G'day mate!
For those of you who are curious as to why I have not updated my blog-I am currently on vacation in the land of Oz.
It's glorious because it's sale season in Sydney.
More on the fashion in the land of Oz once I am back!
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Thursday, May 19, 2005
A perfect clinch
I have always been crazy over belts.
Next to bags, they are probably my second-favourite accessory. I have always felt that belts can give a different feel to an outfit and give you more bang for your bucks. A loose mini-dress, when worn with a thick hipster belt and a pair of distressed skinny jeans, can instantly take on a different look and feel. Or you can even take a belt to a maxi-skirt (see post below) to wear it as a dress.
A while back, there was a mini-furore over the Old Man River belt which was sold at Kitson after a few (the usual!) celebrities were spotted wearing them.
However I felt that the crystal encrusted belts were probably a little too bling for me. At USD$250 dollars per piece, I felt that they were too much to pay for a gimmicky piece. It didn't help too that the celebs that were touting them certainly did not fit my ideal of any style icons.
Belts have been slowly heating up for the past few seasons. They lend a semblence of structure to this season's loose and flowing bohemian look. The House of Yves Saint Laurent was particularly taken with this look and sent several models down the runway for their S/S 2005 RTW shows with their narrow waists elegantly clinched with a wide belt.
This trend continues into YSL Rive Gauche's F/W 2005 RTW line:
At under USD$300 a piece, belts are arguebly the one of the "cheapest" pieces in the YSL collection.
Being a jeans-and-tiered gypsy skirt girl, I prefer my belts to ride on my hips or sit low on the waist. When it comes to getting a belt, one is easily spoilt for choice. There are options galore on the Net. It was while belt-shopping online that I chanced upon the British accessory brand Jocasi.
I found these belts at my favourite online website, Blaec. Now I have read all the propaganda about this UK brand, about how wonderful they smell, the baby-soft Indonesian leather that they use to produce their belts and bags and what a cult favourite they are with UK and across the pond, US celebs. Such is their clout that Topshop, the premier UK high-street chain store, carries their product range in their flagship store in Oxford circus.
I must admit that I do like the classic and rock-n-roll sensibilities in their design. I guess that the way Blaec put together their highly-lauded outfits, usually with a Jocasi belt as a finishing accent also made these belts more attractive to me. I had no chance to sniff and touch the highly-lauded fragrant and supple leather as this brand is not available in Singapore. Costing USD$100 - USD$130 a piece, I must admit that similiar pieces can also be found, at cheaper prices elsewhere. However, the attraction had started and giving into temption, I ordered one of their famous styles, the Moon belt.
I received this belt last week and I must say that Jocasi does live up to its hype. The leather is really supple and baby-soft and I love the way the belt curves and sits comfortably on my hips. The belt is actually a much richer brown colour than shown in the picture. The design is classic and I can see it being worn across several seasons. Best of all, it smells heavenly! I profess, I am now a Jocasi-convert!
There are several more styles available at Blaec, as well as another website, LuvCharlie for those who are not living in London. Currently, these two sites are the only ones that carry Jocasi.
If you are looking for a belt with just that little bit of edge and want a design that last, I think this brand may just be what you are looking for.
I am loving my Moon belt so much now, that I am tempted to order other funky designs from this brand as well!
Next to bags, they are probably my second-favourite accessory. I have always felt that belts can give a different feel to an outfit and give you more bang for your bucks. A loose mini-dress, when worn with a thick hipster belt and a pair of distressed skinny jeans, can instantly take on a different look and feel. Or you can even take a belt to a maxi-skirt (see post below) to wear it as a dress.
A while back, there was a mini-furore over the Old Man River belt which was sold at Kitson after a few (the usual!) celebrities were spotted wearing them.
Us Weekly scan : Celebs with their Old Man River belts.
However I felt that the crystal encrusted belts were probably a little too bling for me. At USD$250 dollars per piece, I felt that they were too much to pay for a gimmicky piece. It didn't help too that the celebs that were touting them certainly did not fit my ideal of any style icons.
