on saturday, july 17th, i went over to my friend’s loft in brooklyn late at night after spending the entire day with the very lovely fashion hayley from australia! yayyy!

haha! here's hayley taking a snap of this really cute girl in williamsburg!

it was so hot on saturday, both hayley and i had to take rest stops every couple of hours. we went from williamsburg to the east village to noho to soho! quite a feat in this terrible weather, i have to say!

at the end of the day, we even had to buy cheap 2 for $5 beach sandals from old navy because we both had feet that were killing us!! we were seriously waddling along in pain! it was hilarious! and the sighs of relief after changing out of our old sandals and into the flip-flops…. ahhhhh~~~.

this photo is courtesy of fashion hayley. the girl in the middle is one of her readers who happened to walk by and said hi to hayley while we sat and talked on the stoop!

i dropped off my stuff at home and then headed to brooklyn. 4 of my friends live together in a loft there, and it wasn’t any sort of party or anything, but they were drinking beers and asked anyone who was bored shitless to drop by.

so of course…

when i got there, someone had put one of those caps on the fire hydrant downstairs and left it running. so the photographer in the house decided to run down to snap some pictures and we went along because we were busybodies. what else. i kept trying to peep and see what functions ryosuke was using to take his pictures and what type of buttons he was pressing, but man, it was too complicated for me! i really wish i was better at taking photos!

one of their neighbours from downstairs brought out their shampoo, bath gel AND loofah and had their entire shower in the water. really? a loofah too? REALLY!??!

after the photo-taking, ryosuke and tossy both jumped in too. the next day, tossy got sick. AHAHAH.

i don’t even know what i was doing at their house… i think we were really just lazing around and having random conversations. before i knew it, it got light outside and i finally took a cab home at about 6am. the sky was so clear. it was really pretty and peaceful.

it's weird how much energy and qi i get from looking at the sky.

that night, we met at about 6pm at the japanese supermarket in the east village to buy ingredients for food, then took the train to brooklyn again and headed for koki’s new home. he’s moved into an apartment with his girlfriend, lisa, in a completely mexican part of town! as we walked from the station to his apartment, everyone we saw were mexicans! not that i don’t have mexican friends that i adore, but being the only two asians there, i hope they don’t run into any trouble. we must have been quite a sight – a group of asian people walking down the street in our colourful gear. haha!

koki’s new apartment was really long and spacious… but VERY hot! he had air-conditioners at both ends but we all wondered out loud how the previous tenants used the rooms in between. they were like furnaces!

he made us some gorgeous japanese seafood curry to eat. yummmmm!!! i hadn’t had japanese curry in a while so it was really exciting. i don’t know if he added stock, or maybe it was the sweetness from the prawns, but the curry didn’t taste anything like the ready-made curry cubes that he added in. i was sooo impressed!

total cafe-standard japanese/western-inspired curry with parsley sprinkled on top. then we learnt he DID work in a cafe before. aha!

the other exciting part of the evening was making takoyaki balls!! you might have seen them before. they are really famous in osaka, japan, and are often sold at festivals or road-side stalls throughout japan. i’d bought a takoyaki pan (with the holes to make those balls), so we all took turns making it.

how cute is this dude? he's the "oiler".

the room was soooooo hot because of the stove, i was gonna faint.

after pouring in the batter, you add octopus, and spring onions (or any other ingredients you want, like cheese etc), and start flipping it!

when the outside turned crispy and the inside was cooked through, the layering of the sauces begin! okonomiyaki sauce with kewpie mayonnaise and aonori!

the finished product! so good! tres bon! maji oishikatta!

in singapore, i had several okonomiyaki parties with my friends or at home with my family. and in japan, we had them once every now and then too. so i was really excited to have it again here in new york! okonomiyaki is really similar to takoyaki. “okonomi” means “favorite” or “what you like”, and “yaki” is “cooked” or “grilled”. basically you mix whatever you want into the batter. usual ingredients are stuff like shredded cabbage, prawns, pork, eggs, cheese, whatever.

