06 February 2010 @ 01:16 am
168 Ship in the Sky  

          Just over the canopies of the treetops, a huge ship is hovering. It's ship repair works here at PPL Shipyard, a good many miles away. When night falls, the forklifts and ship blaze up in a twinkle of lights; then where the ship has been, now stands proud and tall a titantic Christmas tree: this spectacular sight sometimes greets residents of the Jurong Lake neighbourhood, an area that is doomed to be developed into the next commercial district. Against this tide of progress for progress' sake, "sky ship" sightings will soon become a thing of the past, along with weekly cricket games on the grass plain and many others. For the people here who have made this place their home, these small little things, together with the peace of the neighbourhood, can never be replaced.

(Click here to see a bigger picture.)
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29 January 2010 @ 09:53 pm
167 Earth tones in the wardrobe  


9 August 2009— It's the national birthday today, and everywhere around me I see fellow visitors to the zoo dressed in red and white. I can't believe I forgot, forgot that there is a tacitly agreed practice of wearing national colours on this particular day.



Well... no matter. I shall stand out in nude and grey; E's family won't lose me in the crowd.



P.S. I am wearing pants to wart off mosquitoes and any other provoking creative who ventures to bite me. And because I am a woman, I deserve to indulge in vanity — so a ribbon is in good order, however frivolous for a date with the beasts.



Says the Meerkat standing stock still to listen, "... is that really so?"



"I don't believe you don't believe you don't believe you," blurts the Ostrich.


15 October 2009— A dainty ribbon gracing the left shoulder, the collar like the soft petals of a flower blossoming... out of which rises the graceful curve of my neck: my mother's blouse, this work of art, is a romantic prose of elegance, steeped in simpleness and femininity.



But Art, all Art, should strive to reach an appropriate audience. Having worn my mother's blouse to the zoo previously, I decided that it was only fair her magnum opus be worn in the company of human beings this second time.



So for school I let my hair down, put on a flirty mini skirt...
this, when combined with my straight, drop waist on top, makes my look look almost retro flapper style.



Then I sling on a little bag, small to go with the drop waist and mini skirt,



and I lace my feet up in these Roman sandals...



Last of all, I invite Nature to grace my finger as a ring; this bird nest has several faux pearls for eggs.
—
The earth tones of my mini sling are naturally a complement to the neutral beige and greys, since all of them are in fact natural, earthy colours. But what about my ring? The unforgiving brashness of yellow gold is softened by the cluster of white pearls in the middle, with the result that it actually matches, not clash, with the muted hues of my outfit.

P.S. This ring looked promising in the catalogue, but was a disappointment when it arrived. As with most intricate ornaments, I should have known that the complexity of cutouts and interwoven straw on the bird nest would have been difficult to replicate well, given the dirt-cheap price it was retailing for. Thank God it wasn't an expensive lesson learnt.

beige blouse with ribbon tie neck collar - made by mum for herself
grey pinstripe skirt last worn here - made by mum
mini sling bag - Charles Jourdan
bird nest ring - South Korea via lovemelancholy
nude caged lace-up sandals - Miss Schick
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22 January 2010 @ 09:33 pm
166 The Faux Tiered Dress experiment  


15 May 2009— As an ardent fan of the high waist, I love to tuck my blouse in whenever I wear separates. But a few years of dressing in the same mould has also taught me that the high waist isn't always the best way to present an outfit. And since I am only twenty-one, why should I limit my style of dressing after all? Beginning this semester, I wore my French Provincial blouse loose and untucked over a pair of Ali Baba-esque pants. And today, I try wearing my top tucked out over a skirt to fake a dress.

Today's outfit is made up of two layers: an asymmetrical mini dress (as the top) over a lacy skirt.



Barring the asymmetrical hem, this mini dress looks ordinary from the front, so I was surprised when I turned it over and found it was another convertible piece. The dress comes with a row of buttons and buttonholes at the back fanning out into an inverted V shape. When fully buttoned, it allows you to tighten the bodice into a fitted upper silhouette:



For this outfit, I left my buttons completely undone to create a smoothly falling tent shape.



Not comfortable with the shorter hem on one side, I decided to layer my dress over a skirt. I chose a skirt with a similar A-line, so that the transition from dress to skirt wouldn't break the overall tent shape. This gave the appearance of a one-piece tiered dress, which fooled F and my mother!



