cuts of her clothes classic but the fit spelled out the difference.)

I normally do not purchase clothes online because I fall between sizes and prefer trying on the clothes before buying them. Bunched up cloth at the back or a wrinkled neckline are some of the indicators of a bad fit but with Florence Fling’s mastery of the perfect fit, I have been converted.

I’ve started collecting Florence Fling designs just this week:

Miranda Bolero from the Simply Chic! Collection

Neo Top from the Neo-Lectrify Me! Collection

Both bolero and top fit me so well that it’s as if they had been made especially for me: no bunched up cloth at the back and no wrinkled necklines.

Florence Fling designs also incorporate distinctive details which make the clothes unique; when you wear Florence Fling, you wear art. The floral design of the Miranda Bolero recognizes the SS 2012 trends from fashion designers such as Thakoon and Proenza Schouler. The tops, jackets and dresses have simple silhouettes with a symphony of prints and patterns – a blend of the classic and the unconventional. Sometimes it may look too eclectic but then once you put the clothes on, they’ll just look so well put-together and chic. It helps that Florence Fling offers only a limited number of pieces; one can hear the sigh of relief from women who fret about attending an event and seeing someone with the same ensemble.

In that regard, Florence Fling may find its style soul sister in Charlotte Casiraghi, eldest granddaughter of Grace Kelly, equestrienne and socialite. Casiraghi’s fashion picks also tend to possess unique details, patterns and cuts, which catapulted her into the world’s best-dressed list:

Am personally so thrilled with Florence Fling. I love the cloth, the fit and the designs – all the things I look for in quality fashion (and for the reasonable price range of 1500-2350). Where some Mango tops just don’t fit right, Zara blouses are just too mainstream and Forever 21 shirts are too flimsy,  Florence Fling is my favorite fashion stop

FLORENCE FLING DESIGNS CAN ALSO BE PURCHASED AT  THE SOFA RETAIL LAB, 2/F ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF ROCKWELL.

2012 begins auspiciously for the Casiraghi-Grimaldi family with Hello magazine reporting that Charlotte Casiraghi has broken up with her main squeeze of four years, Alex Dellal.

Alex is not the most popular of Charlotte’s boyfriends (in the blogosphere, Charlotte watchers have preferred Alex Winckler) but the news that Grace Kelly’s eldest granddaughter has found new love made for a salacious read. Her new boyfriend is allegedly a man fifteen years her senior, the comedian and actor Gad Elmaleh. Frankly, one can’t put much credence yet as the two have yet to be photographed and then in an uncompromising position too.

All we’ve had so far are composite pictures such as this – and Charlotte’s picture is from a Chanel fashion show from 2006. The lovely Monegasque HAS been snapped leaving Elmaleh’s apartment:

Will wait and see for more revelations. Charlotte does look remarkably happy here – for someone who has supposedly just broken up with a long-term boyfriend.

The age gap between Charlotte and Elmaleh just might remind the former’s mother, Princess Caroline, of her first husband (who was around seventeen years older than her):

Could history be repeating itself?

and her daughter Princess Caroline was regarded as one of the prettier faces of her generation.

However, it is Caroline’s daughter, Charlotte Casiraghi who is the true beauty… at least when she was a teenager:

The first three pictures show Charlotte in the bloom of her fresh beauty; the latter ones, while they still depict a pretty Monegasque, seems to be lacking some dewy element to it, as if the evenings of partying and smoking have taken its toll. Her sense of style also disappoints after 2007. Instead of channeling originality, Charlotte simply became a designer’s doll.

I was in fifth grade when FRIENDS started and a incoming college senior when it ended. I couldn’t understand some of the allusions then and their concerns were alien to my own circumstances. However, as I turn 28 today, I realize that I should have watched all ten seasons after college graduation.

As for the Golden Girls, I was two when it came out and about nine when it ended. Still, their plot lines crack me up… I only wish I understood their references.

Meanwhile the current TV shows I’ve been watching have left me indifferent at most:

HIMYM should just have lasted for only five seasons. The seventh is such a bore with the most forced plot lines. At this point only Robin and Barney are interesting and apart from Lily’s growing belly, there is no character development left for Marshall, Lily and Ted. Blah. The TV show is now only a waste of space in my external hard drive (the first three seasons were so witty and engaging, though).

Modern Family has its share of quirky characters I love – Jay, Cam and Mitchell topping my list. But the episodes have been hot or miss at most – misses mostly. The first season was gold, the second had its moments and the third is just, so-s0.

As for my guilty pleasure, Pretty Little Liars, thank goodness there are four girls to dress up and accessorize. The plot has expanded to include so many people and so many twists, it’s insane. It’s hard to believe that these teenage girls have more on their plate than the quartets from Sex and the City and Golden Girls.

I  love scouring second-hand bookstores and I love the thrill of finding that out-of-print/first edition/rare book more. Pandora’s Books Online is a great find on its own as they offer shipment right to your door (or meet-ups in the UP Diliman area). Moreover, one can request for certain books and once the book has been found, expect yourself to be tagged on Facebook. Pandora’s Books Online uploads book selections every month and occasionally these book selections have themes: from books to screen, from the libraries of friends, etc.

I have been dying to read Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and when I saw Michael Cunningham’s The Hours on the book selection, I immediately asked that it be reserved.

I also threw in a book request: Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. I thought it would be interesting to read both books together. Within a month, I found myself tagged to a picture:

Altogether both books came at half the price of what they have been if purchased in bookstores. They were in very good condition (especially Mrs. Dalloway) and I also found two pleasant surprises – a cute pen and a personal note, expressing the rarity of the book and thanks for the purchase.

It is a rare joy to find personal touches in online shopping and this makes Pandora’s Books Online a great find on its own. So add up Pandoras Books Online as friend on Facebook and start book shopping. I myself have missed out on five to six books which were reserved by the time I saw them