It's not easy to be The Sartorialist

My friends, Ayse, Toton and Haryo launched their new label TOTON at Blueprint fashion fair last week. I love  the details on their embroidery works and the spunky accessories.  

http://totonthelabel.com

Toton wanted me to try my favorite piece from the collection and do some styling on my own for their facebook page. I thought "YES, this is my first stepping stone to get on The Sartorialist ".

I chose a teal top with embroidered sleeves and combined it with my mom's batik.


Just before the sunset, we went down to Clarke Quay for the shoot. It's not easy to look like a natural sartorialist. Scott Schuman is darn good.


For a start, there is no way I'm crossing any bridge with those shoes if I have my way. Let alone looking graceful in them.

And this one says "I may be in heels and batik sarong, but if you mess with me, I'm gonna hit you with my sturdy little purse".

Let's see how Photoshop can save me.


In the meantime, check out the rest of TOTON collection on a real model at http://totonthelabel.com.


Like them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TOTONthelabel or follow them on Twitter @totonthelabel

The Great Fall of Singapore

I badly hurt my right leg 3 times in the past 3 months. I still can’t decide which one was worse. To burn my leg on a motorcycle exhaust pipe, to step on a rusty nail during holiday or fall in the middle of a busy road in Singapore. I can imagine the faces of certain friends shaking their heads disapprovingly.

In an uneventful Tuesday, I tripped over my flare pants while I was crossing Siglap Road and fell flat on the asphalt road. Luckily the card drivers saw me fell and stopped their vehicles. I could see car bumpers coming to my face. My knees bled, bruised and swelled. I cut my right palm and toes on the asphalt. So that day was eventful after all.

I’ve been limping my way around Singapore with my (still) stinging wounds, since. I found this place not very injured-friendly. The train doors close to quickly for physically-challenged people to board during peak hours – the only time I need to use the train. The train is very crowded that other passengers hit my wounds several times and because they couldn’t see my wounded knees, no one bothers to offer me a seat.  The red lights on the main roads don’t stay long enough for me to cross without forcing the work of the injured legs. I had to climb a set of stairs to take my Tiger flight while carrying my luggage. It was the death of me. Luckily a gentleman offered to carry my bag. 

I come to appreciate facilities available for the disabled and respect the disabled for overcoming the hardship of living in the world made not for them.  

The Royal Lao Adopted Family Photo

This is how I ended my stay in Lao - with a BANG.

The highlight of my last weekend in Vientiane was to gather with other peeps who like fun random activities, dressed up like Lao Royal Family members and did a photoshoot.

Inspired by Patricia, who had previous experience of dressing up as royal family member in various Asian countries, we went on a hunting for a photo studio which:

- has English speaking staff, so they understand when we say "this color makes me look a member of the jungle", "can I pose with the sitar?", "I'm Lao next top model" etc.

- Has a decent collection of Lao traditional costumes

- Offer competitive pricing

So on a very very hot afternoon, we gathered in an express digital photo studio across the old Talat Sao and the travesty began.

Being the sole male royal member for the shoot, Tim's preparation was the quickest. He was transformed from a Georgian boy in yellow shorts to a Lao Prince Charming in less than 10 mins. So he had sometime to check out the props.

A Lao prince don't usually wear pink cowboy hat

whattup?

  Our prep was fairly quick as well. We had similar themes, with different colors and hair dos. Sarah donned green, Patricia was red and I was a purple princess. Sarah wore hair extention, Patri has coned hair, I had a head wrap.

Green Princess in the making

They gave us specific royal-like instructions to pose. To assist with the photographer instructions which were not in English, we helped each other by translating his visions such as:

• Now stroke your luscious long lock while thinking of the man you love
• Bring those legs up and show them who da man
• Show your musical talent by pretending to play the sitar

Our imaginations were way better than the photographer instructions.I'm sure. 

The results as follow.

Pricess Sarah of Marseille

Princess Sarah of Marseille

Gubrakk 2

Gubrakk 1

Princess Patricia of Madrid

 

The Royal Family