Fleur

It's been 7 months since I wrote a word here, and it makes me sad to realise perhaps I have not made blogging my priority. What happened? Looking back, this 2017 has been a whirlwind of events. In the past 12 months, I had left my old job feeling really lost and discouraged, travelled, got my first tattoo, got offered a job I love, and met a whole new bunch of people at my workplace whom I treasure and consider my extended family. I wish I had it in me to pen down every single event that mattered to me, but there's only so much energy I can muster, so if you're still with me, I appreciate it so much!

One thing that mattered to me this year has been building a greener wardrobe, which involves downsizing my collection, getting more wear out of clothing, and my favourite part – buying second hand. To illustrate this, I'm dressed in mostly thrifted items today (minus the shoes). The vintage dress was bought off Carousell for only $8. Based on the aged fabric and unique silhouette, I believe it was made in the seventies. Definitely not an everyday look, but I love the square neckline and intricate embroidery too much to care. Meanwhile, the straw tote was spotted by my dear friend Jing at The Salvation Army. Its bamboo handles, crochet stitching, and leather flower brooch sealed the deal for me at $15. These items may not be shiny nor perfect but like faded photographs and dried flowers, I think they carry plenty of character and charm.

Photos by Yun Jing.

Pages Of Gold

Show me the way it used to be

Show me I want to see

I am no longer afraid of my past

I want to confront all my new tasks

Show me the river where we swam

Show me the miles that we ran

From ourselves

And nothing more

There are some days when I wish I could time travel. There's a saying, "our minds aren't good offices" which is why we take notes – to remember things and other minute details. I'm really glad I caught my second Annie Leibovitz exhibition, titled 'Women: New Portraits', in Singapore. Her photographs, far from 'perfect', always show me some form of vulnerability within her subjects. Held at the old Tanjong Pagar railway station, its aged grittiness made quite a spot for an afternoon of aimless book browsing and daydreaming. 

I'm wearing vintage 70's maxi dress from Granny's Day Out, vintage Calvin Klein bag, c/o Misaki pearl earrings and vintage Casio watch. 

Photography by Yun Jing.

Starry-Eyed

Mood:

Never let the darkness leave us

If you can't I'll be the dreamer

Be the night and I will be your shining light

I'm your silver line, only you will find

Two weeks back, I was invited to see the Z Wedding Couture Runway Show 2016. The invite reached me right smack before one of my major school submissions, but I'm glad it did anyway because fashion shows always put me in a good mood. It was an exhaustive journey but nevertheless fun experience — from finding our way to the very isolated W Hotel Sentosa (I mean, there's a good reason why it's Madonna's choice of temporary tour residence in Singapore), anticipating for the show to start to seeing the beautiful dresses. The dresses for Spring were definitely based off classic, hourglass and princess silhouettes, but that's not to say the designers spared any effort off their signature bare-back look. The models' makeup glowed against their white frocks. Dresses with lace or flower appliqué were my favourites. Unfortunately, the lighting situation at The Grand Room wasn't ideal, so I decided to desaturate everything and consolidate the pictures I snapped into my lazy-style collages. Hope you enjoyed the images anyway!

#zweddingcouture2016

The Devil In I

Mood

Fetish fashion has intrigued me since I was a child. I don't know if it was the music I listened to or visuals I was exposed to, but I am just drawn to the mystique of this subcultural style. I came across this quote two years ago in the book Fetishism in fashion which inspires my final year project:

Fetish creates a sense of bond. This is where the quest for other forms of connections and bonds starts; unable to replace it, we will try to re-enact or at least remember the primal bond of life. Bonding is able to liberate the self to indulge in the freedom of abundance, creating another unknown self. — Lidewij Edelkoort, 2013.

With the quote in mind, I did a test shoot in the attempt to portray fetish fashion in my own visual language. For me, a fetish is essentially a bond, impulse, or feeling of belonging, deeply embedded within each of us, waiting for be fulfilled. I often get mixed reactions when people see my works or simply mentioning taboo words such as "bondage" or "fetish" — most people are curious about it while others think I'm on my way to create another sequel for 50 Shades of Grey (a movie I have not even watched lol). It's been a very fun and eye-opening project for me and I hope to come up with something cool by the end of the school year. 

Photography by Selina Tan and Weiqin Chay/ makeup, styling, and editing by me/ wearing harnesses and leather accessories by HURL and Zana Bayne.