hollywood's top asian!

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... 

going global, staying local

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!

mirror, mirror on the wall

who's the fairest of them all?

 would it be Snooki from Jersey Shore, Mariah Carey, Fann Wong or Nicole Kidman? 

or does Gisele Bundchen reign supreme?

the notion of a fair beauty has always been a hot topic for discussion. does fair beauty refer to porcelain white skin or is it about the features? that pair of striking eyes, the nose with the perfect angle, the jawline that is oh-so-perfect!

in singapore, the Asian trend is often for ladies to go fair and the men to go tanned. guess that has to do a lot with our cultural roots. fair ladies helps one associate with the notion of the gentle women sewing in the confined spaces of their ancestral homes. whilst, men have to adopt the tanned skin tones... the hours we spent not working but lazing by the pool under the blazing sun just to adopt that bronzed, golden brown tan (of course, there is indoor tanning now...) why do men do that? when one is tanned, one is linked to hard work... ruggedness... everything 'manly'...

culturally, we don't seemed tolerant of tanned ladies... the ladies from my dragonboat team have often had to endure snide remarks because of the tan that they sport... you know what? that's your own problem in life, not theirs... like a saying that has been going round, 'ladies are not expecting you to be Brad Pitt, so why are hoping that they become Angeline Jolie?'

so if we are going to experiment with colours, prints and fabrics in the world of fashion... surely, the skin should be a palette of colours too... so whether you are black, white, tanned or fair, i say, work your colour... 

love you girls... BAM!

all that glitters is not gold

at some point, i should pay tribute to shakespeare considering that i am a graduate in english literature... so dear old will, i hope you are happy wherever you are... now back to fashion (that was a quick change, haha!) and this blog...

so we made it to the five hundred page views mark (claps claps, celebrate, join hands, rain dance!)... thank you everyone for popping by (regardless how you came here...) but really, nothing gets me writing continually if not for the encouraging leap in numbers... 

anyway, since we are talking about glitter and black and nothing gold and this is a special post (did i mention the 500 page views?) i'm going to share one of my latest loves...

the cross... reminds me that God is in charge

i took a huge liking to Swarovski crystals towards the middle of 2011... that's a cross pendant that i bought myself for my birthday in 2011... my current keyring is also from Swarovski... lately, i've been eyeing a ring from myself... 

now, here's why i am drawn to Swarovski...

1) not many local men wear / own Swarovski!

2) the limited numbers in singapore (you don't want everyone having the same item as you... brotherhood can be nurtured in other ways)

3) it gives a sense of resilience, unspoken charm...

4) and of course, all the crystal and energy field talk... how can i be left out?

and if you are wondering why i choose to feature black crystals instead of the colourful range that Swarovski has... please click HERE and read the final note at the end of post. there is a theme that i am trying to stick to... haha! BAM!

the keyring

LBD

okay... guys are supposed to be better at technology right? WRONG! i spent most of the evening trying to add the nuffnang thingy (see, i don't even know the term!) onto my blog but i failed terribly (hopefully by the time this post goes up, it's been fixed!) and then i thought about every possible fashion frustration that people can have... it's called THE RIGHT OUTFIT!

can we ever find the right outfit? is there something out there that one can wear and do no wrong? i guess there is... it's the Little Black Dress...

every girl (at any age) needs a LBD... doesn't matter the fabric or brand but if you find one that pleases you, buy it (i would buy two or even three if i were you...) it is probably that one dress that you would turn to when you are at a loss for outfits... it's the one outfit that will match any bag, any hairdo, any accessory... so treasure your LBD and take care of it...

what about the men? what is the one fashion piece that should be in the closet?

my pick will be a plain black singlet... for the gentlemen, it's a no-brainer when trying to match a bottom to the black singlet... jeans, berms of any colour, shorts (running or otherwise). yes, it absorbs a lot of heat when out in sunny singapore but the sweat prints are less obvious... it's not cool to look like you are wearing the world map with patches of dry land and ocean on you...

