The day Daul Kim killed herself, I was meeting someone and said this: ‘I’m so sick of writing about fashion. Today Daul Kim hung herself in Paris and when I go on my Google Reader tonight, every post I will find about fashion will write about Daul Kim.’

I came home and it happened exactly as I said.

I clicked around and every post was Daul Kim, Daul Kim, RIP Daul Kim. Cut and paste some stupid advertorial or Style.com photo which was going to be cat litter paper anyway.

But I finally found some videos on Youtube with her on it, apparently New York Magazine got her to video herself and how she spent her life professionally.

It was beautiful and real and showed her with her thoughts. She was frank and candid and absolutely open with her cultural differences.

In that short fifteen minutes or so of two videos, I got to know a fraction of the true Daul Kim.

I didn’t want to put up photos of her and just go oh hey y’all, Daul Kim killed herself. The way I might mention Jane of Sea of Shoes closing her comments section.

Like it didn’t matter, like I was saying it just for saying it.

On Malaysian Food
In this video, she talks about how much she loves Malaysian food. I was glad to hear that, hello Daul Kim, maybe you like some spicy food.

If I’d have met you we could have talked about mango shakes, how expensive a durian is in Europe. Maybe you hated durians. I wouldn’t know because now that you’ve gone and killed yourself, I will never meet you, ever.

On Bad Service
Daul Kim: In Korea they are so nice to you and you don’t have to tip. Why should I tip here? They talk too much. They are like frowning up here (points to eyes) and smiling here (points to lips).

On Cultural Differences & Accents, & Retarded Models in General
Daul Kim: The other day I was reading Tolstoy, so I told this model about it.
Model: Oooh, you’re reading Toy Story!
Daul Kim: NO. TOLSTOY. YOU KNOW TOLSTOY?
Model: Yes, I know Toy Story. This is how you say it, Toyyyy Storyyyyyy.
Daul Kim: T-O-L-S-T-O-Y. TOLSTOY.
Model: Who’s Tolstoy?

I feel your pain. RIP Daul Kim.

Steve Jobs 1997

Steve Jobs in the Noughties

The Lees 1970s.

(photo of article on Straits Times, September 12 2009)

Who needs ads?

Stephie, x.

I know, this is way over-due.

The past two weeks have been really hectic with everything at work happening at the same time and a short work trip to Phuket that stretched over the (very precious) weekends. Other than running around fighting fires, I haven’t been able to do much of anything else, lest of all blog properly. This should explain the lack of posting on the Fashion Nation front

But be appeased – I’m feeling really guilty about it!

One of the most tragic thing about hell week at work will have to be missing the LG Chocolate BL40 Launch. It was particularly heart-wrenching to have to tell LG that I won’t be able to make it when they called me to invite Fashion Nation for the event. Fortunately, Stephie was able to attend and make the coverage.

Anyway, enough grousing about my existence as an Office Mouse.

If you still remember, we gave out some passes for the MINT Toys Museum Halloween Party a little while back. Here are the photographic evidence (although mostly, I was just cam-whoring with my friends…).

The often mentioned but rarely seen: The Girls

These glasses costs about $2 but are such a laugh. People have told me that I look quite hideous with spectacles – thank god I have 20/20 eyesight and don’t need them! Merit goes to my parents

When I first saw this dress at BYSI, I just wanted to find out how the pointy shoulders will look on me. But it turned out to be so affordable that I decided to buy it; I was sure that there will be an event I can wear it to. I have to adjust the sleeves every now and then but overall, its a really comfortable LBD.

Feathered headpiece is from Forever21 (a bargain at $7) and shoes are from a random shop at Far East (also too cheap not to buy).

Riley (who looks so cute in this picture) from The National Heritage Board was the one who invited us and gave us the passes for distribution Thank you Riley!

Fun night out – we must do this again!
Dottie

P.S. More cam-whoring photos on my Facebook and here are the Polaroids they snapped of us at the door

I was invited to cover the regional launch of the new LG Chocolate BL40. It was a pleasant surprise as November is my birthday month and as other years, I planned an entire month of ‘celebrations’. Instead of celebrating only one day, I make sure every day in November is spent in a special way.

So when the invite came in, I made plans to spend a week in Hong Kong! I have visited Hong Kong frequently over the years, but it has been at least 3 years since I’ve last visited. I love the city and how there is never ever enough time to explore the entire place, not like Singapore where the saying is that you can cover the city in just 4 days.

