CAMERAderie: Jovian Mandagie x Zalora Raya Collection 2015

The guests for the collection launch event is a usual mix of media, celebrities and fashion industries notables. Among familiar guests were Siti Nurhaliza and Sasha Saidin (and her ethereal braids). There are select personal styles that I like (loving to see people go all-out with a bevvy of textures, prints and embellishments - wonder if they are all from Jovian?) I was not physically there but from the looks of it the performance prior to the show was something different (an artistic performance with Luna Maya's appearance) and the setting is a dark undertone as I've mentioned in the previous post. The venue (DPAC) was, needless to say, a perfect place to showcase all the theatrics...

CAMERAderie: Bukit Bintang street style

It's good to temporarily veer from European fashion scene and stay on the local grounds for a while. My weekends have been spent either doing nothing at home or lurking in the dark, candidly photographing the 'cool' kids in the Bukit Bintang area...

CAMERAderie: H&M x Margiela Launch in KL

‘CAMERAderie’ (so cheesy but we can’t help it!) is a column on DUNIA FASHYON where we try to encapsulate an event in a concise form of photographs. A collection of photos is compiled together to best sums up the whole occasion that took place, in our own perspective.

Today, ‘CAMERAderie’ covers the H&M x Maison Martin Margiela launch event that took place at H&M Lot 10 store last Thursday. We were at the scene exactly an hour before the whole event started (first shopping session was at 8 am) and spent the whole sunny afternoon there (with heavy rains in between). 

Style stalker- the pastel obsession goes on...

Here's another sparse addition of the 'Style Stalker' section into Dunia Fashyon.

The pastel obsession still resonates in my mind and my previous post just reminded me of the unpublished images when I was still in Russia last summer. I had been keeping them in my MotoRAZR microSD card (such a lovely phone, but now the speaker had gone kaput so I had to use a modest Sony Ericsson instead). Once again I had this paparazzi moment capturing bystanders' outfits (a guilty pleasure I tell thee).

I particularly love this lady's non-chalant pairing of cute pastel tones . I bet she does not even think for a split second to conjure that combination. This easily can crop up in any runway I believe! (okay the material or silhouette may be a bit questionable but we're talking real-life people with no access to the internet let alone to buy designer goods here). The texture, prints and colours are such feast to the eyes...Everyday is such an inspiring moment in any part of Europe stylistically! Even the shabbest elderly man crossing the street has the potential to intrigue me...

Coincidentally the knapsack is quite a big thing here in Volgograd.. This is another shot that I managed to get. I've seen in other colors as well (khaki, army print etc). Quite stylish may I say.

That is all. Have great weekend!

Wishing for Sixpack

No don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm desperate to have a six-pack washboard ab thank you very much, but seeing Giancinephile's post of marbled print goodness (Gian, personally I'd be enjoying Chemistry lessons more at school had it been more visual with all the colourful tints and hues) just reminded me of the French streetwear label Sixpack (the t-shirts of which I saw, touched and photographed during the Singapore trip).

The t-shirts above (can't remember exactly from which collection, but most probably Spring 2010 given the airy t-shirts presented) gives me a lukewarm response compared to the Sixpack collaboration pieces with PMFKA  which promises more thought in design rather than random imagery splat flat on a tee... I especially like the intertwining of colours - precisely the chemistry of combining art on a simple piece of clothing item, which allures me even more... This somehow justifies that most collaborative efforts (minus the ones involving celebs though) are the closest that you can get to RTW from *insert some big-shot designer lable here*

I give an extra mark to the printed scarf though (perfect for shielding from that cold winter breeze..evidently I'm still reminiscing the good old times during Russian winter.. privyet dear Russian comrades, if you're reading this, has the temperature dropped down to -20 degrees yet? Brrrr!)

