Patricia Rox Rocks!

We’re always super excited when a new brand launches in Singapore, because it means we can be part of its journey from the very beginning and it’s amazing how much the fashion landscape in this island has changed in the past few years! When Natasha received an invitation to attend the Singapore launch of Patricia Rox, she was beside herself (especially after taking a peek at the website and semi-stalking her collection on Instagram). The event not only commemorated the launch of the Patricia Rox brand, but it also showcased the Spring/Summer 2015 The Fantasy Capsule, which is full of amazeballs exotic, intricate prints and bright bold colors, which we both LOVE! Check out this gorgeous scarf below – the vividness of the color on silk is just simply breathtaking! Natasha had the honor of chatting to Patricia Haywood, the genius behind the Patricia Rox brand and found out that she lived in Jakarta for four years (which is where Natasha is originally from). She’s a global citizen through and through and lived in Paris, London, Scotland, Toronto, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Uganda, Indonesia and Singapore. Another surprising fact about Patricia is that she used to be a fashion lawyer – seriously, she must’ve been one of the hottest lawyers around! We’re just super glad she made the quantum leap from being a lawyer to a super talented fashion designer instead! Her collection, the Fantasy Capsule, is everything about Patricia’s whimsical childhood fantasies. And fantasies they must have been! Natasha was in awe with the silk kaftan style dresses with floral-inspired prints, vibrant and circus-inspired scarves, and buffalo horn and enamel jewelry (check out the picture below). Her design is effortlessly chic, and also versatile for resort, traveling or fancy cocktail parties (which makes us want to throw a garden party just to have an excuse to wear her dress). This one below is Natasha’s favorite! The turqoise color with tasteful embellishment around the neckline really makes the dress standout. Dress it down with wedges or take it up a notch with a pair of killer strappy Jimmy Choos. Each print is a labor of love and painstakingly hand drawn by an artist, with some prints taking 200-300 hours to draw! We are also loving her gorge silk scarves and there’s a story behind every print, which you can find out from her website. The one below was produced in a family-run silk mill in Como. Come on, how beautiful are the colors and the paisley-inspired print! Currently, her scarves are available at gnossem, the Singapore online store, but you can also find her collection in Bali’s Aman resorts and shopzaozao in Hong Kong. Rumor has it there’s a plan for the opening of her first flagship store on the shore, but hey we’re just super glad Patricia followed her passion which led her to this beautiful Fantasy Capsule!

Last night at Matches fashion popup event in HK: D&G, Peter Pilotto & more!

The Matches fashion event held at Duddells Hong Kong last night was a fashionista’s dream come true. Plenty of designer niche labels were on display across womenswear, menswear, high end jewellery, handbags and arguably the most important category…shoes.

For those who don’t know about Matches, they are a UK luxury fashion retailer who curate a range of talented designers (famous and emerging) from across the globe. They are truly loved by fashionistas whom appreciate the brand’s ability to spot talented emerging designers, and are incredibly approachable when it comes to talking about fashion (unlike SO many other brands out there!). In other words, they really aren’t up their own a**.

The other good news is they ship worldwide from their online store, and held their first pop up event in Hong Kong last night! Here are some of Carmen’s top picks from the event:

Talitha floral embroidered kimono: 

Malone Souliers shoes – which according to Matches, will be the next Louboutins! They are such works of art! 

Peter Pilotto dress: We just love the combination of colour blocking, geometric design and prints all in one!  Chrissie Morris shoes: you just KNOW these would be super comfortable! We would team the heels on the right with a simple white pencil skirt. 

Toga Pulla & Anya Hindmarch:  Toga Pulla was founded by former costume designer and stylist, Yasuko Furuta. 

Mansur Gavriel bag: Simplicity in fashion = love. 

Gripoix jewellery: The French atelier has been creating luxury costume jewellery since 1868, they are one of (if not THE) oldest in the trade. Stunningly beautiful pieces. 