Belts have been slowly heating up for the past few seasons. They lend a semblence of structure to this season's loose and flowing bohemian look. The House of Yves Saint Laurent was particularly taken with this look and sent several models down the runway for their S/S 2005 RTW shows with their narrow waists elegantly clinched with a wide belt.
YSL S/S 2005 RTW show - from style.com
This trend continues into YSL Rive Gauche's F/W 2005 RTW line:
YSL FW 2005 RTW show - from style.com
At under USD$300 a piece, belts are arguebly the one of the "cheapest" pieces in the YSL collection.
Being a jeans-and-tiered gypsy skirt girl, I prefer my belts to ride on my hips or sit low on the waist. When it comes to getting a belt, one is easily spoilt for choice. There are options galore on the Net. It was while belt-shopping online that I chanced upon the British accessory brand Jocasi.
I found these belts at my favourite online website, Blaec. Now I have read all the propaganda about this UK brand, about how wonderful they smell, the baby-soft Indonesian leather that they use to produce their belts and bags and what a cult favourite they are with UK and across the pond, US celebs. Such is their clout that Topshop, the premier UK high-street chain store, carries their product range in their flagship store in Oxford circus.
I must admit that I do like the classic and rock-n-roll sensibilities in their design. I guess that the way Blaec put together their highly-lauded outfits, usually with a Jocasi belt as a finishing accent also made these belts more attractive to me. I had no chance to sniff and touch the highly-lauded fragrant and supple leather as this brand is not available in Singapore. Costing USD$100 - USD$130 a piece, I must admit that similiar pieces can also be found, at cheaper prices elsewhere. However, the attraction had started and giving into temption, I ordered one of their famous styles, the Moon belt.
Jocasi moon belt, available at blaec.com
I received this belt last week and I must say that Jocasi does live up to its hype. The leather is really supple and baby-soft and I love the way the belt curves and sits comfortably on my hips. The belt is actually a much richer brown colour than shown in the picture. The design is classic and I can see it being worn across several seasons. Best of all, it smells heavenly! I profess, I am now a Jocasi-convert!
There are several more styles available at Blaec, as well as another website, LuvCharlie for those who are not living in London. Currently, these two sites are the only ones that carry Jocasi.
If you are looking for a belt with just that little bit of edge and want a design that last, I think this brand may just be what you are looking for.
I am loving my Moon belt so much now, that I am tempted to order other funky designs from this brand as well!
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
It's not what you buy, it's how you put it together
This article couldn't have said it better.
Reproduced from fashion.telegraph website
High fliers turn to the high street
Once coveted designer labels are losing their allure as discerning shoppers head for the thrift stores, says Clare Coulson
Research published yesterday which revealed that high-earners are increasingly buying their clothes and accessories from the high street will come as no surprise to most women.
Over the past couple of years, the astounding improvement in the quantity and quality of chain-store and supermarket clothes has brought about a huge shift in our shopping habits.
At the same time, the survey found, many people on lower incomes who would have shopped at the cheaper end of the market are indulging in exclusive brands - thanks partly to society's obsession with celebrities and designer labels.
There's a certain satisfaction to be gained from telling your friends that your wallpaper-print camisole (inspired by Miu Miu, of course) came from Topshop, or that your tweed jacket was snapped up at Zara for a fraction of the price of the Chanel version. Mixing cheap and expensive clothes has become an essential part of the game for women who know the season's trends.
Foraging for bargains also displays shopping savviness, and this, perhaps, is one of the key reasons why women who could easily afford to kit themselves out at Harvey Nichols are choosing to spend just as much time rummaging around high-street stores. If you have the cash, it's easy to wander down Bond Street and drape yourself in designer labels, but it's much more challenging - and satisfying - to hunt for genuine bargains at the high-street stores, searching through endless rails of tat before chancing upon the real gems.
"It's so much more individual to combine the two," says Navaz Daruwalla, a London barrister. "I buy lots of casual tops at Topshop, but all of my jeans are designer labels. I certainly buy more from the high street than I ever have before; the quality and the design are so much better than they have ever been."
