List of things to do

I've been posting a lot of fashion-related posts in the past week. I have a pile of Sydney Film Festival posts to do that I haven't even started yet. I want to get my thoughts down about Malick's Tree of Life and the strange and unsettling Sundance hit Martha Marcy May Marlene. I want to do a Three Reasons post for Stand By Me and Dogtooth and Les Yeux sans Visage.

I've also been neglecting doing art posts. I want to write about this Ricky Swallow sculpture I really admired and studied at school, which I just recently viewed at an art gallery. 

But I'm just too damn distracted about clothes at the moment. I think it has something to do with the fact I've just recently joined IFB (Independent Fashion Bloggers) and met so many amazing people and discovered so many great blogs, hence my mind is very fashion-orientated. Not to mention the menswear shows are going on right now.

This is one of the reasons why I regret compiling all these topics into one blog. Sometimes one just gets preference over the other. Anyway, I'm now writing a post on the Burberry menswear show and hopefully by tonight finish one of my film posts.

Just so I have an image for this post, this is the sculpture I was talking about:

Isn't it jaw-dropping? The amount of detail it has despite the entire piece's simplicity. The absence of colour gives it that touch of being not quite real, which I find really fascinating.

Image from Jesse Mallon blog

Cut me some slack

I'm getting attracted less to form-fitting clothes and more inclined to a looser, much more relaxed clothes. I got these from Zara and they always work with a pair of skinny jeans or short shorts. I always fall back on them in times when I can't decide or when I want to look a bit dishevelled.

Or when it's windy. Because loose clothes look amazing when wind runs through you and makes all these weird shapes.

Top from Zara, Jeans from Jay Jays

All images are owned by me

The Essential Trench Coat

Top from Zara, Trench Coat from Burberry, Jeans from Jay Jays, 

Shoes from D&G

All images are owned by me

Celine Reincarnated

Remember this silk foulard pant/blouse ensemble from the Celine Spring/Summer 2012 collection?

Well, D&G reincarnated it with a much more masculine touch for this year's Spring menswear collection. All I can say is: thank fuck.


I've been lusting over this design, but a blouse and loose flowy pants is too feminine even for me. Yeah, Kanye wore the blouse at Coachella.

But I'm not Kanye.


So imagine my pleasure when I saw this collection. I really adore the baroque style prints. Even though they're a bit whimsical (a word used a lot to describe most menswear spring collections this year) but because of their symmetry, it still has a very refined, clean and precise feel. The flowiness of the fabric is perfect for the summer - it's comfortable and very wearable - perfect for those sticky, balmy days. 


The prints feel very grand and evoke a kind of magisterial and old-world royal presence, like they've been directly inspired by the ceilings of Versailles.


The denim pairings are very D&G - ultra-sexy, masculine and relaxed. Plus, the denim contrasts very well with the prints. 


Some of my favourites from the collection:

Now the trunks are the cherries on top of the cake. I can't wait for the Australian summer months to arrive. I can't believe I'm saying this since I'm more of a winter, coat/scarf-wearing person but bring on the hot weather! I really want to wear one of these around Bondi Beach.

The full show:

Images taken from Style.com

D&G from Luisa Via Roma

Another unpacking post. This time it's from Luisa Via Roma. I have to say their packaging is just as good if not better than Mr Porter. The shipping is free worldwide which is a bonus because it means I pay a lot less (plus, it's another reason to justify a guilty purchase).

These shoes are ultra comfortable and they go with anything. I'm also eyeing this D&G jacket from the Fall/Winter 2011 collection.

 No, not because Francisco Lachowski wore them on the runway and that purchasing them would somehow spiritually link us together but because it looks cute, has a nice colour and I love Lachowski Mickey Mouse. Really.

Paul Smith wallet from Mr Porter

I've posted about this wallet before and now I finally got it. It's got a more worn out look rather than a sleek leather look, but I've grown to really love it. 

I really like how it feels in my hands and the very strong smell of leather. Sooo good.