Unexpected gift: The Sartorialist Book

As you probably know already I posted an entry about how I wanted the book very very much, but could not get a hold of it due to Amazon shipping malarkey. Suddenly I remembered that a dear friend was in Paris for a business trip. During a few exchanges of twitter messages I did ask him to get me a copy but due to his crammed schedule he promised me to purchase one the next time he's in Paris again.

But I really didn't see this coming:

Okay I should have photoshopped my face here instead HAHA

It was a pleasant surprise indeed!

Apparently he did manage to go to Colette for the book-signing session by Scott Schuman himself! (refer The Sartorialis blog, 3rd September entry) Look what did he get me:

A lovely autograph from Mr. Schuman. At first the ever-oblivious me didn't notice the signature. But upon closer inspection it reads, in a vermicular way "Scott Schuman". Words just cannot explain my feelings when looking at this page...oh how I wish I was an eloquent/ articulate writer!

And yes, Jeng was my nickname in high school ( I'm about to open a whole can of worms to tell the story behind this name)

Sorry, just can't wipe that smirk off my face in this homage to The Ugly Truth poster

Well, considering the fact that I'm holding a copy of this precious masterpiece in my hands I hope I'm not too late to briefly review it. The book is essentially a collection of photos from Scott Schuman's blog, and contains exactly 512 pages of photos complete with indexing and some text (about why he chose those certain individuals to shoot, how he gets a mixture of both positive and negative comments from his readers regarding some controversial looks e.g: the alleged claim that he only shoots fashion people, and some personal remarks on his favorite subjects...)

Content-wise I share the exact sentiments with the ever-so-lovely Susie Bubble. I did expect more commentary from Mr Schuman and I think the present one contains too little information and basically are re-written from his blog. Perhaps the book is also aimed for the non-fashion people or those who don't follow his blog as well. I don't know exactly actually.

I shouldn't complain much really. It's a wonderful gift and I'd certainly cherish it for times to come. I'd probably bring this along with me for the fear of being uninspired, or when there is a lack of magazines/ stylish people on the streets/ Internet street style blogs/ lookbooks (cancel appropriately)...

On another note I'm giving love to this Matryoshka pin that I got in St. Petersburg, Russia. I instantly fell pray to the intricate details of the paint work. Oh, I have another set in blue as well!

vintage shirt, thai fisherman pants from eBay, Matryoshka pin, The Sartorialist book 

PS: To Kotok, this entry is impossible without you. Thank you for the best (early) birthday present ever, and thanks for introducing me to fashion and making me believe life is more than school and textbooks.

The Sartorialist book

image credit: Hypebeast

As everybody knows Susie Bubble recently posted a flick through of Scott Schuman's The Sartorialist. In short this book contains the actual reproductions of personal style photos on his blog. I'm really excited to get a hold of this renowned photographer's masterpiece which certainly inspired a legion of followers in fashion/style world. Plus it would definitely be better to hold the pages live (Susie says even the papers feel and smell good!) than ogling those beautiful pics on my substandard laptop screen.

But the problem is I don't know if this book is available in Malaysia yet, and to add insult to injury Amazon does not even ship to Malaysia. Perhaps I should visit the long-forgotten Kinokuniya and check up whether they stock the book or not. While I'm at it I could peruse other fashion-related books as well...

Men's style: Russia VS Malaysia

Years have passed since Mr Schuman's first entry and many ambitious photographers follow suit. Obviously I don't have all the time in the world to follow all the mushrooming personal style blogs, but recently I have discovered some cool men's styles, sourced from my newly-found style sites from 2 countries that are close to my heart (Malaysia and Russia). And so the battle between these two countries begins....

ROUND 1: Laid-back dandyism

team Malaysia

team Russia
ROUND 2: Simply the best

team Malaysia

team Russia
ROUND 3: Edgy attempt

team Malaysia

team Russia
ROUND 4: Patterns galore

team Malaysia

team Russia
ROUND 5: Denim, scarves and layering

team Malaysia

team Russia

images from: lookatme.ru, KL street style

Can the underdog in fashion world team Malaysia will emerge victorious in this style war? With a team of fairly diverse players, things seem to be looking up a bit in this mundane country, style-wise... Can team Malaysia manage to recover from the ashes, straight into style glory?