“tako” means octopus. so putting in cut cubes of octopus is the norm, but now, it’s evolved to be really similar to okonomiyaki. you can basically put whatever you like in there. salmon, cheese, mentaiko… there’s even desert takoyaki now where you put chocolate into plain batter. sounds good, no?

if you’ve never tried takoyaki or okonomiyaki, you have to one day! especially okonomiyaki, since you can make it with any fry pan or hot plate. plus, it’s really easy to make and terribly delish. i will put up a good recipe soon!!

testing the first takoyaki to see if it cooked through

and it is!! yay!

i don’t know what we did the rest of the night. half of it was spent around the portable stove cooking the takoyaki, and the rest we just talked, and played the yamanote-sen game again. just like during the previous party, i had no clue to some of the questions and had to take a forfeit and ate this disgusting mix of fermented natto beans, mentaiko, ginger and not sure what else. tears came to my eyes and i thought i was going to puke. YUCK.

slowly stepping away from the fire and letting them do the work. lol. sorry.

no comment.

*guffaw*

tossy and ryo with sudden high energies.

i kinda liked this mexican beer from the neighbourhood deli!

and here's to the couple and their new home!

what have you guys been up to? summer parties? i’ve been obsessed with having people over or going to friends’ homes. almost everyday. with school over and while i haven’t found a job yet, i feel as though i need to fill this lonely gap in my life.

i never really socialised much while i was at parsons because i was too tired and couldn’t be bothered to go out and party like some of the kids did. so i stuck to my small social circle. i adore my friends, i do, but before work starts (if i ever do find a job) and things start getting busy again, i need to hang out with them as much as i can, see them often and just laugh nonstop, before i miss the chance to build memories and regret later.

i’ve never been to one of those huge public events to watch the fireworks. i can only imagine myself sweating like a pig and getting itchy and painful skin allergies because of the heat, and not to mention probably peeing on myself because i can’t get to a toilet. or worse, finding one and then vomiting from the smells.

hahaha.

the 4th of july is such a huge american holiday. and of course, i’m not american. instead of partying like a wild animal, i really do enjoy loafing around in house parties, with friends, drinks and random food. i spent both 2008 and 2009 at patricia field‘s home for her yearly barbecues.

it was always fun, and i love the people there, but this year i crashed my friend’s loft for their wine party. it was relaxing, hilarious, and just an all around warming-the-heart type of day.

heading to get more beers from the deli

ryo was already high when he poured the 1st bottle of champagne

we bought like 3 dozen cans of beers. i’d brought along 4 bottles of white wine, and they’d already gotten 2 bottles of champagne. so yes, we were ready to have some drinks! a pizza, mashed potatoes, chicken wings and barbecued ribs later, i think we were all nicely high!

my pajama-ish clothes

in summer, you’ll see me in either sleeveless dresses or some seriously baggy and shapeless clothes that do not cling to me and piss me off. i don’t care that people think i’m in pajamas. comfort is key and i will not be in anything that makes me annoyed!!

+ ne-net straw hat
+ cabane de zucca tshirt
+ rêvasseur betty boop sarrouel pants
+ undercover open-toe canvas boots
+ mercibeaucoup; necklace
+ rêvasseur woven cuffs
+ rings from maison martin margiela, h&m, vivienne westwood, number (n)ine

taking a break from the "madness"

gotta love the holiday feeling!

WHY did i not bring a proper camera?? my iphone photos all suck!

at about 9:30pm, we all ran up to the rooftop where we had unobstructed 360 degree views of all the new york fireworks!! i’d never really seen anything like that! we could see them coming from queens, the hudson river, and all sort of random spots whose areas we couldn’t figure out. it was amazing and felt really good!!

they've got a dj booth in their loft! this is dj shoryuken! hahaha!

when we got back to the loft, ryuji climbed up to their dj booth and spun us some tunes. it was hilarious. i mean, he put on some japanese pop songs and added all sorts of ridiculous shout-outs and random noises. we were doubling over laughing. ryosuke took some fucking amazing photos of ryuji in his booth. i need to get those from him to show you. he made ryuji look like a class A dj. super good times.

yume and i

playing the yamanote line game, a really popular japanese drinking game. wine's in the middle for the loser! poor ryosuke lost 3 times. hahaha!

