108 October Obsessions

1. Love, Bonito Adel Dress in Blue; 2. InStyle October issue; 3. A for Arcade Tammy Lace Top in Indigo; 4. Strayedheart Jamie Playsuit (photo credit to Oasis)

So my fiscal month for September 21- October 21 ends today, and I was punching in the keys for my expenses, adding it all up, when I realized with a sinking feeling (as I was wont to do quite often this month) that I had drastically overspent on my 'Others' section (my budget is split into 'Food', 'School', and 'Others'-- the latter covers clothes, accessories, books, presents, etc.). At first I attributed it to the whopping 7 birthdays I celebrated during this period --excluding my own, natch-- (birthdays are lovely) (but not when you're calculating how much money you spent on presents) (if it's only the thought that counts...), but when I tallied it up again, I realized I'd overspent on clothes as well.

Every month, I attempt to come up with reasons for my overspending (and, no doubt, reasons for my wandering italics and parentheses) so as to come up with a solution, some months more reluctantly than others. This month: (1) I need to ask Mum for her opinion more often before purchasing items, as more often than not the items I've purchased without consulting her first have turned out disastrous (I count 4 from recent memory alone)*; (2) I do not need to go shopping when tired, as it's a recipe for disaster, particularly when Mum says, "Pay up, dear, we need to go"; (3) I should really break down my 'Others' into more specific categories, so as to narrow down the focus and plan for each one. I used to split up 'Clothes' and 'Books', for instance, but stopped when I *attempted* to join the two together in order to spend less (ahem, ahem). Perhaps I should reinstate the division next month starting from tomorrow, as I plan to get Jo Baker's Longbourn and InStyle's November issue (with T-swizzle on the cover, no less!).

The above collage is just some of the items that I splurged on this month. The LB Adel Dress has a really exquisite print and beautiful material, but my problem is its fit; I had to get the PTP altered and even so, the waist isn't very flattering, even with a belt. Nevertheless, I'm in love with the print (which reminds me of paint and the sea simultaneously! and maybe mermaids) and hope that as long as I don't look in a mirror when I'm out wearing it (or, crossed fingers, that people don't look askance at me as if to think, "Who is that poor girl in that unflattering dress?!"), I'll be fine. The A for Arcade crop top was a quick buy at KissJane Vivo, but one that I still love: thank goodness for fitting rooms! It's got me slowly edging into the crop top trend.*

More unfortunate were the Strayedheart playsuit (which I'm letting go on A&M if you're keen), which despite its lovely prints is really too big for me waist up (though of course my love of rompers might still push me to wear it out if nobody buys it) and these Rubi wedges that I totally bought on impulse, wanting to look like Kate Middleton when shopping. I consequently wore them shopping on my second trip to Vivo and had to massage my toes afterwards (I kid, but they did hurt pretty badly). On the up side, the pain may wear off after a few trips, as it did with my previous Rubi pairs!

Pretty long post just to say I've overspent and Ooooops and I'll try to be better next month. I've already refrained from shopping for almost two weeks!

*This lesson has backfired. I wanted to buy Thread Theory's lace crop top, but my mum took one look at it and said, "IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS BEEN THROUGH A SHREDDER," and refused to change her mind no matter how often I rhapsodied about it. So. So much for edging into the crop top trend, and asking my mum for her opinions.

55 Closet Rules: Part 1

Since I was buying too much, I lost the high.

The shopping high, which is important. It’s like a mini-multiple orgasm. No no no, actually, it’s more like a love-story:

- There’s the first time you lay eyes on the perfect article. Thunderbolts.
- Then the purchase, which hurts a little, but we quickly forget.
- The arrival at home when you first take your new treasure out of the bag, your first intimate moment together = the high.
- The first night you spend together (Don’t even try and tell me you haven’t slept with a pair of Louboutins before.)(Totally kidding.)(Well, but that totally describes what is the high)(I actually have thought once or twice about sleeping with some of my shoes, I swear.)
- The first time you go out, officially together.
- And then… Of course, the first Instagram.

Now that’s what I call the high! Like little butterflies in your stomach for an outfit! The emotion!

And I had lost it. I treated my new clothes like a sac of potatoes I just bought at Gristedes. Get home, put them in the closet, no excitement, no afterthought, and that was it. Zero.

Since I’ve started buying less, the high is right back in it and it feels good. I almost, almost, slept with a pair of shoes in bed the other day.

You have to protect your clothing love stories. It’s important.

{from Garance Dore's 5 Commandments of Style}

The very loverly story above got me thinking about my commandments of style. I previously started a style blog dedicated to commandments of style (more or less) but it kind of flopped because I didn't have the time to really run it properly. Added to which my closet is in such a state of disrepair, I hardly think I am qualified to write about it. That said, having lived in a shopping mecca for 1.5 years and gone through many different style stages (plus the fact that I love to talk about my shopping stories) (lololololol), I'd like to set some rules here, both for my future reference and yours. (That's what this blog is) (My diary/letter-to-future-self) (Which you happen to have the link to)

So here goes Part 1: my style stages!

Pretty much how I accessorized back then: Carpe the Anna Dello Russo out of the Diem!

Understanding the changes that your personal style has gone through, as well as the personal choices that led you to it, is quite important in that (a) it hones your shopping trips down to knowing what you want and what you definitely do not want; and (b) you have a more refined sense of what is 'you', and will hopefully take less time to get ready.

I was a shopaholic since forever, but had little conception of style (in the sense of having style icons as opposed to randomly piecing together items I saw in shops) until I moved to Bangkok. This is when I became style-crazy (no kidding). I think it began when I picked up my first InStyle (ahh, that magazine)... and made my first trips to flea markets and wholesale malls.

When I was fourteen I was practically heavy shopping every weekend. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it now, actually, because I spent so much, but also because I had little idea of the concept of quality. So I was picking up cheap but ... Cheap (you know what I mean) items that I would pair most crazily with an assortment of accessories. To this, I raise the horrifying memory of a pair of luridly purple tights, which I bought on impulse and never wore.

(You won't get the scope of this till you see the pictures, but I'm not uploading any 'cos they're that bad.)

When I got back to Singapore, I didn't shop for quite a while, though shopping was still therapy for me. I think I developed a more minimalist sense of style around the age of sixteen or seventeen. One of my key mottos is still Chanel's "Before you leave the house, take one thing off."

Credit: Sea of Shoes

My shopping style became more of buying what I really wanted and really would wear, with the exception of a few impulse buys. The most obvious change was in my accessories- I've strayed away from too many statement-making ones over the years. The odd thing is that this probably came from a change in personality, as I (hopefully) grew more mature and learnt to sieve out what's important from what's not. In the same way, my style became a reflection of who I am, and I'm slowly learning to really stick to what works.

All in all, quite a haphazard reflection (oops), but I'm glad I got this down!

PS. I tagged this piece 'Closet' because I hope to do a feature on mine soon c: