Did you say Camouflage?

It pains me to bring you some disappointing fashion news. Apparently, as the retro trend's finding it's way to the sale racks, high street fashion brands are thinking - Bring on the Camouflage baby!
Oh the horror! Army green is a nice color but passing off Camouflage as fashion?
I used to think it was cool 6 years ago, when it was in fashion. But, why is it back so soon? That's my biggest question.
A friend of mine reminded me, that fashion happens in cycles. Yeah, I know this one. But the cycles usually happen after a decade at least or from a different era. Not something that was trendy 6 years ago.
I want to share some fashion philosophy with you right now my darlings:
Whatever comes back, that's not a decade old at least, is passe. PAS-SE. You see, when retro came back, that was fine. It was from at least a decade ago, in fact, it was from a whole different era. Designers took that and revamped it, added some modern, sleek cuts and re-prints and re-touching and you get a whole new style, starting a whole new trend.
But seeing something come back, only after 6 years of absence, it's not trend. How could designers be out of ideas already?
I'm trying to sound more disappointed than harsh in this post.
Maybe a designer would be inspired to add some flowers to the camouflage. Ooooh that's a whole different story.
(Picture credit: http://www.gap.com/Asset_Archive/GPWeb/Assets/Product/696/696631/main/gp696631-00p01v01.jpg)

Everyday is Christmas

... ...Do you feel my pain?!
Lately, I've been seeing these over-sequined womens' clothing that're just blinding. Eye catching, no doubt, but I'd say more towards making my eyes bleed.
It is really no wonder, that these cosmic outfits are flooding the sale racks and not leaving the stores.
Thank God! I say. Thank God! These clothes should NEVER leave the stores. I'm so glad that women living in Singapore are not buying them and that they have the decency to know that it's not cool to walk around looking like disco balls or looking like "EVERYDAY IS CHRISTMAS!!"

313 @ Somerset Saga: Parte Cinco

Hello my darlings,

I re-visited 313 @ Somerset, as promised, to check out the four leveled Forever 21 and the three leveled Zara.

First of all, Forever 21 has completely thrown taste out the window. Style is very present in the collection, but taste...I...don't...know. The queue on each level for the fitting rooms was horrendous. There were only five rooms per level. The crowd matched their clothes - lack of taste. The crowd was unpleasant and strange. Nonetheless, the brand has kept their promise of affordable fashion.

Zara was like a whole different world. No queues, no rude crowds and had tasteful clothing. However, I found the clothes either a tad bland or gaudy. Gaudy with the frills and upholstery looking prints.

I had dinner at Marche. Lovely. It was just lovely. The excellent ambience that was made up of authentic swiss wood, antiques and milk maid looking uniforms for the lady hostesses at the entrance and exit and the toilets were so quaint. They were quaint with a hi-tech touch. The entrance of the toilets have an auto, wooden door that swings open once you're about a meter away from it. The taps, flush and soap dispensers were all activated by motion/touch sensor. The food was excellent.

So I guess this pretty much concludes my 313 @ Somerset Saga. It took five parts. I hope you'll find as much fun in shopping as I do.

GAUDY, GAUDY, GAUDY

It pains my heart to notice that shops are still carrying gaudy prints and passing them off as the latest fashion.

How are clothes that look like they're made from table cloth, upholstery, curtains or madly printed material, latest fashion?

Every where I go, window displays are screaming at me, "GAUDY, GAUDY, GAUDY!"

It doesn't help that it's right now the Chinese New Year period, which "ups" "Gaudy" to the max. Bring on the bright red, matched with gold. Bring on the "over chiffoned" tops that make you look like you're either a giant wedding cake or the top is swallowing you whole.

Gaudy music follows this gaudy trend along with gaudy hand soap at the Plaza Singapura ladies' toilets - Fluorescent pink. It looks like toxic slime, that will corrode your hands.

Gaudy, gaudy, gaudy my darling. Gaudy!

Shopping biatch OUT!

