Dramatic reveal!

Today I completed the project for which these rabbit buttons were intended. And I am totally happy with the result!


I bought this black coat in Japan -- it came with ordinary flat black plastic buttons and so looked very unexciting, though I liked the cut and the collar. And I kept seeing adorable Japanese print fabrics being sold at random tourist traps and wanted to buy them, even though I didn't know what I'd do with them. So I thought: why not combine the two?

I'd seen coats before with floral print cloth-covered buttons -- I think Dahlia does them? So I had an idea of what kind of colour and print I wanted. I went to a craft shop and bought a button-covering kit and some bunny print fabric and brought them home with me, and when I came home and had a free minute I did the buttons.

At the time I finished the buttons I'd sent the coat for dry-cleaning, so I was only able to sit down and sew the buttons on today. This YouTube video by Jenny T. was extremely helpful! I guess I could've figured out how to do it on my own, but I wanted to do them properly.

My main concern was that I'd sew the buttons at irregular distances so that the coat wouldn't lie properly when buttoned up, but I think it turned out OK. Thank you, Jenny T.!


I only did the bunny buttons. The buttons on the cuffs have more of a floral motif and were pre-done, as it were; I bought them separately.



What it looks like on. \o/ It's given the coat a whole new look for a minimal amount of effort, so I'm very pleased.

- Zen

Feeling kinda Sungei Wangish today

I think it looks a wee bit less Sungei Wangish without the leggings, but the leggings are necessary because it is so short! When I'm back in the UK I'll try it with a black jacket and black tights and see how that looks. I love the embroidery, anyway, though I'm ambivalent on the lace trim at the hem.

Grey dress with embroidery from Chet boutique at Dataran Sunway; Scarlet lace-trimmed leggings and Massimo Colcera pour Schu purple satin flats stolen from my mom.

- Zen

yessssss

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I feel ridiculously accomplished, even though these were super easy to make.

What am I going to do with these buttons? Tune in at some undetermined point in the future to find out!

- Zen

Pants post

After years of slouching around in ill-fitting, uncomfortable jeans, I converted finally and decidedly to dresses, and have yet to look back. You guys, dresses are so much more comfortable. Provided you get the right kind, they don't squeeze you in awkward places, they don't leave grooves on your skin from having dug in all day, and once you've put a dress on, you're dressed -- no need to worry about finding a nice top or anything like that.

I suppose all of that except the last statement could be said of jeans, but it's way harder for pear-shaped me to find jeans that fit comfortably. And dresses, it must be said, are more exciting.

I still do find it difficult to resist a nice pair of shorts, but let's blame that on upbringing. Who doesn't wear shorts, so near the equatorial? I have lots of pairs, but I haven't been able to find a satisfactory pair of high-waisted shorts. I think they are so cute!



These were pretty nice, but I go back and forth on denim shorts -- they're a little too Daisy Duke for me. Besides, they were RM90, and I wasn't really about to pay RM90 for a pair of shorts.

Then I found these slouchy ankle-skimming trousers in a lovely soft tweed. Now this is an office-appropriate look I could get behind.


It's a cut I've seen and liked on other people but have always doubted would work on myself. I thought they looked pretty good when I'd tried them on, though. They are also charming dressed down with a more casual top, so I got them.


If you would like a simple, well-cut black jacket from Etam discounted from £50 down to RM50 and you are a size 34, 40 or 42, you should go to FOS in 1 Utama! Sadly 34 is a wee too small for me -- it fit, but not when I was wearing anything with sleeves under it -- so I left it. I think it would be nice for work!

- Zen

Of Parkas and Kai Aackmann

My natural reaction towards parkas are that of posers, hobos and the homeless. I feel it's very hard to go out in a parka without looking like one of the three mentioned above, more specifically the homeless. I believe this is just me though, because I like to dress casual.

However, Korean brand Kai Aackmann changed my mind.

