Lavender & Twill : ༺ Pearl of Asia ༻

We were so lucky this April to spend four days in Phom Penh, Cambodia. We had six days away in total ~ one travel day on either side of the trip, which worked out to be quite a good amount of time for a short tour of the city.

I’m really glad we got to visit Cambodia ~ they have called Phnom Penh the “Pearl of Asia” and I can understand why.

There are so many fantastic historical sights to see ~ and I thoroughly enjoyed the chance I had to spend the afternoon out in the city exploring. {I did that by myself while the children went with the Mister to a waterpark ~ much more fun for them than sightseeing!}

I can’t express enough how beautiful I found the historical, heavily French-inspired architecture throughout Phnom Penh. I love how the French influence has mixed with the local history and culture to create a singularly spectacular city. I really enjoyed visiting the National Museum of Cambodia, and the Royal Palace. The Silver Pagoda was spectacular, and there was a plethora of inspiring colour palettes and patterns that I just soaked up… And took a gazillion photos of!

I think the nicest thing about solo adventuring is the ability to go completely at your own pace and see all the things you really want to see. I’m perfectly horrible as a traveling companion because I want to see EVERY SINGLE LITTLE thing and take photos of IT ALL. I’ve been told on many occasion to hurry up, but that doesn’t work on me anymore as I now know if I don’t get the photo when I see it, I won’t have another chance and then I’ll regret it later! I’m such a visual person, I simply must capture the pictures I find ~ it’s kind of like treasure hunting to me and I love it.

Although I really do enjoy exploring by myself for a day or an afternoon, one thing I have to say is that it’s certainly not great for getting photos of yourself in all the exotic locations! Haha… I’m going to have to invest in a tiny travel tripod for my phone I think…

Alas, it also means that I didn’t get to take the outfit pictures in the city like I was planning. I did manage to get some photos at the housing complex where we were staying so I was glad about that. Not exactly a jaw-dropping location, but it was peaceful, and even the simpler example of a Cambodia building was pretty to me.

The day of these photos was the first one of our trip, and we had gone out earlier on a boat tour of the Tonlé Sap River. Honestly ~ I was sooo impressed that my makeup {and my curls} managed to last all day in the humidity and heat!

Thailand has been so dry, I forgot how humid tropical weather can get, but boy, oh boy ~ Cambodia was a very moist reminder.

I had a very easy time packing for this short jaunt and after I looked at everything in my suitcase, I realised why ~ I’d packed four pink outfits to wear for all four days!

And you know what?

I wasn’t the slightest bit unhappy about that. It made accessorizing easy, my makeup could be a similar peachy-pink look every day, I could wear one pair of shoes {instead of bringing the three or so odd pairs I usually do.. Haha!} and that one pair would match my purse!

Now that might sound a little crazy, but I really do like making sure my looks are complete from head to toe. I miss dressing in true vintage style which really is about co-ordinating each and every part of your ensemble ~ from the undergarments to accessories.

In the spirit of vintage fashion, I try to style each part of my look along the same rules that dictated a chic and elegant ensemble in the 1940s and 1950s ~ and essentially make sure that my co-ordination is on point!

And actually, I had some locals enquiring about my look ~ they thought I was a stylist because my whole outfit was matching so perfectly. It was sort of true, but not really in the way they were thinking… I’m a stylist for myself! Haha!

Creating a capsule travel wardrobe based around my favourite colour certainly made the whole process of packing very simple, and it also meant that each outfit made me feel really happy to wear it. It’s not really something I’d thought of before ~ most people suggest building a capsule wardrobe/suitcase around a “basic” colour such as black, white, blue or tan.

But I think that if you have enough of your favourite colour in your wardrobe, all of the right accessories are probably already there. It’s also going to be a colour, and the clothing, that you feel comfortable in which will create the perfect mood for a day exploring.

Now I just need to find enough purple dresses to create a capsule wardrobe in lilac!

xox,

bonita

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Monday, April 29, 2019

༺ Pearl of Asia ༻

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