The LG launch was a huge affair with regional media flown in to cover the event. I travelled with press from Style:, Catalog, The New Paper, among others. I’d really like to thank LG for including bloggers in this trip, it’s something exceptional and I was glad to have experienced it for myself.

It was held at Four Seasons, posh posh if you ask me!

The strangest thing happened when we were flying from Singapore to Hong Kong: our Singapore Airlines flight got delayed twice due to mechanical problems and by the time we reached Hong Kong, we had to go straight to Four Seasons for the launch.

I was in my ‘let’s get comfortable!’ outfit for the flight: leather sandals and a Muji dress when I realised we had to go straight for the event from the airport…

You might as well shoot me if I were to go in that outfit. There and then, I resolved to have at least two travel-friendly outfits which are formal enough to go for tea with the Queen. It’s going to be hard but once I find it, it’ll be up on Stephie’s Shop.

But thankfully, my skills from sample sale experiences kicked in and I changed into a vintage dress and some Moccassins within 10 minutes.

I arrived at Four Seasons and was greeted by pretty girls:

There was also a pianist at the venue, no one seemed to take notice of him but I thought he was doing a great job and gave him a thumbs up; he nodded in response. Don’t forget the people in the background, y’all, they are very important.

As we arrived just in time, the press event was about to start.

Instead of choosing to be seated like a very dignified lady I decided to brave it out at the photographers’ section right at the front. After many years of watching Taiwanese entertainment news, my experience as a telly viewer tells me that standing with the photographers is NEVER WRONG! Always remember that.

Here I am! One girl in a vintage dress with the whole lot of men!

I managed to get the front spot at the right hand corner of the section. All photos in this post are taken by your friendly blogger (me) so I hope you enjoy them (:

Behind me, very civilized guests and distinguished media (:

The President & CEO of LG, Dr. Skott Ahn. Really young to be CEO eh? He looked serious giving his opening note and then very happy when Nadya and Chiling came out.

Quick bit about the host: She’s wonderful and composed and effectively trilingual (English, Mandarin, Cantonese), I was extremely impressed with her.

Video clips of Nadya & Chiling introducing the handphones

And here’s the part where I flood you with photos of Chiling Lin. For foreign readers, she is a Taiwanese celebrity and model best known for being able to promote products successfully. She acts in a couple of movies as well.

I think it’s a great move for LG to engage her as an endorsement partner because seriously, she makes her living out of promoting products and she’s damn good at it. Please see photographic evidence:

I was never a Chiling fan before this, every time the papers mentioned her I’d be thinking, well, she’s just a model, isn’t she?

But after going to the LG launch, I’d say that the girl gets my respect in terms of being professional. She is effectively bilingual. At the event, she also promotes the product in a very natural manner. I’ve also met executives who have worked with her before and told me about how professional she is when she’s working.

If you check the photos, she’s always smiling in every shot and I don’t have a bad photo of her at all, given that I’m not a professional photographer. She also makes me really want to buy the new LG Chocolate, even though I’ve just changed to a new mobile recently.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is called succesfully creating DESIRE.

Which works, because desire should be what you should feel towards the new LG Chocolate because it is as sleek and as fashionable as mobile phones get. We all have different needs when it comes to a phone, it’s almost like buying a bag.

The new LG Chocolate is great for reading emails (it creates a split screen between your inbox list and the content of individual emails), watching videos is a breeze with the 4 inch LCD screen (with its own LCD technology borrowed from the technological advancements in the LG TV screens family) and a 5 megapixel camera.

I think it really sets itself apart from its competition, amidst the massive sea of iPhones and Blackberry(s).

I’ll be honest to say that I don’t currently have a budget for a new phone yet (just bought a new one two months ago) but I am seriously tempted to buy this one!

I also have more Hong Kong posts up on Stephie Says, so head there for my personal photos on the trip. (:

A friend of mine alerted me to alldressedup’s latest It accessory: its triple pouch. I’m a sucker for good quality accessories, especially these coin and lipstick pouches. I travel a lot for work and zipped pouches like these help to keep me organized.

I’m currently in Hong Kong right now and I like to utilise these random pouches to keep items categorised. Credit cards in one pouch, Singapore currency in one pouch, Hong Kong currency in another pouch. Lip balm, hand cream and lipstick in my make-up pouch… the list goes on.

