“Goldfish Salvation” Riusuke Fukahori from ICN gallery on Vimeo.

The Goldfish has long been considered a symbol of good luck and prosperity amongst the Chinese. In fact, they are often seen in many ornamental gardens of both the Chinese & Japanese – with their price tags ranging anything from $1 for a week old goldfish or $8 888 for its larger cousin, the prized koi.

I myself always thought that fish were impossible to comprehend, given their endless opening and closing of their retractable mouths, as if the eating never stopped. My family had a pond with a few baby koi in our garden once, but an unfortunate overflowing of the pond during a heavy thunderstorm left them in quite dire circumstances.. so we scrapped that.

Using the medium of resin, Riusuke Fukahori achieves this amazingly realistic optical illusion of the goldfish, in a moment of suspended animation. I can’t get over how intricate and lifelike his work is!

Given how beautifully lifelike his resin works are, it’s surprising to note that it’s actually quite affordable art, with prices ranging from SGD$1 200 for smaller works like the ones below:

to SGD $100,000 for his largest work to date, the whirl of goldfish with the ladle (first two pictures, above). I’ll bet most of his works are snapped up though! & given the nature of resin, Riusuke Fukahori only produces his artworks when the temperatures can be maintained at 22 deg Celcius, to avoid cracks in the resin.

I think that any of these would make for a beautiful art piece in the home. Plus, it’ll be really easy to maintain! haha.

all images courtesy of Riusuke Fukahori’s official website & This is Colossal 

Personally, I’m not head over heels with the waist belt trend, but I’ll have to concede that it does do the job of cinching one’s waist nicely, particularly with layers. Bailey kept the look pretty uniform, using only two variations of the waist belt in his entire collection, both of which featured ribbons, a nice feminine touch to the otherwise stiff & military-esque feel of this collection.

1. ASOS.com Cacharel Mustard Belt 
2. Vegan Faux Leather Black Belt by Willowbee
3. Leather Obi Belt by Mango
4. See by Chloe Belt with Bow

Of course, a really cute and quirky part of this collection was the cute animal prints on the tees of this collection! It’s fun, it’s cute, it adds a touch of warmth (i mean, of the human kind) to the otherwise rather stiffness of his pieces. It really never hurts to have some cute tees stowed away in one’s wardrobe (:

And if you’re noticing any similarities with Antonio Berardi’s collection – well the skirts are draped too! The difference is that Bailey put drapes on an A-line pencil skirt whilst Berardi used a full skater skirt. I prefer Berardi’s use of drapes, but Bailey’s version is definitely more work appropriate.

Stay tuned for more Fall 2012! 

I think most of us are familiar with Stephen King and his unique brand of horror/sci-fi/suspense/fantasy books and movies and while I always did enjoy them, in particular Misery and The Mist, The Langoliers was a pretty interesting concept that was different from Misery which felt more like a suspense thriller, and The Mist which felt more like apocalyptic fiction.

The Langoliers felt more… how do I put it? Real. Logical. Harrowingly possible (aside from the monster balls at the end but the rest does seem plausible). I love the concept of 10 passengers stuck on a plane, realising that the rest of the passengers have disappeared and that they cannot establish contact with anyone on the ground. This strange, horrific situation provides the fertile soil for the story to flourish and grow.

And of course, each passenger has a unique personality. There’s Dinah a blind girl with telepathic powers and acute hearing, there’s Nick a British Intelligence otherwise known as the ‘mechanic’ of the British Embassy, Brian the pilot, Laurel the school teacher and a neurotic businessman Craig who believes in a story told by his abusive father that tardiness and procrastination will result in him getting eaten alive by the Langoliers.

These people from all walks of life attempt to form some kind of theory or possible explanation to what might have happened and soon they realise that by going through the rift in the sky, they have crossed the time zone and are now residing in the past. A past where food is tasteless, where matches don’t work, where the air smells stale and everything seems to have lost its purpose and life. It is at this juncture that they realise that they must return to the present times or be trapped in the past forever. This quest is disrupted however, by Craig who at this point has gone absolutely mad and dangerous.

I shan’t tell you what happens in the end because it is just too good. I couldn’t sleep properly because I was so disturbed/intrigued by the ideas raised in this movie. You know all the movies like Back to the Future and Time Traveller’s Wife that seem to romanticise time travel?  Well, this movie definitely runs counter to that. It really makes you think of how empty the past is because people would have moved on with time. And how when you do in fact, travel back in time, you won’t see anyone at all. So major events that you wished you could change in your life cannot be reversed. It feels so… final.

Definitely a thought provoking movie. Absolutely brilliant considering the fact that it was made in 1995. You can watch the two part series on Youtube if you are interested. (I shan’t post any photos cos I think some of it is quite scary).

Berardi exaggerates the pleats, but does so without compromising on the skirt. The skirts are full and the draping of the pleats are wonderfully executed, I love how the fabric moves when the models walk down the runway. That to me, is one of the most important aspects of any piece of clothing. It has to look good when you move – because let’s face it, none of us here live the life of a mannequin.

