Welcome Year of the Rabbit

 Hi everyone,








I have to firstly apologise that much has been happening on my end and I needed to take a haitus from blogging over the last year. My main focus for social media interaction was ONLY via Instagram, hence  for those of you are not following me yet on Instagram, kindly do so with my handle : @yourstylearchitect so you can enjoy the reels and videos I have put together as well as for more regular outfit inspirations.

Firstly, I have to admit that  2022 was a year I like to leave behind me as I had a few challenges from a fractured foot ( so that meant mobility was a big issue) which did not allow me to take many photos or do much styling. Then the disappointments with insincere people and friendships, of which I should have trusted my gut feelings from Day 1 when I spotted the red flags. Well, I guess we all live and let learn and so I have moved on leaving hypocrisy behind and definitely not wanting to reinvite such negativity into my life again. Sadly, 2022 also brought further sadness with the passing of our rescue dog from Hong Kong, who had succumbed recently to cancer and passed on 5 Dec 2022. It was a sad, trying few months that I had to administer palliative care for her. I still miss Rum badly. I will share a tribute reel I had put together for her in my next post.

Anyways, now with the Year of the Rabbit at hand, I finally decided to check-in again to my blog and at least say Hi to those of you who have continued to love and support me in what I do. So here's a big bang entry into the Year of the Rabbit and still pushing hard to inspire all of you on how to shop from your own wardrobe, keep fashion sustainable and be very selective on how you spend your money on new buys. Yes, we are all facing some financial restrictions during this tough economic times, so why spend what's not necessary but just restyle, re-wear and re-create new looks from what you have.

In the first qipao / cheongsam look - which is a traditional Chinese outfit that most women wear especially during special occasions like Lunar New Year, Weddings or formal events, mine here was custom made for me back in 2021. Unfortunately as I get older in years, the confidence of wearing short or mini skirts gets lesser, therefore I have decided to " extend " the hemline of this outfit without altering it per se, but throwing on a tulle skirt underneath and voila... we got a whole new vibe going on here. A fusion twist to a traditional garb.

In the second look, I added an obi belt made of men's ties to cinch in the waist and add a bit of " drama" to the outfit. And with the tassle earrings, it definitely changes the look of the outfit to one being more chinoi in vibe.

Hope you enjoyed this first post of 2023 and as mentioned, do follow me on instagram ( click here) where I post every other day and provide " 3 Ways To Style " series for fashion inspiration on how to restyle your current wardrobe items. 

Love,

Simone xoxo



Pink & Green






Outfit & Shoes : Zara
Belt : JR Design
( Please use discount code " Yourstylearchitect" to enjoy 10% off your purchases online)

Hi everyone,

Thank you for still sticking by and following me although I needed to take a much needed break from blogging as my life was just going in so many directions especially with Covid. One would think that I would have more time to be blogging but on the contrary, I got busier with collaborations especially for Instagram which I am most active on, for all my social media accounts.

Aside from that, my personal styling consults were getting more enquiries and I am now also the In-House stylist for one of the most prominent vintage clothing stores in Singapore. Styling people have always been such a fun experience but working with vintage wear - that's a whole other ball game as not many stylists are working in that direction. Most are focused on workwear, casual wear and outfits of today. Creating vintage looks and getting my customers happy with those looks takes a whole lot more!

Anyway, to re-introduce myself to all of you - here is a Pink and Green combo look which is an easily affordable outfit from Zara and one that any of you can Get The Look ( and not just for less!). I love this combination a lot and you will see me play with such colour palettes in upcoming posts. Meanwhile enough said, enjoy my return from sabbatical of blogging and stay tuned for more exciting reels and blog posts coming up. 

Always happy to take your enquiries for styling tips so please do drop me an email or a comment below on what you would like to see me style next or perhaps to ask for some styling tips. For those of you based in Singapore, happy to customise a styling session for you too based on your needs and budget so please Click on the tag above that says Personal Styling and we can get going from there once you have completed a Pre-Styling Consult survey.

Have a great Valentine's Day coming up and see you guys again soon.

Love,
Simone xoxo ðŸ’• 💋 


UPCYCLING :: Men's Ties to Obi Belts

 





Hi everyone,

I had recently chanced upon a thrift shop here in Singapore which has been around for a long time but I have never had the chance to explore till recently. Here, I found the most amazing upcycling idea which the thrift shop has taken on to actively promote sustainability and yet be able to move their items in order to secure every sale that goes towards contributing and providing financial aid to the poor - The Society of St Vincent De Paul.

