Vintage Shanghai

I was invited by Sally, the general manager of Amansara, to her 1930's Shanghai party at her home.

I went together with Veejay, Loven and Faith.

Sally's house is 1930's Sino Khmer house, a rare example of its kind. Sally is renting it from our friend Darryl who meticulously bought and transported this house to Siem Reap from Kompong Cham province.

Being inside the house feels like being transported to a different time from the past.

The party was so chic!

Nowadays, I tend to cocoon in the house and not go out to parties but if it's an Amansara party I simply can't refuse. Needless to say I enjoyed my time.

Pasta Dinner

A simple spaghetti with tomato sauce was prepared by Blady and Cielo for dinner to welcome our friends from Pattaya.

Yum! My plate and I had a second helping.

I brought a cheesecake for desserts.

Nina and Graham. They will be relocating to the States.

Amor and Ariel. They are based in Pattaya.

Blady, Bryce and Cielo, our hosts.

Tonle Sap

Friends from Pattaya came to visit Siem Reap and we toured them around town. On of the places we brought them is Tonle Sap, an important lake in Cambodia with many communities relying their livelihood. It is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is connected to the Mekong River.

One can hire a boat for about an hour of tour in the lake.

It supports a huge community of people that have adapted to living on floating houses. It is dubbed as the 'floating village'.

The tour wouldn't be complete without saying hello to the crocs. Cambodian crocodiles or Siamese crocodiles is a freshwater croc native to Indonesia and is largely extinct except in Cambodia. This is once instance where commercial farming has actually saved the species from extinction. Wild ones are largely known to be extinct, though.

It reminded me of 'Water World'. It feels like a different world there.

I don't think I'm built to last in a watery world.

Fashion Diary:

top - Seven Heaven tee

bottom - DP drop crotch

shoes - Timberland

bag - ArtBerg

Yellow

It was sports day at church and my team had to wear some form of yellow clothing. Thank goodness I got this Margiela AIDS tee from a few seasons back. I think it's the only yellow tee I have.

Fashion Diary:

top - Maison Martin Margiela AIDS tee

bottom - EDITED pants

shoes - New Balance

bag - ArtBerg

Nothing New Here

I like pieces rather than whole outfits because I seldom wear the same thing the same way. Still, it feels like I'm achieving the 'uniform' concept I'm currently fascinated about. Next idea I have is to choose 10 pieces of clothing to wear for 10 days. Will I survive having an edited clothing capsule? That will come soon but now I want to share my Fashion Diary below:

top - Zucca top + The Alchemists vest

bottom - EDITED pants

shoes - Y-3 Yohji Yamamoto

top - DP f/w 12-13 top

bottom - DP dropcrotch pants

shoes - DM's

top - Canali sleeveless jacket + Made In The Earth tee

bottom - DP dropcrotch pants

shoes - DM's

Same old, same old.

When Jil Was At Jil Sander

You go thrifting and in a pile you pull out a piece that will totally thrill you because it's something you understand, you like and from a designer you admire. I couldn't imagine fashion history without Jil Sander and her style of minimalism that she calls 'pure'. I own quite a few of her designs and like many of her peers during the 90's trend of paring down, Helmut Lang, Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela, Calvin Klein, et al, their clothes reveal more than meets the eye. Wearing the piece is an integral ingredient in understanding the kind of fashion they made. The feel of the fabric, cut, proportion, and attention to details separates it from run-of-the-mill clothing. The white and flesh zipped jacket above is one example where the finest cotton was cut into a slim jacket without any additional vestigial details. Light, functional and easy - a kind of fashion that integrates into your practical living. It's the kind of clothing that was designed a long time ago but still totally relevant today.

Cut The Sleeves

Fashion Diary:

top - reworked Belleno jacket + H&M tee

bottom - H&M jeans

shoes - Timberland

bag - ArtBerg

It's so easy not to make an effort dressing up in a place like Siem Reap. Aside from the heat, the primary reason why everyone dresses down, it's also because it's a tourist town. It harbors a culture quite similar to a beach vibe minus the beach. Instead, you get the Angkor Wat and places to relax, have a drink and dine while you people watch. Lots of people dressed in ugly clothes with zero style.

Although, I don't look over-the-top (at least most of the time) but I truly make an effort not to fall into basic tourist wear: shorts/khakis, oversized shirt and flip-flops. Not only is it horribly uninspired it is such a terrible uniform for someone like me to wear everyday. I guess, it's the vibe of not caring one bit if there is a whiff of style to ones clothing that gets to me when I see tourists around. I see a few who can rock the default 'tourist wear' but then lends it an inspiring aura. But those are exceptional individuals who exude a certain attitude and basic understanding that there is such a thing as proper mix&match. Some combination of print, color and style can be truly hilarious or disastrous. And some people have this thought that since they are on vacation it's fine to wear the 'uniform' everywhere! From morning, to Angkor Wat, lunch, afternoon snacks, sunset drinks, dinner, and so on. I will not be surprised if they wear it while sleeping, too!

