The mighty medic and Brooke Roberts

Lately I've been rushing towards assignment deadlines (taking a Diplomain Family Medicine) and manning three programmes at the clinic, whilst trying my best not to practice the well-spread 'conveyor belt' medicine. On top of that, I have the audacity of joining a seemingly fast-track program for the elusive FRACGP (click here if you're keen to know what that stands for) - it's a program by MIGHTY MEDIC, hence the title, which is another pathway towards specialty in primary care besides the conventional Malaysian Masters program.

Cameraderie: KLFW Outfits

I know that this is the inevitable me-me-me outfit post, but it's good to see the KLFW attendees with amazing outfits (loaned/sponsored or bought themselves) with a healthy dose of peacocking. Good to see KLFW is moulding its own style, thanks to local fashion-conscious peeps who try their best to flaunt local designer's latest creations (but there's an abundance of Rick Owens or Raf Simons and those super expensive runway looks too). Looking forward to seeing more versatility in get ups next season...

Walking on cloud nine

The excitement has elevated once again in the ever mundane life of mine, as I will be in Milan and Paris for Men's Fashion Week AW13/14! I've never imagined this day will come (as you might have known I'm a fashion outsider with a contrasting day job which does not involve fashion/retail at all) and am eternally grateful for the chance to witness runway shows by globally successful designers. If previously I could only ogle at the images and videos on the Internet, now I will finally have the chance to enjoy them in-person and even partake in covering the shows/presentations for Dunia Fashyon, together with the ever-resourceful Arman.

We arrived in Milan on Friday morning at the comfortably spacious junior suite at Four Points by Sheraton which is conveniently located just a few blocks away from Milan Central Station (long gone are the days of backpacking, hopping on and off public transportation to reach my place of accommodation). Since the runway shows will only be commencing the next day, we took the opportunity to explore Milan's luxury retail center for people watching and of course, some serious (window) shopping…

Jil Sander and Americana at Coffee Société

Lately we have been hanging out at Publika quite frequently, spending lazy Sunday afternoons having brunch at Coffee Société, a café gradually gaining larger audience with its delicious and affordable menus, delightful ambience and tempting promos (free flow coffee for RM10 anyone?). We could easily spend three hours there having stimulating conversation, whilst enjoying their delectable Eggs Benedict and a cup of latté or two. 

The Sandwich Bag: WANT or SHAN'T?

It was love at first sight. 

Since being introduced on the runway last January I can’t stop thinking about the clutch. My ‘accountant–self' has been battling hard with my ‘fashion-slave' other half as I'm trying to justify the rationale behind acquiring what could be the “most expensive paper bag in the world” (The  Telegraph/ British Vogue).

Jil Sander Fall Winter 2012 fashion show.
image source: nowfashion.com

Jil Sander is coming to KL!

The long weekend is a blessing that I can rest at home watching tear-inducing, albeit cliched Islamic themed dramas on Astro (they are my mother's firm favorite, no one was allowed to change channels once Astro has those showing. Good job Astro on playing on the banal emotional card. You just know, despite the triteness of it all, how to feed on Malay/Asian culture. Brilliant marketing ploy, I must say).

Being the mall rat that I am, I took the opportunity of an extra day off to have a look at the shops in Pavilion, a rarity nowadays, now that I work and live outside Kuala Lumpur. Lo and behold, what I found when I was browsing the two levels of Pavilion's luxury area:

Apparently TENC (The Emperor's New Clothes) is being replaced by Club 21's another project! Looks like it's time for TENC to wrap up. I guess politicians and menswear don't go hand in hand?

Adequately affordable?

Everybody loves it when it comes to substantially good-looking items of clothing, especially if they come with wallet-friendly pricing. Speaking about affordable clothing I cannot veer away from the fact that my clothes hoarding tendency stemmed from bargain hunting, especially during the end-of-seasons sales throughout the malls of Kuala Lumpur. 

My own definition of 'affordable' things is when they're at a fraction off retail. Personally I've set my own rule: no purchase can be made unless the item sought is 50% off, at least. Ultimately I have set upon myself a rigid setting for my relentless shopping endeavor, in order to be able to afford things that are normally too rich for my blood.

Raf Simons' second to last

Being inconsistent in blogging frequency has been a part of Dunia Fashyon but trust me, this time around it was all due to the festive season - staying at my parents' hometowns where the locations are quite remote meant no stable internet connection, thus the lack of posts for the past two weeks or so.

