I've moved on...
...to a different domain. Why, what were you thinking? The truth is, I just woke up one day and decided it's time for a change—a metamorphosis, if you will; or, in layman's terms, if Britney can shave her head, then maybe so can I? Nevertheless, it's been a rather handsome 10 years of talking to you, and thank you for putting up with all my moodswings and terrible dad jokes. Fear not! The hormonal imbalance and jokes are more terrible on CUBICLE, see you there.

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Samsonite Cosmolite

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Quilted jacket – Barbour. Shearling vest – Muubaa. Bag – Couronne.

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Coat – Mango. White Jeans – AG Jeans. Shoes – Isabel Marant. Scarf – Zara.

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Coat – Mango. Boots – Margiela for H&M. Bag – Mansur Gavriel. Scarf – Acne (Similar).

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Coat – Mango (blazer version). Boots – Margiela for H&M. Bag – Mansur Gavriel. Scarf – Acne (Similar).

Two weeks in Seoul boiled down to a mere 30 photos – yeah, either I’ve had my chronic indecisiveness miraculously cured, or someone broke into the flat during the night and magically edited down the lot. If it’s the latter I also wish they touched me before sneaking out. All kidding aside, once I’d dealt with the two-freaking-thousand files that choked up the ‘SEOUL 2014’ folder, I found myself at a bind, because even with a more manageable bunch my time in Seoul was just too big, dynamic, entertaining, nostalgic, and exotic to ‘boil down’ into one sweeping summary.

Over the two weeks, I reconnected with friends and relatives I hadn’t seen in about seven years, and visited my grandmother who fed me the same type of fried fish she used to hide inside my spoonful of rice when I was little; then my Caucasian husband arrived midway through, and together the city was suddenly an exotic new ground with every corner fascinating. All in all I found: the people supremely enjoyable, the fashion essential, and the food unbearably sexy. Tradition and modernity co-exist in great harmony, which is something I particularly adored this time round – especially how the young people embrace and pride in the heritage…

I do realize I’m technically tooting my own people’s horn here and may not be the best person to lend impartial image of the city but then again you’re not here for impartial reviews, are you?! Because in the next post I’m going to rave about honey pancakes and outline why it’s the bestest thing in the world  and you’re not allowed to ask what about donuts and macarons. 

A huge thanks to Samsonite (x Fashiolista) for the great adventure – do check out how I packed for Seoul, the first 24 hours, and more photos from the trip in the visual diary on Fashiolista.

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Pleased to meet you, NYC

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Distributing fingerprints on every surface at the Marc Jacobs SoHo boutique

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Marc Jacobs Daisy

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Marc by Marc Jacobs FW13

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Wearing: Shearling leather jacket – Muubaa Aurora. Contrast-sleeve jumper – Topshop. Quilted orange skirt – Topshop Boutique . Geometric print skirt – YesStyle. Bag –Kurt Geiger Shoes –Givenchy.

This post was drafted the day after I’d returned from a trip I still suspect was only a dream, one of those sickly-sweet ones you get when your bed linen are freshly washed and you’ve just jumped in from a hot bath. The photos were edited ten thousand feet above the pond, then strung together in a sequence once home, I was drunk with fatigue, but my head was still in the clouds with fresh giddines. I decided I’d leave it at that to pick up fresh the next day, which was the day I read the infamous piece by Suzy Menkes on the circus around fashion weeks and the general integrity of bloggers. Now, to be clear, this is not a rebuttal, or even a commentary. I’m not in the bleachers when it comes to  the street circus game – I’m neither a ‘peacock’ (not that I choose not to, but learnt early on that I do not have the tailfeather(x) -factor), or a ‘black crow’ fashion industry member shuffling through to do their job at fashion week. But it did make me halt because that blogger in paragraph twelve who accepts ‘trophy gifts and paid-for trips’, does refer to me too – in fact, isn’t this sort of post exactly one of the latter? A few days later Leandra wrote her two cents, and then Susie, both gracefully agreeing and disagreeing with Menkes’ points, but also undeniably displaying an attitude of self-reflection which I also found myself to adopt on reading the article. The only difference was, I couldn’t find a suitable response (preferably backed by stellar writing talent) or even the balls to ignore it completely, especially having this post lined up. So every evening since returning I’ve been arguing with myself whether to man-up and post, or seek refuge in the Winchester with a pint and wait for it all to blow over… and this went for two weeks. Who was I kidding, this was not going to ‘blow over’. Echoing what Leandra wrote earlier, we are indeed entering an era where bloggers will not be able to show preference without having our motives questioned. So here I am, withdrawing myself from behind the oh no, will they judge me too wall, with a small promise to you that I will be as honest as I possibly can when it comes to the content of this blog, and that quality control will come before any amount of kebab-money.