Designer Anya Hindmarch has always been a fan of the high-street stores. "I think you have to be a bit of a mug to wear top-to-toe designer," she says. "I have always mixed everything up. Today, I am wearing a Miu Miu coat with a pair of Hennes sunglasses that cost £3.99, and a new cashmere sweater with a white shirt from Zara."
Kate Jones, a successful, London-based literary agent, is typical of many of her contemporaries. She shops at Topshop, Uniqlo, Jigsaw, M&S and Camden market as well as Maxmara, Kenzo, Amanda Wakeley and Joseph. "I will shop anywhere at all," she says. "My only requirements are a changing room with enough room for me and a five-year-old."
Affluent women are trawling the high street more than ever, but there are some things that they still seem to prefer to buy from more expensive labels. Daruwalla, for instance, continues to buy tailoring and suits from department stores such as Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, as well as the season's key accessories. "And I wouldn't buy evening tops on the high street: not because I don't like them," she says, "but because I would worry that someone else will be wearing the same thing."
Cara Goodley, a company director from London, who wears items from Topshop and Mango with designer pieces by Marni, Chloé and Pucci, says: "I don't like people to know what I am wearing, so I tend to look for things on the high street that people can't really identify. You can buy a pair of Marc Jacobs wedges which look really expensive and wear them with a cheap high-street dress and feel much more original than if you had flicked through Vogue and then bought a whole look from Yves Saint Laurent."
Goodley agrees that there are some areas in which affluent shoppers such as herself are unlikely to compromise: "I never buy cheap bags or shoes."
But while high-earning women are flocking to the high street, traditional high-street shoppers are increasingly buying expensive, aspirational labels - whether they can afford them or not.
Emma Seares, a 23-year-old graduate from Essex, is typical of the new breed: "I live at home and I don't pay bills, so I can spend all my money on clothes and going out."
Seares has a vast collection of accessories from Prada and Gucci, and clothes from Missoni and Julien Macdonald, which she buys from Harrods, Selfridges and www.net-a-porter.com.
"Sometimes, I go shopping three times a week," she says. "I don't buy things just because celebrities have them, but if I had something that Kate Moss was wearing, I would think it was a privilege."
Filed on 13/05/2005
Reproduced from fashion.telegraph website
High fliers turn to the high street
Once coveted designer labels are losing their allure as discerning shoppers head for the thrift stores, says Clare Coulson
Research published yesterday which revealed that high-earners are increasingly buying their clothes and accessories from the high street will come as no surprise to most women.
Over the past couple of years, the astounding improvement in the quantity and quality of chain-store and supermarket clothes has brought about a huge shift in our shopping habits.
At the same time, the survey found, many people on lower incomes who would have shopped at the cheaper end of the market are indulging in exclusive brands - thanks partly to society's obsession with celebrities and designer labels.
There's a certain satisfaction to be gained from telling your friends that your wallpaper-print camisole (inspired by Miu Miu, of course) came from Topshop, or that your tweed jacket was snapped up at Zara for a fraction of the price of the Chanel version. Mixing cheap and expensive clothes has become an essential part of the game for women who know the season's trends.
Foraging for bargains also displays shopping savviness, and this, perhaps, is one of the key reasons why women who could easily afford to kit themselves out at Harvey Nichols are choosing to spend just as much time rummaging around high-street stores. If you have the cash, it's easy to wander down Bond Street and drape yourself in designer labels, but it's much more challenging - and satisfying - to hunt for genuine bargains at the high-street stores, searching through endless rails of tat before chancing upon the real gems.
"It's so much more individual to combine the two," says Navaz Daruwalla, a London barrister. "I buy lots of casual tops at Topshop, but all of my jeans are designer labels. I certainly buy more from the high street than I ever have before; the quality and the design are so much better than they have ever been."
Designer Anya Hindmarch has always been a fan of the high-street stores. "I think you have to be a bit of a mug to wear top-to-toe designer," she says. "I have always mixed everything up. Today, I am wearing a Miu Miu coat with a pair of Hennes sunglasses that cost £3.99, and a new cashmere sweater with a white shirt from Zara."
