We Need Some Lovin’: Holster Up Your Pretty Feet

As a mother, I am always on the lookout for quality clothes, toys, books, foods and other knick-knacks for my daughter; ‘I Have My Eye On‘ is a collection of these finds.

Growing up is a tough act but parenting is hard work too; I believe that mummies and daddies need some lovin’! Whilst I am not busting my budget on the little one, I like to sniff out things that make our new routines a little easier, or sometimes, just a little prettier.

In this series ‘We Need Some Lovin’‘, I share some of my favourite things for us big people.

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My feet are the bane of my existence. Really. I hate them because they are too fleshy, too wide, too ugly with too high an arch. I often find it difficult to shop for shoes without ending up with blistered feet and a self-esteem severely punctured by insensitive remarks from sales assistants on how fat my feet are. So pardon me if I don’t get that, oooh-look-at-my-Louboutins-Manolos-and-Jimmy Choos obsession with pretty shoes! Sour grapes? Yes, VERY sour indeed.

Ever since I was pregnant, the sensible woman in me chose comfort over style for my footwear. I wear a tonne of ugly shoes, right down to ah-pek (Hokkien for old man) sandals. For more than a year now, I chose to live in a world where I think that nobody looks at my feet, and that world was pretty…until I get that ‘waaah, your feet are very fleshy’ remark from yet another sales assistant.

I was recently gifted two pairs of Holster shoes by the good people at Not Too Big. I reckon someone must have noticed how wretched and tired-looking my ah-pek sandals were. Truth be told, I was a little hesitant about receiving these shoes. I am not one to write about something that I wouldn’t recommend. The Holster shoes are annoyingly pretty, so much so that I was convinced they would make my poor feet suffer a thousand deaths just for donning them, as with other equally good-looking shoes. But then, they are jellies. They have been raved about for the comfort and ease of cleaning. And they are *sigh* very sparkly. A girl’s got to do what she’s gotta do.

I took a huge leap of faith and put them on everywhere I went. I could be going downstairs for a walk in the park where sparkly, strappy shoes are taboo. I could be going to the mall. I could be running across the road. I could be doing all of the above with a 7.5kg baby strapped to my body and a diaper bag hanging off my right shoulder. I could be doing that for hours and hours on end. And I was blown away by the Holster jellies. No blisters, no pain, no aches, and lots of compliments from strangers, family and friends alike on how beautiful my shoes are! I have the Swarovski Masquerade Wedge in Champagne (pictured above), which goes with just about any outfit, including the formal cheongsam that I wore for Lunar New Year (for those who have seen it on Instagram). I was also gifted the Swarovski Masquerade Jelly (flat) in Marina, which adds a brilliant pop of blue to whatever casual drab I’m wearing. After more than a month of running about in my Holster shoes, I’m ready to retire my ah-pek sandals and other tattered, smelly flats I have in my arsenal of mum-sy footwear!

All thanks to the generous people at Not Too Big!

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Holster is stocked at:

Not Too Big
582 Orchard Road
#02-06/07 Forum The Shopping Mall
Singapore 238884

Photo published and reformatted in poster form with permission from: Not Too Big/Holster

We Need Some Lovin’: Organise in Style with Anorak

As a mother, I am always on the lookout for quality clothes, toys, books, foods and other knick-knacks for my daughter; ‘I Have My Eye On‘ is a collection of these finds.

Growing up is a tough act but parenting is hard work too; I believe that mummies and daddies need some lovin’! Whilst I am not busting my budget on the little one, I like to sniff out things that make our new routines a little easier, or sometimes, just a little prettier.

In this series ‘We Need Some Lovin”, I share some of my favourite things for us big people.

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Most aspects of motherhood evoke that warm, fuzzy feeling that money can’t buy. BUT, there is one thing that really, really gets on my nerves. I hate to wear mum-sy nursing clothes, and carry mum-sy bags. There, I said it. I may not be quite the WOAH-HO-hot-mama fashionista, but I have taken to wearing my regular clothes and working breastfeeding around it. It’s not easy, but I’d rather be a contortionist (nursing mothers will know the kind of manoeuvres I am talking about) than be dressed in shapeless rags in garish floral prints and nauseating colours.