The problem with keeping things in different pouches is the DIGGING. When I’m in a cab in Bangkok (just think of the crazy traffic!), I have to dig through my stuff for the Thai currency  pouch. When I’m ordering desserts at a takeaway counter in Hong Kong, I have to find Hong Kong coins stashed in another pouch.

It sounds distracting but this happens!

Enter the triple pouch from alldressedup: The coin pouches click together via buttons and your searching is decreased. No more ‘WTF! WHERE IS MY COIN POUCH MAN!’ moments and your stuff still gets organized!

The best part, for me, is the quality of the leather: The pouch is soft and extremely easy on the hands in terms of touch. My previous coin pouches weren’t ‘themed’, I have a Louis Vuitton monogrammed coin pouch, a Hello Kitty coin pouch from my shop, a Japanese print coin pouch (a gift from a friend)… while they are cute individually, they do not necessarily work together.

The triple pouch comes in various colors and you can customize them to your own taste. The one pictured in the .gif image above will totally work for my friend Janice, who loves earthy colors, but I’m really a blue and pink girl. The best thing is that the concept allows you to choose the colors that suits yourself best.

It’s retailing at S$89, colors are limited so head down to the stores if you’re interested. I’ll post up some Hong Kong trip photos on my personal site, click click if you’re interested.

Stephie! x.

Last Friday, I went for the Dolce and Gabbana boutique launch party after my organisation’s D&D. Yes, a very packed night indeed! I’d been having some problems uploading my photos these days, which explains the time lapse in posts.

I took some time to find the party, which is quite silly of me because there was a huge makeshift reception area with a backdrop emblazoned with the words ‘Dolce & Gabbana’. I don’t know how I still managed to miss it…

I was there alone and was feeling kind of self-conscious in the very party-ready crowd. Thank god I found the other blogging kids Always nice to see familiar faces!

The party was in full swing, the music was really good (MJ and BEPs!) and the champagne just doesn’t stop flowing! I was standing around, holding a half empty glass in my hand and someone is always coming up to me to refill it. I gave them a torn, omg-I-really-should-stop-guzzling-champagne look, but at the end of that split second struggle, I always give in and allow them to pour more of the delicious, golden bubbly for me.

Also, I have a soft spot for disco balls. So shiny and happy!

Celebs were milling around, but I only managed to catch Zoe Tay in this gorgeous, red leopard print dress. Seriously, she is looking very fine for her age. And how many people can carry of that hair?!

There’s always new faces to meet and that night, I bumped into Becks (cool name right?) of Camerafilmroll. She told me she’s a fan of Fashion Nation, which makes me feel somewhat awkward but very pleased! She took a lovely photo of us too

We took a tour of the boutique, which spans 2 floors.

This chandelier looks like it belongs in the Adams Family mansion.

And there’s always the dresses of course

After that, we went back to the dance floor to bop around for a bit. The most amusing part will have to be when a dashing young man bouncing along beside us started doing the iconic MJ crotch jerks perfectly. Then the song ended and he looked really disappointed *laugh*

I’d been wanting to try out a fully sequined vest for some time now and a glitzy party seems like the perfect occasion to do so. This one from Wayne Cooper has a really nice back, but unfortnately I forgot to take a back view! Recently, I also started having a thing for hats, which explains the BCBGMAXAZRIA fedora. It sits very snugly on my head + makes me appear taller, so I’m really happy with it. [Vest and fedora courtesy of Tangs. Thanks Cheryl!]

Awesome party night!
Dottie

Tweets of the night:

• Going to Dolce and Gabbana event now.
• Great! Champagne and they’re playing lots of MJ. Billie Jean!!! Love.
• They even played Dirty Diana. This ang moh dude was doing the crotch jerks perfectly lol
• There’s a reason they serve champagne at fashion events. It has a really Atas fascade, but it just makes you dance really quickly.
• Leaving D&G party. They were playing Eye of the Tiger. Favourite song on Guitar Hero.

P.S. I was a cat earlier in the night…

Thinking of giving away this jacket (it’s going to be stocked on the shop for SGD49.90) for the second Stephie’s Shop Lottery giveaway.

