Event of the week: Hansel's 85 per cent off sale

I'll keep this short and to the point. Hansel - one of Singapore's finest and best known labels - is having a sale of samples and seconds and are offering discounts of up to 85 per cent.

If you are in any way interested in shopping then you should be there. The sale takes place at Isetan Scotts from October 5 to 11. 

People who read my blog know I don't write about every sale that's going on in Singapore, in fact I rarely write about one off sales. So for me to talk about it I must be really excited. 

A S$279 Hansel dress for S$79...where do I sign up?

Hadasity: Hand made statement jewellery from Singapore

When it comes to accessories, for me it’s go big or go home!

But even those people who prefer more dainty and classic pieces, they probably still agree that the more unique, spontaneous and preferably hand crafted the piece is – the better.

It's ironic that despite Singapore's leaning towards minimalist style, there seems to be a great deal of home-grown interesting and unique jewellery labels, one of which happens to fit right into my style–Hadasity.

I first came across this label at Soon Lee boutiquein Haji Lane and fell in love with the colourful and unpredictable pieces mostly assembled from vintage trinkets and wires. Recently I got a chance to meet Hadassah Lau, the extremely talented woman who designs and handcrafts every single piece at a Hadasity event to launch their new September collection.

One of Hadasity's unique and stunning necklaces! So random
but beautiful...

Hadassah is as bubbly as her creations and clearly loves
her craft!

Audi Fashion Festival: Singapore designers dress and impress

 Apart from the Parco next NEXT designers’ show, (yup the one I was in!), Singaporean designers had a fair share of spotlight this year at Audi Fashion Festival.

Of course I would have loved to see more of the local labels represented but the turnout and the vibe was good start – and hopefully a platform for what is an incredibly strong bunch of labels this year.

The main show I went to was Singapore designers showcase which featured 3 labels: Saturday, Depression and a.w.o.l. – I also made it to see alldressedup’s show after label owners Lionel Leo and Tina Tan-Leo kindly invited me.

alldressedup provided one of the highlights of the show with their elegant,
wearable but slightly edgy collection

Celebrating 5 years of DEPRESSION… the label

It was obvious on Saturday evening that those people who turned out en masse for DEPRESSION party weren’t there for the free drinks, food, goodie bags or to show off. People seemed to genuinely love the label itself and who can blame them for that!

The event was one of the very few I’ve been to where people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Almost everybody was in black-and-white, the trademark colours of the label (read more about it here). Of course I had some colour on me (duh!) but still, even my glittery floral jacket failed to alienate me from the rest of the crowd who were super friendly.

Singapore's rainy season’s must-have accessory: Pylones umbrellas!

Now it’s the rainy season you'll be most likely thinking of ways to keep dry.

But if you thought function couldn't mean fashion then you're dead wrong (btw - I don't count Burberry check umbrellas or boots as style).

French quirkmeisters Pylones are the kings of injecting a little life (and fun) into otherwise mundane objects. I was introduced to the label few years ago in Paris where I ended up on shopping spree for their cute and colourful kitchen objects and stocked up on umbrellas!

The Rain Parade umbrellas... Don't you just want all of them?

Versace for H&M verdict: Singapore men rule!

It's official: Men in Singapore are fierce!

Our fair island state is probably the only place in the world where the menswear from an H&M designer collaboration was flying off the shelves first.

Yes that’s right. The fairer sex was left in the shade by Singapore’s peacock males as the opening hours of the big Versace/H&M event saw the guys’ collection close to selling out especially the accessories.

The only rack of menswear left at 4:30

H&M launched the Very Best of Versace collection in Singapore: Reporting from Orchard road

If, like me, you thought that the bright colors, 'out there' prints, and over-the-top zebra explosion of the Versac for H&M collection was going to discourage the conservatively-dressed Singaporean crowd, let me set this straight: YOU AND I WERE (kind of) WRONG!

Apparently putting the ‘Versace’ label on anything regardless how outrageous, makes even the most colour-shy crowd in Singapore want it.

Judging by the queue of people this morning which kept increasing instead of decreasing, the collaboration was a big that some had started queuing at 5pm the night before to get their hands on the coveted pieces.

