if there is one lesson that i can take away from blogging this week, it would be this... not everything that i find interesting is interesting... some of the posts (actually most of them) fell flat. though i claimed to be not too concerned about the figures this week... the whole 'i'm not a fashion writer but a writer of fashion' mantra, it stinks to know that no one is reading your material especially when it was such a good week previously.
so what were the aims and objectives of this week?
1) tap into my asian, national and racial influence which i did, evidently from all the posts...
2) try to find material that would score higher page views with readers from asia. as of now, singapore and the usa dominate my readership but i do hope to write material that people from other asian nations can find relevant as well... this didn't go so well...
3) less fashion, more writer... i deliberately took a backseat on the fashion critique and tried to hone in on viewpoints... more like a bystander of the fashion world and style... perhaps, it's how the posts were pitched... but i learnt. hopefully there will be a better balance in weeks to come.
now that all's been said and done... here's the best of the week:
haha, what's not to love about this post? comic relief, trunks, close-up of trunk in trunks, lots of 'glad i'm not the one wearing that' moments, lots of 'what were they thinking?' moments... and of course, we love our country... a little national pride goes a long way... (helps when the thumbnail is of a bunch of guys in trunks too!)
this was the second 'heavier' post of the day (third numerically)... usually, the first and third posts are the ones that i put the more interesting content. the post just before this one was about po from kungfu panda... i personally thought that readers of a fashion blog will not take too well to it but surprisingly, it scored pretty high on the views.
well, my personal prediction was actually romancing singapore... cos it was not a well thought-out post... i had ideas but when it came to writing it, boy, was it tough...
to conclude... this week was definitely not as good in terms of the readership (which i expected) partly cos the hype is no longer there and the writing was a slight departure from the regular fashion material... but no worries, there will be fashion writing... you just have to check back regularly!
did i mention that you can add me on twitter? i tweet every new post so once there is new material, you'll know... and onto MORE shameless marketing, i also have a facebook page... click here NOW! help me cross the fifty mark... please... hehe fash'on... BAM!
it's that time of the week again... time for me to indulge in me, me, ME! (truth be told, this week is not really about me. the inspiration came from a breakup that i heard about.) this week (keeping in line with the whole asian theme) i say we should add jade to our closets!
for far too long, jade has had to bear a negative name. when someone says he/she is jaded by life or love, it is usually a rather bad shape to be in... the heart closes, the emotions harden, people become someone totally unfamiliar. but jade has often been misrepresented. if you want more nitty gritty details about jade, do turn to my dear friend wikipedia.
jade is often used as a family heirloom for the chinese, from one generation to another... as this gift is passed down, so are the stories and traditions. we can never change where we came from, we can only choose where we want to go. instead of trying to 'forget', we can fully embrace our past. while i recommend jade as a trend this week, the greater recommendation is the stories and traditions that accompany every piece of jade...
jade bangle... traditionally handed down to daughters
of course, no one would complain if they were being 'jaded' by these pieces of fine jewellery...
as the world of fashion moves forward rapidly, perhaps it may be good for one to hold on to timeless pieces of fashion... not because they are great looking but because they remind us of who we are, that we are not random being but products of life's experiences (good or not-so-good)... fash'on... BAM!
this entry will get sherlyn very excited cos it's going to be about hong kong!
i first visited this country in 2005 and you can read all about it here! yes, i used to blog but it was a lot of ranting about life. i hope i have grown since... haha... but if you want to know a little more about me, you can spend some time reading the posts there.
since 2005, i think i have only gone back once but this is one place i definitely want to visit again simply because every street is a runway... here are some shots of my 2005 hong kong outfits...
if you are wondering why most of them were jacketed looks, it was cold there... i think temperatures were around ten degrees... hence, bring out the scarves and jackets! fash'on... BAM!
so for the last three days, i have touched base with what's asian and singaporean... somehow i felt that something was missing from my coverage of all things asian... so looking back, i did actually miss out something, or rather somewhere, very important... KOREA!!! even japan was briefly mentioned here...
so let's dive into korea and the world of korean fashion... the world of fashion was first captivated by the hanbok...
then there was korean couture and korean fashion week...
and finally... just to jump on the bandwagon (yes, get ready to dance!) it's gungnam time!
i think everyone is curious how the links to this post are going to work... the relationship between indians and religion... and how it connects to fashion... let's take it one step at a time...