have you heard of this yamanote-line game before? it’s named after the yamanote line, which is the main train line in tokyo. it goes in a circle, and there are people in japan who can memorize each train stop. and so that’s how the game goes. you sit in a circle, and answer according to the some topic, with some clapping. you can’t hesitate, you can’t break the rhythm, and you’re also out if you repeat an answer.

we were so pathetically funny, i wish i took a video of this!! we came up with really easy subjects like “name the capitols of the world”, “colours”, “american states”, and “countries who took part in the world cup”, etc. considering the fact that we were already a little high, everyone sucked. HAHAHAHA! i had to take a drink when my mind went blank and couldn’t think of a colour (so pathetic!). but poor ryosuke had to down the wine about 3 times. hohoho.

and then they somehow started playing soccer in their "indoor garden"

the night winded down at about 2am when they wanted to watch some horror movie but couldn’t find the dvds. haha! i guess that’s what happens when you get 4 boys moving in together and putting up walls by themselves – sometimes you just don’t know where things disappear to!

you know it’s hard to put this into words but i’m really glad to have gotten to know these guys. i really respect them for what they do. tossy’s working as a buyer for some stores in japan and starting a streetwear brand called slon, ryo and ryuji are working in bars, kyoko’s in a ramen shop, koki’s a photographer’s assistant for a japanese bike magazine, martin aka dj martin deejays at a bunch of clubs here in downtown manhattan, and ryosuke is a photographer for his own website, fadsnap.com which has amazing photos of tokyo and new york streetstyle and parties. they love new york. that’s why they are here. and they are doing what they love.

every time i meet them and listen to them talk about what they do, i get inspired to work harder and do better. and it doesn’t hurt that they really remind me of the amazing times that i used to spend with my friends in japan when i went to school in bunka. i miss it. a lot.

on a completely unrelated matter, i painted my nails and made it all nautical. my favourite concept = sailors. i have a fetish. not for sailors like the people, but for their uniforms. i’ve got a sailors hat, a captain’s cap, a nautical swimming suit, and so on, and the obsession won’t stop. the plus point of this nautical themed nail art session? it was in red, white and blue. perfect for the 4th of july! yay!!

captain nails

i actually take pictures all the time. after all i have a dslr, a regular point-&-shoot, at least 10 lomo cameras, and of course, about 5 different photo apps on my iphone. so i don’t know why i never thought of uploading them just randomly.

how silly.

so here’s a whole bunch of them from the last couple of months!!

i've moved!! it was mad!! but i get a pretty good view with amazing sunsets each night. which inspires me to eat good food

i love instax. these are from 1 outing with my old class from parsons, and from the last time i went back to singapore

i went with some japanese friends to ikea, and for the first time saw someone doing some serious bed-testing

brunch at pastis with my visiting cousin, then walking around the west village and washington square park

while bleaching my eyebrows, i decided to practice the kabuki (japanese theatre) stare: one eye looking forward and one crossed-eye. oh, and my birthday treat to myself, a whole platter of uni.

]]> http://queengilda.com/2010/06/25/random-photos/feed/ 10 http://queengilda.com/2009/11/29/bib-came-to-nyc/ http://queengilda.com/2009/11/29/bib-came-to-nyc/#comments Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:05:39 +0000 gilda rêvasseur http://queengilda.com/?p=1617

my sister, bib, came over to new york for a couple of weeks. it was her first american trip, and it was great but sucked at the same time coz i hardly had time to spend with her! she came with a group of her friends, and they went around sight-seeing while i was in class, and i would join them at night and on the weekends.

yo, even though i wasn’t technically traveling around that much with them, it was tiring!! i was tired! all day at school and then trooping around with the tour gang = tough work.

here are some pictures that we/she/they took. perhaps i’ve been tired of new york… just quite sick of it. but it was refreshing to look at new york again through a visitor’s camera lens!

it’s a photo fest, but i hope you enjoy it!

instead of getting 2 cabs, they got a limo from the airport!

first limo ride and all i did was sleep.

brunch at le pain quotidien

pizza on the go!

sir paul in the meatpacking district

going out with like 6, 7 people means you're waiting around a lot!

best hot dogs ever

the tsunami and chihuahua hotdog

grilled corn at cafe habana

somehow the west village just looks nice all the time

they went across the bridge!

while walking downtown

the fountain at city hall

trinity church

miss liberty

they went to watch the martha stewart show!

