Vintage Reclamation | CNY

Hey readers!

So whether or not you're living in my area of the world, I'm sure you'd have heard it's the Lunar New Year. Just saying, I'm perfectly happy to be chinese, although I do admit sometimes I forget that I'm chinese (I mean, speaking English pretty much 24/7 and having lost touch with the language since a year ago). Chinese New Year, or as I will affectionately term it, CNY, is one of the most awesome occasions/holidays ever, especially because of the food. Pineapple tarts, bak kwa, roasted cashews, salted egg butter cookies, tapioca chips etc. Oh drools. 

Anyway, this year I've done something different for my CNY; it's what I'd like to claim as vintage reclamation. So last year end I went for a short trip to Japan and had a haul of vintage stuff from the thrift store there, one of the pieces being a midi (or maxi for the uh petite ones) dress with a bishop raglan sleeve. I tried it on and it felt so old, both literally and in terms of the age at which someone might be seen wearing it, so when I brought it back I knew I wanted to edit it somehow cause after all I really liked the print and the colour. And not to mention, I have a terrible habit of not wanting to take a photo of the original piece whenever I do DIY-ing, so here are pictures to show the piece now at least :)

(Yes, photoshoot time.)

I particularly loved the styling for this outfit as it seemed to all just fall into place nicely, although it's probably ironic that for a CNY outfit I'm taking on a vintage style since people usually anticipate and love buying their new clothes just for the Lunar New Year. Doesn't matter to me really, DIY-ing makes my clothes re-newed + perfectly unique => fabulous, as summed up by my first picture.

Honestly, the most time consuming part of this DIY session was probably the beading. Now I know why embellished stuff are so expensive; it takes time (and bruised fingers).

To describe my styling for this outfit, it's definitely be along the lines of my own take on vintage. The trendy halter neck style dress meets the bold prints that function both on the vintage side and the modern. The complementary blue-green and cool silver beads against the red of the dress add a different dynamic without clashing. Shoes were self-explanatory: cut-out brogues take a fresh spin on the vintage look too. Tortoise-shell sunglasses? Check. Ladies' bag? Check. And not to mention, the simple studs kept the look young, so no over dramatised accessorising to take the attention away from the beading. 

Decided that hair-wise I was always slacking off by just letting it down, so I tried to be vaguely more hardworking this time round. Nah, just kidding, a messy dutch braid was all it took to neaten the look. In terms of make up, I did my usual eyebrows and brown cat-eye, but this time round, I tried a darkish lip so as to balance out my face with the strong print of my dress. 

What I'm Wearing: Vintage DIY Dress, ASOS Marzie Leather Cut-Out Brogues, Metal Detail Bag from Hong Kong, Studs (own), Tortoiseshell Sunglasses from Japan, Estee Lauder Hot Kiss Shimmer Kipstick

Have a blessed CNY! :)

Much Love, 

Jubitai

DIY | Kimono Kraze

Hey readers!

I guess I caught on to the Kimono craze, and I DIYed my own Kimono Outerwear. Materials weren't that cheap at Arab Street with the printed cloth going at $10/m and the inner lining material at $5/m, but I guess still better than heading to spotlight. I took around 5 hours just to piece the entire kimono together from scratch, with inner lining and all; need to practice to work faster. If you guys are curious on how I did the kimono, do refer to Elle Apparel's tutorial as a reference model --- really useful!

Moving on to the exciting part: the shoot!

By the way, I was looking through the photos and I just couldn't help but laugh. I just looked like such a tree hugger in some of the photos.

What I'm Wearing: Handmade Black Floral Kimono Jacket, Black Leotard, H&M Basic Black Skater Skirt, ASOS Grey Creepers, ASOS Jewelled Hand Harness

(Btw I've posted this look on Lookbook, do help to support! It'll be much appreciated ^^)

I'd say this DIY project was definitely a success because it was the first time I bothered with inner lining and stuff, thus it was presentable before a camera. Yayers!

Other than that, I've also made a skirt out of the same material, which I may post later if I do a shoot with it or feel like it. Meanwhile, let me just flood this following part with some happiness and randomness.

i) Today was a beautiful day.

 (probably already developing some treehugger instincts huh)

ii) So many girls hope to be more beautiful in one way or another. (myself included)

ESPECIALLY the whole thigh gap thing nowadays.