The Queue at 9:30am...

The good, the bad and the horribly cheap

Shopping for an evening dress is fun. Shopping for an evening dress on tight budget is not.

This is something I learned the hard way this weekend when attempting to find an outfit suitable for my inauguration on the Singaporean social scene at a very posh dinner.

On a ship somewhere, my perfect
outfit won't make it in time

The event in question is the launch of the Miele Restaurant Guide at Sentosa Resorts World on Wednesday, very much a black tie event.

Learning only last Friday that my gigantic wardrobe is not going to arrive for another week, I had to find an alternative to my ankle-length Alberta Ferretti halter dress and bronze Louboutin platforms which I’d already decided on. That was one hell of a mission!

So needless to say, this took up my whole weekend, shopping for a total of 16 hours until I finally found something which isn’t made of highly inflammable material and didn’t cost a fortune at the same time.

My budget was tight, because let’s face it, this was a one-event dress which with a closet like mine, I probably will not wear again for a long time. Specifically speaking I put a limit of SG$200 and if I don’t find anything I was going to go for my Karen Millen lace dress which although not dressy enough was a better option than buying something I didn’t like as much. I also had another restriction: I had to buy something which would go with my black Louboutins as they are currently my only dressy heels and I really don’ do cheap evening shoes.

Better under-dressed than badly-dressed,
this outfit was an option if all fails

So with no help or tips (from friends or online) I started my journey.

First I went to a rental shop. Although I found two passable dresses, to be honest  first they were not exactly my style, 2^nd, they were not exactly cheap to rent (SG$120-190) and third, imagine the horror of finding someone else wearing the same dress especially when at the time I was there I saw two other women looking for dresses for the same event.

My second option was to try different kinds of boutiques. Again, all the ones I fell in love with were sadly way beyond my budget (starting at SG$800). They were gorgeous but I had to stop myself and I am sparing you sharing my agony by not posting any pictures of them.

But as an aside, let me say Keith Png is a genius. Anyone who doesn’t know of the Koops brand should head to his gorgeous Hide and Seek boutique in Tanjong Pagar and be educated.

Another time…sigh...

Black or red? nice but none was really my style

Loved this one but sadly it didn't fit or go with my shoes!

It’s safe to say things hadn’t gone according to plan (my approach being slightly more discerning than my husbands – where’s the nearest rental tux place; yep, that’ll do approach), and come the end of Saturday night I was desperate.

And I mean desperate. I went into any shop that seemed to have anything below the knee. High end, low end, anything end.

From high-street shops like Mango and River Island to Korean evening wear shops which sold high-shine satin dresses which you have to slip on. I wondered, haven’t they heard of fits, zips or buttons?

Shocking I know! And guess what, they were on the higher end of my budget as well. I just couldn’t rationalise the fact these badly-made dresses would have cost me the same amount I paid for a Moschino dress from my favourite outlet shop in Dubai. I just couldn’t do it.

Love the colours but not really dressy enough
for a black-tie dinner

If only the colour was brighter and
the flower smaller!!

Vintage was also an option but sadly it didn’t seem the right kind of dress for such an occasion.

Finally I hit Orchard road! I always assumed that it might not be the best place to bag a bargain but I was wrong. Walking into department stores like Robinson I finally found a List dress which was simple and elegant and luckily on 70% discount.

At this point, I didn't know what to think!

I would be lying if I said it was the nicest and most stylish I’ve seen. It was probably my third best. But given that it cost just 10% of the 2^nd, I’d say it was a great deal and definitely much better than the cheap looking polyester dress that was double the price and not half as nice.

I think this whole experience cemented my belief that first you don’t have to spend a fortune to look nice even for a big event like this, and second never settle for the cheap-looking dress even if you’re on a budget.

I’m leaving you with some of the dresses I tried on (no names, no brands mentioned), but come back on Thursday to see how my ensemble went down at The Miele Guide Gala Dinner; and for the lowdown on what was hot and what was not on the night.

P.S. Please excuse my bad photography as my reliable camera is sadly still on the same ship as all my outfits and well, I think I was way too exhausted (as apparent in the pictures) to actually care!