But the problem that is mum-sy bags was a tricky one to tackle. Before becoming a mother, I hardly splurged on anything but I did have a weakness for bags. Yes, I like my designer totes and invested in three that have seen me through casual outings and formal soirees. Of course, none of these were appropriate for (or could afford) the wear and tear that diaper bags so often suffer from. I declared a diaper bag emergency after failing to find one that didn’t make me cross-eyed with kaleidoscopic graphics.

My very generous sister and mother then surprised me with a simple, black diaper bag from Kate Spade, one that I love very much but is a tad heavy for lone excursions with my daughter. I have since been toting a black Longchamp, which is infinitely lighter and equally forgiving on M, should he help me with the bag (yes, I am one who loathes handing my girly bags to the man). The Longchamp is unfortunately a nightmare to rummage through without a bag insert. My keys and purse were often lost in the big black hole of diapers, wipes and baby clothes. I resorted to using good ol’ Ziploc bags to store baby stuff and while it worked fairly well, it was far from a stylish option.

Then I stepped into Not Too Big a family store at Forum that carries cult labels for daddies, mummies and kids alike, and my life was all good-looking again. The Anorak range of lifestyle goods, including towels, serving ware, baby changing bags and toiletry bags, was too handsome to ignore. I couldn’t resist getting a Kissing Stags medium toiletry bag to keep my purse, keys, lip balm and other womanly what-have-you’s, and a Kissing Robins large toiletry bag to contain my daughter’s spare set of clothes for poopy accidents, diapers, wipes and tissue. These waterproof bags are easy-to-clean, hardy, and oh, did I mention how gorgeous the bold, yet minimalistic, animal prints are? I am head over heels in love with these bags (you may have caught me showing one off on my Instagram (pleasure_monger) profile), and I am delighted to be able to organise my life in style again!

Now…I am just plotting to get my hands on more stuff from Anorak at Not Too Big…shhhhh, don’t tell the husband! He is currently under the impression that I am only at Forum to ‘window shop’…

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Anorak is stocked at:

Not Too Big
582 Orchard Road
#02-06/07 Forum The Shopping Mall
Singapore 238884

Christmas Wish List Guest Post on MsGlitzy.com!

When my high school classmate, MsGlitzy, asked me to contribute a Christmas Wish List guest post on her blog, I jumped up from the couch and said YES! It is after all something that I have always wanted to write about, but for some reason, I haven’t quite gotten round to doing it on my own blog. Recipes and overenthusiastic ramblings about food and only food seem to constantly get in the way, and I do apologise if I have strayed somewhat from the lifestyle-related content that I started out with, can’t help myself around food, can I? =p

Now, just a little bit on my classmate. MsGlitzy writes at and runs a very successful and prolific lifestyle blog over at MsGlitzy.com. Unlike my very rudimentary-looking blog, her glossy pages are glistening with the hottest tales of fashion, beauty trends and tips, food expeditions as well as fun things you should be looking out for in Singapore and beyond! Ever since she started writing, I have come to read her blog for a very comprehensive take on everything that I need to know as a person who is also interested in fun, food and fashion! So if you like the same things as I do, do pop over and say hello to MsGlitzy, if you haven’t already! MsGlitzy also does videos for some of these topics, now that is something you should also keep a lookout for! Whilst you are at it, don’t forget to check out my guest post on my Christmas Wish List (any generous Santa or Santarina out there, please show yourself….) and comment away! Let MsGlitzy and me know if you are looking out for the same/similar items this year, and what YOUR Christmas Wish List is, if you want!

Happy Christmas to all of you, just three days to go! Have a lovely festive weekend!

Outfits: Playing Dre$$ Up

We’ve been going out an awful lot for nice dinners and I’m running out of ideas on what to wear! I have an embarrassing stash of mouldy clothes that look like they belong to the 90′s. As I have been spending more on holidays, bags (my weakness…) and good food, I can’t bear to part with more moolah on clothes. Besides, I’m always uninspired when I go shopping for clothes. Something that looks nice on the mannequin always looks disastrous on me. Something that looks plain on the rack might be perfect, but I never seem to have the eye to pick it out. I often find myself wandering through stores, running my fingers through the racks, and leaving with nothing. On good days, I leave with an accessory or two. As such, I really hate shopping for clothes. If you’ve been following my outfit posts, I’ve resorted to online shopping on blogshops instead, with the help of my sister. Clothes from some of these blogshops are cheap and of reasonable quality; they look quite trendy (or at least not old-fashioned), and even if the season has passed, the affordable prices mean that you won’t feel the pinch when they go out of style. I also tend to go for safer pieces that suit my very safe and boring look, so I stretch my dollar for a couple of seasons.

I’ve resorted to sifting through my old stash of clothes for M’s birthday dinner at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. I like jackets very much (well, aside from the fact that they are necessary in windy London, they hide those arms and frame the body – gee I’m talking like those arms and body are not mine…go figure, pun intended), so I paired a Love, Bonito shoulder-padded black jacket (less than S$30) with a sheer dress (also less than S$30) from the same line. The dress is very comfortable and easy to wear, even when I’m stuffing myself with food. It has a black sheer layer that peeks through to a dusty pink inner layer (colour of dress in photo on the left is more true to reality, I do apologise for the poor quality pics, I took them in different places with different lighting), which makes it look a little girlish on its own. As I prefer a more grown-up look when it comes to dresses, throwing on a jacket that suits my frame helps to add a more womanly touch to my appearance.

It wasn’t very cold that night, so I bared my legs and put on some really comfortable black patent heels from Pazzion (about S$50?). I didn’t want to go overboard with accessories, so a vintage-looking pair of black and gold earrings from Warehouse (only £2!) sufficed. Since the dress had a pink undertone, I thought it was nice to pull the look together with a nude-and-gold clutch from River Island that I bought for £36. When I was outdoors, I threw on a black coat from H&M which was a steal at only £29.90 during a sale.

I thought the outfit looked quite decent for what it’s literally worth. It was too comfortable, which can only be a good thing. We have more fancy dinners coming up, so I’m hoping to be able to pull more fashion (cheap) rabbits out of my hat with whatever’s swimming in my dingy wardrobe!

Now, perhaps you could teach me a trick or two. If you’ve pulled off a pocket-friendly look for dinners or nice nights out, or for when you just felt like playing dress up, I’m inviting you to share it with me and my readers on your blog. Simply write the entry up, name it ‘Outfits: Playing Dre$$ Up’, and link your entry back to mine. Leave a comment here, telling me that you did so and I’ll update my entry with the links to your entries, so everyone can sneak a peek at your $tyle!

Starting with these ladies…..can’t wait to read their entries!

Miss Ene and The Boy (Pretty in bold colours! Come take a peek at her dress here, which is perfect for summer!)

Yannisms (Eclectic and fun – come check out her chic style here!)

Scribbles and Snapshots (All decked in spring/summer colours – I’m loving the fresh take on dressing up for wedding dinners. Come check out her style here!)

Faerie Land (Read all about her fresh Stepford wife look here, just in time for Spring!)

Wild Rocketing (I like that she’s put together a few outfits with key pieces in one of my favourite colours! Check out her style here!)

Heaven In A Wild Flower

Lady J’s Musings (Colours ahoy! Very very colour-pop chic!)

A Dollop of Me (She jazzes up her little black dress with statement accessories – come sneak a peek!! Here’s another version of her get-up too.)

A reader who has come by to join in the fun!

Miss Pretz

Check out my other fashion posts!

What’s In My Bag

I’ve been tagged! by Miss Ene to do a little show-and-tell on What’s In My Bag? (check hers out on that link!!). What better time to do this than on a fine Sunday afternoon, when my living room is choking with testosterone shaking its manly fist at the Arsenal vs Liverpool game? Being completely exhausted by gym this morning and cooking for the whole afternoon, I am in no mood to join the boys for the game. I decided to make a retreat into my little girly space and let you take a peek into my What’s In My Bag-ful of stuff.

So here it is ladies, my trash.

I do bring a shitload of stuff when I move around and it differs, depending on whether it’s for work or leisure, and whether I’m packing it in with the rest of London in the tube, or being ferried around by M dearest. I’m showing you most of the usual stuff that I have in my bag, sans the boring work pass, pens, used tissue with snot still in it, yada yada. Whatever it is, my bag almost always weighs a tonne. *shows off shoulder muscles*

I have a couple of bags that I like to carry, also depending on whether I’m using it for work or leisure. For fun times, my current favourite is the dirty blue Mulberry-inspired bag that my sister bought for me from a blog shop (can’t remember which shop it is…). It’s slightly slouchy, has a great wash, hangs right, and takes on plenty of my stuff with gusto. I can even pop my DSLR in it, together with all the other junk.

