“Come into my garden, I would like my roses to see you!” poet Sir Richard Brinsley Sheridan once said, and what lady could resist such flattery?”

I love that!

Rose Romance is a walk in the garden of pink and dusky rose hues - the colours, the suggestions, the concept of flowers thrown onstage at the Met, roses clench between teeth in a Buenos Aires tango salon - M.A.C sure knows how to paint a pretty picture. All perfect thoughts for a summer colour collection.

Here are some highlights that will fuel the same imagination:

Just a Pinch Gel Blush Sheer Red Pink Tint: A sheer gel cheek blush in a pot that delivers a rosy glow of coverage for a healthy complexion. (I'm feeling rather like Jane Austen's Elizabeth)

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Pictures from the annual Costume Institute Gala (otherwise known as the Fashion Oscars of the East Coast, or quite simply, Anna’s Party) are still trickling in, but our eyes are already reserved for Marion Cotillard, who attended as John Galliano’s guest.

As the current face of the signature Lady Dior bag, Marion is naturally dressed in Dior. I must say, the French are admirably patriotic and loyal to their native designers; Carla Bruni is practically a free ambassador for Dior, and Marion was sheathed in Dior couture for this year’s Oscars - and who can forget the white mermaid Jean Paul Gaultier when she was awarded Best Actress at last year’s Oscars?

We all know that nude colours have been one of the most prominent trends this year, and deservingly so - personally I think nude is an evergreen choice.

Surely no one has done nude better than Marion Cotillard… she looks staggeringly chic and strangely enough, delectable is the word that comes to my mind when I first saw her in this Dior gown. Oh, to be looking good enough to eat.. let’s just attribute it to being French and their je ne sais quoi.

Why can’t the local Star Awards attendees look this chic?

Image credits: Red Carpet Fashion Awards.

Linda Farrow X Dries Van Noten (top) X *Prototype by Yohji Yamamoto (bottom) / Raf Simons X Dr Martens

We love the idea of collabs - the creative synergy behind the partnership, the unlikely romance that bloom betwixt two seemingly impossibles (such romantics we are), and finally, the  resulting by-product: a love-child that is loved or… well, ignored.

It gets even more exciting when the collaborators are design royals in a relationship with cult fashion totems. Makes it all the more special.

Raf Simons X Dr. Martens

Raf Simons X Dr Martens 3-eye

Dr Martens are just cool. No two ways about it, (more…)

Wode by Boudicca

Of a legendary warrior queen from 60 AD and cobalt blue ‘war paint’  smeared on pre-battle, and the poison hemlock that Queen Boudiccea finally killed herself with upon defeat by the Romans, Wode by Boudicca is a flacon of inky-blue scent inspired by legend, bravado and drama. The perfume, from the avant-garde label Boudicca (afflicted with the tendancy to use fashion for their artistic inclinations - how do they do it…financially?), is an art fragrance. So called while also holding the  beatnik-worthy title of Anti-fragrance (no, really.. how do they do it?). Not unlike perfumery breakthroughs such as Comme des Garçons’s Odeur 53 or Escentric Molecule - the latter was also concocted by the same nose that whiffed up Wode, Geza Schoen.

PS: I do miss  the cult beauty boutique Apothecrary & Co at Raffles City (it introduced me Escentric and its magic from a tiny product info card). I miss that I have one less option of a good store to visit now. (more…)

RAF SIMONS X DR MARTENS

LINDA FARROW X Dries Van Noten/Bernhard Willhelm/ Raf Simons/ Yohji Yamamoto

TRUNK SHOW

6-9 May 2009 at Front Row, 5 ann siang road

A dual celebration of cult fashion totems and cutting-edge design by design royals, multi-label boutique Front Row will host an exclusive preview Trunk Show to launch collaborative collections between Raf Simons for Dr Martens and Linda Farrow sunglasses designed by Dries Van Noten, Bernhard Willhelm, Raf Simons and Yohji Yamamoto.

Raf Simons X Dr Martens 3-eye

Raf Simons X Dr Martens Buckle Sandal

Linda Farrow X Raf Simons

Linda Farrow X * prototype by yohji yamamoto

Linda Farrow X Dries Van Noten

Will luxury designer bottles turn sky-juice into champagne?

Christian Lacroix Ice Queen Haute Couture and Ready-to-Wear Evian bottles

For those who can’t get enough of Christian Lacroix after the National Museum’s exhibition (Christian Lacroix the costumier), try getting your manicured hands on these exquisite Evian bottles designed by Monsieur Lacroix last winter when Evian paid tribute to fashion. One fashion writer very aptly called the fancier one Evian Haute Couture and the other, you know, the plainer one, Evian pret-a-porter. I have seen the latter around, it comes wrapped in a coppiced lace pattern, which gives it a classic frosty-wonderland look, while hinting at the winter flora that are found on the French Alps. The one-to-die-for is the sculptured Ice-Queen bottle, regal and majestic, it’s awe inspiring enough to send chills down one’s spine. On a sober note, it is afterall, just aqua, not much different from the dollar-fifty water you would buy at the store. So what sets it apart? Apparently just the design. (more…)

Those ubiquitous Balmain jackets from Christophe Decarnin’s spring 2009 collection have been selling out everywhere; the denim military ones were going, going, GONE! on Net-a-Porter within mere minutes - and they don’t come cheap at £2,716.87.

Everyone has heard of the notorious Balmain prices, but you would think clothes that costs that much would hold out for the distance. Kate Moss’ sparkly Balmain number isn’t due in the stores until fall 2009, but it would seem that it couldn’t even withstand a night of partying and promptly split.

Which begs the question - would you care to pay a undoubtedly stratospheric price for what is essentially a mini dress from the trendy label du jour? (Though some would argue that Balmainia has overstayed its moment…)