Rochas gold tassle fringe shoes with pink contrasting trim:

High end jewellery from Monique Pean and Dina Kamal: Carmen really loves the bracelet on the far left below. 

Crystal embellished ring by Maison Martin Margiela:

Alison Lou jewellery: Heart rings! 

THE coolest clutches ever below by Sarah’s bag (back and right with the cars) and Les Petits Joueurs (front and left with the smile and peace sign):Charlotte Olympia “I am a fan!” bag: love the name and love the bag

Dolce & Gabbana shoes: oh gosh where do we start with this? These shoes are art and if we see anyone wearing these we may tackle them for wearing such beauties (but follow that by a hug for their impressive taste in shoes):

Valentino clutch and shoes: we’ve seen these everywhere in Asia but doesn’t mean we are sick of seeing it….

Karl Lagerfield clutch by Yazbukey: 

Givenchy high top shoes: O M G Carmen wanted to stop everyone in their tracks to look at these but managed to calm herself down (eventually):Palm tree clutch by Edie Parker: loving the mother of pearl! 

Dolce & Gabbana floral skirt: This brand is simply killing it right now (if you love florals!)

Strapless dress by Osman: TRUST US – this dress would look a million bucks when worn.Love the simplicity of this J.W.Anderson white shirt dress below.  One of THE standouts of the night, this skirt by Stella Jean. 

THIS swimwear by Paolita: 

There you have it! You can shop online at matchesfashion.com. If you saw any pieces above that aren’t on the website, we would recommend emailing the Matches fashion crew – they were super friendly to Carmen last night so fingers crossed they get back to you!

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage fashion, classic cars and more in Hong Kong!

Carmen recently attended the Hong Kong Classic Car and Vintage festival – and it was amazing!

Hair and makeup were provided free of charge by the Paul Gerrard salon – so here is the modern day beehive that Carmen rocked! (Lots of backcombing required)

 

And the top fashion pick on the day? This awesome new brand called DOLL DIZZY that creates corporate friendly dresses and retro skirts that can be worn over the dresses for a fun look from day to night (not to mention the skirts are reversible so you have THREE different looks to play around with!).

Loved all the below outfits – how very glam! Notice the two flared skirts below are actually wrapped over dresses – so clever!  Absolutely in love with the dizzy girls – their look is a breath of fresh air!

 

And here is Lily the makeup artist from the Paul Gerrard team (we LOVE her look!): And some vintage accessories also spotted on the day:

Shoes below from Bang Bang! Vintage store in HK. Carmen wished the red shoes below were in her size! 

These NORDIC watches below will soon be sold in PMQ – can’t wait to check out their store!

Vintage earrings galore!

Really wish there was more time allocated to shopping on the day – aren’t these shoes below just so damn fun?!

Sweet clasp bracelets spotted too – the red rose one was just so elegant -we could imagine rocking it with a cheongsam! Oh yeah…. there were cars too! For those car nuts – here are some of Carmen’s favourites! 

 

 

There was certainly something for everyone at this event (foodies also had a great time with Butcher’s club and Fatty crab dishing out tasty nosh too!). Already looking forward to next year’s event!

 

 

 

 

 

More new shops in Seminyak!

Yes, we did a comprehensive ‘guide’ to shopping in Seminyak a while back (read the article here) , but Seminyak has so many nooks and crannies so we always find new cute little shops that we’re dying to share with you!

The clothes below are from Uma and Leopold, definitely NOT a new store, as a matter of fact Uma and Leopold has a few outlets scattered throughout Seminyak just like Magali Pascal. This particular store is located right near to Bambu Restaurant (an awesome newish Indonesian Restaurant, and if you haven’t tried it you absolutely MUST! Book early, they get full super quickly).

Pricewise, not cheap (then again, what is cheap in Bali nowadays?!) but also not crazy expensive. It ranges from SGD60-350, but the material is delicious and the bead work is amaze balls on some of the dresses!