super grilled cheese sandwich

times square

i died laughing

inside grand central station

back in times square

horses at central park

central park

the boathouse

central park

peter luger's

]]> http://queengilda.com/2009/11/29/bib-came-to-nyc/feed/ 11 http://queengilda.com/2009/09/13/mercedes-benz-fashion-week-ss-2010-miguel-antoinne/ http://queengilda.com/2009/09/13/mercedes-benz-fashion-week-ss-2010-miguel-antoinne/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:47:23 +0000 gilda rêvasseur http://queengilda.com/?p=1192

it was the end to a very long day after awful rains and seriously strong winds, and i was tired. but i was interested in seeing the revealing of the new collection by miguel antoinne. also, because i kind of love visiting off-site venues more than the tents, when i had received an invite to miguel antoinne, i quite readily rsvped to go.

i went through his website and really loved some of the details that he brought into his menswear. the men have it hard; you can’t push it too far or it might be too feminine, and you really have to go into smart details in mens clothing because all most men wear are just jackets, vests, shirts and pants.

it was held at a slightly sketchy part of town, on 31st street between 9th and 10th avenues. i’d never been there, but when my cab approached the site, i did think, “there’d better be available taxis nearby when i leave!” it was a lofty, warehouse building, but i was pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the 12th floor and walked into a white and clean space.

i was running late from other shows at the tents, and when i got there it was already pretty packed. i was offered a few times to sit at the front row, but the seats were right next to the runway and i knew that i’d rather stand at the back to watch the show from a comfortable distance. while waiting for the show to start, a japanese photographer took a couple of pictures of my outfit. i gave her my card but forgot to ask for hers’. why am i so retarded?

my seat somehow had no collection or press materials, and i wasn’t sure what exactly the inspiration behind the collection was. but sometimes, that’s good too because no matter what the inspiration is, the clothes need to be able to speak for themselves.

i loved it. especially this suit. i seriously loved it. i want one. mens’ size, ladies’ size, i don’t care, give me one please. the print was gorgeous. a stark black and white rick-rack print, that wasn’t perfect, that had uneven black lines, and that’s what made it so beautiful. i also loved that it did not have a lapel, and it fit this model really well.

i felt its shoulders were just right, and the no-lapel look kept it looking a little cleaner; if there had been one, the print might have been too clashy at the chest area.

it seemed that miguel antoinne played a lot with his lapels for this collection. he did away with lapels in several jackets, used shawl collars in different shapes on some, and on one, he did some sort of fabric treatment in a shape of the lapel too.

you can't see it very well but the detailing on the shoulders of this jacket was great. and i thought it was cut really well.

i also liked the rounded square shape of the lapel on this jacket.

i’ve compiled some of my other favourite looks into this video. the use of a light grey leather in a pair of pants and also a pair of shorts really appealed to me. i also really appreciated the white shirts with contrast pocket welt fabric, and even the two-tone shorts. there was one large blue print that i wasn’t very fond of, but overall it was a very modern colour palette and i loved the use of black with blues, a light almost warm grey, and stark white.

i would have loved to see more of the white and black rick-rack print, but i think it was only used in that one suit, which was such a pity! more more more!!

overall, it was a clean collection that can be added to any man’s wardrobe and also paired with his own existing pieces. the miguel antoinne customer is probably someone who wants his clothes to be stylish and well-cut, but also appreciates having extra details in his clothing that makes it different from anything else he owns. the guys in the audience were certainly quite well-dressed. a lot of them had bow-ties though, and perhaps this can be incorporated into miguel antoinne’s next collection? might as well capitalize on what your customers want, right? haha.

having said that, i think the wrong jackets and pants were put on one or two of the models who were quite beefy. their looks did not fit well which was a pity, especially when one leather jacket seemed way too tight on the model to me. (or i’m just being picky in my own taste.)

drinks and hors d’œuvres were served after the show ended, which were super delish i might add. i was also famished. still, i should really have found out the name of that caterer. everyone swarmed into the reception area though, and being the socially awkward fashion student i am, i had to bolt.

while waiting for the elevator, i realized that it was next to… probably the original elevator of the building.

check out that amazing colour and texture. rotting wood?! hellllll yes. love.

