A look backwards, a step forward

Wearing H&M mesh sleeve blouse, Topshop tulle skirt, New Look wedges, bunch of rings (as usual, duh)

I usually don't blog about personal stuff, but hey - it's 2 days to the new year and I only do this once a year! 2011 really feels like a blur to me. This whole year has been so turbulent - full of ups and downs - and so many things have happened while it felt like I had simply stood there in the middle of a busy street, watching someone else's life enfold before my eyes.
Here's a list of my top 10 things that happened to me in chronological order.

1. I worked in a PR firm for 6 months managing various clients' portfolios and doing everything from writing press releases to packing press kits.
2. I received my A Level results in March and had real suicidal thoughts because of the my mom's failure to understand how disappointed I was with myself. I moved out of home.
3. I still got into the university and course (NUS Business) that I wanted despite my results.
4. I went to Paris!!!!!! At long last! And I saw Anna Dello Russo, Hanneli M, Tommy Ton, Emmanuelle Alt, Carine Roitfeld, Frida Gustavsson, Anna Selezna, Freja B Ericssen, Liu Wen, Daphne Guinness, Stephanie LaCava, Anna Wintour and Giorgio Armani (among many others) in person during Paris Haute Couture Week!
5. I went into university, moved into residential halls and my friends and social circle increased by at least 100.
6. I fell in love, had someone love me back, experienced breakup and fell out of love all in a period of 3 months.
7. My blog is doing really well despite it only just turned one year old! I attended Men's Fashion Week, Audi Fashion Festival, Blueprint tradeshow and Women's Fashion Week among many other events.
8. I became the victim of an attempted robbery and was physically hurt. 
9. I did rather well for my first semester in uni, despite being the bottom 10th percentile of the cohort when I got in.
10. I got offered an interview for a fashion product writer in early Jan 2012 for a huge German company!

Looking back, I do think that I have learnt a lot this year and I feel proud of the work that I've achieved for myself. Therefore, my new year resolutaions would be pretty simple:

To continue to work hard towards my own goals, namely to improve in my performance in NUS Business, to not abandon my blog by managing my time carefully, to earn money for myself and to find new love. No more doing things to please my mother who doesn't appreciate the things I do, but rather to do things to make myself fulfilled and satisfied and up to my own expectations.

That, I feel, would be the fastest way to achieve happiness. And happiness is meant to be pursued.

Let me take you along for a ride

H&M pink tank top, H&M tribal print skirt, thrifted denim shirt, Zara leather strap sandals, rings from all over the place

This is my outfit on a casual day out - I love this outfit for its colours! I got my H&M tank top in France actually and the H&M tribal print skirt was from H&M Singapore's preview opening night. Speaking of which, H&M is doing roaring business here in Singapore and I've seen not just locals shopping in there but lots of Caucasian tourists as well. Even though they are stocked with F/W clothes now that are not very weather appropraite for Singapore, they are still popular with shoppers for its 3 mega floored shopping. I haven't visited Abercrombie and Fitch since they opened so I can't comment on how the other megastore at Knightsbridge is doing but I suppose they must be doing quite well too.

Singapore is fast becoming the destination for high street mass retailers with a lot of clout to open up chain mega retail concepts. But frequently I question the need for all those shops because you see practically the same shops everywhere. Zara, alone has 4 stores just along Orchard Road in such close proximity to one another, while Topshop and Forever 21 both has 3 stores along Orchard. Even in shopping malls elsewhere it's always the same retailers. And it's not just fashion retailers, the coffee chains are the same ones franchised from US brands as well so much so that Singaporeans are so used to anticipating yet another opening of the same store and living in conformity that they don't realize.

I long for independent shops but those can probably only be found in Haji Lane, Ann Siang Hill and Raffles Shopping Arcade. We need more creativity and individuals to come out to do their own thing, and we need governmental support and encouragement as well for these people.

In Talks With Tommy Ogara - Creative Director, Dita Eyewear

I was invited to the private launch of Thom Browne for Dita Eyewear recently to experience firsthand the details and exquisite materials that go into a pair of glasses or shades in this collection. Inspired by the powerful figures in the 40s - 60s, the collection features round lightweight titanium frames for the shades, with some of them featuring 60s square frames in lightweight plastic. The shades were especially well made - they were literally featherlight and the curavture of the frames seemed to be tailored specially for Asian faces. All frames were finished off with the trademark red, white and blue stripes signature of Thom Browne.