Kai-aakman is a contrasexual casual brand aspiring harmony of Animas and Anima, inspired by Carl Jung. Anima is the personification of all feminine psychological tendencies within a man, the archetypal feminine symbolism within a man's unconscious. The Animus is the personification of all masculine psychological tendencies within a woman, the archetypal masculine symbolism within a woman's unconscious.

Kai-aakman applies this perspective into fashion aesthetics. The true beauty deep in every human being's potential ambivalence is being reinterpreted into mix and match of..everything. Avant-garde dresses meet masculinely-tailored blazers, which could be matched with comfort baggy pants. You could see from comfort casual t-shirts with cute typographic play to feminine skirt, or masculine dress-pants. Black-and-white colors encounter aesthetic prints. Every color, fabric and item you could find in Kai-aakman collection is odd and fun, sleek and chic. No one can tell you what to wear or how to match with. Just enjoy playing mix-and-match of Kai-aakman's chic and fun outfits.

The description itself already attracts me what more if you're selling me homeless parkas?

I know it doesn't look great here but look it has a similar campaign to Burberry's Art of the Trench. I don't know who followed who but it's an awesome one. I present to you, Art of the Parka.

First instinct tells me Sam would notice the dogs first before the parka itself. I love the quilted detail within the jacket and how she paired it with sport shoes and not look hobo. Because I definitely would.

Hippie hobo love! Denim, flares and a tambourine at that, so not me but she pulls it off so well!

I am loving how these two different boys make the parka look like two different ones! How?
Howdy. I am a fellow red indian who loves parkas.

This is my favourite style out of all of them. I am impressed at how versatile everything is. She puts on the jacket to play out a more causal look, takes it off and is immediately spiffy with the grey blazer.

Coincidentally, fishtail parkas (its specific name) were first used by the United States army in 1951 to protect soldiers from the elements of the Korean War. The originals are now lovingly collected at premium prices. Never knew that did you? Neither did I. I found out because when I started blogging, the word 'parka' completely slipped my mind and I had to wiki 'jacket' to jog my memory. Hence stumbling upon this lil' tidbit of information that might come in handy when you're in Who Wants to be a Millionaire or The Weakest Link. Don't forget to thank me.

Also, do check out Kai Aackmann's webby. They have some pretty interesting stuff. I especially love these.




If you're into K-dramas like me, the brand also dresses a lot of the leads. Korea's F4, Boys over Flowers are completely decked out in Kai Aackmann. Yummmmm.

- Sue

An Unusual Obsession

Hi guys!

I've got something new for you today. Let me indulge you in one of my little obsessions of late. I have this tiny obsession with everything South Korean: clothes, fashion, looks, beauty, food, dramas and variety shows. It's an obsession that's pathetic because I don't understand nor read a word of Korean. Why? Hmmm that's a hard one.

I like their make-up because they focus in enhanching your looks and the outcome is an enchanced you that look like you don't wear a milligram of make-up, if that makes sense to you. I love their dramas because even though story lines are recycled i.e. 2 guys and a girl, the inevitable heart-breaking scenes that make you cry or the uber romantic scenes that make you squeeeeeee with delight, I can't help but fall for the good looking actors and the amazing chemistry in the dramas. I love their variety/reality shows because they are so freaking funny. And their clothes, omg, don't let me start on how fast they mass produce designer inspired clothing/shoes at the speed of sound at affordable prices. I want to go to South Korea!

One thing I got out of this obsession is the enlightenment of the world's longest standing war between the North and South Korea. I always knew there was a war, an ongoing famine in the North and a dictator that's mad but I never ever seriously considered the human aspects of such a complicated war. Families separated from each other for more than 50 years not by distance but by political needs. A place where self-volunteered delusions keep you and your family safe. A place where you think you're in the best situation possible compared to the outside world which you were never allowed to step into even though you are always hungry. A lil like The Matrix I suppose.

I downloaded documentaries, watched youtube videos on surviving escapees and read even more. I even went as far as purchasing this great little comic/graphic novel.