oh, and don’t worry. i got a cab within 3 minutes of leaving the building. my bad, miguel antoinne!

the lovely naoko jackson brought me along with her to the arise: promise of africa collective. this was one of the shows during the s/s 2010 mercedes-benz fashion week that i was really interested in watching, because i’d been so fascinated with african textiles. it all began about a year ago when i was researching prints, and came across the most beautiful woven trims made by african artisans.

and so the love affair began!

for the first time in my life, i’d actually asked/begged for an invite to the show. i am usually such a mouse and not at all able to ask for things, but i’d really wanted to see this show so i somehow mustered up the courage to email the pr rep to ask for a ticket, standing, seating, crawling, anything would do.

unfortunately the reality was that i am quite a nobody, and they replied to say that the show was full.

i lamented on twitter, and nao-chan invited me to join her team. i will be eternally grateful!

we arrived at the tents at about 7:30pm and stood in line and tried to glare at the people who were pushing at us. we also got interviewed by nvmagazine.com and i’m quite sure i stuttered as usual. i’m hoping against hope that if they put that clip online, that the editors would be kind enough to edit my s-s-s-stutters out.

it was a rainforest-y feel when we got into the promenade. everyone was green because of the lights, and i loved that they played these jungle sounds. it was packed and there were women wearing traditional african clothing which i loved. one lady had the biggest hat ever and she made it werk!

for those who don’t know, arise is a style, fashion and cultural magazine that celebrates african achievements in all fields. the 4 designers who showed at the mercedes-benz fashion week, were the chosen winners of the arise fashion awards, where over 50 designers from 20 countries took part.

within minutes of the show starting, i was rudely aware of how awful my camera was. either that or i have no idea how to use it. i need a fancy-pancy dslr.

isn't this a disgrace?! ugh.

so i switched to taking videos instead!! i took short clips of my favourite looks from each designer.

the first was jewel by lisa. lisa folawiyo’s collection was a mix of quality ankara, with linens, lace, silk, taffeta and chiffon, and all her garments are apparently hand-embellished with beads, sequins and swarovski crystals.

unfortunately i’d loved four other looks by lisa that i failed to capture on my camera (refer to #fail pictures above), but you can get a gist of her designs from the video.

as a designer myself who is obsessed with colour and print, i wanted to hug lisa! her collection was simple and quite casual, but it was in bright, warm colours and adorned with sparkling jewels. she used large bold prints in contrasting and complementary colours, mostly primary with blues, reds and yellows, topped with some lovely shots of warm orange. i could not get enough of those prints!!

she had a couple of slim pants; one of the pant looks was covered in swarovskis or something else that shone in the light, and i loved how it looked walking down the runway. the other pant look was a slim jumpsuit; very clean, and because of the print, rather bold. i loved it.

otherwise, her collection was mostly shorter or knee-length girly dresses, with flirty gathered skirts that swirled as the models walked down the runway. other than the jumpsuit, most women of any shape would probably look amazing in any of her dresses. i’m quite sure i’d love to own one!

the designer in a jacket of her own print. hot.

next was tiffany amber, whose designer, folake folarin-coker, is co-honouree for best designer 2009 at the arise fashion award. this is the second time she is taking part in the arise africa collective.

it was a rather mature collection, with beautiful and light silks that floated and billowed in the wind as the models walked. there were some jewel and metallic tones, but it was mostly magenta, a sort of canary and also mustard yellow and a light blue colour palette. what i loved most about her collection was how the dresses seemed to glide so effortlessly across the runway, and how they caught the air.

the last look was the above blue dress, that looked like it was sea foam and waves. but my favourite dress, i couldn’t find pictures for and you’d have to look for it in the video (it is the first dress in my video). it was a bright yellow colour, and cut with extremely wide and square sleeves that almost looked like a cape, and filled itself with air like a hot-air balloon. the main bodice had a sort of blue print and was topped off with beading of some sort, but it wasn’t randomly placed; the position of the print on the dress was very calculated and it trickled very well down the model’s body. gorgeous!