When Singaporeans will queue and when they won't

I was at the Ikea at Alexandra Road, just doing some window shopping. As usual, I couldn't leave without eating some Ikea food. You know how the food is so unique, it's simply "Ikea food". One of a kind.

It was 8:45pm, on a Sunday night. What I saw, shocked me, beyond words. There were AT LEAST 30 people queuing for food. Why? And how is that possible. Shouldn't the 10th or 15th person think "Nah, I'll come back later"? How did the queue stretch to at least 30 people? And I swear, there wasn't any free food or a free Ikea sofa to be given away with every plate of six Swedish meatballs purchased.

Just so you know, I just stood there with my mouth open in disbelief. I left Ikea disappointed that night.

I had an epiphany this morning, as I was thinking about this experience. Singaporeans: They have no qualms, no issue AT ALL about queuing for food, toys, special closed door sales or simply to enter Louis Vuitton. But they will never EVER queue to get on the bus or to get on the subway.

It seems that Singaporeans understand the concept of queuing, but the act of queuing only extends to certain situations. Maybe we should start selling food on the subway to get people to form a line!

Crocoholics

I mentioned in my previous blog, that I would like to address a certain addiction that fascinates me. The title of this entry speaks for itself: I am talking about the addiction to Crocs.

Crocs are cute. They're cute to look at. They're cute on kids. But they're not cute on a grown man, dressed in slacks nor are they cute on a woman wearing a dress.

Crocs are not cute on adults. Period. Some adults are absolutely nuts about Crocs. They have them in different designs, an array of colors and wear them for almost every occasion. Now that's what I call LOVE. I guess there could be a fine line between love and addiction. Some live through the addiction by buying an array of Crocs for their kids.

I like the concept of Crocs. They're fun. I can understand some people's addiction to these shoes. Actually, I don't even think they should be called shoes. They should be catagorized under a more general term like: Footwear.

Here's why: The definition of "Shoes" at http://dictionary.reference.com is:

"An external covering for the human foot, usually of leather and consisting of a more or less stiff or heavy sole and a lighter upper part ending a short distance above, at, or below the ankle."

Crocs do not have the necessary "sole" to be called a shoe. If you consider them to have soles, then the entire footwear should be called a sole because the entire footwear's made in the same material as the sole.

And that is all my darlings.

(Picture credit: http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/2008/07/23-End%20of%20Month/crocs%20suck.JPG)

Plumage on a mini; Terrycloth flip flops

Hello my darlings!

I write with much enthusiasm in this entry as I saw something so fascinating, I am ecstatic to talk about it.

I can tell that local brand Mphosis is "Mphosising" on being different. First of all, they have plain clothing in usually, five different colors. They are all about going back to basics. I like that. And that's made them so successful. Like I said in one of my earlier entries, classics and basics should always make up most of a woman's wardrobe.

However, as of late, they have been trying to steer towards the High Fashion category. The prices are not that of High Fashion, yet. But, they have certainly gone up for "basics". I was shocked to see a thin,black, cotton blazer going for more than $100. Anyway, I say that they're going towards High Fashion because I noticed that they have been adding more and more oddly cut/shaped clothing or baggy/flowy pieces to each new collection. It's their way of standing out from the masses.

As I breezed through Mphosis, I came across a mini skirt with feathers. The plumage was not real, of course. My dears, it wasn't JUST little strings of feathers on the mini, it was a mini covered in feathers! I literally had no thoughts when I saw that skirt. I wasn't sure what to think. You know how you get one of those speechless moments in your life? That was mine. I didn't know how to feel about it. I still don't.

I had a quick look at their latest flip flops and I saw flip flops made of Terrycloth. Can someone please explain to me why they had the idea of making flip flops with Terrycloth? I know Singapore's a very humid country, but we don't need flip flops that absorb our feet sweat. If those flip flops are meant for the pool, I get it. Just call them "poolops" or something. But if they aren't meant for the pool, can you just imagine wearing those flip flops all day, walking around. It would feel like you're constantly stepping on a towel or a bathroom mat.

Catch my next entry, on a possible addiction I'd like to address.

Till next time my darling. Ciao ciao.