Down by the sea

Down by the sea by ms-match featuring clutch handbags

Hello Again :)

Wow.. looking at the last date I posted something is quite a trip down memory lane. Yup, it has been awhile since my last post. But here I am again. This time starting with some outfit pics. This is me post baby by the way, still with a lot of left over 'baby fat', which is actually one of the reasons why I have stopped blogging. Yes, I am that vain. And no, it's not a bad thing to want to see yourself looking good.
Anyway, this is as good as I look on a weekday morning, going to work wearing my own design combined with some of my wardrobe staples. Oh, forgot to mention, alexalexa womenswear is finally here! Started selling some Spring/Summer 2012 designs since last year (October) and now we just soft launched our Fall/Winter 2012 designs at Indonesia Fashion Week. No, not a show, only a booth, but I am very very proud about it :) Super excited to see where this leads. Meanwhile let's hope these image entertain you. OH, and the third person speak? No longer happening, I've sobered and wizened up I guess.








Alexalexa wide leg pants, Express tank top, unbranded cardigan, unbranded rope belt, bangle bought in Bali
Say hello to my super cute baby boy!

Fringe Inspiration

Ms. match just updated herself with spring/summer trends and came across this fun fringe dress by Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton. Just look at the colors and the movement on those fun fringes! who can resist dancing the night away in that dress?
This number then reminded Ms. Match of a long forgotten project she was going to do with her fringe necklace, the multi color fringe fetish! Here are 2 colors she came up with: Ocean Affair and Frolickin' Berry. Hurry up if you want them! There are only 3 Frolickin' Berry left! As usual you can just email your order to monique_natalia@yahoo.com along with your address.
Frolickin' Berry


Ocean Affair



oh, there is also a new shade of blue

Fringe Fetish

One thing Ms. Match forgot to share is that she was keeping herself busy during her pregnancy (no more partying on weekends, etc) by doing something she loves best: making things! On one trip to the fabric store she found some cotton jersey material that she thought would be perfect for an over sized tank or t shirt. But since she still has not managed to find herself a proper sewing machine which is able to sew stretchy material, she the came up with another project: fringe necklaces! She soon got busy making herself some necklaces and started wearing them everywhere. Unexpectedly her friends began asking where she got that from and she though' a ha! this could be a great business opportunity!' Especially since Ms. Match has been wanting to start her own clothing and accessories label for some time now, but has always been to swamped at her 9-5 job to do anything about it. So she started making more necklaces she calls 'Fringe Fetish' to sell to friends. Made with soft cotton jersey material and vintage gold colored chains this necklace will be the perfect casual accessories to add a bit of flair to your everyday t shirt or tank top.
Match them with our shoes, bag, or even eye shadow! At IDR50.000 per necklace you could surely do with a couple or more ;) More colors are coming by the way. For orders please email Ms. Match at monique_natalia@yahoo.com








Pssstt. regarding the label she always dreamed of making Ms. Match will be teaming up with Mr. Match for a his and hers clothing label. The necklae is a sneak preview of what's to come.

Too Good To Be True?

Ms. Match knows she is supposed to stick by her promise, which is to post maternity clothing tips, buuut since she already gave birth about 3 weeks ago, her time now is pretty much occupied with taking care of her newborn son. And searching through hundreds of pics in her laptop to find a blog worthy picture is just not what she has in mind while breastfeeding and typing with one hand. So to pass time she resorts to her old hobby, blog walking :) and came upon these pair of super cool wedgies by Hussein Chalayan for PUMA at Disneyrollergirl's blog. A pair of booty wedgies that are comfortable?? Too good to be to be true! Check it out and drool, ladies!

Ms. Match is Back!

Wow.. finally Ms. Match manages to open her blog account again. It's a bit weird.. So much has happened. For one, the getting married thing. Next up, getting knocked up straight away :) after that work just got too crazy for a preggie lady with a blog. So she needed to sacrifice something. But, now she is relaxing on her early maternity leave and after 2 weeks of being lazy and lounging around watching countless DVDs, she decides to start again. However, she doesn't quite know what to write about though. Shopping? Nothing exciting. Only baby stuff so far. Super cute baby stuff.

She was surprised to find out how much 'baby stuff' she needed to buy for the baby. Since Ms. Match is totally blind regarding the needs of a newborn baby, she asked one of her good friends who just became a mother to provide her with a list, not that she did not get a full list when she popped in the baby store at ITC Kuningan to do her shopping. There were more than 30 items on the list! Wow.. she didn't know that someone so small would need sooo many things. And the list just keeps growing. Anyway.. enough about baby stuff, what about mommy stuff? It was a bit hard for Ms. Match to come to terms with the bloated image she sees in the mirror everyday. And of course, the image keeps getting bigger everyday! So there is an issue of size when choosing of things to wear. She also needed to say goodbye to her beloved high waisted pants, skitrs, and belly belts. What to wear though??

The amazing thing is that so far she has only bought 1 article of maternity clothing which was a pair of capri jeans that she hardly wore because the elastic was a tad uncomfortable around her constantly growing tummy. After that, lesson learned, she decided to just buy regular clothes (a size or two bigger) and maximize what she has in her closet. This will be discussed at great length at the next post, including tips on how to maximize your wardrobe for pregnancy. Meanwhile she just needs to sort out her pictures for the next post. See you soon!

smoke and ashes

Ms. Match is in mourning for her lovely city, Jakarta, and all of the victims of today's bombings at Ritz carlton and JW Marriott. But she believes that this will not dampen the spirits of Jakartans and Indonesians. We are not afraid! People..please stop infecting everyone with this virus of fear and paranoia. That's just what they want, to turn Jakarta into another city of fear. (for the term, city of fear, Ms. Match credits her lovely friend, Olga Panades)

holly golightly hair and kebaya?