indian religion has always fascinated me for their diversity. i claim no expertise in it, hence if you want for information, my best friend, wikipedia, is on hand to help you... long story short, whether you choose to view indian religion as polytheistic or monotheistic... it's about diversity yet displaying a seamless unity... this probably echoes my sentiments towards the sari... a strip of unstitched cloth that can be worn in more than eighty ways... that is true unity in diversity in fashion!
different ways to wear a sari
as we wrap up looking at the different fashion traditions within the races of singapore, the best reminder of what truly is singaporean comes from the sari... the people of this nation are highly distinctive in outward appearance and outlook but what we sometimes need is to find within ourselves, the recognition that we are all 'saris', expensive ones (like the ones from Hermes)...
do you know that singapore's national language is not english but malay? of course it now carries a more symbolic value but it is still a piece of knowledge that should not be neglected. other than language, a fashion piece that singaporeans have long associated with the malay community is the sarong.
the closest i have come to wearing a sarong is me wrapping a towel around myself after the shower... takes a whole lot of skill to roll the cloth correctly so that it doesn't slide off or ride down.
personally, i think the sarong has been underrated. this is one piece of fashion that is functional and non-gender bias. will i trend it in this week's @dd it? you have to wait and see... one thing is certain though... to trend the sarong, i will first need to perfect the art of putting AND keeping it on... the idea of the sarong dropping off midday is not exactly appealing...
this is a reference that singaporeans will have no excuses to not know. it is from our pledge... reciting it on a daily basis when we are in school. the pledge shall form the backdrop of today's fashion talk. when the discussion of race arises in singapore, one will just think of the different races we have; predominantly chinese, malays and indians... however with the influx of migrants, as a singaporean chinese, i often feel that i am of a different race from a fellow chinese from malaysia, china or taiwan.
yet, we cannot deny our common chinese heritage. when it comes to fashion (especially chinese new year), all walls are demolished and we often go with the reds, pinks, oranges and gold... not to mentioned the cheongsam. the cheongsam was briefly mentioned in my tribute to asian legends... but this will be a more extensive discussion about how i feel towards the cheongsam.
i have a love-hate relationship with the cheongsam. the very reasons that i embrace it are the same reason that i dislike it. when one (with reference to the ladies) dons the cheongsam, every curve is accented... the movements are restricted and kept minimal. one has to watch the way she sits, stands and even the amount she eats. i guess beauty has a price.
ultimately as chinese, the cheongsam becomes a common factor regardless of our country of origin. we look up to it as a beacon of chinese beauty, grace and elegance. it is a dress that every lady puts on to feel, fully, woman. it is the dress that puts us ahead of modern fashion because it pulls us back to traditions.
so are we still modern if we hold traditions steadfast? fash'on... BAM!
if you came here and thought that i am going to talk love and marriage, i'm sorry to disappoint. this is a fashion blog or rather, a blogger interested in the world of fashion... what kind of fashion? high, low, street, gutter (or like we call it locally... longkang), as long as you wear it, i'll talk about it!
so one of the biggest issues here in singapore is how we are not getting married and more importantly, we are not making enough babies... how does all these have to do with fashion? well, fashion is really about appearances... not just the clothes one wears but the entire vibe one gives out.
why do these singapore girls makes the heart pound faster?
most definitely, this singapore girl makes one's heart pound faster as well... in addition, we breathe much harder too...
of course, it's in what they do... one serves a comfortable experience, while the other serves you a parking ticket... but have we stopped to think if our responses are related to what they wear?
i once read that for all the advancements that we made in various fields of discrimination... gender bias still remains one of the greatest divides in the world today...
growing up, girls want to be princesses and boys want to marry them... why? because our prejudices of what fashion for females should be? i think not. let's admit it... there is a big difference between what we think is female fashion versus what is feminine fashion... we (men and women alike) like the hourglass figures on ladies... we like the gentle, meek and mild women... anything that breaks our prejudices, we reject...
if we want men in singapore to romance their female counterparts a little bit more, perhaps we should expect less feminine fashion and allow them to be fashionable females...
fash'on... BAM!
ps: the pontianak is a vampiric ghost in malay and indonesian mythology. the pontianak is said to be the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant.
yes, for all the whining and complaining that i do about things that i loathe in singapore, i really do love my nation. my country is unique in its culture and way of life... for a country that only has about fifty years in its history bank, it's pretty interesting... so yes, i love singapore.