With that said, I’d like to thank the Coty and Marc Jacobs teams for the opportunity for an amazing first-time experience in New York, and a privilege to learn more about Marc Jacobs fragrances through #MJDaisyChain. Stay tuned for more!

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Uniqlooks January: One item, three looks – Dotted silk blouse

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Look 1: Dotted silk blouse – Uniqlo. Shearling leather jacket – Muubaa Phoenix. Khaki pants – Uniqlo. Shoes – Zara. Bag – 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli. Hat – Gap.
Look 2:   Dotted silk blouse – Uniqlo. Sleeveless trenchYesStyle. Leather shorts – Vintage. Shoes – H&M x MMM. Puffer vest – Uniqlo. Bag – Kurt Geiger.
Look 3:  Dotted silk blouse – Uniqlo. Shearling leather jacket – Muubaa Aurora. Bag – Reiss. Skirt – ASOS. Lace-up booties – Sam Edelman. Headphones – Frends @ Avenue32

Hello, what’s up? My dog ate my keyboard. Once again I got an overwhelmingly positive response for a post and this time I just had to take a step back and bask in that momentary bliss, shedding the occasional hot tear that would fall in the wine glass that I’d drink from while bobbing my head to Alanis Morissette. (Fact: it is actually impossible to bob head to AM) Recycle-chic, you saw it here first. Let’s get back with the program, shall we – and what better way than to let trusty old Uniqlooks to press the resume button! Over to you, dotty blouse. Wish I could fake it and pretend this was shot relatively recently but snow in London – the kind that stays white below the ankles – is so rare that we all know these looks were shot that particular day over a week ago. Not sure which day it was, but I’m pretty sure it’s the one where lots of babies will be born exactly nine months down the line because heck I’ve never seen a city that doesn’t actually clean the snow. Hands up if you live in London and own a snow shovel? Of course, yours truly is out in the streets with the hubby only getting as intimate as getting a snowball in the face. Oh the things I write in this blog to keep it PG-13… (apparently thirteen-year-olds are the key to blogging success, hey)

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Trench – Uniqlo (from 2008), Cashmere sweater – The White Company. Black jeans – James Jeans. Sneakers – Michael Kors, Scarf – Gap, Bag – DVF via Monnier Freres. Black shearling gilet – Muubaa (sleeves zipped off). Thank you Kit for helping me out with the shots!

Woah, another post! There’s no tomorrow, haven’t you heard, so I’m doing it all with full gusto. When the world will implode on the 21st swallowing all but cockroaches, eventually a nova-species will rise from the muck – mutants with Ethernet cable-tails – and before you know it, it will be heatedly debated among the three-headed scholars how this poor lass they call ‘blogger’ suffered from Compulsive Posting Disorder, and exactly what kind of computation error occurred for her to wear an evening bag during the day. Kids will be quizzed on it, some will fail, and some will go to university.

Said lass will also have four chocolates left in her advent calendar if the world does decide to end on the 21st, which is probably not true anyway seeing as how her husband was spotted popping thumbnail-sized milk chocolates behind the sofa.

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Black shearling jacket – Muubaa. Cashmere sweater – The White Company. Dress – ASOS. Black Jeans – James Jeans. Boots – Sergio Rossi via the Outnet. Bag – Alexander Wang Kirsten tote via the Outnet. Thank you Kit for helping with the shots!

I’m trying this new thing where I don’t make my outfit posts HappyMeal posts, because lately I’ve been sneaking in half-arsed outfit shots with some great eating experiences that really deserve full features of their own (eg 1 | 2 | 3 ). So when I say HappyMeal posts – introducing the cool eatery is the ‘toy’ bit, while my sartorial choices that accompany the post like an afterthought, the undersized, under-satisfactory kid meal. If you were in the kind of family where HappyMeal is currency of good behaviour, you’ll be familiar with the fact that once you get the toy out, you no longer care what goes in your mouth – a fry, a sawdust McNugget. As long as the toy keeps you entertained, your parents shovel the food in no problem. My point is, I’m now in a habit where I don’t post anything until I eat out somewhere cool, which is NEVER because I also happen to work full time and really would prefer eating pillow stuffing at home (preferably while sleeping). So here goes, back to basics, ‘punching-in’ my fashion blogger time-card, so to speak. Lots of me, from different angles, wearing stuff that’s probably not even fashionable to begin with. Oh but I love that shearling jacket from Muubaa.