So what is so amazing was that I found some stunning Obi belts which is one size fits all and is perfect for them to use men's ties and create this amazing new product. As most people are working from home, of course men nowadays rarely wear ties to work or even from home, so with so much stock of donated men's ties in the store which was not moving off the shelves, this amazing idea by one of their volunteers got me so excited that I bought 5 immediately. Not to mention that a local newscaster/ celebrity/ ex-model saw it on my Instagram feed and she too supported them with some purchases. From then on, I have touched based with the store manager and he said since the post on Instagram, many have been buying the belts and the volunteers are now struggling to get more out as there is now a waitlist. Previously when they had first launched it, it was online for sale for over 2 weeks yet no one took any interest to it. 

So as I would say #trustthestylist and once I showcased how to mix and match using these Obi belts, I am sure more of you ( especially those living in Singapore) will be able to lend your support to this great cause and promote sustainability.

Enjoy this little video I had put together showcasing 3 of the Obi Belts I have purchased for your styling inspirations.

( Please click  here if you are unable to view above )

Top : Cotton On 
Vest : H&M
Skirt : Stradivarius
Earrings : A Vintage Tale
Shoes : Prada from Vestiaire Collective

Love,

Simone xoxo

Print On Print

 











( use code " SIMONE15" to enjoy 15% off when you shop online)
Shoes : Anothersole

Hi everyone,

Recently I have started a new series on Instagram called " Street Art & Street Walks" of which given the fact we can hardly travel these days, I took the opportunity of taking a new friend who has recently relocated to Singapore, to see the sights and sounds of Singapore. And in this way, rediscover Singapore for myself.

We had fun on a few of these streetwalks and I wanted to share one of these walks with you. We chanced upon this lovely mural along Chinatown and had to just take some gorgeous pics with it. See if you can spot me in them. The first larger one, depicts the neighbourhood lifestyle of days gone by. To be honest I do recall these settings growing up. Where housewives would be shouting down to the " mamak" shop owner downstairs ( often of Indian or Malay descent) asking to buy onions, bananas or some basic grocery like sugar or salt as they run out of them whilst cooking. Imagine having to run down the stairs to buy it was too much of a trouble so a basket would be lowered for the produce and money transacted the same way. Amazing.... 

Back to this particular outfit. A cotton blouse which is perfect for this current humid tropical weather ( yes it has been a "cool" 28 degrees at 7am!). And a hat is a must-have these days when out and about although I am glad to add since this post was due to be published we have had a bit of thunderstorms to cool things down albeit for a short spell. I love how I enjoy playing print-on-print and the whole outfit is a testament to this fashion trend. Everything I had on was printed - from the blouse, to the skirt to the embroidered up cycled kimono fabric bag. Yet everything came together so beautifully ( well in my eyes at least) as they all were part of the neutral family in terms of colour tone and therefore that is a big must if you are playing with prints and afraid to make too much mistakes if you started clashing prints with colours.

Do share with me how you play print on print ? 

Love,
Simone xoxo



Summer is In The Air

 









Dress : Shein (sold out, similar here)
Bag : Katie Judith
Bag Strap : Shein (similar here)
Shoes : ASOS ( past season)

Hi everyone,

For those of you living in Singapore, you would have been following me on Instagram where I have been showcasing many types of hats or head cover recently as it's been sweltering hot these last few weeks. The heat and then the extreme blasting air conditioning in malls or public transportation has me suffering pounding migraines and headaches.

So I decided to keep the temperature more constant by wearing head scarves, hats and some type of cover from the drastic change in temperature on the top of my head. With this, I started to enjoy styling the different types of hats and I start to realise that not many people do wear hats in Singapore - when our weather is so ideal to style hats. I am not just talking about sports caps but stylish and chic hats.

Hence, I started a #hatchallengesg on Instagram to get everyone to share with me pics of them styling hats in Singapore so we can push more people to enjoy this trend. If you could, please do share your pic with me with the following :

1) #hatchallengesg
2) tag @yourstylearchitect

Moving on to today's look, I love this saucer style hat which I had commissioned my favourite millinery in Singapore - Girl With A Hat to design for me after watching the Emily in Paris series on Netflix. Yet wanting something more feminine and cute - Lise who is the owner and found of this millinery added cute little butterflies to my saucer hat to create some 3D effect for me.

So here is the first of many looks styling this cute hat for Summer!

I hope you enjoyed this fun look and don't forget to head on to Instagram to participate in my #hatchallengesg!

Love,
Simone xoxo