Sad news: summer is over. But on the bright side, I always get super excited about new school year—whether it’s seeing my friends again, buying school supplies, or even… being able to see my crush again after two long months of summer 🙃. But what excites me the most is the back to school outfits!

So even though I’m not going back to school this year, I thought it would be cool to show you some back to school outfits that I would’ve loved to wear for Week One. 

Monday

First Day of School

So for Monday, the first day of school, I thought I’d keep it simple with this preppy striped shirt and these white jeans.

Top - Missoni (via Rent the Runway) | White flared jeans - Cheap Monday | Shoes - Alfani | Backpack - Topshop (similar) | Earrings - H&M

Tuesday

The art student

She’s definitely a little more put together and sophisticated than your Monday girl, and probably has a membership at the MoMA and the symphony.

Turtleneck - Yesstyle | Skirt - Chuu | Satchel - Cambridge Satchel Company | Beret - Urban Outfitters | “Picasso” earrings - from a Sydney thrift store (similar) | Oxford Shoes - Modcloth (similar)

Wednesday

“On Wednesdays we wear pink!”

For this outfit, I went with a Mean Girls meets the 70s meets French girl look

Blouse - Petite Studio (similar)| Flared jeans - 3x1 (via Rent the Runway) | Boots - Calvin Klein | Straw circle bag - Club Monaco (similar) | Turtle hoop earrings - from a Sydney thrift store (similar)

Thursday

K-pop (?!!)

Channeling K-pop girl group vibes.

Mustard Corduroy Jacket - Topshop| Striped cropped tank - Brandy Melville | White tennis skirt - American Apparel | Brown leather backpack - Forever 21 (similar) | Cortez Sneakers - Nike | White fishnet socks - ASOS (similar)

Friday

Street style

For the last day of class before the weekend, I wanted to be a bit more adventurous and play with a lot of contrasting elements.

NASA T-shirt - Urban Outfitters (similar)| Body con midi skirt - H&M| “Love you” tote - Rebecca Minkoff | Chunky dad sneakers - FILA | Saturn earrings - made by my aunt (similar)

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I hope this video and post gave you some inspiration to create your own outfits for the upcoming semester. Wishing you an amazing 2019-2020 school year!

♥ Cindy

After scrolling through my Instagram feed one night, I discovered a clothing brand called Petite Studio: an online womenswear brand for Petite women, by Petite women. After scrolling through their feed and coming across a few clean, elegant pieces that gave off major “Effortless Parisian” vibes, I instantly felt like I needed to buy everything. Not only did I fall in love with the brand’s aesthetic, I knew everything would fit me perfectly as well.

This was also a collaboration with the talented Iann, a photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Be sure to check out her amazing work on her Instagram and website.

The first item I fell in love with was the Bailey Jumpsuit. The looseness and effortlessness of the jumpsuit stood out to me, and it gave me a “vacationing in Southern Europe” feeling. For a petite girl, shopping for pants is hard enough. So you can imagine what shopping for jumpsuits is like. Usually I have fit issues with standard-size jumpsuits—they would fit correctly on some parts of my body, and then fit horribly on others. This one, on the other hand, fit like a glove.

Can we seriously appreciate how the length of the pant sits right above the ankle? Gives me a perfect opportunity to show off one of my favorite shoes: The Modern Loafer Mule by Everlane (in white, to complete the whole white-on-white aesthetic)

Bailey Jumpsuit: Petite Studio NYC| The Modern Loafer Mule: Everlane | Dangling Hoop Earrings: Yesstyle

Because of the bagginess and the slightly tomboy-ish vibe of this jumpsuit, I made sure to throw in a more feminine accent with these dangly hoops.

The next piece I chose from Petite Studio was the Poppy Dress. This dres combined three of my favorite trends into one: gingham, the button front accent, and yellow. Again: instant vacation vibes. I paired it with a white, cropped denim jacket and a pair of yellow mules to complete the clean, effortless vibe of the outfit.