I managed to catch Tommy Ogara, one of the creative directors for Dita Eyewear and interviewed him regarding the collection and his work. Tommy was really fun and affable, a delight to chat with because he brings forth so many stories and ideas into the conversation.

How did the collaboration between Thom Browne and Dita come about?
Thom Browne approached me regarding the collection and at the same time Jeff and John (founders and creative directors of Dita Eyewear) also received the news when they were at Bergdorf's in New York. We’ve always seen ourselves creating trends and going against mediocrity and uniformity.
Thom Browne is the only fashion brand that we believe is truly worthy enough to join us in the uprising. So since then, we've been doing the eyewear collection with Thom Browne for his men's shows.

The inspiration for the frames come from mostly the era of 50s - 60s and it takes a man that has already has refined taste and developed style to carry it off - would you say that attracts an older clientele?
Not really, because increasingly more and more young hipsters are donning vintage clothes, or rather vintage inspired clothing. But at the same time you know that no one would actually wear some vintage items. You wouldn't wear a dress that is made entirely out from lace and tulle, would you? But because the quality of lace or other fabrics that were made in the past is so good, a lot of designers are remaking clothes from vintage finds through alteration or the addition of extra details. I think Courtney Love does that - you should call her!
So what we're doing here at Dita is to take inspiration from that and use the newest technology and highest quality modern materials to make our frames. Also a form of reinterpretation, I suppose.

Tommy - tell me about how you got to join Dita Eyewear.
I joined them in 2001 and it was because Dita was having problems with their then distributor in Japan. Because I had lived in Japan for a period of time, I can speak fluent Japanese, so I am now in charge of distribution and production at the Japan side and I've always been inspired by the creative buzz in Tokyo. I frequently have Skype meetings with Jeff, John and Mike Castello in our headquarters in LA to discuss about our design and I send prototypes back to LA as well.

I heard that you've got a factory in Japan. How is that contributing to the development for Dita?
The factory in Japan is great. We're constantly developing new ways to make our frames and I can control the quality of the materials that we use in our frames. We use a lot of titanium because it's lightweight, strong and unreactive. These days a lot of Asians are concerned about their skin, so titanium is just right because it will not cause skin irritation.

Any new developments for Dita or for yourself?
Well, actually tomorrow I'm attending the launch of a new eyewear collection in Hong Kong and it was a recent project that I was involved in. I resketched and tweaked the designs based on the original designs of a 50 year heritage eyewear label that was under William Cheung. I did it for free because I thought it'll be nice to be able to contribute to something like that.



The launch was held in the boutique of SURRENDER, located in Raffles Shopping Arcade. Originally started off in Far East Plaza with a focus more on streetwear, they moved to the shophouses off at Somerset before finally relocating to Raffles for around 2 years. They stock more than 10 menswear labels including Thom Browne and the boutique was tastefully decorated to ressemble almost like a mini-museum in an attic. They carry a carefully curated selection of men's suits, casual apparel, shoes and leather accessories. Definitely worth a visit, for both metropolitan men that are already possess refined style, or for some others to discover their style.

Riding on the tail of a coat

Vintage gold thread coat worn as cowl neck outer, H&M black tunic, The scarlet room skirt with chiffon panels

I fished this beautiful gold thread coat out from the bargain bin in Free'p Star, a thrift store in Paris (you can see my guide to thrifting in Paris here). When I saw it I just knew I needed to get it because it was so beautiful. Turn it one side and you can see the gold shimmer of the fabric, turn it another side it was back to black. It's true when they say they don't make things the same anymore, you just can't find pieces like these in stores.

I guess this outfit is a little bit abstract because of the black and white, but it's made interesting by the gold threading of the coat. I buttoned one side of the coat up to the other end such that it looked like I was wearing a cowl neck shroud instead of just a normal coat. I love this skirt as well, it makes me feel like I have a soft pair of wings. I'm a big sucker for clothes with movement, which explains why a lot of pieces in my wardrobe have long trailing tails of fabric, or excess fabric in the form of tulle, organza or soft chiffon.

Anyway, for your Christmas shopping, you may wanna check out UNESTABLISH, a local online boutique that stocks many of our local as well as overseas independent designers. Definitely a good place for you to get unique one off designer wear for your friends, or perhaps to treat yourself - they have a number of amazing party-suitable dresses over there!
Here are 3 looks that I love the most:

For Love & Lemons Casablanca Dress

Pauline Ning Organza Top

Pauline Ning Drapery Skirt

I've been a friend of Pauline's since I met her last year at Parco Next next and I must say she is really a talented young designer. These 2 pieces that I've chosen are from her older collection - lately she's been up to some really interesting work by working in mixing fabrics and asymmetric cuts. You can see my past posts about her here and here. A little birdie has also told me that you can get 25% off and free worldwide shipping just by using the code XMAS25 at checkout :)

H&M - King of high-low retail tieups?

