Suze

Suze Rotolo, was Bob Dylan's longtime girlfriend during his days as a Greenwich Village folk singer and the woman who appears alongside him on the famous cover of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", died this weekend at the age of 67. So Sad. These photos are from a post I did about her in 2008.























(photos from A Freewheelin' Time)

Inggitera goes to the fair

Full disclosure: inggitera ako. 

After hearing so much from friends and blogosphere about Art in the Park, to which I've never been, I went full-blown green-eyed monster last week and looked up the dates for the next Affordable Art Fair. I missed the one in Singapore last year because we were in Bantayan. The one in Amsterdam is scheduled for October, but lo and behold! The one in Brussels was just a week and a train ride away! 

I have to say I could get used to getting to another European country with zero hassle. I booked Benelux return train tickets online for less than a hundred Euros for both Marlon and myself (if we had booked a few days earlier, it would have been just €35! Cheaper than dinner out!). Then I emailed Uncle David to let him know we were coming. We just hopped on the train early Saturday morning, and two hours and forty five minutes later, we were in Brussels. The conductor didn't even check our tickets!

Uncle David and Michele picked us up from Brussels Centraal at 11 a.m. and brought us straight to Tour & Taxis on the Avenue du Port.

Tour & Taxis was formerly the Customs warehouse. When the European Union abolished internal customs duties (can you imagine?!?!? No customs?!?!?! What an alien concept to us Asians), it was converted into a retail, dining and exhibition space. Uncle David said that the last time he had been to Tour & Taxis was when it was still used as the Customs building; it was the 70s and he came to pay customs duties on his car, a Buick that he had imported from France.

The whole experience was amazing. Nakakalula sa dami ng art. There were galleries from all over Europe, plus some from the US, Singapore and China. But you can bet your pwet that I didn't come all the way to Europe to buy a painting from Asia.

We lost Michele and Uncle David (who we later learned made a beeline for the restaurant) and ended up wandering on our own. Marlon was attracted to sculpture and I was attracted to collage, but in general we were both really attracted to things that were way beyond our budget. (Isn't that always the way?) In the end, we fell in love with not just one, but two works that were priced just right for us.

While doing my research on the artists and galleries exhibiting at the fair ('cause I'm a geek like dat), I had already spotted the works of Belgian figurative artist Inge Dompas. A strong theme of motion, restlessness and transit runs through her work and that really resonated with me.

Everyone and everything is restless and constantly on the go. People walk past each other, literally and figuratively. Dompas' recurring topic is the mass being in motion, and the scarce and precious moments of genuine contact and intimacy in the turbulent sea of people. She says: "The road you traveled is more important than the goal itself. The tour supports the story of who you are, it is you."

When I saw Inge's works up close, they didn't disappoint. And because of the experiences we've shared, from our endless craving for travel to the sense of restlessness in Singapore that led us here, Marlon totally got it. We were both struck by this large work of hers called "On the way home." It seemed to sum up our life over the last few months: always on the move, rushing to a place unknown and unseen, pulled onward by the promise of home.

Naturally, it was leagues out of our budget. Let me tell you though, we seriously considered it for a very long moment... a moment that ended when I reminded Marlon that the price was nearly twice our monthly rent. I surprise myself sometimes.

But wait, there's a happy ending! We were able to walk away with one of Inge's works... the smallest one! This one is called "Running on Empty." 

Marlon and I agreed that we have felt these moments all too often. On the commute home from work sometimes, you stop seeing people's faces. Everything fades into a blur when you just want to get home. Or could it be that these people are not commuting home, but to work in the morning? Because there are mornings when you feel like you're running on empty, too.

We had enough left over to go back for one of the few artists that had first caught our attention: Latvia-based Russian artist Viktor Sheleg and his series of ink and acrylic drawings. 

Marlon liked how the artist brought out the tension of her pose (legs crossed, body twisted) with such concise strokes. I was drawn to the dynamic energy and graphic quality of his work. Black and white with a pop of bright orange—a definite yes. This is a woman with attitude. 

An info sheet from the Le Siants Gallery in Prague tells us the artist's work can be found in the collections of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, Jack Nicholson and (paging Drei!) Montserrat Caballe. A princess, the Joker and a diva? Sounds like we're in good company.

The Little Brown Dress

Christian Dior New York ribbed silk dress with a large bow draped across the bodice.

It is said that every woman should have a little black dress in her wardrobe. But if you subscribe to the "seasonal" skin tone theory, the only people who can truly wear black near their face well are those described as "winter". The rest of us should choose something less harsh like gray, navy, or brown. Granted, I wear black a lot, but rarely on top because I am a "spring". Black near my face tends to accentuate the rings under my eyes and makes me look tired. I do like to wear brown, though. It just works for me. What about you? Do you wear brown as a neutral in your wardrobe?