Poppy Dress: Petite Studio NYC| Cropped white denim jacket: ZARA | Yellow mules: Thrifted

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Thanks a ton to my photographer for all of this, Iann, who reached out and planned this entire shoot at the Legion of Honor. Be sure to follow her on Instagram: @iannivy

♥ Cindy

As summer comes to an end, I wanted to give a shout out to the Eggieshop summer drop for rocking my outfits on my vacation to Italy. I wore one of my favorites from the collection, The Helena Top, on the island of Burano off the coast of Venice. And boy, the clean white, feminine top looked so gorgeous against the backdrop created by the vibrant, colorful houses

Every corner on every street in Burano is extremely photogenic. The photoshoot actually ended up becoming pretty difficult because all of the locations that we stumbled upon worked so damn well. Beware, this island is not for the indecisve.

I decided to pair the clean and crisp white Helena Top with a more vibrant mustard button-front midi skirt from Soprano. Because this top is cropped and shows more skin than I'm used to, I knew I wanted to pair it with a pair of jeans or a high waisted skirt. But because it was nearly 100 degrees in Burano that day, I really didn't want to slip on a pair of jeans. Luckily, the brightness of the skirt blended perfectly within the bright colors of the Burano houses. 

And yes, I was one amongst many girls taking photos on the island with their "Instagram husbands."

Helena Top: Eggieshop| Mustard button-front midi skirt: Soprano, via Nordstrom | The Zip-Top Transport Crossbody: Madewell | Flats: Forever 21

Shop this outfit

EggieShop

Soprano

Madewell

Curious to see more of Burano and Venice? Check out my vlog and photos in this post.

♥ Cindy

To be honest, I've been obsessed with menswear as early as middle school. I've always loved the sharp lines of a crisp tailored blazer, the classic leather of a men's messenger bag, and the fancy laces on a shiny pair of oxford loafers. Sadly, as a middle schooler, I didn't have a lot of courage to rock these pieces due to a longing to fit in with the rest of the students, who chose Abercrombie & Fitch fleeces and jeans to be their uniform. Now, as a working adult, I find that menswear actually plays really well into a woman's work wardrobe. So much that I often feel more confident being in a classic blazer and button up combo than a feminine dress and heels.

The suit combo trend has been another one of my obsessions lately. I've been scouring for a two-piece suit with a bold color or pattern for a while, but haven't found the right one in the right size (shopping for suits or any two-piece sets can be quite the challenge for petites). So to recreate this suit combo look, I merely took a classic black blazer from the back of my closet and paired it with my classic black cigarette trousers. Because the all-black combo can look a bit stuffy and overly-formal, I made sure to layer a casual T-shirt underneath it and to compliment the suit with a pair of Adidas Stan Smiths. 

This was a joint shoot with Maya Deschamps of M.A.D Mgmt, a San Francisco-based style and beauty consulting company. Maya, who used to model in Paris and walk runways for fashion houses like Christian Dior, reached out to me via my post about the Glossier pop up, and I was super excited to meet up and collaborate with her on new style content instantly.  If you're interested in more of her work, follow her on Instagram and check out the style consulting services at M.A.D Mgmt.

To downplay the formal vibe created by the black suit, I decided to layer a minimal white graphic underneath it. This T-shirt I purchased when I saw Emily King in her "You and I" tour back in 2017. The graphic in this tee is actually an outline of the photo in the cover of her album titled "The Switch," which I put on repeat throughout my senior year in college. I love how the tour tee is just a simple outline, and not gaudy or overly-colorful like many artist's fan merchandise turn out to be. 

Apparel: Blazer: Uniqlo| T-shirt: tour tee from Emily King's "You and I" tour| Pants: ASOS| Sneakers: Adidas Stan Smith in green| Earrings: Yesstyle

Photos: Bianca Hudetz

To complete the outfit, I added a feminine touch to balance out the menswear with some jewelry. I added a pair of dangly hoops, which helped add a little shine to monochromatic outfit. These hoops, which were found on Yesstyle, are also super minimal, which helped tie together the clean lines from the blazer and the minimal art in the graphic tee.

Location: These were taken on the corner of Alabama and 18th in the Mission, which is filled with colorful murals and beautiful walls. This area in the Mission is also home to some great dining, including Tartine Manufactory, Flour + Water, and Farmhouse Kitchen.

A huge thanks to Bianca for taking the photos and Maya for coordinating the shoot! 