Just not long after the madness that ensued over Versace x H&M collection, which launched on 15 November, H&M's next exclusive collection featuring a collaboration with the costume designer of the famous book turned movied, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, would be launching its rock chic collection on our shores on 17 December. This is not yet withstanding the fact that H&M has just announced yet another Italian designer collaboration, this time with Marni, which will launch next year on 8 March 2012.

The wildly successful Versace x H&M collection was snapped in less than a day after it was released practically worldwide, leaving only the perhaps the larger sizes or some home accessories left. The more surprising thing was the the guys' collection - of which includes a hot pink suit, leather bomber jacket and suits with Miami prints in clashing colours of turquoise and neon yellow - were sold out within minutes as well, with some guys just grabbing the clothes frantically off the shelfs! I hope those guys that bought them are really intending to wear the clothes and not peddle it at a significantly markedup price on eBay.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo collection is a slightly more commercial version of Salander's dirty, grungy rock chic look. Lots of hoodies, leather motorcycle jackets, combat boots in shades of black, grey, army green and burgundy. Also includes tough girl leather backpacks and slightly gothic accessories. Prices range from US$3.95 for earrings up to $199 for the leather jackets, but boots just going at $59.95. If it's well-made, it can perhaps replace your trendy Dr Martens!
You can see the full collection here.

Less than a month after its widely successful collaboration with Versace, H&M has done it again. It's next designer team up would be with Italian brand Marni and will be launched on 8 March 2012. The Italian label founded and designed by Consuelo Castiglioni known for its clothes with rich prints and colours, with a touch of luxe boho and pop. Marni x H&M is reported to have the brand's signature colour blocking and print-on-print aesthetic, with a full range of accessories such as its desirable chunky shoes, necklaces and trademark conical hats.
I suppose recently these Italian labels want to appeal to the mass market and the only way they saw fit was H&M, as they have the technicality of in-house designers and creative director at helm to come up with the sample fabrics which the designer can approve. You can also see from the extravagant set that H&M designed for Donatella Versace's advertisement and the models that they can sign on for the campaign, which includes runway regulars Abbey Lee Keshaw and Daphne Gronewald. I suppose this is the clout that H&M holds, unlike Topshop, Zara or any other high street brands. I definitely welcome designer tieups, because it gives poor mortals like me a chance to experience part of a luxury brand, but at the same time I wonder if this will give H&M the power as well to jack up their prices of even their normal lines. Additionally, will this translate into poorer sales for the other highstreet brands due to different brand perception of H&M or whenever H&M stages yet another designer tie-up?
Just some food for thought.

Versace Marni Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Best of British

I visited the BOB boutique tucked in the old shophouses along Tiong Bahru way way before in November but I didn't get around to talking about them until now. The boutique is seriously worth a visit even if you are not intending to buy anything - you can still browse and look at their curated selection of emerging British designers, which include Hermione De Paula, Belle Sauvage,  Boudicca, KTZ Kokon ToZai, Tim Soar and Vassilisa among many others. They also carry plenty of accessories designers from exclusive scarf designers to handbags and jewelry, so it's definitely a good opportunity to check out the emerging young talents from UK, which is definitely having a fashion moment currently with its surge of new talent.

Tweed print on silkscreen, with interlacing geometric stripes in a threaded fabric

KTZ's SS12

Graphic 3D butterfly purse at KTZ

Haiwen

Boudicca and Tim Soar

Vassilisa

Boudicca, Tim Soar and Haiwen offered a slightly more tailored look with emphasis on cut and fabric, rather than KTZ, Vassilisa and Belle Sauvage that focused primarily on innovative prints. The palette for those three labels are rather subdued, with primary colours in black, white and varying hues of metallics, showcasing the designers' specialty in cut in the form of a triple origami collared wrap blouse, asymmetric tunics and wrap dresses. The collection seems to be made with the working career woman in mind, but yet indicates playfulness with this mix of fabrics in a single item of clothing - such as suede and faux leather and also silk combinations.