I was surprised by how much Mr Porter put a lot of effort in their packaging and their presentation have really nice touches to them. I love the ribbon and the hand written card and the signature white box. I bought another item from them, a Burberry trench coat (my first ever trench!) from their sale and I'm looking forward to receive that.

All images are owned by me

The Eye and the Ear

From the very first scene of Julia's Eyes we are treated to the tremendous acting capabilities of Belen Rueda who also starred in the equally creepy Spanish horror film The Orphanage. She’s the kind of actor that can carry a horror film like this very well. She plays a twin, the first, Sara, is killed in the very first scene and once Julia discovers her sister’s corpse hanging from a rope in her basement, she is unconvinced that it was a suicide.

They both suffer from a degenerative eye disease and Julia’s condition worsens after her sister’s death. Determined in finding her murderer, she has to do so before she completely loses her sight.

Julia spends a large portion of the film with her eyes bandaged after undergoing an operation and this part of the film offers us the most terrifying scenes.  There are many close-ups and most occurrences happen either off-screen or in the dark so it feels like we are as blind as Julia. A character’s face is not revealed until the end adding to the already unsettling atmosphere the film established.

The film makes very good use of sound and noise.  From the gentle tinkle of a key ring to the shrill whistle of a kettle, the sound is incredibly crisp and sharp. The film shows us very little because we spend most of it in darkness or away from what we need to see but this is why it works because by denying us the image, it heightens our sense of hearing. We hear the unsettling sounds and our imaginations are left to run wild, forcing us to conjure images in our head that is more frightening than anything they can ever show.

I’m reluctant to classify this film as only a horror. I felt that the first half was a thriller with horror genre undertones while the second half is horror with thriller undertones. The film is very well paced and the gore and blood was left until the film reached its climax.

The film consists of many well-made scenes that are genuinely frightening – Julia circled by half-naked, blind women in a locker room that reminded me of the creatures in The Descent, or the final sequence involving two mugs of tea, a knife, a freezer compartment and the flashes of a camera. These all meld together to create a compelling film that was a good antidote to several other anti-climactic and underwhelming English speaking horror films. If you want to see a truly horrifying film experience, just make sure it’s either Japanese or Spanish.

Images courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment

The Allure of the Flawed Man

The first time we see Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire we see it behind Blanche. Once she sets her eyes upon him we notice an undeniable sense of fear but also a flicker of animalistic attraction. Being the prim and proper condescending canary bird that she is, she quickly suppresses this unexpected desire for such a common man.

Then he takes his jacket off.

We see that tiny flicker come back to life, and as quickly as it came, it is extinguished.

Let me just say I did not share this same push-pull inner conflict Blanche had towards Stanley.

My attraction started with a flicker. Then it burst into flames. And it continued that way throughout the entire film, only slightly stifled by that brief drunken rage he unleashed on poor Stella.

Of course, that irresistibly mesmerizing STEEEELLLLLAAAAA scene played right after that and I was back on track.

He looked like a poor, dampened lamb. So very cute and sincerely sorry. I use the term sincerely with hesitation because I’m not entirely sure if he was sorry -domestic violence is unforgivable anyway - but let’s not deny the powerful attraction of a man with a ripped t-shirt. There is something so attractive about someone who is evidently flawed.

Stella said it herself. The first night in their home after their wedding, he smashed all the light bulbs with the heel of her slippers. “You didn’t run, or scream?”, Blanche asks her. “Actually, I was thrilled by it”, Stella replies back.

Now that we’re talking about flawed men, let’s not forget Paul Newman from A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He is undoubtedly sexiest alcoholic in film history. Like Stanley, he too is extremely troubled.

And the poor little thing is hopping around with his broken leg, you just want to help him.

I imagine myself coming face to face with him and smelling the stench of his alcoholic breath. Quickly forgetting about it half a second later just by glancing at his exquisite Mediterranean sea-blue eyes.

*sigh*

P.S. I just read through this blog post and it is overloaded with sexual innuendos that I did not even intend. Sorry.

Image Credits: Marlon Brando, Paul Newmam