But I just thought to check if you girls are interested in it in the first place (:

Leave comments please! In the meantime I am rushing off to run errands in the city. Can’t wait to read your views!

- Stephie, x.

New items up on Stephie’s Shop: all items are brand new, homeless, up for adoption and waiting for you.

If you’re keen on joining the mailing list for my shop, leave a comment in the comments section of this post with an accurate email in the ‘email’ field and tell me if you like the above items. If you have any items you’re looking for, please feel free to tell me too. I’ll add you up to the mailing list, easy peasy (:

Happy Monday!

On Wednesday, I was invited to be guest lecturer at Singapore Poly, School of Media & Communications to the graduating batch of students in their last semester.

I basically shared my experiences in new media and how I choose to use it.

This is my second talk this month, the first being a speaker at a travel talk on my experiences in Japan.

Stephie Says

‘If all goes well, I should be writing live to you next week from Hong Kong. Hang in there, hope you’ve got your Halloween costumes ready (:’

‘星期三，被新加坡理工學院邀请，当了一天的老师！幸好学生没睡着！’

As part of our bloggers exchange program, DK got me to tag along for the HTC Tattoo launch event with the other tech bloggers. It was held at Butter Factory, and considering how I have not been there yet (yes, quite unhip), its a real draw

A few days ago, I heard that there’s going to be flash mobs in Singapore. There was one at Raffles Place, which I had somehow missed. Apparantly, they’re part of HTC’s campaign.

They did it again during the launch party. Just a thought: is it still considered a flash mob if it is a planned performance and its indoors? I’m not sure.

And I got a airbrush tattoo! Of Hello Kitty. I have to say that I’m seriously contemplating getting a real tattoo of this.

I didn’t want to go to the party in my work clothes and coincidentally, I had a pair of jeans and an over-sized t-shirt with me in the office. I meant to wear them after a yoga session that I didn’t attend in the end.

I didn’t want to look like I’m drowning in the tee, so I knotted it around my waist. Yes, maybe the ’80s is really back! Anyway, I wanted to secure the knot and started paper-clipping it, just for fun. It turned out quite nice in a strange way, so I just left it like that

Close up:

I had to roll up the too-long sleeves too and I pinned them in place with these bigger paper clips.

I’m also wearing those hearts jellies I got over the weekends

I really like the tote bags they gave out as door gifts. You can’t really go wrong with Shakespearean quotes And it folds up into a neat little pouch. I can never get enough of this expandable carriers. So useful!

The tech bloggers are really fun people; had so much laughs! We should do this again, and soon!

xoxo,
Dottie

Tweet: Ok I’d just paper clipped my t-shirt for fun lol but it turned out looking quite nice in a strange way.

Tweet: The tech bloggers are hilarious. They’re talking about polyphonic phones, antennas and SNAKE!!! Do you remember snake?

]]> http://fashionation.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/tech-bloggers-paper-clipped-tee/feed/ 8 Dottie http://fashionation.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/bras-basah-the-city-of-books/ http://fashionation.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/bras-basah-the-city-of-books/#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:38:54 +0000 Stephie http://fashionation.wordpress.com/?p=5194 ]]>

Stephie Says:

My column for INSING.com this week is on my favourite stores in Bras Basah. I tell the tale of a quaint cafe named after a cat, which lives in China and doesn’t respond to his own name.

Take a breather this Thursday afternoon: from work, from calls, from the mundane typing of emails and read about the building that you may have almost forgotten about.

I need to get a pair of over the knees boots to complete my look for the upcoming Dinner & Dance, so I’ll be in town later, hunting them down.

When I thought about boots, those perforated thigh-high ones from Stella McCartney immediately flashed across my mind. I wonder if they come in different sizes not just at the feet, but around the calves and thighs as well…

Another reasonable concern: If I wear them, will they come up to my waist or perhaps, my shoulders?!

Oh god, look how long they are! But still very, very gorgeous – if you have the legs that can actually fit into them.

A little public service announcement (non-boots related) before I go; Borders has released a coupon which takes 30% off up to 3 books. Naturally I’ll be going down to stock up.

Gone boots hunting,
Dottie

Tweet: I need to buy a pair of above-knees boots. I’m going as Puss in Boots for my org’s fairy-tales-themed D&D.