think it's way too causal and need a quick change? throw a jacket, sweater or shirt over it and you should do fine... personally, the black singlet 'look' (if i can call it that) allows you to be out the whole day without having to worry much... like earlier mentioned, just keep something else on hand for the needed swift transformation...

final note, black usually flatters any body types... like they (whoever they are) always say, one can never go wrong with black! BAM!

the world turned dark

i think back to the days before i started driving, one of the must-haves used to be a pair of shades... i remember that at one point in time, i used to have a pair of shades (affordable yet fanciful) in every bag that i carried so that i don't leave home without my shades... then i stopped when i started driving because i always preferred to drive with my glasses on... i still keep a pair of shades handy though for the days that i need a quick fashion pick-me-up or on days when i feel the puffy eyes... these are my 'driving sunglasses'...

it's a pair of oakleys... classic design... nothing too colourful or hard to match. even against a backdrop of colour (in this case, the foreground) this was a gift from my godma and we both decided on this design cos it was a pair of shades for all occasions...

talking about occasions, the only shades that i wear on a weekly basis are my paddling oakleys during dragonboat training, just to protect the eyes from the sun and the water... it's definitely become a need more than a fashion statement.

that said, whether need or otherwise, do invest in a pair of shades... there are just days that you want to protect your eyes from the sun's glare. other days, you may want to put them on while on the bus or train and sleep... i always think that a pair of shades on a sleeping commuter enhances the look...

of course, for those who are lazy (like i am, most times)... you can opt for a pair of glasses with transition lenses... the only grouse i have is that i don't know when my lenses are dark and when people can see my eyes... 

my glasses with transition lenses. frames from Emporio Armani

something old, something new

note to self: do not announce a giveaway that happens at 8am in the morning... that just means that i have to wake up before that to write the post... perhaps 8am on a friday is fine. just not a monday morning... so here i am yawning endlessly whilst typing.

first up, big thank you to everyone who read my blog... i am humbled by the figures... we crossed even the 300 barrier so thank you once again to my readers from singapore, the united states and the latest addition, malaysia!

anyway, let's deal with the business at hand... MY VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY! 

so this post is titled, 'something old, something new'. here's something old...

it's a book entitled, 'Chanel: Collections and Creations'... interesting pictorial look into the house of Chanel. i've had it for a few years now and it's just been sitting there after i read it hence the decision to part with it. this is a combination of two of my interests... books and fashion... more information about this book can be found here... http://www.amazon.com/Chanel-Collections-Creations-Danièle-Bott/dp/0500513600

now for something new...

it's a wallet from Levi's... i got it as a gift from the store but it was just days after i bought my current wallet so this was left in my drawer for a couple of months now... if you are looking for a basic black wallet, this is it.

the important bits about the giveaway... drop me a note at greenmonster77@hotmail.com... do use 'something old' or 'something new' as your title depending on which item you would like... for your content, tell me which post you liked and why... i will be giving the items to the first person to write in... we'll work out postage details via email...

final note... i realised that the items are in line with this week's theme of black and white / monochrome! haha...

doom, gloom, monday blues...

all right everyone, i feel you... the weekend is ending and no one wants to head back to school or work... but we all have to. the last thing that we want to do is to have to fuss about what to wear after a comfortable weekend of jeans and tee-shirts (well, in my case, it was singlets, shorts and flip flops...) 

unless, you are me and don't have to head to work tomorrow. you can wake up as late as you want and stay in your sleepwear the whole day... you will probably have to throw something decent on (in the case of the students, your uniform...) here's are a couple of worry-free looks that you can carry using black and white... nothing over the top... just sheer chic...

look number one: white blouse, black pants, a pair of black heels and you are good to go... jazz it up with a scarf, large handkerchief, a long piece of cloth, anything that rocks your boat... it's monday... you have the right to please yourself... 

look number two: large oversized white shirt (you can always raid the closet of your father, brother, husband, boyfriend if you don't have one), a fitted skirt, a pair of boots. if the shirt is slightly see-through, a white tube would be fine underneath it...

it's monday... please yourself... BAM!