May Giveaway: HOARDing the Good Stuff!

Somehow, the old has become the new new and vintage has never been hotter. While once our mothers would have frowned upon wearing someone’s old threads, we embrace pre-loved clothings. Thrifting has evolved into passionate pursuit for many, and we’re no longer afraid to get our hands dirty in search of that perfect vintage dress - and if we’re lucky, it’ll be ours for just a few bucks

And if vintage clothing is the coolest thing since sliced bread, why not vintage accessories? Rather than just wearing your grandmother’s pearls, up the quirky index with assemblage vintage jewelery! Re-arranging and putting together various vintage pieces adds a contemporary vibe and injects unexpected twists.

HOARD, an online shop specializing in one-of-a-kind designer accessories, hosts an Exclusives line featuring international designer collections of vintage and vintage-inspired jewelery. There are four collections in all, and here are some of my favourites

ETCETRIX

Involved in the ‘refashioning of vintage elements’, Pamela Burns works with a diverse range of materials and techniques, sometimes incorporating things as surprising as bits of postcards and maps.

This In Full Bloom Necklace is reconstructed from a ’60s vintage brooch. I like that its meshes strong elements (the sun dial brooch) with sweet details (the tiny flowers). It also hangs on a long golden chain, my choice of poison when it comes to necklaces

JORDAN STULTZ

Claiming to design for the ‘women who clings to antiquity’, Stultz’s designs are the closest thing you can ever get to wearing non-ornamental antiques. There’s a sense of humour in these pieces which makes me smile.

The Hey Ladies! necklace is a clever piece for the witty girl. It is actually a real brass plate from a bathroom door from the ’50s to ’60s. For nothing else, it will be a great conversation starter

T8DESIGNS

For those of us who secretly want to indulge our fairy princess fantasies, having an accessories collection of medieval royal theme should definitely be helpful.

We no longer have to worry about losing one side of our earrings because in the here and now, earrings do not necessarily have to match! And why should they, when they look as pretty as these Modern Looking Glass Asymmetrical Earrings. The ‘looking glass’ is made with a real vintage optical lens encased with a yellow gold herringbone motif.

PARAPHERNALIA

This shouldn’t be new to some of you, because I’d seen some of the other bloggers wearing pieces from this range Taking the odd and the uncanny (a tooth pendent?!) and turning them into wearables, these necklaces are certainly not for the wallflowers because it will be impossible not be noticed in these.

I think that Selina of Flying Saucer already have the Little Checkered Coat necklace, but I am lusting after this Little Dress necklace, simply because I think it will look super cute if I wear it with a dress - sort of like a dress on dress.

In collaboration with Fashion Nation, the good people at HOARD are sponsoring our May giveaway This time around, we’re giving the lovely Bowie Necklace to one of you lucky readers!

We chose it for its versatility (you can wear it in 2 ways) - and also because we can’t resist bows! To join the giveaway contest, simply email us to tell us which is your favourite piece from the Exclusives line and why. The most interesting answer wins, so don’t just tell us its pretty!

We will be running this contest for two weeks until the 27th of May, so hurry

There’s more good news coming your way. There will be a 10% discount for all Fashion Nation readers at HOARD! Upon check-out, type in the discount code - FashionNation - and the discount will be duely reflected. In conjunction with the Great Singapore Sale 2008, this promotion will run from today til the 31st of July, so if you are already eying something, this is a good time to get it. (Important: Please choose the ‘Funds Transfer’ option instead of the Paypal option.)

Feel free to ask us any questions if you’re unsure of anything

We hope you flood our mailbox, because we’re dying to give this away. Good luck!

We don’t HOARD the good stuff - we share it with you,
Dottie

Windmills of Holland

A couple of days ago, I took a day trip from Amsterdam to visit the Zaanse Schans windmills! I’d say the windmills are definitely a must-visit. It’s a 45 minutes journey from Amsterdam Centraal Station via train and a boat-ride.

By a stroke of good luck, every city I’ve visited had the best weather - cloudless, sunny, with a cool, crisp breeze. A pair of shades should definitely not be considered a fashion statement here in Europe. It is frankly a necessity, together with water and ice-cream (:

(Zara green dress, bow-flats from Far East Plaza, black cardigan)

My outfits for Europe are mostly suitable for lounging around in the sun having picnics and walking around for twelve hours non-stop, so flats are a necessity. Cardigans to throw on and off depending on the wind and various colored dresses are also handy, as are scarves.