♥ Cindy

One of the worst things about waking up in the morning the thought of having to force myself into a pair of tight jeans for the day. And I'm sure I'm not the only girl in the world who feels this way. So lately, I've been gravitating towards looser bottoms, like maxi skirts and wide-leg pants, which not only provide the length needed for the always-chilly San Francisco weather, but also the comfort of a pair of sweatpants.

I’ve loved experimenting with oversized items of clothing lately—especially by putting an oversized jacket on top of an oversized pair of pants. It’s a little bit tricky to do on my 5’3’’ frame, but as long as the pants aren’t too long, and you’re still showing a little bit of ankle, you should be fine. To add a bit of contrast to the oversized denim jacket and baggy pants, I layered a tight, simple black bodysuit from Brandy Melville underneath to make sure the volume didn’t swallow me up completely.

To add a little polish to the outfit, I turned to my white loafers from Everlane (probably my favorite pair of shoes at the moment). The simplicity of these loafers and its clean lines really helped balance out the loud colors in the pants and to bring a more upscale look to the outfit. These are probably one of the more expensive shoes in my closet, but also one of the most versatile. I’ve found myself wearing these shoes with flowy dresses and skirts to add a more masculine, edgy persona... and also with more casual jeans + T-shirt combos to make them feel more put together.

Apparel: Oversized Denim Jacket: Yesstyle| Black bodysuit: Brandy Melville | Pants: Urban Outfitters| White loafer mules: Everlane

Photos: Jeffery Wang

I know I haven't posted much fashion content here for a while, but it's been getting difficult to find time to schedule photoshoots lately. Hopefully I'll have a few more outfit posts up before summer ends!

♥ Cindy

I've been obsessed these days with oversized denim jackets. It's even better if the jacket is in a bold color like this bright red one. For petite girls, oversized clothing can be a bit of a challenge to style, and for a while, I steered away from pieces with a lot of volume because of what they did to my portions. But after looking at a few British brands that also carry petite clothing in addition to their normal styles, I was able to find an oversized jacket that worked for my body. I realized that in order to make a oversized jacket work for a small frame, you have to look for one that is cropped in length—preferably one that sits just at your belly button, or just a few inches below.

Another one of my obsessions lately has been these white wide leg jeans from Cheap Monday (who was nice enough to feature one of my Instagram photos in their gallery for these pants). I feel like I've seen dozens of pants like these on Pinterest lately. This pair combines all of the trends that have been lurking in stores in the last year: the high waist, the cropped length, the raw hem, and the flared wide leg. 

Apparel: Red Denim Jacket: ASOS| Striped shirt: Brandy Melville | Jeans: Cheap Monday| Shiny penny loafers: ASOS | Hoops: H&M

To balance out both the oversized denim jacket and the wide leg jeans, I realized that I needed something tighter to layer underneath. I found this striped and slightly-cropped top from Brandy Melville. It worked wonders with the high waisted pants, and was short enough to show off the shape of the jeans without me having to tuck in the shirt and just long enough to cover my belly.

Photos: These were taken by the wonderfully-talented Jeffery Wang, a friend I met from UCSD and now a colleague at Pinterest. We took these a while before the sun started setting, so it was still bright enough for us to catch the reflection of the San Francisco skyline in the warehouse window.

Don't forget to check out Jeff's mind-blowing 500px portfolio! 

Makeup

Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark brown + Glossier Boy Brow in Brown | Eyes: Son & Park True Black Eye Pen Liner, Glossier Lidstar duo (shade "moon" in the middle, "cub" on the sides) | Lips: Fenty Beauty Mattemoiselle Lipstick in "Spanked"

After going to the Glossier pop-up event in San Francisco, I purchased the Lidstar duo in the shades "moon" and "cub." The warm, peachy tones worked perfectly with the reds in my outfit as well as the warm tones from the sunset during the photoshoot.

I think this is a look that screams "Summer in San Francisco" with all of its warm tones. Because summers in San Francisco are never very warm, you'll definitely find yourself reaching for a jacket and a pair of pants on a daily basis. Why not try an oversized jacket and pants this summer? And experiment with different color combinations as well? I hope y'all have fun mixing and matching :)

♥ Cindy