I went to Sunday service with the look above. Although it wasn't that formal the service still required a more dressed-up look and proper respect to the event. I've gotten the jacket from a thrift shop and decided to cut the sleeves off to make it more cooler to wear. I think I still look pulled together, not too formal, but still looking respectable. A little bit of effort and common sense would make a huge difference, don't you think?

We Are Friends

My dog Samson visited 1961 and made friends with Vuitton. Both are so kawaii!

If Only

Ann Demeulemeester

I found 3 pieces of Ann Demeulemeester from the thrift shop. I'm ecstatic, of course!

Truth

Barbara Kruger x Uniqlo collab tee featuring Untitled (I shop therefore I am) 1987.

Almost A Uniform

The concept of a uniform fascinates me nowadays. A lot of the designers I admire used the uniform concept as a source of inspiration for their work. Helmut Lang looked at military garments. Yohji Yamamoto tried to capture the essence of vintage workwear to lend poetry to many of his designs. Ann Demeulemeester wanted to find clothing solutions for working women like her. Even Rick Owens used ecclesiastical garments as a take-off point for his signature robes and enveloping pieces.

I find the strictness in uniform dressing fascinating. I think the ultimate minimalist has to adopt a certain paired down uniform to the point that variety becomes an irritation.

I've had another round of editing my wardrobe and I weeded out two sackful of clothing that I'm storing for now. What remained were mostly neutral colored pieces in black, gray, white and cream. I just left a few light weight jackets, some layering pieces, cotton pants (lots of drop crotch pieces), a few Levi's 501 and plenty of t-shirts. Depending on the weather I layer accordingly. Although my clothing choices is still ample compared to many I'm quite pleased with myself for editing it down. I like to believe it has become a uniform.

A few of my looks for my Fashion Diary with pieces from my edited wardrobe.

Above:

Top - DP

Bottom - DP

Shoes - Muji

Bag - ArtBerg

Top - Plantation jacket + Oxygen tee

Bottom - Muji

Bag - ArtBerg

Shoes - Muji

Top - e-Shop jacket + H&M tee

Bottom - Levi's 501

Bag - Jean Paul Gaultier

Shoes - Timberland

Everyday

My glass is always half full. And yours?

LOSING MY RELIGION

PHOTOGRAPHER ONIN LORENTE AND STYLIST SOAP KE TEAMED UP FOR AN EXCLUSIVE FASHION EDITORIAL FOR DESIGN SCENE, A POPULAR FASHION SITE BASED IN LONDON. SHOT IN PHNOM PENH, IT INCLUDED SOME PIECES FROM OUR DON PROTASIO SPRING/SUMMER 2012 COLLECTION ALONG WITH OTHER CAMBODIA BASED LABELS. CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE PORTFOLIO HERE.

tricot CdG

I've always liked oversized clothing for its ease and comfort. Living in Cambodia I have come to rely on some great pieces that are generous in its fabric and sizing. Even in my designs I like it a bit shapeless and enveloping. There is something quite dramatic about ample fabrics that trail, drape and cocoon the body. I think it takes a bit of strong personality to pull off a shapeless frock. All the people I know who have similar taste in clothing as I am are not afraid to stand out.

I keep thinking of what message such style of dressing conveys. Is it a negation of the natural body shape? Is it a reaction towards preconceived notion of sexiness? Is it an abstraction of form and function?

Rei Kawakubo's work for Comme des Garcons has always been in the forefront of challenging the way we think of clothing. The piece above from the tricot Comme des Garcons line doesn't seem to represent those ideals nor make you question fashion in an intellectual way. It's basically a t-shirt dress that renders the body shapeless like a piece of log draped in black fabric. Am I overthinking and looking for something that is not there?

Then I realized the magnitude of how Comme des Garcons has come to represent the avant-grade for me. It has become the embodiment of the avant-garde not solely in it's constant experimentation and questioning of the politics of dressing. It had transcended beyond that and come to represent everything avant-garde even to the point of me questioning the intention of a simple t-shirt dress. I crave to know the concept and the vision behind the piece. Yes, I am looking for something that is practically not tangible but comes with every CdG piece. To make you question, that is the genius of Rei Kawakubo.

Fashion Diary:

top - tricot Comme des Garcons

bottom - DP drop crotch pants

shoes - Converse

bag - ArtBerg

Ksubi

I thrifted this Ksubi tee from Psar Krolayn. I like the draped neck detail of the shirt.

Friends

Almost a Reaper, Julius was back in town. He came with his friend from the Philippines. Too bad it was just a very brief visit.

Oak was also in town for a few hours for business and dashed back to Phnom Penh, immediately. Good thing he stiil had time to have breakfast with me.

At least once a month I visit Amansara to check on my stuff there.

Despite her busy schedule Faith always have time to chat and drink coffee with me.

I love iced cafe latte and Amansara has the best one I've tasted here in Siem Reap.