Coincidentally, it’s also the day I got sunburnt! I forgot to put on my sunblock just for a day, and the heavens decide to put out the sunniest day in Amsterdam for ages.

The place has little huts with souvenir shops, and I met the loveliest lady, Brigette, who owns a toy store there. I almost bought the whole shop, so my luggage is currently exploding with the craziest souvenirs, from magnets to a mini-windmill for me to stick out of my window.

 The flowers were lovely, be it wild or cultivated. (:

A burnt Stephie

Notes on Berlin

I’m visiting a friend in Paris, so I get to hang out atop a hill where we can see the Eiffel Tower twinkling at night. Its also the first stop where I get to use the Internet. Let’s start with Berlin. Apart from Calypso, I found the museums to be my favourite stops in Berlin. First the outfit photos:

In a park near Museum Island

(Zara bow-tied dress, with a vintage scarf from Fash Bash knotted into a bow, navy-stripped cardigan, bow-flats)

In front of the university which Einstein taught and the Grimm Brothers studied

(Navy blue blazer, gold Zara dress, bow-tied shoes, sunglasses from Singapore’s Chinatown)

I’ll just share some of the sights I found to be lovely in the streets of Berlin:

A girl who looks about twenty, in a very cute outfit, is somehow also capable of creating the largest soap bubbles I’ve ever seen. She does it with two huge chopstick-like tools and a tray of bubble-solution material. I’m just impressed by her dual ability to create bubbles and cute outfits.

A very convincing street busker - I love these acts, they always make me turn twice.

The youngest busker I’ve seen so far in Europe - my personal theory is that he’s saving up for a PSP! I wish I was as enterprising at his age - I’d have more baby Gs to my collection.

 

Book fair - all German books! I tried to find something in English, and only managed to find Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! Yay Harry (:

I love how people plonk themselves down once the sun is out and immediately start taking a nap. A sight rarely seen in Singapore, where the grass and soil is soggy and filled with insects. I guess its the same theory we have that it’s great to sleep in when it’s raining.

Another rare sight in Singapore - a biker venturing out from the comforts of his (HDB) flat into a local park to feast on a home-made sandwich while reading a book in the sun at noon. Yet another concept that is perfectly non-Singaporean.

Collection of vintage headgear in a shop window in Mitte - the same shop had a Chinese corner with items easily found in Singapore’s Chinatown.

And the coolest modern architectural building I’ve seen in Berlin - reminds me of the structural pieces so loved this year.

Amazed by activities in the park
Stephie

Blogger Alert: The Fish Tank

My list of fashion blogs to read on my Google Reader is constantly expanding, so much so that I often find myself with a hundred plus posts to flip through after just one day. Not that I’m complaining of course

Despite this potential backlog of fashion reading, I’m still always on the look out for more - it seems to be never enough, and I keep feeling that there’s more to know, more to learn, more to see. And its always exciting to unearth yet another blogger whom you truly enjoy.

My tireless clicking of links (any chance I’d got) led me to The Fish Tank. I’m sure glad I found it!

Ever since I’d started blogging on Fashion Nation, I’d been feeling increasingly self-conscious about my lack of IT skills. One of the things I’ll really love to do is to create collages like the one above (I love the tiered, prom theme!). Fritha Louise of The Fish Tank has a real knack for knocking together collages - somehow hers always seem coherent and the colours are so pretty!

For someone who sometimes find even the uploading of images tiresome, I think that it is amazing that almost all her photos have been diligently done up in what appears to be her signature scrapebook style.

I like the untidy edges and deliberately hand-drawn-looking thick outlines.

If you think the name of the blog is a little weird, its actually inspired by Fritha’s goldfish Edmund and Hugo.

(Photos: The Fish Tank)

But Edmund and Hugo are still strange goldfish names
Dottie

Capture the Fashion Action

A few posts back, I wrote about the illustrations of Cocopit. Her rendition of fashion is dreamy but one can’t really say that they are abstract.