One day, after a two-hour massage down the road, Natasha strolled down one of the alleys right next to Seminyak Square and found a whole lot of new shops that kinda just magically appeared as they often do in Bali. Her new favorite shop is called ‘my cup of love’, which sells many many pretty and very reasonably priced things. Think homeward – pretty plates, cups, aprons, to lots and lots of cute jewelry, knick knacks, etc. etc. We’ll let the pictures speak for the themselves!

How gorgeous are these rings!! And they’re only about SGD25 each! They come in silver and gold.

Natasha decided to buy a ‘super mama’ rings, which she wears on one of those challenging days chasing her active toddler.

We love these bracelets below – oh and did we mention that they’re SGD7 each? Take them off before you jump in the shower, because otherwise the glue on the clasp kinda doesn’t hold it together.

There’s another cute store right next to ‘My cup of love’ called ‘Kiosk’. The clothes on the rack are super cute and they have both men and women clothes. Natasha spotted a few cute playsuits and camisoles with print she hasn’t really seen in other stores in Seminyak. Pricewise, very affordable starting from SGD50 to about SGD100.

So there you have it! Next time you go on a little getaway to Bali, make sure you check these stores out. You won’t be sorry.

xoxo

Carmen and Natasha

Hipsters Rejoice! Urban Outfitters is now in Hong Kong

Carmen went to the Urban Outfitters launch party in Hong Kong a few weeks ago (check out DJ Miss Yellow spotted above who spun the MOST WICKED tunes ever and is one of Asia’s most in demand female DJ’s!!). We really love the Urban Outfitter’s brand, as they not only draw inspiration from the 50’s “preppy” style,  60’s hippy era (think loud prints, floaty dresses) and 70’s era (fringes on EVERYTHING which was spotted at London fashion week too) BUT they also include pieces that have such a modern twist on all of the above.

And in true fashion style, they are known as a brand that creates some serious “WTF” pieces, but we love that they take risks and steer away from the norm.

Carmen decided to wear a MINK PINK dress (one of the labels that is available at Urban Outfitters). The dress is paired with shoes from Kate Spade/ Keds collaboration.

Tthe fashion bloggers, models and other socialites attending the launch party did NOT disappoint, with some amazingly unique and personalised outfits.

 

Mesh anywhere + black = urban outfitter’s dream!

Moschino alert! Spongebob squarepants clutch spotted below. 

 

Loved the red floral coat spotted below. 

The clothes

Reasonably priced (most of the price tags seemed to be in the range of $50- 200USD. As mentioned previously you can really see many different styles below so pick whatever you feel comfortable with and roll with it!

{ COLOUR + PRINTS }

{ GRUNGY URBAN }

{ GRUNGY GLAM }

{ HIPSTER }

{ PREPPY PRINTS }

 

The fun accessories:

Say whaaaat – Alexa Chung’s “it” book! Awesome.

 

These hip flasks are super hipster but we are loving them – our favourite is the one in the middle. 

Chunky, urban jewellery was available – this necklace below was a fave.

Great gift guide alert below! For those who love sneaks (Carmen is becoming OBSESSED) this book below is the perfect Christmas gift (hint hint). 

Some fun homewares can also be found – fun pillow alert! Around $40usd from memory. 

Oh yes more hip flasks – I DON’T GET DRUNK, I GET AWESOME should be printed on everything….

Looking for a gift for a man who has everything? Get him these awesome socks – especially the dollar bill ones!! 

For those who would prefer to drink *ahem* non alcoholic beverages such as water (or let’s face it, an awesome cocktail) these drink carriers below are for you!  