But more advantage sides team Russia in the physical department. Throwing in the layering factor, Russia seems to looks pretty strong against Malaysia in this match... who will be crowned as the victor? I sense an intense rivalry, gentlemen!

P.S: I noticed that looakatme.ru is quite interactive. The users are encouraged to create a healthy discussion over the looks posted. Despite a few unsightly insensitive remarks from some users the comments are strictly moderated and any comments that are deemed uncalled for will be shaded in grey (and the user's ratings will dwindle, natch). Unfortunately for the time being the site is operated fully in Russian language, but I'm sure it's sufficient for you guys to appreciate the looks from the natural beauties of Eastern Europe :)

P.P.S: Apologies for the seemingly long blogging hiatus. But I'll make up for it, I promise!

Style stalker: Muslim Hijab Galore

As a continuation of the previous entry and more importantly as a desperate attempt to revive my dwindling Style Stalker section, I'm uploading these photos of what congregates wear to mosque. These are absolutely modest clothes (which translates not figure hugging, not exposing specific parts of the body and of course covering the hair with hijab). Okay, another geriatric- sounding and yawn-inducing post I hear ye say but honestly to me people in this age group dress the most original, or at least they are not in the label or trend conscious pack. But don't fret just yet, there are some pics of bright young things here. The highlight of the outfits is the appropriate combination of prints, evidently....

Photos by Najmi

This babushka single-handedly defeats all the young hipsters out there! To my eyes she's the epitome of boho chic, and the most important thing is she does not even know what's boho chic to begin with. I mean, just look at all the crazy mix-matched prints and colours. The colour of her hijab, the prints on the bag and socks simply make her outfit look outstanding and unique.

This young lady on the other hand probably thinks about what she wears more. I think she's trying to match the colours of her hijab and blouse. In this case they blend perfectly well together , thanks to the clashing prints yet again.

The lady on the left also seems to mix and clash, but her companion in red looks pretty amazing with a pop of colourful floral print in her hijab, breaking the maroon in her whole outfit.

The Malaysian girls (three of them from the left) taking a snap with their beloved babushkas. In Malaysia ladies in Baju Kurung also tend to wear prints, but I've yet to see some inspiring print-clashing or patter-mixing phenomenon to wow me. In my place people seem to uphold this rule of thumb : The accessories must match and the hijab colour must complement the Baju Kurung as well. Bollocks may I say!

This picture is an obvious opposite of the previous ones- the white on his 'kopiah' and tee is so serene. I also like the fine embroidery detail on the black kopiah. T's a shame that I did not purchase any kopiahs during my weekly Friday congregations at the mosque. Well the reason being that they don't have my size that is.

And finally, this does not have anything to do with fashion/style. Aren't these kids just adorable????

THAT'S ALL FOLKS, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Style Stalker #2

These are the ones that I took at the end of autumn with my official Style Stalker camera - MotoRAZR V3i .I know it's pathetic and somewhat criminal to discreetly take photos of some strangers' butts , but I still can't get over my shyness, not to mention how I can imagine them say shoo, go away you freaky foreigner! upon me approaching...

Anyways the candid shots are composed of women from all walks of life: an infant, teenagers, an adult and a babushka! Please note the one-gender feature only because I couldn't find an interestingly-dressed boy/man/grandpa. I guess the black leather jacket + track bottom + black pointy Italian shoes combo don't tickle an excitement in me to snap a few cheeky pictures of them (related post, later).

Topshop girl

Graphic print knapsack

This picture is no justice to the pleats on her coat. Kinda reminds me of the rippling effect in Leanne from Project Runway's finale collection

Mother tending her child (RED, RED, RED)

My fave picture - I love how absorbed this florist looks. Perhaps she's enjoying her morning dose of gossip columns?

That's all folks, have a great holiday!