Then I chanced upon the works of Jarno Kettunen. They are quite something else.

(Dior Homme F/W 0

(Eley Kishimoto Spring 0

Jarno Kettunen is an artist and illustrator based in Antwerp, Belgium. He makes action drawings at the backstage of fashion shows. This is the first time that I’d seen action drawings (this must sound really stupid to the fashion students), but I find them really intriguing - an artist’s interpretation of what’s on the runways!

(Kris Van Assche F/W 0

(Henrik Vibskov F/W 0

These drawings are supposedly to ‘describe the fashions and mood in the backstage in an artistic and expressive manner’. Well, these are certainly not your everyday fashion illustrations

I like them because instead of simply portraying visual impressions, they give us an emotive sense of what the artist perceives. It captures the mood of the show and of the clothes. Often, it is difficult even to make out what exactly is being drawn - individual pieces blur and merge into one another. The end results may be a minimalist sketch of the general shape of the ensemble, or splashes of the key colours.

(Wendy&Jim F/W 07)

These drawings are used in fashion lookbooks, catalogs and magazines. I think they make perfect mementos for remembering a show by.

(Photo: Jarno Kettunen)

Let your imagination do the work,

Dottie

A Day Out in Town Burning Plastic

Having credit cards is a relatively new thing for me. Like all of the key symbols of financial independence, I embrace it whole-heartedly. But it definitely is not doing my finances any good! Its simply too easy to hand over the card and sign on the dotted line - you just don’t feel the pinch, as when handing over cold hard cash. When you don’t have to pay now, you tend to forget that you’ll have to pay eventually.

Anyway, enough lamenting about my money woes. So this is what I wore yesterday for a bit of running around town, acquiring various things (which I most likely do not need):

Somehow I ended up with an almost-all black outfit. Nothing wildly exciting, but I’m super pleased with finally finding a pair of gladiator sandals I’m willing to put money down on! Substance (one of my favourite shoes place) is having a up to 70% off sale - naturally I ‘wandered’ in. Thank god I did, because I chanced upon these faux patent darlings!

They’re at 10% off, and gleefully affordable at $35. The best part will have to be the adjustable straps, so they won’t be too loose/tight. They’re ultra-comfy too - made with a full day’s worth of shopping in mind. They come in a pale baby blue as well, if you want something less conventional

Metallic-ish Tank: Bodynits (from eons ago)

Skirt: Bangkok (also from eons ago)

Scarf: Soon Lee

Bag: Bluebird from Australia

After spending quite a bit of time browsing in various bookstores and poking about the hole-in-the-wall shops at Far East Plaza (which I think is really getting much too young for the likes of the Boyfriend and I), we trekked down to Killiney’s for some curry chicken and French loaf.

While waiting for the food, its tradition to indulge in a bit of cam-whoring According to the Boyfriend, the lighting is perfect, which explains my skin looking so nice. Also I like how my nude lippie looks here - its Estee Lauder in Crystal Baby.

Hopefully everyone had a good Saturday as well

It has been said that (really good) curry chicken helps to keep Monday blues at bay,
Dottie

Berlin: Calypso

Remember when I asked for help for store highlights before I embarked on my trip? Mary, from Pudri, very kindly left a comment about her collated vintage online store guide for Berlin. What she didn’t know was that I had already found her guide the previous week while preparing for my trip, and printed the whole entry out due to its degree of usefulness! So, thank you, Mary! (:

I headed for the shops immediately on the first day of my trip, and found most shops closed due to the Labour Day holiday. The main bus service was also on strike, but instead of being irritated I was happy to be part of the excitement which was lingering in the air. The bus services in Singapore continue like clockwork all year round, so it was the first time I’m experiencing any kind of strike. The Berlin authorities had excellent backup plans such as emergency bus services to the airport. Metro services continued as usual. Frankly, as a tourist, even though there was a strike I felt that everything was taken care of.

I headed back to the Mitte area the next day because the glimpse of the shops made it impossible for me to miss! I’ll just write about the shop which impressed me the most, Calypso.

The little tables in front of the store gives the public a sample of what greatness lies in the store, and you can see from the above photos that the entire store is just filled with rows and rows of shoes. I got quite cross-eyed from the sheer vastness of shoe collection which lay in front of me.