Money, keys and my phone are the most important bits in my bag. I alternate between two wallets – a Kate Spade one from my family, and a Chanel one that was an impulsive buy from Paris. I don’t have many cards in UK, so either of these is enough to contain my stuff. In fact, I seem to accumulate more receipts than anything else. My keys are kept together on a keyring that I bought from Taipei more than 2 years ago; it has short forms of our names embossed on the ‘leather’ tag. My iPhone4 is nestled in a really lovely, hardy case that M bought for me last Christmas; I cannot do without my phone but I abuse it quite a bit, so having a case like that helps. I have also taken to bringing the iPod that my brother gave me to work so I can listen to some angsty music if I need to shut the world out. The sunnies from Charles & Keith are a new addition to my bag as the sun has recently decided to grace spring with its presence. I can’t tell you how much I love the purple tint and grey frame of these shades.

As social calls might come abruptly, I have taken to bringing some makeup around – my Shiseido foundation compact and eyebrow/eyeliner palette, as well as Palmer’s Dark Chocolate and Peppermint lip butter are staples. Sometimes, if I know that I have plans that evening, I’ll bring my M.A.C eyeshadow palette, Chanel lipstick and Clé de Peau concealor. These are great for covering up dark circles/blemishes, and brightening up my face after a long day at work.

I haven’t taken a photo of the other boring stuff I usually bring – my ugly umbrella for the unpredictable weather in London and a black pouch of essentials like tissue, paracetamol and antiacids (I get headaches and gastric problems more than anything else), and the monthly stuff that ladies need. Oh and of course, being an overenthusiastic food freak, if I am going out for meals, I’d bring my DSLR or my LX3 to annoy fellow diners too.

So there you go, the skeletons in my closet. What are yours? Write ‘em up and link it back to this entry so we can all snoop around in your bags!

By the way, some fabulous ladies have also spilled their guts on their equally fabulous bag contents. If you send me your links, I’ll put them up here too!

• Bookjunkie at Tiny Island
• Faerie Imp at Faerie Land
• Lady J at Lady J’s musings 
• Serene at somethingboutrenes 
• Stephanie at The Girl at the Traffic Light Junction 
• Z at Scribbles and Snapshots

Read all my beauty reviews here.

Check out my other fashion posts!

 

Fundraising for Japan – A Success, And Yes, We Have A Winner!

Thanks to your generous donations, The Pleasure Monger’s fundraising event for Japan was a success! We may have fell short of the £2000 target, but we did raise a whopping £1510, which amounts to 76% of our target! To be honest, I wasn’t sure if anyone would donate when I organised this, but a number of you did; the funds that we’ve raised together are so much more than I could ever give on my own. I’m grateful for your support and I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The fundraising page that I’ve set up on JustGiving will run till 2016, so please continue to drop a pound or two to help the victims of the earthquake in Japan. I’m sure everyone knows that the people in Japan are still suffering from the aftermath. For people like us who can’t be there to deliver aid, we can help in other ways. Yesterday evening, I was just thinking how wonderful it would be if everyone who stops by this blog could give a pound or spare some change; we could very well raise £20000 in a month! And then we have other bloggers who are trying their best to raise funds (read the updates at the bottom of this post for more details on how you can get involved), bloggers who are way more popular, prolific and well-known than I am, and if every reader of theirs give a pound for every post they read, they could raise so much more. That £1 makes such little difference to us, but for the victims, every penny counts and the success of the fundraiser thus far proves that we can pool our resources together and make a HUGE difference. So please continue to give, within your means, to any of the avenues that are most accessible to you.

Now, let’s realise the promise I made. When I organised the fundraiser, I said that I would pledge a USD100 Amazon gift card to one lucky donor so long as he/she donates before 31 March 2011 (GMT2359h). So today, I used the random integer generator on random.org to pick a winner and the gift card goes to…….

SHIRLEY!

