Clothes I actually do own

After a frenzied spree of indulging in crass materialism in a shopping mall or two!

I used not to see the point of trompe l'oeil, but ever since I saw this pattern for Schiaparelli's Bowknot Sweater via Ravelry, I've been slowly coming around to it ...


Classy, eh?

So when Susie Bubble posted about Rosalind Keepe's Trompe L'Oeil collection for Oasis, I was ripe for conversion. I covet nearly everything in the collection! It's the combination of black and white (my favourite lack-of-colour palette!) and cartoonishly thick lines that enchants.

My favourite piece is this jacket/cardigan.


It's so cute!

I was therefore quite pleased to pick up this white trompe l'oeil tank top for RM25. It's not to say cheap for a tank top, but as long as I manage to keep it away from destructive curries, this simple white top is something I'll be wearing again and again.

White trompe l'oeil tank top - P & Co.; black jacket - Topshop; grey skirt - Colours; cuffed black socks - Isetan; red patent shoes - Clarks

I've been coveting this dress for a while. I realise it looks extremely similar to this grey dress with fluorescent yellow letters -- the similarity not reduced by the fact that I wore exactly the same belt over it -- but hey, I know what I like. And it was on sale!

Print shift dress - Message; black patent belt - Far East Plaza; bag - Vincci; cheapo white socks - Scarlet via Jusco; red patent shoes - Clarks

Anyway, you can never have too many shift dresses with quirky prints and pockets, IMO.


The bag is a Very Serious Bag which I'm hoping to be able to use for work. I like the shape and the texture is lovely, but I wonder if it might not be too heavy. It's all right now, when I don't do too much walking, but it may turn out to be too unkind on the shoulders when I return to London.


Finally, poyo picture for no reason.


I found my dad's Ralph Lauren polo shirt hanging out in my wardrobe one day and decided to try it on. Discovery: the only way to make an excessively large polo shirt look cool on you is to pose in a funny way.

And even then it might not work!

- Zen

Clothes not mine

I should actually take photos of things I've actually bought, rather than just things I've tried on. Oh well.


This is monochromatic, which is my favourite lack-of-colour combination. And I like the exposed zipper. But I think it's kind of boring and even unflattering, so out it goes.



Oh dear, I was so disappointed (though not surprised) when I tried these high-waisted pants on and decided they emphasised my hips way too much for comfort. I love the high-waisted look -- so cute and retro! -- and wearing such things also makes you feel like Napoleon.


And who doesn't want to feel like Napoleon once in a while?

But on balance I thought they were unflattering and that they should go back on the rack. I do wonder if I should learn to love my hips, though. I've noticed that I tend to be drawn to shapeless/A-line dresses; while these are incredibly comfortable, I'm pretty sure I also like them because they hide the shape of the tummy-to-thigh region. Which is fine and all, everyone dresses to match what they perceive as their strengths and conceal their weaknesses, but it's quite a large part of your body to dislike. Hmm.

In unrelated news, I was browsing ASOS during a lull at work today and I was enchanted by Yohji Yamamoto's Coming Soon line. As I understand it, it's supposed to be a "super casual" line, which is funny because before I saw it I was trying to figure out how you could dress for work at a conservative workplace and still look super cool, and when I saw these pictures, I said, "Aha! Like that!"

Admittedly you couldn't wear these jogging bottoms to work, as oddly formal-looking as they are.


(I think Sue would look awesome in this ensemble, by the way, though I'm not sure if I'm saying this of her specifically simply because she's the only one of us Lemms who has worn harem pants so far.)

But surely this look would be fine for even a pretty conservative workplace.


I'm not sure how flattering it would be on somebody not shaped like a model, but doesn't she look cool? I do like the unusual length, hitting under the knee, and the fact that it wouldn't look too weird until you looked closer.

The two pieces I like the most are these, though:

A peculiar knit wrap top that in reality I would probably not know how to wear.


And this gorgeous maxi dress. It's so elegant!


I especially like that the top is wool and the skirt part is silk. Contrasting textures in the same colour, how delicious.

ASOS actually has a much cheaper alternative which gives a similar effect -- ASOS seam detail jersey maxi dress -- and which I saw via Fruchtzwerg's Island's post here.


But it is not the same without the contrast in textures! Also I think the jersey dress would be hugely unflattering on me -- jersey can be ruthless on your sticky-out bits -- whereas the fact that the Yohji Yamamoto dress has a waist would prolly help me out.

- Zen

Breaking News

20 year old model Daul Kim is dead.She was found dead this morning in Paris and some sources claim it's suicide.

This comes as a shocker to me as she was recently made Karl Lagerfield's muse and has been featured in the new ad for Coco Cocoon. I've always liked her sense of style and honesty she portrays in her blog, I Like to Fork Myself. In fact she just made a post the day before she passed away titled 'Say hi to forever'. I've recently been hooked into the Korean culture and there seems to be a trend these days for celebrities to commit suicide, some even triggered bt comments made by netizens. It is really tragic and I hope she rests in peace.

P.S. I had always wanted to feature her in our blog because of her ethnicity and the ruthless industry she was in. I thought she would make it big. Never thought it would end here.