Kate Jones, a successful, London-based literary agent, is typical of many of her contemporaries. She shops at Topshop, Uniqlo, Jigsaw, M&S and Camden market as well as Maxmara, Kenzo, Amanda Wakeley and Joseph. "I will shop anywhere at all," she says. "My only requirements are a changing room with enough room for me and a five-year-old."
Affluent women are trawling the high street more than ever, but there are some things that they still seem to prefer to buy from more expensive labels. Daruwalla, for instance, continues to buy tailoring and suits from department stores such as Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, as well as the season's key accessories. "And I wouldn't buy evening tops on the high street: not because I don't like them," she says, "but because I would worry that someone else will be wearing the same thing."
Cara Goodley, a company director from London, who wears items from Topshop and Mango with designer pieces by Marni, Chloé and Pucci, says: "I don't like people to know what I am wearing, so I tend to look for things on the high street that people can't really identify. You can buy a pair of Marc Jacobs wedges which look really expensive and wear them with a cheap high-street dress and feel much more original than if you had flicked through Vogue and then bought a whole look from Yves Saint Laurent."
Goodley agrees that there are some areas in which affluent shoppers such as herself are unlikely to compromise: "I never buy cheap bags or shoes."
But while high-earning women are flocking to the high street, traditional high-street shoppers are increasingly buying expensive, aspirational labels - whether they can afford them or not.
Emma Seares, a 23-year-old graduate from Essex, is typical of the new breed: "I live at home and I don't pay bills, so I can spend all my money on clothes and going out."
Seares has a vast collection of accessories from Prada and Gucci, and clothes from Missoni and Julien Macdonald, which she buys from Harrods, Selfridges and www.net-a-porter.com.
"Sometimes, I go shopping three times a week," she says. "I don't buy things just because celebrities have them, but if I had something that Kate Moss was wearing, I would think it was a privilege."
Filed on 13/05/2005
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Chanel - The Eternal Classic
I have never quite understood the allure of the House of Chanel until recently.
Call it ignorance or naivete if you will, but Chanel had always conjured up images of marmish woman in shoulder-padded power suits (a la the 80s) for me.
I guess my interest in Chanel first started with the launch of their Cambon Ligne line last year. The bags were interesting, but I still held back from investing in one as I wasn't sure if a Cambon Ligne was what I wanted.
It wasn't till I saw Ashley Olsen with a black Cerf tote that I visited the Chanel store in Singapore. There I saw the 2.55 for the first time and maybe, just being a few months wiser and with a better sense of style, I finally understood the appeal of the 2.55
So now, I am the proud owner of my very first 2.55.
Call it ignorance or naivete if you will, but Chanel had always conjured up images of marmish woman in shoulder-padded power suits (a la the 80s) for me.
I guess my interest in Chanel first started with the launch of their Cambon Ligne line last year. The bags were interesting, but I still held back from investing in one as I wasn't sure if a Cambon Ligne was what I wanted.
It wasn't till I saw Ashley Olsen with a black Cerf tote that I visited the Chanel store in Singapore. There I saw the 2.55 for the first time and maybe, just being a few months wiser and with a better sense of style, I finally understood the appeal of the 2.55
So now, I am the proud owner of my very first 2.55.
Mdm Coco Chanel - a stylish woman ahead of her times.
A picture of my red 2.55!!
Monday, May 02, 2005
Stylish thrift score!!
My mum, in one of her ever-zealous spate of industriousness, was cleaning out her room when she found a pair of my Dad's Ray-Bans from a decade again.
It looks just like the pair that Mary Kate Olsen has been sporting!
I stopped her just in time before she chucked them into the dustbin. Omigod!!
So yea, now I have got myself a stylish pair of vintage(can they be considered?)sunglasses for next to nothing!!
Score!!! p^-^q
It looks just like the pair that Mary Kate Olsen has been sporting!
Credit: Picture from 80spurple.com. Left: Ashley Olsen; Mary Kate Olsen on right.
I stopped her just in time before she chucked them into the dustbin. Omigod!!
So yea, now I have got myself a stylish pair of vintage(can they be considered?)sunglasses for next to nothing!!
Score!!! p^-^q
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