Some more jewellery spotted…

Nail polishes galore can also be found! $80hkd each (around $14sgd each) in some super fab colours. Sick of shiny happy colours? Grab the matte top coat to look uber urban. Beige shoes below are an awesome twist on boring pumps and the black bag below is an absolute classic (you simply couldn’t go wrong with anything in the below pic). 
Address: 
Urban Outfitters:
93 Queensway Plaza Hong Kong
https://www.facebook.com/UrbanOutfittersHK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Channeling our inner Carrie Bradshaw in Asos skirt

You know how some days you wake up and you say to yourself “I’m going to channel my inner Carrie Bradshaw today!” – and no, we don’t mean the tutu-wearing Carrie, or the bird-feather-on-your-hair Carrie (although that’s cool if you want to dress that way, we’re not judging!). We mean the floral-skirt-and-pretty-yet-killer-stiletto kinda Carrie. Well, that’s how Natasha felt like today.

Immediately her eyes fell on her gorge Asos skirt that she bought a few months ago – for a mere SGD40! We love scouring for awesome beauty and fashion deals online, who doesn’t?! Oh, speaking of online deals, we must share this little secret with you – and trust us, we were contemplating on whether or not to let you in on our secret. We recently discovered amazeballs fashion and beauty items on CupoNation. We won’t say much because it will just spoil the fun, so just have a look yourself!

So, back to Carrie Bradshaw. Natasha decided to combine the skirt with the ever-so-reliable white shirt. A girl can never have too many white shirts (and jeans, shoes, bags, accessories, etc. etc. etc.). She chose her Malene Birger shirt, and her gorge brocade Schutz stilettos with jade embellishments on it (while silently chanting, please don’t rain, please don’t rain!). And a YSL clutch bag seemed like a good idea to complete the look. Can you please take a second to admire the beautiful shape of the Schutz heels? *collective sigh*

By the way, ballerina flats would’ve been just as cute – and way more comfortable, too. And to make the look more casual, put on a white t-shirt and add a wide belt to cinch the waist. Oh and a statement necklace would look amazing with the t-shirt. 

 

Looking for gift ideas? The Kase at ION is a good place to start.

Every year Carmen and Natasha always aspire to be organized Christmas shoppers. “Must not procrastinate, must beat the Christmas rush, must go Christmas shopping early” – we chant the same mantra every year, but of course always fail to actually execute our grand plan.

Soooo this year, we’re on the hunt to find great gift ideas for our loved ones. We were thrilled when we found The Kase, a French international mobile phone and tablet accessories brand that was launched in 2012.

It’s a small store located at B2 of ION Orchard, but it really packs a punch. Natasha was there for nearly an hour looking at all the case options – there’s definitely no shortage of options! Pricewise, really reasonable, depending on whether you want to get a customized case or not. The ones for iPhone 6 are SGD49.90, but they’re really worth it if you’re thinking of birthday or Christmas gifts for your BFF or even your sibling. Not only do they get a cool personalized gift, but you get brownie points for being extra thoughtful. Yay!

These are examples of the personalized cases. Pretty cool right? You can put anything on the cover! To do that, all you have to do is send a picture of your choice to the Kase’s email address and they will do a mock-up on the computer screen for you. And once you’re happy with the way it looks, all they have to do is digitally print it on. The whole process takes about 10-20 minutes, so you can even do it during your lunch break.

Natasha is loving the cute prints below. They would make a pretty cool fashion accessory!

Here are some of Natasha’s favorite designs:

 

We don’t know about you, our darling readers, but we think our SECOND best (the first being our loved ones of course!) companion (our mobile phones) – deserve to be dressed up once in a while. Perfect for the holiday season, we reckon (did someone say office Christmas party or New Year’s soiree?).

Oh, the Kase also has cases for iPads. Natasha likes this one in particular 🙂

So after spending an hour in the shop, Natasha finally walked out with two cases, one for her and one for Carmen who’s spending a bit of time in Hong Kong these days.

Ta-daaaa! Here’s what she bought. A personalized case with a picture of Natasha and her cheeky monkey of a daughter and a Survive Asia case, which has Carmen’s company logo on it. Oh yes, we forgot to mention that the personalized cases also make an awesome marketing tool for those business owners out there!

The Kase:

ION ORCHARD B2-27 (next to H&M)
2 Orchard Turn
238801 Singapore