In the spring of 1949, brown was a popular color of choice for many fashion designers (especially M. Dior), as evidenced in these photos.

Omar Kaim for Ben Reig silk organza and satin evening gown with a large bow at the side.

Christian Dior Couture brown wool suit.

Jo Copeland brown tulle over taffeta dress with low decollete.

Christian Dior Couture silk dress with fly-away skirt panel at the back.

The youngest fashionista

Hi guys, good morning!

One very cute picture I though it was worth to share with you.
Who's the fashionista baby?



See you soon.
x

Glamorous Yoga Poses

As I write this blog, I'm watching the Oscar Awards red carpet... There are glamorous movie stars in fabulous sparkly dresses and neat tuxes, many of whom are living out their dreams before our eyes. It's the stuff that dreams are made of.

I can make a yoga metaphor out of anything, but this one is almost too easy--all the hard work, the failed auditions, beaming confidence, and all the many people it takes to create the actors (not to mention the films themselves!). Choose your own metaphor.... Tonight, I'm more interested in the glitz and glamor.

Yoga students are glamorous in our own right. There are a few poses that make me feel kind of like an Oscar nominee, myself. Here are my choices for most glamorous yoga poses. What are yours?

 

 

HeatherYoga.com

YogaDestin.com

 

 

 

 

MagicTimes.com

YogaJournal.com

New at Couture Allure - Vintage 60s Mod Dresses and More!

New this week at Couture Allure are some fabulous graphic print dresses from the 60s and more 50s dresses. Be sure to check our What's New page to see all the new items!

1960s dots and stripes cotton maxi dress.

1960s zebra print silk dress.

1970s rainbow silk hotpants jumpsuit.

1960s Malia cotton paisley dress.

1960s rose pink silk dress.

1970s glam beaded evening gown by Michael Novarese.

Sports Day & 1U

Today would be the last year of me experiencing Sports Day as a student. Growing up is a bittersweet thing. :]

Went at 10 plus after I finished my beauty sleep. A lot of ex-Form Fives. And "ex-Formmates"- Keanu, Wai Khong, GM, Chun Moon. Saw Daniel Heng's girlfriend. She's shoo cute!

Ate at McDonald's after finished. Margosa and Saga announced as the winner. Congrats congrats. ;) And yummy, saw gang fight at McDonald's. I dunno for what lah. They kept pushing and threatening each other. We were all watching by the side. Mun Chun was like, "Dangerous... go somewhere else first". And then later police came. Like 30 minutes later. Lol. By then everything already gone.

Went back by Jin Fye's car. Walao. He very panicky one!!! :D Qi Yao is like quiet. Sometimes can chat with you somemore. And then later went out to 1U. Damn tired but got going out mood.


Middle of eating at Wong Kok, Yih Wern asked us to imagine making out with a girl and then her false teeth drops out in the middle. Sambat. Laughed until damn loud.

Went into Watson's. Urged people to buy condoms. I think my dad would go crazy if he saw one. Siet Yen was like, no, not yet. See *this one* only go mad. She was pointing at a pregnancy test.

My iPhone died today too. The backlit died. The screen, all black. Shit. Maxis person said maybe can exchange a new one. But... I don't want another phone. I just want this one. I don't care about chasing new models. OH BABY PLEASE COME BACK TO LIFE. :'( Can call and stuff but so very blinddd.

Watched Sanctum. It was okay. Tragedy. Die, die, die. I used to get very fascinated with 3D but now I think it just uses up more money and it's hard to talk to the person beside you. I like to kacau people when watching movie. Got shushed thrice(this year) for being too loud in the cinema. :x

Oh yeah, before we went in we randomly picked tickets to get our seat numbers. Guat Tyng and Yih Wern same pattern, like playing this game. Lolol. And then Yih Wern's seat was away from Xian Jiong. Switched in the end. They so sweet. Hug hug. HAHAHAHAH.

Oh yeah recently I posted an illegal photo of Xian Jiong. I don't know how to make him stop zating me, forced to blackmail him with photos. Lolol. I dunno eh, it's like if we don't fight for a while, it doesn't feel right. Both "fan jin".

And then after movie finished it was already at night. So, so sleepy. Sent Jun Wen off to Daniel's gang. And went home. And into dreamland.

And oh yeah if you feel *ahem* uncomfortable about being mentioned in my blog you can tell me. :) But you should be proud if you're in my blog(unless I wrote something... bad), it means you're part of my life! ;B