Being apologetic and all, I'd like to make do with the absence of posts with this beautifully embroidered t-shirt style top by Jil Sander from Spring Summer 2012. The fact that this is Raf Simons' penultimate collection for Jil Sander raised the collector-wannabe in me and made it feel a bit more special (well, in addition to the fact that it was heftily discounted). This basically means that I have added the only piece of clothing to my minuscule Raf-for-Jil archive (the other two are both shoes).

photo credit: style.com

And, in case you're like me who's oblivious to sheer obviousness Raf's final collection for Jil is AW12/13, so for those with the financial means, go on and grab for yourself something. All I know is the coveted lunch bag is now being a collector's item and has already been sold out at LN-CC.

 I initially planned to wear the top as a homage to the festivity of Eid Mubarak (notice the modern, geometric and slightly ethnic-inspired embroidery / the silhouette has a feel of 'baju kurung Kedah' to it). Alas, in view of the thickness (the shirt is lined with a sheath of silky polyamide) it was quite impossible to be worn where the location of festivity lacks air-conditioning. Or was it just the typical Malaysian me whose life depends on perennial comfort?

But I might be wearing this anyway and might be traipsing to open houses with a self-assurance that there will be air-conditioning, or else, the host will readily be fanning me continuously to ensure me werking this top...

Another reason of wearing this top other than its ethnic feel: anyone with a bloated tummy to hide? Too much rendang and ketupat? The boxy cut will conveniently hide that excess baggage, that muffin top, so you can eat away the same cycle of foods from one open house to another, over and over again - a much more effective solution than a sachet of ENO!

I'm wearing Jil Sander top with Levi's jeans, Marni at H&M sandals, bag from a Korean shop, eBay sunglasses

written by Hafidzudin
twitter: @naboonies

Team spirit

I'm sure you guys are among the one billion people worldwide who watched the recent Olympics 2012 Opening Ceremony in London. And having a fashion-centric mind I could not help but to fuss about the uniforms of various contingents...

Too bad that a lot of the European contingents opted to stick to their usual nine-to-five business casual look, which I think is very sad. I mean, bring your nations' identity for the world to see, people! But of course a sporty look that is both smart and can represent your country, colour-wise. Case in point: the American team. Never mind the furor over the "made in China" controversy and the French-inspired berets, I think Ralph Lauren did a good job designing the teams outfits. "American preppy look" is what I was reminded of instantly.

 The American team Olympics Opening Ceremony uniform, designed by Ralph Lauren

Despite the classic sportswear look I do love team Netherlands' clever use of colour-blocking. Orange and navy blue looks pretty good in this case. VERY Jil Sander SS2011.

 Team Japan's striking red-and-white, on the other hand, can be mistaken for Chinese/ Canadian/ Singaporean teams' outfits.

Team Russia looks cool in this ensemble. Are those linen jackets? I'm dying to see a close-up of their uniform - look at the dark purplish pattern on the guy's shirt! And The Romanian team's choice of colour also caught my eyes - the mustard-grey combo is visually fetching.

The Swedish, on the other hand, can be way too practical sometimes. I like IKEA but rugby shirts and sneakers with colours that match the flag and grey cotton trousers? Come on, I think you guys are more creative than that. But on a lighter note, this is what I used to wear to the mall during my high school years. Ha! 

Harping on about creativity, the Germans evidently has proven be the creative lot with their reversible sports jacket. ( I know, the "pink for girls and blue for boys" idea is a bit off). But it the versatility of the jacket (which has a more formal inside layer) that is important.

Czech Republic is among, if not the most unique teams that night. This team was absolutely ready for the grey and rainy London with their umbrellas and wellies. 

Talking about national identity, there are a few teams which really went all out in portraying what their country is generally all about. My firm favorites are Mexico, Gambia and the Philippines. And a couple of images of female Muslim athletes modestly covered in hijab - simply beautiful.

The Philippines team in the Barong Tagalog-esque uniform.

Interesting latex-like fabric on Gambian athletes.

 Iranian athletes in modest hijabs.

 Leave it to the Mexicans when it comes to colour and personality. I absolutely adore all the combinations of hues, patterns and embroideries on the ponchos. Liking the fact that they look as if there was no uniform at all - just a colourful parade of mariachi band.

How about Malaysia, the country that always tries hard to expose their nation's identity, I hear you say? Obviously everything is too literal in this contingent - that all-too-familiar tiger stripes; yellow-orange and the red, which unmistakably represents courage and speed? And is that even Malaysian batik? Or just a cheap generic print on cheap polyester fabric? I refuse to comment further. Well, at least I do see some traditional garb here (tengkolok aka the headpiece and the sampin/ sarong).

Anyhow, feel free to laugh at my measly attempt on re-interpreting the casual/sporty sports event opening ceremony look:

Thrifted Tesco blazer, Cheap Monday jeans, Jil Sander shoes, Uniqlo hat, eBay sunglasses, U2 t-shirt, fourskin belt

*Images of Olympics contingents courtesy of adkinsrin.blogspot.com, yahoo.com, google.com

Runway at Vincom Centre

You probably have guessed from my previous post that I was in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. True, I had a short family trip few days ago (after the Cameron Highland trip you must have noticed how I still join family trips where siblings bicker against parents over petty things which is a norm during this kind of travelling).

Apart from the touristy spots I managed to visit Vincom Center, a luxury mall in the heart of Saigon. It is quite apparent that the Vietnamese purchasing power is burgeoning ever more so after the country's policy starts to become more open to foreign investments. And this consequently leads to an economic boom which is evident in the mushrooming of luxury labels nesting amongst the high street shops in Vincom Centre.

Passing by the Runway boutique intrigued me, so much so that I decided to enter the premise. Apparently it is a multilabel store that stocks luxury labels that I deem are highly in demand - I saw Jil Sander bags, a Stella McCartney top-to-toe runway look and Lanvin bags perched on the racks of its window display. I entered the premise and politely introduced myself and explained about Dunia Fashyon, and also my intent to take photography inside the boutique. Unfortunately my request was denied by the fact that I had to contact the marketing team beforehand.


Therefore, for Dunia Fashyon, I decided to sneakily take pictures of the boutique. Forgive me if your eyes are pained by the skewed images. They WERE indeed taken in paparazzi style...

A brief research reveals that Runway Saigon is a part of the Runway company (with another smaller Runway branch in Hanoi and RRR which focuses on diffusion lines that Runway would carry). The concept store is led by the young entrepreneur Tranh Thi Hoai Anh, with interior design by Milanese CLS architects. Besides the clothing items they have in-store I'm quite fond of the boutique's ice cove
interior.

This concept store also stocks ceramics from Fornasetti and Gaetano Pesce sofas.

It is quite unfortunate when I learned that their menswear collection is somehow rather limited with classic shirts by the likes of Brioni, and also few Sergio Rossi and Margiela shoes, and rows and rows of mundane T-shirts from various high-end labels. I also found army green and beige Celine bi-cabas totes lying around the mens' section. However there's this Italian brand called Kiton that I'm eager to find out about more in the future. Price-wise I could generally conclude that it is still more expensive compared to the usual European stores (e.g a pair of Margiela leather Oxfords still cost about 300 British pounds even after a half-price discount)...

Too purple to be true

Whenever I travel I always try to bring clothes that I rarely wear during 'normal' days (did you know I wear bland shirts and reworked old trousers to work?). The reason being I feel rather uneasy to attract unnecessary attention at my workplace, you know, like that bad impression kind of attention. I do not intend to take the risk and possibly further tarnish my somehow feeble reputation at the hospital.

 I believe that even a big city like Kuala Lumpur has its reservations towards 'unconventional' clothing, so much so that in order to be 'fashionable' you have to wear something very conformist, safe and ultimately unimaginative. Once I pull out that non-conservative rabbit from the hat and walk around the city's biggest malls, almost immediately I'd get that stare, or sometimes even a whistle or two (the reason being, er, I dress too flamboyantly I suppose?), which somehow demotivates me to further experiment with clothes. 

 So I have decided to live in my own fantasy world of ridiculous and so-called tacky clothing whenever the time and location permit, for example during the trip to Singapore, of course!

I visited the Universal Studios in an almost top-to-toe purple outfit. Even the fake Marilyn Monroe in that thick American accent gawked in disbelief at my too colourful getup. But ironically the phony Joker from Batman complimented my bright-hued trousers. I personally prefer a darker wash than the current purple, so, I'm thinking to maybe dye them in an indigo blue to make them, well, more blue...

I'm almost blending in with the background, no?

I am wearing cowl-collared shirt from Topman, Miu Miu sleeveless tank, vintage trousers (my father's), Celine Bi-cabas bag, Jil Sander shoes, socks from Happy Socks.

The final Uniqlo x Jil Sander collaboration

 I for one am a big fan of retail giants x designer collaborations which give access to the public, allowing  good design, tailoring and construction at reasonable price. As many of you would have known the final +J collection will be for the autumn/winter 2011 season. This without question saddens me as I like the collections' crisp white shirts which are impeccable and surprisingly quite nicely tailored. No more talk about getting plenty of bang for the buck after this, I guess...

The final collection, however soothingly ends with an excellent line-up of outerwear. The signature quiet elements of details in the coats, jackets and blazers are evident in this collection. As usual the colors of the pieces are mostly muted, but there is a pop of color or two like the magenta cardigan. The combination of quilted gillet and blazer is also refreshing - had I been in a more temperate climate I might give that look a try.

I reckon all good things come to an end, but the optimism will stay high - the +J collection will later be replaced by Uniqlo's collaboration with Undercover's Jun Takahashi. A very intriguing project indeed...

images via Hypebeast