This was me yesterday: I bumped into Lady Melbourne during the Nuffnang Awards, we got to talking about shopping in Singapore. I know how frustrating it is to try to find the ‘indie’ places in any city, so after a meeting with my editor, I popped by Haji Lane to meet her and her friend Amelia for tea.

It was basically too warm to wear anything covered so I threw on these leather sandals. The last time I had a pair of these was ten years ago, but I singlehandedly decided that it’s time they revived themselves in my shoe collection.

I’ve also recently bought a Diana Mini, the last time I had a serious urge to buy a Lomography camera was maybe eight years ago, but I never did on my student’s allowance… so this time, I just decided to go on a whim and purchase one.

I was also wearing my favourite necklace, a gold bow necklace with tiny pearls around it. It’s awesome but I’m too bothered by the warm weather to go get a close-up shot of it.

(:

Stephie Says:

‘Hope you had a happy start to the week, then!’

‘星期一：和澳洲的朋友喝下午茶。。。‘

These Venetian masks could be your solution to your Halloween costume woes. Put on a mask and a little sultry dress and you’ll be good to go this Saturday for the parties (: Here’s how to purchase!

I’ve put up these adorable toys this week on Stephie’s Shop. I love that the store is gaining more character with funny little items I’ve found from the travelling I’ve been doing for work, these items are in very limited quantity so do write me [stephietansays@gmail.com] to adopt these toys. They march when you wind them up with a funny little key, just like the old days. Who cares about battery-operated toys anyway!

I’ve put up Youtube videos on my store… so ‘click click‘ (cue irritating smiley face like the TV ads!) to get to the videos!

I realised that I took pitifully few photos during the Nuffnang Awards Dinner. Mostly, I took pictures with people I already know – not much of a networker

Still, always nice to see familiar faces!

With Jayden, looking very charming as usual This is the second of the two outfits he’d prepared for the event. Every time I see him, I’m a little more awed by his gravity-defying hair! And I can’t tire of his bow ties even if I want to (which I don’t).

I started panicking on the train about how I’m not in a cocktail dress (as specified on the invite). Then when I arrived, I realised that everyone (okay, as Stephie said, 85%) was in something black. As you can tell, I’m not a very good with dress codes. I had another option – a black dress with these really loud shoulders – but I opted against it because I didn’t want to spend the whole night making sure that they are ’standing’ properly.

DK, my plus one for the night He went into the ballroom and he seemed to know absolutely everyone. I really must get up to speed with my fellow bloggers…

Everyone swamped out to chit-chat during break time. See, there was really a lot of black, not bluffing!

Then Electrico sort of wrapped things up before they announced the big awards (i.e. best blog, most influential blog etc.).

All in all, fun night out!

And I especially love the candies they gave away as door gifts,
Dottie

Tweet: Oh. And also, i’m not wearing a cocktail dress as instructed on the invite. What if cannot get in? Worried. #nnawards

What we wore to the Nuffnang Blog Awards! The fashion blog category was won by the lovely Phoebe behind Lady Melbourne. She is awesomely fun and we congratulate her for getting the award! (:

My only two takes from the awards show:

There were a lot of Marge Simpson hair at the awards show, very very elegant but really not me!

Another point to note is that if the invite says ‘cocktail dresses’ as the dresscode, to avoid black dresses like the plague (: There were 85% full black dresses that day, elegant as they all are, I was really bored.

Stephie Says:

‘Marge Simpson hair + black dress = Very Boring ):’

‘上星期五，我出席了颁奖典礼。 决定不穿黑色小礼服。。。到现在还是觉得是对的选择。‘

]]> http://fashionation.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/5165/feed/ 2 qingism http://fashionation.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/perfect-converse/ http://fashionation.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/perfect-converse/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:45:52 +0000 Dottie http://fashionation.wordpress.com/?p=5159 ]]>

It is always bad news for my wallet when I drop by Rockstar at Cineleisure. I had the best intentions – a little window shopping to see what’s new in the store and maybe say hi to Sharon.

But then I found these perfect, slim-cut Converse sneakers.

I know you’ll understand why I have to have them! They have thinner soles and are narrower than the classic ones, which makes them a lot more flattering for the ladies

Recently I’d been OD-ing on the shopping. I really should show some restraint, but there’s nothing like a little shoes therapy to perk me up.

I’m wearing them to the Green Day concert in January 2010. Cannot wait! Who else is going too?

xoxo,
Dottie