I’ll be in touch in the next few minutes with an Amazon email containing the gift card. Congratulations and thank you for your donation!

xx

 

Fundraising for Japan

Dear readers,

In light of the recent events that hit Japan, I have started a fundraising page on JustGiving to raise some money for the disaster relief efforts. My nominated charity is ShelterBox, which is rallying resources to help the people in Japan. Temporary shelters are getting increasingly overcrowded right now, and if you’ve read the news, many have died in the bitter cold. The Japanese authorities are requesting ShelterBox to deliver emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies to the north of Japan. Thousands of boxes of such supplies are either in Japan or ready to be mobilised now, and we can help to deliver to the needs of the homeless in Japan. Please, let’s not leave them out in the freezing temperatures, and let’s work to give them a home and some warmth, literally and figuratively.

Anyone can donate, you only need a debit or credit card to do so. I can’t make a difference on my own, so instead of donating the money directly to charity, I am pledging a USD100 Amazon gift card to this fundraising event. I will randomly select the gift card recipient (using http://www.random.org/) from the list of people who donate on my fundraising page before 31 March 2011 (2359h GMT). By giving a little incentive, I hope that this will boost numbers a little and make the event worthwhile.  The gift card can be used on Amazon.com and I will email it to you before 10 April 2011. I will also announce the winner on this blog.

Please note that whilst I am not allowed to publicise this gift card raffle on my JustGiving page (as I am bound by terms and conditions), anyone who donates on my page, with a valid email address, will be eligible for this raffle. In order for me to contact you, please make sure you make your email address available to me on the JustGiving fundraising page.

Thank you for your help. Please also spread the word around, the success of this fundraising event relies on our collective effort.

Updated: I would also like to bring your attention to other avenues of donation. Some of my food blogger friends have set up an initiative called Bento4Japan, they have very generously put up some bento-related items up for auction on eBay. Please visit this site and start bidding! Or you can visit meemalee’s kitchen to have a look, she has written a nice summary of how you can help the people in Japan. Chika of the very beautiful blog, She Who Eats, is also giving away sakura ingredients to raise funds for Japan.

P/S: The fundraising page will be active till 2016, but only donors who contributed to this page before 31 March 2011 (2359h GMT) will be considered for the raffle. I am doing this because I am trying to encourage as many people to donate soon as the relief efforts are ongoing and urgently needed – WE HAVE A WINNER!

 

Outfits: The Annual CNY Wardrobe Dilemma

So….Chinese New Year is just round the corner. My home isn’t cleaned. The laundry isn’t done. I haven’t baked nearly enough CNY goodies to last two monsters (that would be M and me). I am feeling unwell with stomach flu. I have loads to study for my viva. I haven’t had the time to cut my hair. And I have nothing new to wear for CNY. To all these, The Pleasure Monger shall seek out solutions. I will do the laundry today (it’s in the washer now). I will clean up our place tomorrow (SWAT team-like operations already in place in my head). I will bake more CNY goodies when I am done studying. I will get better with more rest, fluids and meds. I will study after blogging (check out my priorities). I will snip one strand of hair to symbolise a haircut that I used to have before CNY. Ahhhh…solutions for all. But one.

As I get older, I run into an even bigger Annual CNY Wardrobe Dilemma. Before I left Singapore recently, I recall seeing a sea of red everything in boutiques, but I didn’t bother buying any new clothes for CNY. In fact, I haven’t had new CNY garb for four years now because really, there is no need to. We will be at home, watching TV, family-less and without visitors. We don’t get any holidays here, and we aren’t visiting anyone either, so why bother? I used to feel out-of-place if I didn’t get new clothes for the festival. It’s a routine that I was used to before I moved to London, and I felt uneasy that I pulled the plug on this tradition. But hey, I’m alive, and doing quite okay, so erm, maybe not having new clothes won’t bring me bad luck? *knock on wood, just in case*

