Strange thing to say I know, but alas, there are stranger things. I wake up to the silence of a Parisian morning in my petite apartment. I listen intently to the thoughts running through my mind. And I find none. I dived deeper in my consciousness into the subconscious. I start to recall last night’s dream in montage. There were scenes of farewells, and tears, and maybe anger. I dreamt they shut down my website, they removed my TVCs, they shut me up, they make me small.
And now I am awake, and it does not matter anymore. Dream or no dream. I am safe. I am big. I am unstoppable.
So honoured to be able to collaborate with Tangs for this socially responsible campaign #ShopForGood, where a $0.50 donation will be made to Community Chest for every receipt generated between 2 October to 2 November.
As a media figure and lead of http://www.styleXstyle.com, I have always wanted to redefine our commitment.
styleXstyle is not just about OOTDs, LOTDs, or any other selfies-of-the-day. Fashion should not only be about yourself. I would like to take this initiative to truly empower the new generation of young and affluent fashion community on styleXstyle to make more informed shopping decisions, and to use their social currency to reach out to a greater audience and to do good.
Baby steps.
Other partners will be inspired to step forward too and one day… it will be a collective effort to give back to society.
See you later at the launch party at Tangs Orchard from 3-5pm.
The other day, I drove past Ion Orchard’s giant screen and I was filled with immense pride, because I looked up, and lo and behold, ourstyleXstyle bracelet ad was playing on the screen! And just when the light turned green and I reluctantly had to drive on, albeit at 20km/hr with my eyes still lingering on our anniversary bracelet on Zoe Tay’s slim wrist, another light bulb popped in my head:
“I SHOULD HAVE ALL MY COMMUNITY FASHION INFLUENCERS UP ON THE SCREEN TOO!! RIGHT HERE AT THE HEART OF ORCHARD ROAD!”
Yes! With a new found energy, I gathered the 2 youngest members of the team to execute Project Fashion Game Changers.
1. My new marketing genie, Rishon.
She mumbles a lot and half of the time my old granny ears could not catch what she is saying but she has been my pillar of support since the day she joined our mad house.
This is the girl who never stops surprising me with her Instagram photos, the girl whom I call oh-stylomilo-nananaz. She is petite and speaks in a very meek voice, but she has dreams bigger than Goliath, and she became one step closer to attaining them the day she wrote to me and asked to join our crazy family.
Here’s the thing, I lamented to the girls, some people are still asking me what styleXstyle is. It is indeed a very humbling question. But at the same time, it is to me akin to a “what is life” type of inquisition, not so philosophical of course, but somehow similar, because there is no one singular answer. Short of being pretentious and saying styleXstyle is whatever you want it to be, we are indeed not merely a fashion website. There is a lot of heart going on here in this tiny windowless office. We want to gather a group of fashionable people who are inspired and who inspire. We want to promote young and talented designers, fashion influencers, new labels, new brands, new acts. We want to nurture whoever is out there with a dream, because I believe that styleXstyle will be a jumping board to get you where you want to be. Eventually.
So here I am at my community page and I see many young people who constantly post your OOTDs on styleXstyle, who wear more character than clothes, more attitude than affluence.
I want to celebrate you.
And I want to thank you for making styleXstyle what we are today.
So what is styleXstyle?
styleXstyle is a unique blend of creativity and content, spirit and substance.
We are one giant runway that leads you to an escapade into self expression.
So allow this old Auntie Au to encourage you, to share your style.
There are many of us who yearn to be inspired, sometimes simply by knowing that there are many people out there who share the same passion for beautiful things.
In the spirit of our current #styleXmas giveaway, I decided that one should not only dress #styleXmas but also, to live #styleXmas. I woke up this morning, stared at my minimalistic (in my mum’s words, “Walao, so empty what style is this?”) apartment, and realized there was nothing very “style” nor “Xmas” about it. Something very obvious was missing here.
And then it finally struck me.
Ok you no-life-workaholic, you need a fireplace. And a fabulous Christmas tree with lots of blue boxes underneath.
I know a fireplace is not only out of the question but would also reaffirm my state of insanity in the eyes of my loved-ones. But I do pine for the scent of a real, live and thick Christmas tree, and I should get one for myself… before …before Christmas is over. “Today”! I thought to myself with zest, yes, “procrastinate no further, I shall do it today”! There was only one problem. To do that I have to force my lazy body out of bed*. I have to face the world out there again.
[*Disclaimer: I feel so beaten after a week at work, that weekends are usually reserved for me, my bed and I.]
Far East Florist, here I come.
As in all things in my life, Kismet always plays a huge part. I immediately fell love-at-first-sight-head-over-heels-in love with this giant tree!
But as fate also never fails to play that tragic joke on me (cue all my unrequited love requiem over the past 3 decades), it soon dawned on me that the tree of my eye will not fit in my bachelorette pad. Not at all.
So I settled on this cute little 5-feet under-dog.
One clumsy hour later, with pride and joy, I placed my favorite trophy on top of the tree, and ooh la la: my own Little Black Beauty Box Tree.
After this exercise, I actually have a better understanding of what #styleXmas represents.
2+2=5 