It's been a long time coming

So it is. Due to the complexity of my mind (or rather, lack of), lack of inspiration, chores and also the ocassional blue screen of death, I have kind of avoided mainstream fashion blogs like the plague. idk (Btw, I only just recently found out that idk stood for "i don't know" when all the while i thought it was an onomotopoeia TT)

So yes, I actually lived my life blogging in my head instead of doing it here. For instance, like the time I saw this perfectly awesome art that was rather cute from afar...... but disgusting when near.
Or this other time when Zen and I went vintage window shopping at Goodge Street where we got our hands on pretty high end vintage items that made us cry inside because they were so beautiful yet so expensive. It was also in here where we saw amazing shoe exhibit #1 fit for another art exhibition...
... including its second hand price tag.Or in Summer where I found awesome places to go to to buy simple dresses at RM25 a pop, that's almost a £4 pound equivalent. This I must clarify, they might look drabby when hung, or maybe my lousy camera just doesn't do it justice, but the quality is actually not that bad. The blue one's the best. It doesn't look cheap when you put it on and works amazingly well with a huge dark blue belt and killer heels or I could edge it up with one of these, something I am earnestly planning to get.And a whole lot more pictures I've taken for outfit posts but lost confidence in them. The inner workings of a simple yet fickle minded mind. Just like fashion. However, I promise to never blog in my head but come staright here without hesitation. It will be a place for me to look back and cringe at how silly I was, but it all doesn't matter because rightfully people who care wouldn't read this shit I spin anyway.

I will end this post with this picture I took at that posh vintage shop which is kinda apt.Much love and very much back,
Sue

Fashion is for the week

I usually let fashion blogs filter the results of fashion weeks for me -- I'm not especially interested in high fashion because it's mostly not meant for people to want to wear. But my interest was piqued when I saw a link to an album of photos from Malaysia Fashion Week.

Sort of meh about most of it, but I think this dress by Lee Jinx Yiing (Malaysians have such weird names) would make a really cool wedding gown.


I like the embroidery crawling over the dress, like lightning or twigs.

Also liked the batik-y prints from Nazari Maarus.



But my favourite picture from the album was this one:


I love the expression on the second lady from the right. She's having a great time at Malaysia Fashion Week!

For more fashion photos, you can browse the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Gallery archive. Highlights include this Tokyo Fashion Week album, from which we learn that there was a Dirndl Meets Kimono event celebrating the ties between Japan and Austria.



Fantastic.

- Zen

Fitting room photos

For some reason when I go shopping I keep taking pictures of things I'm not gonna buy, and not bothering to photograph things I actually do buy. Here are some things I didn't buy.


Scarlet is, I think, a local brand; its section in Jaya Jusco has much of the feel of a Primark, with the same variety in available styles. Some of the items are ordinary and perfectly desirable: e.g. this very wearable dress.

Some of the things are a little more avant garde, but not unobjectionable. I was intrigued by this swishy layered purple dress.



And then you get the Power Ranger T-shirts.



Scarlet, I must confess I do not always understand you.

Today I went to Nicchi Fashion City, another purveyor of quick-moving, affordable fashion, which promises a similar range of clothes from WTF to charming. I really liked this maxi dress I tried on.



It's my favourite colour (purple!) and I think the slightly patchwork look, and the hints of brown, really work. Sadly it was not entirely flattering -- you can't see it in these pictures, but the cut of the top bit meant that the flesh of my armpits pooched out from the sides. So I didn't get it.

Besides, when would one wear a maxi dress? Because of its length I feel it's a leetle too fancy to wear to a shopping mall ... but let's face it, if it had fit me well I would've bought it and worn it anywhere, and be damned to appropriateness.

- Zen

What my grandmother wore...

I'm finally making a new post! Felt like it was about time I uploaded some of my summer photos before winter comes>_<. Anyway... grandmother was some sort of fashionista in her younger days! She took out some of her old clothes and the only ones who could fit into them were my cousin and my sister, unsurprising as I did not inheirit the mini-genes of the family. So after dinner (maybe the dresses would not have been so tight if we had done the photoshoot before dinner?) we found a spot at my aunt's place n started our retro shoot! If only there were the black n white photos to complement the shoot...I'm sure my gran would have rocked-out the clothes with all the retro hair and all! First up is my cousin! Aww still so young and not yet into cam-whoring...it's a slippery slope I tell you! We have high hopes for this one...! If only we could give her some beehive hair and sunglasses...i'm trying to imagine my grandmother wearing this>_<. Would this be wearable today? I don't think I could pull it off, but I rememeber my aunt raided my grandmother's stash a couple of years back cos she was attending some retro class reunion. I wonder what she wore... #1 The orange goldfish... giving me a Chinese New Year vibe?

#2 by cuz. I think she's starting to feel less afraid of the camera now (it wasn't even a big flashy DSLR sort...wish I owned a better camera though...will have to reshoot when we get an upgrade). I'm still not a fan of floral prints...and have never really like to wear green since I turned green once when i was really sick(no kidding!). What do you think?

#3 and here emerges the sister!
This cheongsum was so mini-fit that she couldn't sit in it. Unbelievable! I knew my grandmother was petit but too be smaller than my sister!!!

#4 This is my favourite dress out of the night! 1) because it's in navy blue 2) it has a cute row of NAVY BLUE buttons 3) cute cut!


#5 would this be a mod dress? it has little pockets at the top and a bow. Sweet! #6 Star Trek tribute? We tied the bow in the front although I think it should be at the back. This dress is interesting...hmmmm...
Part 2 coming soon! Watch this space...

- Sam