I have come to the conclusion that world aid only supports the dictatorship in North Korea which will in turn cause more suffering as this gives more power to the dictatorship. Everything sent there is controlled and only trickles down to those who support the regiment. I am a total geek I know. Now that I know what's happening I feel so sad for them. I feel equally sad for the South Koreans who can only watch from afar as their families and their people are forced to suffer.

You can only imagine my horror when I found out that an ambitious Swedish startup, Noko Jeans produced jeans in North Korea. The 1100 jeans are only available in black as blue jeans are associated with the capitalistic US of A. The jeans are retailing at $220 a pop and started selling in early December.

As much as I can understand Noko's motive to increase the world's attention towards North Korea, it seems to be out of bad taste for them to capitalise on the rarity of the Made in North Korea brand name, like how designer brands capitalise on the Made in France/Italy brand. Plus, Noko thinks it's great that they are bringing in outside interaction into the world's most isolated country. I think it's great but isn't that what NGOs are there for? Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea has high rises and modern ammenities but I suspect its residents have been selectively chosen based on their 'loyalty' towards the government. The rest are either in impoverished villages or prison camps.

Mind you I have nothing against the premium jeans, they look great. I mean the Swedes design excellent designer jeans but I am just against the idea of bringing in investments into a country that doesn't love its own people equally. It is just another feather in Kim Jong Il's cap to further control the country and brainwash its people on North Korea's so called 'commuinist superiority'. I don't think they have successfully sold in terms of numbers based on previous expectations of the rarity of the jeans. A Stockholm departmental store pulled the plug on the first day of sales due to the negative image that could be associated with the jeans. They are currently only selling online.

I am not sure how you feel about this issue. Fashion has always had its fair share of controversies, sweat shop conditions, real fur and horrendous pays. I've always tolerated the fact that we are sold items that cost 20 times less than retail price. But going this far to make a brand name stand out is just way out of line. Perhaps it increases the skills of North Korea's selected people but what help does that do for a country that chooses to keep to itself?

I am no political firebrand, I am however for fashion that's non-political and non-religious. Fashion has power and it shouldn't be used in this way.

- Sue

They're here!

The Rosalind Kemp trompe l'oeil collection is for sale on the Oasis website! I covet everything.

A top that looks like a tuxedo jacket!

A T-shirt dress that looks like a trenchcoat. I think it has pockets. POCKETS!

A tank dress that looks like -- well, the website says "prom dress", but it looks like one of those odd dresses with underwired bodices that you see so much of at Topshop. British people are totally keen on this type of dress. I can only conclude that it is because they usually have cleavage worth showing, unlike some of us (sob sob).

A top that looks like a cropped cardi!

I can't deny that my inner Penangite auntie is pointing out that this seems to be a devious scheme to get people to fork out more for what are basically simple T-shirts. Which made me wonder -- couldn't you make a trompe l'oeil creation of your own if you wanted to?

The answer appears to be: yes, but it'll help if you know how to sew.

This girl made her own trompe l'oeil trench dress by hand-stitching a trenchcoat design onto a dress.

Better than my idea of "white T-shirt + a black marker pen", but also way more difficult!

Since I'm hopeless at sewing, I suppose I will just have to content myself with a marker pen and T-shirt on some lazy Sunday afternoon. Sigh.

I shouldn't really be looking at clothes anyway, since I've bought way too many things in the past two weeks. Sure, most of them were sternly sensible -- suits, dour black dresses and suchlike for work -- but a couple of them were purely frivolous, like the over-the-knee boots.

And a couple of the sensible purchases are so cute as to feel as frivolous and unnecessary as a sundress, like the black suede Mary Jane heels I acquired today.


The fact that they're suede makes them considerably less sensible than they would otherwise be -- I Googled "care of suede shoes" and was horrified at how many things will kill a suede shoe (basically, everything). Wearing suede shoes outside appears to be a, ahem, shoeicidal move.

But they felt so justifiable! They are ridiculously comfy. Check out the rubber treads on these things.


They are the only heels I've ever worn that almost feel like sports shoes. It's the shock absorbent quality of the sole.

I suppose I will just have to hope for the best. And find a good water/stain repellent spray.

- Zen