The store itself is a treasure trove of nothing else but shoes, all vintage and comes only in one size. However, most shoes are in fabulous condition with clean soles. Leather shoes are not creased nor dirty, and all look extremely well-cared for. I will assume that the store owner really loves her inventory!

(Photo from Pudri)

I spied this pair of fabulous studded boots, but unfortunately it did not come in my size… which is one of the heartaches you know you need to be prepared for in a shop as amazing as this.

I browsed around a bit, and since I am currently on the hunt for a pair of combat boots, I asked her if she had any to recommend. Amazingly, she knew exactly what I was looking for! From the endless rows of shoes she came up with four pairs in my exact size, and looked exactly like what I had in mind. I ended up not getting the combat boots because it will end up looking rugged, so I wanted to try Singapore’s vintage markets for something less than SGD50, instead of grabbing a pair in tiptop condition like they are in this store.

But I knew I had to get something from a shop like this, since the love for shoes was so evident in this shop. I grabbed this pair for 50 euros. It’s slightly crumpled since I’ve been in three other countries since Berlin, but the leather is soft to the touch and it just ends right at the right length of my ankles. Its also not too hot for Singapore, so despite its non-showy design I know I will just love it. After some wear it will have the loveliest texture, and I am so looking forward to it!

After my purchase, I asked her if I am able to snap pictures, and she very kindly obliged. I didn’t get to see much of the interior of the shop, so I hope all of you are suitably excited by my photos as well! I was very much blown away by this store. (:

Stepping out in style from Shoe Paradise
Stephie

Mode of Freedom

In my 3rd year of university, I was in Copenhagen for around half a year on the exchange program. On paper, I was there to study politics for a semester at the University of Copenhagen, but unofficially, my main priority was to get to know the place and to have as much fun as possible. That is understandable, considering I was an undergrad.

Fortunately, the Danish system is a much more relaxed and independent one as compared to ours, which means that I had a lot of free time to do whatever I want.

The main mode of transportation in Copenhagen is the bicycle. There are bicycle lanes everywhere, so its a great city to be on a bike. Besides, its cheap - perfect for the student. So, I got myself a small red & yellow mountain bike (I later found out its actually for kids *laugh*). I love it because of the sheer amount of freedom it afforded me. It was literally my first set of wheels, my first taste of independent transport

Although my bike served me exceptionally well and brought me almost everywhere, I couldn’t help lusting after the city bikes that the Danes were pedaling away on. Somehow they look so much more serene and chic.

I saw this a few days ago, and it got me all nostalgic:

I adore the chirpy shade of cherry. But the best part will have to be the gorgeous side pouches. A basket is really cute, but this one is in a whole other league.

This bicycle is part of Gucci’s Limited Edition for the 2008 Olympics (named 8-8-2008). The collection consists of a lot of red things, which frankly, I find rather gimmicky. Like not particularly tasteful souvenirs that are ridiculously expensive.

But the bike is pure love - for me at least

(Photo: Style Frizz)

2 wheels are quite enough,
Dottie

Desperately Seeking a Top Hat

This is getting repetitive, but I really want one. I’m more or less feeling angry that I didn’t buy the SGD70 one I saw at Topshop, but I did not expect a top hat to be so hard to obtain. Granted, I didn’t try eBay, but I’ll try my luck overseas before I turn to eBay… for now, feast your eyes on these lovely hats which I want, but still do not have:

Lou Doillon and her amazing hat collection

Chimney sweeper, with an amazing hat

The Facehunter himself with a fancy grey one

(Photo Credits: Style Bubble, Face Hunter, The Fashion Spot)

Mad about Hats
Stephie

A Model Blogger

If for some unfathomable reason you do not read Susie Bubble, here’s some of the pictures of her adventure as a model for Fashion156:

GAH! Giant knits! Really gigantic knits

It is uncanny how I can imagine Susie in all of these outfits even outside of the photoshoot, on a regular, daily basis. I think it is thrilling that the folks at Fashion156 has captured that elusive Susie style, and added to it with the dramatics that a photoshoot is supposed to entail.

So, congratulations Susie

Look where blogging can bring you,
Dottie