I usually dislike tiered dresses because they remind me too much of a wedding cake. But my version had the upper layer falling over the second in an asymmetrical, diagonal fashion — this was different; I can't see the resemblance to the wedding cake, so I liked it. The lace and pleats on my skirt also brought some variance of texture to the all black of my tent "dress".



Both my jewellery picks for today are in burnished silver, because I wanted something understated against the rest of the outfit. It isn't obvious in the pictures but I had a necklace around my neck: a beautifully carved crown pendant that is a little Gothic, a little antique. In the picture above it plays crown to the king of the forest, my lion stamp from my childhood.



The belt ring is one that I wear very often. The darker, burnished silver makes it easy to match, while the quirky subject of the ring never bores me! Look at the attention paid to the cutout that represents the belt hole. Considering the ring only cost me S$6 thereabouts, I must say I am very satisfied with the quality indeed.



Standing out against the sea of black is a pashmina scarf looped twice around my neck. My scarf introduces some colour into the outfit, and what a myriad of colours it brings — these are not cut off into regimental bands like a perfectly segmented rainbow, but are wonderfully blended, like tie-dye, except this is masterfully weaved. Each individual end of the scarf is a different colour. To complement the scarf I chose one of its colours, purple, as the colour of my bag today.

black U-neck dress with asymmetrical hem & adjustable buttons - Hong Kong
black lacy skirt (worn underneath dress) - Hong Kong
colourful pashmina scarf - gift from Fourth Aunt, Tierack
purple bag - Perllini
crown pendant - Hong Kong
belt ring - South Korea via lovemelancholy
black flats with criss-cross straps - Charles & Keith
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16 January 2010 @ 09:38 am
165 The Ghost of Christmas Past  

          The new year has come and gone, but still my heart yearns for the dazzling Christmas trees, the mince pies, and the soothing voice of Karen Carpenter crooning Christmas carols into my ear.
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08 January 2010 @ 10:02 pm
164 In which I have Afternoon Tea  
"Upon my word," said her ladyship, "you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person. Pray, what is your age?"
"With three younger sisters grown up," replied Elizabeth, smiling, "your ladyship can hardly expect me to own it."
Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with so much dignified impertinence.



"You cannot be more than twenty, I am sure,—therefore you need not conceal your age."
"I am not one-and-twenty."



28 April 2009— It is with a sad realisation today that I wake up to find myself finally twenty one, and older than Elizabeth Bennet. Eight years ago I first picked up the book; eight years it has seen me through, in which I occasionally let myself be lost in the role of the heroine, drinking in with delight her severe refusal of Mr Darcy's hand in marriage, and the war of words she raged with his aunt the ladyship over their apparent engagement. Sitting at the Rose Veranda today, where Edmund had brought me for my birthday, it is my beloved Pride & Prejudice that accompanies me as we both take our afternoon tea, sipping Irish Malt [Tea] and digging into quiches and chocolate truffle cake. What am I wearing? Nothing befitting of the Regency era, but something a modern woman will wear to a modern English high tea buffet.



My dress of pale yellow today is a plain canvas on which the accessories work its magic to pull the whole look together.



Richer shades of brown in its different variants, dirty green, a gleam of gold from my shoe buckles, bursts of orange on my scarf... I assemble the colour tones that are reminiscent of old English parlours such as the Collinses' at Kent and the Bennets' breakfast-room at Longbourn.



On my finger is a picture of a yellow finch, encased in a vintage cabochon and fitted onto a brass scalloped setting. The very style of it evokes a nostalgic feeling of old heirloom treasures, lost and found.



Dressed in such, I imagine myself as a contemporary Austen character off to take tea with my contemporary Lucas and Bennet counterparts. I am older now but still Jane Austen captivates me with her simple story and delightful heroine. Did it really matter whether I had outgrown Elizabeth Bennet, after all? The charming vivacity, frankness, and fearless independence of her character does not stop short at twenty one; Elizabeth Bennet at twenty eight, thirty two, forty years of age... will still be as worthy a role model as she is at twenty. We will grow old together, overcome prejudices together, marry our Mr Darcys, and live on, hopefully, in the true Lizzy spirit.





(My outfit may also be viewed in this post.)

scarf of orange, brown, yellow and white patterns - Mum's
yellow shift with a Basque waistline last worn here - thrifted from Praisehaven Family Store
clutch - Charles Jourdan
finch cabochon ring - Nostalgems via Candypulp
nude pumps with criss-cross buckle detail last worn here - Charles & Keith
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