folake folarin-coker

the third collection we saw was by eric raisina, who was born in madagascar. anyone who has the word “raisin” in their name and is from madagascar is a friend of mine. (ps: eric needs to have a website asap.) eric has a masters in textile and fashion design at the institut francais de la mode in paris, and ahem, he’s worked with kenzo, jean paul gaultier, thierry mugler, yves saint laurent, christian lacroix and christian dior.

ek-ki-su-ki-yooooz me? that’s like my freaking dream resume! dammit! but don’t let those big names fool you. eric holds his own.

as a designer myself, i can truely appreciately eric’s collection. it was very fiery and sexy, and maybe not something that i can pull off or have the guts (or the body) to wear, but i know the amount of work that had to go into making each dress of his. he uses some really pretty silks and other fabrics and works his own wonders in them, creating amazing texture through pleating, gathers, ruffles and other appliques.

you know, it’s so easy to just slap on a print. but when a designer actually thinks not only about the shape of his garments, and how it looks from all angles, and is also concerned enough to design his own textiles, i am in awe and full of respect.

my favourite was probably the last dress in the pictures, but i preferred it from the back. it was a one-sleeve dress, with a sleeve that extended from the left waist toward the right shoulder. in a simple black double-silk jersey, it would have been so chic. but in this eye-popping orange and pink mix, it blew my brains. i think my only criticism was that the styling of his models looks were rather inconsistent, and i would have personally preferred some form of consistency. some models had contrasting shoes; some didn’t. some had bouncy waves, some had hair all over their faces, and some had hair that was slicked back. hmmm.

eric raisina. gotta love a man who wears shades of orange and yellows with blue.

the designer to close the arise show, was david tlale. he was the winner of the arise fashion award for best designer in 2009. he’s also won the elle new talent award and the sunday times designer of the year award in 2003.

david is a talented designer, and i think what i loved most about his designs was how he concentrated on featuring a woman’s neck. to me, i felt my eyes being drawn constantly to her neck, which is probably one of the most beautiful parts of a woman’s body. (that is, if you aren’t overweight and don’t have leather skin like a certain rachel z*e. oops, did i just say that?) he also played it up with strong shoulders, but instead of how many designers have done it by just inserting huge shoulder pads and squaring the shoulders off, he built the shoulders up with fabric treatments, pleating, braiding and twisting the fabric around the shoulders to give it height or just to highlight it.

there were many incredibly wearable pieces that would fit right into my wardrobe, with a lot of separates that i would love to wear, day or night. i especially loved the look with a black vest and a sort-of twisted tube around the arm-holes, with ruffles around the neck in the high-collar. it was suuuuper!!

the downside, however, was that i felt his collection, wasn’t really a collection. it was a gathering of his amazing designs, but it did not feel like it had one consistent point of view. the show kicked off with this look:

i’m not sure what that is. i’m not quite a fan, especially with the ruffles at the sleeves. it had some interesting details which could have been expanded on, but this was one solo look that had no partner. it could have been an extremely modern and a little avant-garde collection but it really needed another look in his collection to go with it.

then david went into a lot of dressy and smart casual separates which were probably my favourite from him. then bang! this dress came out on the runway.

i felt like it was not only badly made (do i sound like a bitchy nina garcia on project runway?), but it was just wrong. the model had extremely obvious problems walking in it. the skirt was too tight for her and it would have been ok had the mermaid seam been above her knee instead of just below it. but it restricted her movements tremendously and everyone could see it happening. ouch. to add to that, it was extremely heavy with massive amounts of tulle in the front, and hardly any in the back. so the model had to not only take small steps, but she had to kick the crinoline with each step she took. everyone around me made a comment on it. it was a little painful to witness.

but everyone forgot about it the moment tyson walked out. the first time i saw tyson’s picture was when he was the face of the polo sport perfume many many years ago. i was probably like, 10? and i thought he was cute. hohoho. and let me tell you, the crowd cheered and clapped when tao and chanel iman walked. but when tyson came strutting out, man, the hoots and whistles were just on a different scale. this is what supermodels are made off.

david tlale closing the show

and there you have it, the fabulous four designers for arise: promise of africa collective! i was honestly hoping to see more prints, but the designers did not disappoint with their use of colour and embellishments. it was great and i really enjoyed this show!

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disclaimer: all nice and non-blurry photos are courtesy of the lovely folks at image.net.