So instead of having shiny new clothes, I’ve settled for wearing shades of red on the eve and the first day of CNY. To me, it’s not too unbecoming a compromise except for one teeny problem – I don’t wear red-red because I’m too old to look cute like walking angbao I once was when I was younger. I don’t own many red pieces except for the Arsenal jersey which I wear to when I watch matches at the Emirates Stadium. Because I don’t look too silly in it, the Arsenal jersey has also been officially knighted to be my CNY outfit for the past years, especially since we don’t go out. In fact, M wears his Arsenal tee too. But if I were in Singapore, or if I were going out to visit someone on CNY, I’d probably wear my latest buy from ASOS (pictured above), a peachy pink colour-block camisole with hook-eye details on the front. I was wearing it everywhere when I was in Singapore. Lightweight (read: cooling), not too girly even though it’s pinkish, slightly edgy because of the hook-eye details. My preferred style is written all over it. I liked pairing it with a colour-block jacket from Tracyeinny, which has interesting textures of grey jersey and black faux leather in the same piece, something that gives a little character to anything remotely wallflower-ish one may wear. I also like to put on a statement bracelet to complete the outfit (you can’t really see this in the picture). Shorts are a must in Singapore since it’s so warm, but if you’re visiting and don’t want to look too casual, you could don a pair of black or dark navy skinnies. I would, and I think I will, because ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been invited to my very first CNY meal at a friend’s home this Saturday! Pardon me if I am overly excited, we’re usually the hosts. Now all I have to do is get well, claw my way through the mountain of things I have to do, spend CNY in my Arsenal jersey with M on the couch, like what we did for the past years, and finally, LOOK the part of a guest this Saturday.

Please also allow my nosey self to strike – what will you be wearing for CNY? Make me green with envy and send me pictures or leave a comment!

P.S.: If you’re looking to buy the camisole from ASOS, it is no longer available in the same design. You can, however, check out variations of it here and here. The basic style is the same, only the hook-eye details have been changed.

Check out my other fashion posts!

Outfits: Summer Makes Me Nervous

I was out with Miss D two days ago, combing through ION (well we actually spent most our time at Sephora and at lunch/tea, activities that are much in alignment with our priorities). She had left UK for Asia two months ago, and we have not seen each other since. We ditched our men for a much-needed girly meetup and her presence made for a soothing afternoon.

During our girly chat, D had commented that I looked nice and that I seemed to be able to pluck out different pieces and put them together easily. For the 10000th time, I told her that it was all kudos to my sister that I dressed the way I did for our meetup. You see, my sister is the one with a good eye for fashion. A sizeable number of outfits that I have featured on the blog are acquired by her. She would also rummage through my wardrobe, give a disapproving look and tell me that I should throw out decade-old clothes that are clearly a) never going to make a comeback in the fashion world and b) are very worn-out. I used to be a tee-and-jeans kinda girl and it was not until I started dating M that my sister gave me a makeover by buying me my first blouse. The rest was history.

It doesn’t help that I live in chilly London. All I need is a decent coat and I can hide the gunnysacks I wear, mismatched or not, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a black coat is the way to go if one is oblivious to fashion. Boring, yes I know, but so very practical and so very easy. I also used to muck around in a research lab – everything goes under the white labcoat, and when the coat comes off, nobody really cares if I’m wearing shite. So shite it is. The only times I dress up are for special occasions, or for that rare shopping trip in town, lest I draw murderous looks from the fashionable folks in London. When these occasions come round, I take ages to pull a look together, but I don’t feel exceptionally stressed because it’s going to go under that coat anyway.

The nerves kick in when I return to hot and humid Singapore. Suddenly, the coat comes off. Suddenly, I’m deathly terrified of the sinusoidal Kallang waves that my thighs make as I parade through town in my climate-friendly shorts. Suddenly, the ‘wings’ flap when I say goodbye to friends. Suddenly, I am rudely exposed, much to the detriment of my self-esteem and oh, do I need to say more about the psychology of witnesses who bear such scary sights?

What do I wear? What should I do? Arghhhh!!!

Having done the SIN-LON-SIN routine for a number of years now, I have come to draw on the habit of purchasing summer clothes before I fly back to Singapore. My sister, who acts as my personal buyer and stylists, aids me in the process. With her prolific knowledge on blogshops and her approvals on my shopping cart, I have come to acquire a few pieces that ease my struggles. As much as I would like to keep both arms and legs covered at all times, the weather in Singapore has made it impossible and I have come to compromise on my desired look. It’s either the arms or the legs that will have to bear the attention of passers-by (sometimes, also my reflection in the mirror). As my arms are the lesser of two evils, I have been flapping around town in my latest obsession, one that I wish I had discovered earlier – a maxi dress. I love this dress so much that I have worn it on a ridiculous number of occasions over the last two weeks. My sister even asked me if I had washed the dress at all (of course I have!!).