So unless you want to be a tripod, stop worrying! (okay this sounds nonsensical but let me explain)

You want to show more leg?

Sure, a tripod's got three.

You want longer, bronzier, skinnier legs?

Yeah, that all falls under 'tripod' too.

I'm so bad at telling jokes that only sounds funny in my head.

iii) The light hit the crystals beautifully. No editing needed. 

Sorry for the weird format of posting today cause it's all a messy mix. Nonetheless, ending off with more happiness ^_^

<<<<<<< Happy holidays! >>>>>>

Much love, 

Jubitai

Birthday Shoot | Grunge & Roses

Today was a mix of photo-shoots, fooling around and hipster eating (packed under a budget though).

Always glad and grateful to have a friend like Fern to come down all the way to the East to agree to do a shoot with me ^_^ Basically we shot around the East area, and it was raining at the start, but thank God for stopping the rain and really great weather to shoot in after that! Anyway, we did individual as well as twin-ish shots  for each of the components; I'll introduce our adventure part by part, so enjoy!

Part 1: Roses // Floral Crowns

We headed to Telok Kurau Park as well as around my neighbourhood for this part to get some greenery and nature in our shots.  Telok Kurau Park's pretty pretty except for all the random bright blue steel benches thrown about the place (thus the limited shots this time round). Nevertheless, we got some rather decent shots and had fun in muddy puddles albeit slightly unhygienic.

 

 What I'm Wearing: Topshop White Crochet 60s Shift Minidress, DIY Oversized Floral Crown & DIY White Brogues with Blue Velvet Strip

What Fern's Wearing: Cut Out Shoulder Top, Zara Trafaluc Cream Double Side Slit Maxi Skirt & Rubi Tan Sandals

It was pretty funny when we started placing the camera on self-timer continuous shooting and running around on the grass to get some shots, and I'd say we were twinning it pretty well :>

Part 2: Lunch @ The Garden Slug

So after hanging out with gardens/nature/greenery all morning, we decided it was apt to head down to the Garden Slug; it has really great food at a decent price; you can check out their menu on their website. They've got a whole array of food; have yet to try it all, and I'd definitely revisit!

Fern had the Hot Honey and Lemon Lime, while I had the Iced Chocolate (not shown cause I couldn't get a nice pic).

For mains, Fern took the Salmon Confit tossed in herb-infused olive oil and white wine sauce, which was great actually (flavourful and strong fragrance with the zest of the squeezed lemon), but may come off as overpowering for some. 

I took the Juicy Shrimp & Roast Pumpkin Pasta in a rich pink "shrimpkin" sauce. This one was thoroughly satisfying for me, and the natural sweetness (yes, a pretty sweet pasta) of the shrimp as well at the pumpkin in the sauce perfectly complemented one another. Enjoyable and filling (double the carbs but double the enjoyment)! Super yummy ~

Part 3: Grunge // Alley Kids

This part of the shoot went really well, and we shot in an alley around Carlton Ave, and thankfully, although we were shooting behind other's property, we did have a supportive audience of a kind resident who supported our photo shoot, explaining that her son too did photography. Although we didn't really require her help, her friendliness did put us at ease to shoot in the alley behind those houses. Truly blessed! Secondly, the location had a well-suited ambience for our shoot, and that was awesome to have.

What Fern's Wearing: H&M Red Checkered Shirt, Miss Selfridge Lace Bralet, Nasty Gal Side Split Black Maxi Skirt, Styledasher Cut Out Boots (JC-inspired)

What I'm Wearing: Light Blue Topshop Textured Crop Top, TEM Double Front Split Midi Skirt, ASOS Extreme Marble Wash Denim Jacket, ASOS Black Leather Look Waist Belt, H&M Black Suede Platform Heels

Part 4: High Tea // Conclusion

We had afternoon tea (which pretty much covered our dinner appetite as well) at Flor, a Japanese cake patisserie just around the Siglap area. Expensive at around 7 bucks for a piece of cake, but still great to hang out at for its quietness and clean, neat space. It's worth a try, especially for this chestnut cake (below) which is pleasant to the tastebuds - it's subtly sweet with a light cake and equally light cream. The place is also usually full of wonderful cakes, but it happened that today they were almost all sold out, so we only managed to grab the chestnut as well as chocolate ones today!

That concludes our tiring and great day just hanging out and shooting, and here's a few happy shots to lighten and brighten the mood :)

With much love, 

Jubitai