I’m not too huge a fan of peplum skirts, mostly I think because they seem to exaggerate the thigh area, but Antonio Berardi does it right, with  pleats that seem to accentuate the model’s slim waist and don’t seem to protrude out too far. Perhaps I’ll explore that option…

But that’s what life is about, isn’t it? Life is a path filled with realizations, sadness, happiness, moments of enlightenment, regret and joy. I feel I’ve been rather aimless this past year, grabbing excitedly at every opportunity that opened before me, without thought to the long-term consequences. Granted, parental pressure has been a strong factor in determining many of my choices the past year, but it’s all part of passing through the post-teen to young adult phase. I’d like to think that I’ve matured through that.

so what’s my first birthday resolution?

With the hectic lifestyle I’ve been keeping up lately, I feel that there are certain intrinsic aspects of myself that I have forgotten and neglected. Interests and hobbies that I’ve stowed away in a deep, dark corner of my room and haven’t nurtured. I shouldn’t allow myself to stagnate and lose hold of things I used to love. So here’s to me reigniting that passion, and growing into the person I’ve always wanted to be (:

My second resolution?

I won’t lie, with everyone going their separate ways with jobs and (married!) life & all, getting together for almost any occasion is no longer an easy feat to accomplish, unlike our university/junior college days. I’ll freely admit that a huge part of me gave up somewhere along the way, but thinking back -these aren’t people I’ll ever want to lose so I’ll try, try and try (and forgive!) time and again (:

My third and final resolution (I’m not being too ambitious here, & having fewer resolutions is going to be much easier for me..)

It is, unfortunately, insanely hard to control one’s diet during the lunch and dinner hours – especially when my workplace is in such close vicinity to so many sinful places. That said, breakfast IS one meal I can control, so I’m heading towards that direction. I won’t be giving up my beloved coffee anytime soon (and i don’t think I could do without it), but plenty of fruits and I’ll begin eating wholemeal bread. If I must have carbs for my morning meal, I’ll pair some veggies along with that.

After all that’s said and done, I hope that on my 25th birthday, I’ll proudly look back and say that I had a great 24th. So here’s to me embarking on the next year of my life, & I’m grateful and blessed for all the birthday goodwill wishes that have been bestowed upon me. (:

What year has been the most memorable from your life? Make it 2012! 

If there ever was a competition for the most energetic woman in the world – I’d say Betsy Johnson is a tough contestant. Not only is she a survivor of breast cancer, she’s also a loving mother and grandmother of her daughter Lulu (who is often featured on her runways) and her beautiful 5 year old granddaughter Laylu. The three of them look so happy together (:

Her love for bright colours and stockings certainly features strongly in this collection, and this season she pairs them with two widely loved prints – the herringbone and the checked prints.

For those needing some distinction, here’s a quick rundown of the various classic prints:

I’d have to say, that judging from what I’ve seen from the runways of the Fall 2012 collection, it looks like these classic prints will remain a mainstay of fashion – so it won’t hurt picking up a few pieces in these prints! They’ll never go out of style.

As a designer whose previous (and current) career was that of a personal stylist, Rachel Zoe threw us a bunch of interesting and diverse looks on her runway – but they all had a similar theme, with many drapers and layers on the top half, but tight, tapered bottoms for her models. I absolutely love the variety here, and she also made use of very current trends, like the jumpsuit – both in plain and in pattern (tweed!) and blazers. If you’re worrying about all that fur, don’t worry, it’s faux fur (i.e. no animals were harmed in its production, it’s manmade). Her use of accessories are also spot-on! I love the belt and that gold necklace with the plain white dress.

So what’s your take? Too much layering, or just perfect? Read our coverage of previous Rachel Zoe collections here

Stay tuned for more coverage for more Fall 2012 collections! 

Set in the picturesque Hawaiian landscape, the story opens with Matt finding out that his wife, Elizabeth is in critical condition after a boating accident. If that shock wasn’t enough, his daughter Alex soon reveals to him that her mom was in fact having an affair behind his back. Of course, this news absolutely gutted Matt who is stuck in this uncomfortable situation of grieving for a woman he loves yet hates.

George Clooney in my honest opinion, gave a raw performance. You could really see the hurt, the rage, the love… the complexity of his emotions and I think the simplicity of the script and plot also magnified his ability to act. And what was also wonderful to watch was the supporting cast. I thought Shailene Woodley was AMAZING. I wonder why I’ve never seen her act before and Nick Krause as Sid was so annoyingly brilliant. I always think it is wayyy harder to act as a dumb douche bag than as a normal good guy and he was really convincing in the part. Reminded me of a younger Taylor Lautner?

Would I say that this is a fantastic movie? Not quite. It’s alittle slow moving for my liking but the beautiful Hawaiian backdrop, the cinematography was pretty breathtaking. It really did capture the essence of Hawaii. So watch it if you want to experience something thoughtful.

I love the mix and swirl of colours & how ethereal everything looks. It’s very soothing to look at.

Her portraitures are very expressive and seem to come to life with vivid emotions. But most of all, I love how her art illustrates her imaginative spirit

The variety of her work is kinda amazing.

all images courtesy of her polyvore page at theamaia.polyvore.com

My personal favourite version of asymmetry inclines more towards the subtle (i.e. the lowest point and highest point of the hem not differing more than 10cm) and with a shorter front and longer back. Not only does this look really flattering when I walk (trust me it looks gorgeous), but it also gives me a chance to show off my shoes, which I otherwise wouldn’t be able to if it was a relatively long skirt.

I also like asymmetrical skirts that are just slightly longer at the sides, as it has the effect of slimming down one’s silhouette. Here’s a look at what’s on the street:

What do you think of asymmetrical hemlines? Yay or Nay?