BUT there are limits to my passion...
singapore water polo team, 2010 asian games
up close and a tad too personal
i would need to be dead doing this (not the sport... but the trunks!) even if i am dead, the embalmer who puts those trunks on me will probably be haunted by me and those trunks for the rest of time. so let's try to tuck it in on the daring, fashion forward front when it comes to swimming trunks... but i must mention that singapore's water polo team is one of the best in the region... 24 straight gold medals at the sea games!
you will always have my support as long as the trunks are less 'interesting'...
so the trunks are a big no-no for me... these national costumes, i'm divided...
Miss Singapore Universe 2008, national costume
Miss Singapore Universe 2011, national costume
i actually like the merlion-inspired dress... the other one just looks like my blanket on laundry day... i wonder if this was the source of inspiration.
okay, so my readers (or the general blog-o-sphere) didn't seem to react too well to the various posts about asians and asian influences (in case you missed them... here they are: post 1, post 2, post 3) guess which will be featured as worst post of the week? it's going to be one of them, probably...
anyway, back to business (love this phrase!)... today, we moved closer to home, or rather, back home... to singapore... there is much to talk about in terms of singapore's fashion scene BUT here are the must-knows for better cultural assimilation...
1) white and light blue have strong political connotations... i mean, like duh, the last national election was hotly contested between the people's action party and the workers' party (and many other parties...)
the workers' party
the people's action party
i won't go into details or give you links to the parties or why certain colours are chosen as party colours. just know that even in politics, the colour choices create certain impressions and expectations
2) we are a flip-flop people!
we love our flip-flops... by 'international' standards, it is not accepted but i wonder if anyone notices a small neglected fact. flip flops are not considered too 'informal' in large parts of singapore... so if majority wins, i think it's time we develop our own brand of what is 'acceptable'.
3) baby it's hot and HUMID here...
we are a little tropical island surrounded by the sea... we get a ton of sun and humidity... that means people can perspire buckets by just being alive... hence comfort is key... so don't penalise people you see on the streets for dressing comfortably... judge them for other things instead... like their colour combinations, the prints, the face... (you get the picture!)
if you don't believe, watch the recent red carpet for the emmy awards... poor ryan seacrest was sweating the whole time...
salvador dali once remarked, 'those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.'
when it comes to present asian fashion, that holds true as well... many times, we often gush at every occasion when a designer does a 'first' but sometimes we neglect the fact that 'creativity is just connecting things' (steve jobs)... so how is all these talk about creativity and originality related to asian fashion... let's try to let some pictures do the talking first...
in my search for current fashion trends which are distinctive asian and what are not, i realised that we have to admit that globalisation has made the world (and fashion) a more inter-connected place. the west borrows ideas from the east as much as the east borrows from the west... the clothes we wear used to define our cultural heritage, it gave one a sense of identity. in the past, there were things that one can still claim as uniquely asian but now, i wonder what is left.
the big question though... is it bad that there are no longer clear lines between asian and non-asian fashion? only you can figure out where you stand on this issue.
while looking at some of asia's biggest names and their fashion, i was constantly reminded of a name because of a deal i struck with a couple of girlfriends. if my girlfriends got married by a certain age... i would buy them a gown by 王薇薇... obviously, i didn't keep my promise... haha. but the mention of 王薇薇 made them squeal with joy... who exactly is 王薇薇?
yup... 王薇薇 is Vera Wang. mention the name, every girl thinks about their dream wedding and walking down the aisle with that perfect gown... in the same breath, every man stops breathing for that moment because of the price tag attached to a vera wang gown. yet, the one line that best sums up our sentiments towards vera wang gowns comes from kate hudson, bride wars (2009)...
you don't alter Vera Wang; you alter yourself to fit Vera...
here are some of gowns by vera wang...
sex and the city
bride wars
if you came here (by accident) and are looking for a vera wang gown... here's some help!
while thinking and planning for the posts this week, i spent a fair bit of time thinking about my life. using it as a backdrop... the various cultural, national and racial influences... two things formed critical pillars in my life... death and the stage...
mum left us when i was eleven. i remembered that day vividly because it was a day before teachers' day and i was to host the teachers' day event in school... well, now that i am much older, i've learnt that people come and people go but the memories that are jointly created lasts forever...