If Ms. match has never mentioned how much she is in love with the film Breakfast at Tiffany's she will say so now. She looooves it. And as soon as she bought the DVD on ebay she watched it over and over again. She also bought the book. and loved it too! (even though there is some discrepancy in the story line. anyway.. you all got the point right?? So naturally, when Qiqi Franky, the infamous makeup artist, proposed to do her hair like Holly Golightly's in Breakfast at Tiffany's she squealed with joy! A tiny tiara would just perfect the look. She even thought about cutting her bangs to look like the adorable wispy one Audrey Hepburn had at the film. But.. talking about details brought her down to earth. Now.. the hair looks PERFECT with a black dress like the one Holly was wearing when she had her croissant in front of Tiffany's, but a kebaya (a traditional Indonesian dress)? Hmmm.. Another option she was thinking (since the kebaya will have a belt with a big bow at the back) was the bow chignon (will try to post a picture tomorrow). What do you all think?

hey doc, meet your nurse

Wearing white always makes ms. match feel like a nurse somehow. To spice it up she decided to play with bright stockings and a leather jacket. What do you think? still nurse-y?
PS: Finally a post after sooo long.. it's hard to find time to blog in between crazy 9 to 11 (as in 9 am to 11 pm) work hours and wedding prep. Anyway this is a picture taken about 2 months ago in Stanley Allan's studio by a lovely former colleague, Ms. Dida. Finally it's up.
--thrifted white dress (ps. senen), thrifted scarf (brick lane sunday up market), unbranded necklace, Topshop purple stocking, Topshop shoes, Topshop leather jacket-- hmmm.. too many Topshop in one post I think ;)

Teddy Boy Blazer

If ms. match had been born a man, she for sure would dress like a teddy boy with their sharp suits and cool hair do. But.. finding a nice teddy boy style blazer in the men's section of Tendencies (a first time for her to visit the shop, even though she passes it every weekend when she visits mr. match) that is her size is a good substitute. Experimenting with it lead to these looks. There are still more, but ms. match needs to get her card reader. Will post more looks as soon as the pics are in the laptop.



--Tendencies blazer, Zara ruffle top (believe me, the tops has lovely unfinished ruffles all along the v-neckline. the flash from the camera overpowered the texture of the shirt, darn!), DIY leggings, Office shoes, ring bought at tendencies (forgot the brand name)--



--tendencies blazer, unbranded tank top, express tube top worn as a skirt (found at FO), Topshop shoes --



--tendencies blazer, number 61 tank top, vintage levi's 501 skirt, primark white stocking, Ted Baker shoes, vintage bag thrifted at a market in Rome for 1 Euro (am I the bargain queen or what?!)--

a slight variation on the grey on grey tone.. this one it is combined with a thriftted white top and metallic gladiator sandals

PS: Ms. Match and Mr. Match found their new house today! Finally..our own house! She is ow getting ready to haggle for more closet room :)

Will Kill for Shoes Part 2

Browsing through fall winter collections Ms. Match found these on the feet of Balenciaga models. oooooooohhhhhhhhhh (having tiny orgasm now).. me want! Ms. match starts doing her calculations and wondering how many paychecks it will
have to take to buy these shoes.
images of shoes are from style.com

neon, gold, and everything bold

Ms. Match never thought that she would be so much into neon color, but look at this. She has been wearing this neon yellow cardigan (ok.. the picture does not do it justice) to its death (remember the outfit with the harlequin skirt?). But now she just realized that she has not seen that cardigan for awhile. Oh dear..oh dear.. that's the consequences of having 3 homes at the same time (my own rented room a.k.a kos2an, family home, and boyfriend's home).. you get mixed up some times.


--unbranded polka dot top, unbranded neon yellow cardigan bought at Mal Ambassador, unbranded white pencil skirt (bought a looooong time ago, long before the days of high waist skirts..she just knew this would come in handy someday,DIY chain cecklace, unbranded studded gold bangle (well actually it is a gold painted plastic bangle), Naughty head band, Ted Baker shoes, unbranded belt, Francesco Biasia bag--

Why do so many people get married in May?

Too many wedding invitations and not even one kebaya (traditional Indonesian clothing which women usually wear to a wedding) results in outfits with a twist (what ms. match means by a twist is the corsage and the color play, but if you don't think it's a twist, well in her book it is :p )




--2 tone silk all saints dress found at petticoat lane market for about 5 quid, corsage at Inacraft for Rp10.000, Ted baker shoes--




--(X)SML top, TopShop skirt pulled up to the high waist so it would look like a dress when paired with a wide bottomed top such as this, corsage brooch worn as head piece bought at INACRAFT, Office Shoes--
PS: hair is twisted by Ms. Match herself and loads of people thought Ms. Match went to a salon to have it done--
Hair tips: For those of you with short hair (not too short though), create this look easily by sectioning off hair and then taking them up and just twisting them in place. When you have got the perfect coil (not too tight at the top so it creates volume, and a bit loose in the front), take 2 black small hair pains dan pin the sucker in place. Use 2 criss-crossing pins to lock the hair do. After that stick a gigantic pink corsage in your hair!
Too bad you can't see it, because thanks of my recent color job (red highlights), ms. match's simple twist looked more modern with streaks of red running through the do.