Vassilisa, named after classic Russian fairytale heroine "Vassilisa the Beautiful", encompasses the feminity, fairytale and beauty that lays at the heart of the brand's aesthetic concept. The design process is based on a sketchbook method that includes the research of Russian iconography, cinema, modern art and architecture, producing limited edition prints with distinctive animalistic and geometric patterns. The collection features lots of cute prints such as rabbits, doe deers, furry foxtails to evoke a sense of nursery folklore and wide-eyed wonderness. Nothing can get more feminine than the combination of prancing baby animals and stars, it seems. The designer also likes to incorproate chiffon and uses silk as the base fabric for most of its floaty dresses, that seem almost like a magical caftan worn with a venture into the woods alone.

Maxi dress from Belle Sauvage

Graphic clash of prints and colours

My favourite collection out of the bunch is Belle Sauvage, which is not just aesthetically extremely attention grabbing and attractive, but also interesting in the way their silhouettes are presented.
For the BELLE SAUVAGE RTW 2012 COLLECTION, designers Christian Neuman and Virginia Ferreira presented their most sensual collection yet for their 4th season at London Fashion Week. Lines of powerful feminine elements and voluptuous shapes, are strongly evident throughout the collection of sweeping long gowns, petit cocktail dresses and smart tailoring. The lip cutouts on some of their dresses, corset and harness shapes are refined by decorative pleating techniques and rococo elements. The effect equals sleek volume and interesting silhouettes that are sometimes the combination of both a bell bottom and pleated pencil skirt, rather like the silhouette explored by Givenchy's sensuous panther&violet collection for FW11. Fabrics are a mix of soft light silks blended with contrasting luxurious heavy silks and French embroidered tulle.

Upon closer inspection reveals some exquisite thread embriodery onto the shoulders of some of its dresses that glisten in the light. I especially like that the designers incorporate mint green chiffon that contrasted against the hard edge that the pixelized prints presented. It somewhat subdues the loudness of the print slightly and gives a movement to the dress that a pencil maxi might not otherwise give. At other times, chiffon and tulle was iron pleated and seen peeking out from the bottom of a structured dress, or used as decorative cap sleeves that equally softens the computerized prints.
 I'll definitely keep my eyes on a lookout for this pair of young designers in the future, next to Mary Karantzou, the queen of mixed media prints.

Best of British is located at 59 Eng Hoon St #01-55. Do drop by if you're in the fab indie area of Tiong Bahru, which I intend to fully explore this month!

If my heart bleeds

I feel horrible about my almost 2month blogging hiatus. School has just been a whirlwind of projects, assignments, deadlines and exam revision and time as just passed too quickly for me to even grab hold of anything else.

But be rest assured that I was not completely out of touch in fashion. I think that would be impossible because I need to at least look at something fashion related - even for the shortest while - once a day.

I promise that in this one month holiday, I will blog frequently such that I can keep my blog updated even after school has begun again in January. And I would be introducing my new co-blogger soon so do keep a lookout for her (:

My favourite photo of the lot

I love this blouse that I bought from Schwingschwing - it is everything I have ever wanted in a shirt/blouse - the pleats the collar and the amazing sleeves that make it so special. Worn here together with my Topshop chiffon skirt with sequin trimming, boots from Rubi and a bunch of rings from all over the place. And yes I have since dyed my hair DIY brown and permed it with a collateral damage of $290 which was a total ripoff. But I kind of like the way it has turned out now I guess. Though I have intentions to perm it reddish brown soon!

The red walls are actually one of the shophouses just tucked behind Orchard Road, in between Midpoint Orchard and Causeway Point. A rather unlikely place for quaint shop houses since Orchard Road's the shopping mecca of Singapore and only has space for expensive retail outlets. I have passed by the area so many times but I have never ever noticed the line of shophouses and chillout bars behind the shopping malls - you can say it's kind of a hidden gem.

It makes me wonder just how many things in life that I've missed out just because I wasn't being observant enough.

Anyway, one of my good guy friends has decided to get me a Diana mini for a  reason none other than "just because I want to give you a present" when I've just received the heads-up that the new Lomo Singapore store (just opened on 8 Dec) has released the GOLD version of Diana F+, Diana mini and Fish-eye! And it looks so yummy coated in gold!
 

I'm so excited to be exploring collaboration opportunities with Lomo because I've always been a big fan of film cameras, just that I've been too afraid to venture into film photography because it's a total new ballgame from digital. From selecting the right film to use, to operating everything in manual without the option to check your digital screen to see if the shots turned out right, to leaving everything to natural lighting (no tricks up your sleeve anymore to adjust exposure, colour temperature and ISO)...to finally publishing the film...it takes a lot of effort and tenacity to carry everything through successfully.

So hopefully with the new Lomo store and my Diana Mini, I'd be able to explore photography further with my friend who's a total proponent of film photography.