two asian icons have done just that... not just in their music but in their style and demeanor... they are teresa teng (邓丽君) and leslie cheung (张国荣)... but let's first talk about teresa teng...
growing up, the songs of teresa teng were often sang around the house... her music often put everyone in a good mood and was (still is) a point of connection for the entire family... what is most striking about her though is her elegance... she was like the princess diana of the east...
teresa teng, other than her music, was best remembered for her dressing as well... always a lady, the cheongsams she dons never failed to dazzle. bringing emphasis to the right places, the cheongsam is now widely adopted in international fashion as well.of course, if you reside in hong kong, you can re-live all of teresa teng's grace and beauty in madame tussauds.
from a lady to a gentleman, i always had a connection with leslie cheung because we shared the same chinese name. of course, people used to ask if i was as talented as he was... all i would offer in return was a blank look. other than his incredible talent, leslie cheung was the guy that every girl wants to date (but sorry people, he plays on a different team) because he had the boyish sparkle and also the charisma of a man.
if i had to put a word to his style, it would be classic. yes, he's pushed boundaries in his clothes and fashion choices but everything that leslie cheung does, it becomes a hit and remains a classic look.
finally, no post about these two legendary stars will ever be complete without their music... enjoy!
yes, after two rather lacklustre posts about what i'm going to blog about this week and kungfu panda, i deserve the eggs thrown at this blog for not staying true to the core of fashion... well, good things are worth waiting for!
so no gimmicks... just fashion in this post... we've long associated fashion weeks with london, new york, milan and paris... however there are a few fashion weeks around asia as well... let's start from singapore...
next, to a more established fashion week... mercedes-benz fashion week tokyo... in fact, it's just round the corner... happening in a couple more weeks... if schedule permits, i would like to attend the fashion week in tokyo next year... if i do, guess where i will be sharing the details?
well, there are fashion weeks in bangalore (mama, this one's for you!), bangkok, jakarta and hong kong as well...
so the next time you travel to one of these asian destinations, why not join them during their fashion weeks? fash' on... BAM!
so who is the most famous asian in hollywood? the reigning king of the box office...
here are a couple of clues:
1) he has released two movies so far in his career... the first made US$631,744,560... the second, US$665,692,281...
2) he's pretty minimalist in his sense of style
(if you were hoping for more clues, obviously, you're new around here... when i say a couple, i really mean A COUPLE!)
guessed the answer yet? well this is the man (not exactly...) himself!
yup... whether we like it or not, Po is more famous than many many MANY asians in the fashion industry... if you don't believe me, just go to an eight year old and try to ask him about vera wang (yes, the designer... not the girl that sits two tables away...)
came as a surprise to me as well... here i was trying to find out which asian is a 'shaker' and 'mover' so that i can evaluate their sense of style and fashion sense... but the search results proved that Po was just formidable...
so let's get it out of the way... yes, the black and white panda in a pair of nice-fitted boxers is the one star that shines brighter than all its competition...
good monday morning... hope you slept well last night... i did! much early than my usual bedtime because i was utterly worn out by dragonboat training and work. a heavy dinner after that helped too... so i'm feeling refreshed for a new week (not as gloomy as the week before... evidence here!) so i'm starting the week with a question: if you have a voice... make an impact... say what you want... what would your message be?
for the entire past week, i was attempting to find my voice as a blogger... this week, i am still on the search... i am, after all, an infant when it comes to blogging... of course, when i feel down, i hear of encouraging words from friends and a friend of mine even wrote a post to you! (yup, it's for you, my virtual friend reading this post!) all these kept me going for another week... in addition, The Online Edition has gone 'global' in the past week with views from Austria, Malaysia, Germany, United Kingdom, Costa Rica and the United States. a big shout out to everyone reading from Singapore...
last week we went back to basics... from black and white... ran a full day of posts featuring Chanel (post 1, post 2, post 3!) to trending the hoodie (a basic must-have...)
this week, i'm digging further than before... i'm going to tap on my asian voice... i am asian (proud to be one) and singaporean (proud to be one) and chinese (also proud to be one)... it's going to be a great week on The Online Edition so don't miss out on the fun... fash' on, BAM! ps: if you don't want to miss out on any of the posts that i put out, follow me on twitter or just key your email address into the email updates box and let technology do the rest!