I move effortlessly in this piece from clothes&people. Priced at less than S$30, it keeps me covered in the right places without making me sweat like a pig. The high-waisted band also means that my slight paunch is well-hidden. I paired this with a tan leather boyfriend belt (£18) from ASOS, just to break up the black expanse so I don’t look that much shorter, and wore a pair of black sandals from Charles & Keith (not shown in picture). Methinks I’m going to get maxi-dresses in more colours! I’m not so sure about prints though, because they can dwarf a person in a maxi, but who knows, I might actually get one!

What are your pet peeves about your appearance (fashion-wise) and what do you wear to up your confidence?

Check out my other fashion posts!

 

Outfits: What I Wore On My Birthday

I’m clearing the cobwebs off the fashion part of my blog, so here’s a post on what I wore on my birthday. We went to Bicester Village quite a while ago for a spot of more affordable designer outlet shopping. Here, designer labels carry off-season stock at discounted prices. M left with a Ralph Lauren Polo tee for £39 (and one more item, which I can’t recall). I managed to haul two bottles of L’Occitane green tea body milk lotion for £23 (as opposed to high street prices at £35) and scored a Karen Millen dress at £125 (£55 cheaper than high street). I was a little disappointed at not getting more stuff, I mean how did I not manage to get anything from labels like Alexander McQueen, and how did I not lug back a Le Creuset pot?! Although most of the stuff were heavily discounted, I couldn’t bear to spend more as I had busted my shopping limit. In fact, I didn’t want to get the Karen Millen dress because I hardly go out for fancy occasions and I already have a few cheap but nice dresses from Love, Bonito which barely clocked any mileage. It is also too cold to wear dresses here in London (P/S: I don’t like to wear tights all the time, and I figured stockings with the Karen Millen dress I bought would make me look ancient).

M was the one who convinced me to get the dress. In fact, he was the one who picked it out. I was running my hands through racks and racks of dresses at Karen Millen, and was happy to leave without a purchase as Karen Millen dresses tend to be very bold. I always liked to admire the dresses at the windows, but I knew I didn’t have the personality or look to carry off their strong styles, not at that heavy price tag anyway. I don’t like to spend on clothes that I might only have the guts to wear ONCE. I was a little concerned about the figure-hugging style of this dress and was incredibly reluctant to try it on. M said it was free to try on dresses and it won’t kill me whatsoever; well, he was right and I scurried off to the changing room. The dress turned out to be a near-perfect fit, I say near-perfect, as my hips don’t lie and they usually like to make an ugly scene in any sort of figure-hugging dresses I try on. This was no exception, but the cut was as good as it gets for my shape (unless it’s tailored), and I fell madly in love with the lace keyhole neckline. Let’s just say that I like the top half more than the bottom half. M liked the dress very much too, and he persuaded me to get it. So I did. It was a bit of an impulsive buy, as I tend not to buy dresses that scream ‘look at the bloody creases that my hips are causing in this dress’. I regretted it once we got out of Bicester Village and made a mental note to sell it someday to someone who will look better in it.

Months rolled around, and it was time for my birthday last Sunday. I decided to be brave and see if I could still fit into the dress. Thankfully, I could but I really hate the hips. The good thing was I was only going out with M, and M has seen me without makeup and witnessed all my flaws tend not to notice imperfections (actually I think he’s just really good at pretending…). I felt comfortable enough to be wearing this dress around him. I also figured that I was either going to be seated in a dark restaurant most of the time, or wrapped up in my trench so it was a win-win situation.

So there, I stepped out in the dress, complete with minimal accessories and my favourite pumps. I slurped oysters and wolfed down a porterhouse steak. I finished the meal off with a huge chocolate tart. Then I let my gut hang out, wrapped myself up back in the trench, stepped out on the streets and allowed the lovely neckline to peek out a bit. Woo. Hoo. Oh and then I got home, sucked in my tummy and took these pictures. Happy birthday to me! =)

P/S: I also went a little bit bolder with my eye makeup, but hurhur, it doesn’t show up well on the pictures here. The red lip gloss was all gone with the steak too. Not sure if I should do a make-up post to show the products that I used to create the look, but I put in a massive amount of effort to do my makeup this time and I liked the results. If you think you might be interested in the products I used/normally use, let me know!

Check out my other fashion posts!

Bicester Village is located at:

50 Pingle Drive, Bicester, Oxfordshire OX26 6WD