The King is dead. Long live the King

After a recent trip to Thailand where yours truly waded across Bangkok during a heavy downpour, my precious pair of Converse sneakers suffered possibly their last journey.

Well, today, I finally bought their replacement. I've being looking for an affordable pair of white leather sneakers (or loafers), without much success.

This pair of Bata sneakers that I settled on were on sale for S$30, and after a few weeks of hesitating, I bit the bullet and bought it.

I chose the green version over the red version.

Pictures to follow...

[EDIT: 15th June 2008, photo below]

Cardigan Country

A few days ago, I spotted someone in the MRT wearing a cardigan. Nothing out of the blue, you say. And I agree. So why this post?

Before the sighting, I was recently at a recent SIFF screening at Republic Poly, and the air-con was mighty cold. I ended up freezing and fell sick after that, coming down with running nose and sore throat.

When I saw the cardigan, I was thinking that it may have prevented the above freezing episode. Prior to this, I had been on the lookout for a sports jacket to add to my wardrobe, but without success.

A cardigan could be better on two counts. First, it takes up less space in a bag (my messenger bag has little space left after my default load of water bottle, umbrella, and DSLR + lenses). Second, it's more "different" as compared to a sports jacket.

I was hoping that In Her Eyes blogged about it, and true enough, there is such a post. Of the photos shown, I like the blue & yellow striped cardigan.

Whiter than white?

I've recently noticed a trend of men wearing white loafers with casual clothes (i.e. paired with bermudas or jeans).

This is a great look. Not sure if I mentioned this before, but a mixed of casual and formal (or in this case, semi-formal) sometimes can work quite well.

2 quick photos from Pedro.

In her eyes

mensvogue.com
A great blog that showcases real fashion on the streets of NYC. Individual blog posts concentrate on one topic, which makes for a great read, all from the perspective of a woman. Wonderful, isn't it?

The short write-up says it all

"Fashion consultant and woman-about-town Amanda Brooks waxes poetic about the masculine sartorial choices she likes most. See what she has to say about espadrilles, seersucker, sunglasses, and more."

Who just sneaked into contention?

I've been searching high and low for a pair of white sneakers to replace my existing Converse sneakers, which are currently on their last throes. For a while, I even toyed with the idea of replacing them with indoor football boots. My self-imposed requirement that the shoes have to be made ethically didn't make the selection process any easier.

Suddenly a new (but not unknown) contender springs onto the stage. The Adidas Samba has a classic look, and also started out as a indoor football boot. But I'm still a bit unsure about Adidas's credentials in the ethical arena...

Shopping list

My list of stuff to buy seems to running longer and longer

1. Watch (for work)
1. Casio G-shock (Black IP)
   
2. anything else?
   
2. White sneakers (for casual Fridays and weekends)
1. Nike Tennis Classic (nice white with green swoosh, seen at BATA Plaza Singapura)
   
2. Puma Roma
3. Dark brown leather shoes (for work)
   
1. running out of places to find
4. Dark brown or black leather belt
   
1. can't seem to find a nice looking buckle
   
5. long sleeve shirts
6. track top
   

best foot forward

Since the last post on shoes, the pair from everbest has expired (RIP July 2007). Now, I'm stuck with only 1 pair of shoes for workwear. After a few months of finding a replacement, I'm still looking. Is it that hard to find a brown (reddish-brown) shoe (slip-on) that costs below S$100?

I have tried the following retailers

1. Bata
2. Everbest
3. Pedro
   
4. BeetleBug
5. Centrepoint
6. Metro

I'm running out of options. Last chance seems to be Mustafa Centre. BTW, some cool shoes seen here.

send out a clear message

Messenger bags are all the rage right now...Yours truly has been toting one for quite some time...no expensive Crumpler for me though. I'm using a replica-Crumpler, bought from Sports Connection for less than S$20.

the black pants has to go

With the sad demise of my dark brown loafers (the right sole split into 2), plus my growing waist size (no longer in the underweight category), it dawned on me to take the plunge (fashion-wise of course).

Wild ideas like white pants with white loafers surfaced, but I think I'll take it one step at a time (suddenly realised that the above combo might make me look like a student).

Anyway, I'll stop wearing black pants to work (for this week at least), and see what combinations to try out for workwear.

This whole situation is compounded by the impending demise of my other prized possesion, a pair of converse white leather sneakers (bought in Taipei for a bargain of S$25).

So perhaps I'll save me a bit of money (and kill 2 birds with 1 stone), by buying a pair of white leather loafers...

Jungle Ape (JAPE)

A new find...nice street style T-shirts selling at Carrefour supermarkets...just S$7.90...I bought 2 at one go...photos to follow soon

New glasses

Almost forgot to update...my new glasses, Charmant 10706 titanium frame, with 1.67 index lenses, total cost S$300, purchased from the Singapore Polytechnic Optometry Centre.

The last piece of the jigsaw?

After getting a new pair of glasses made, a replacement for my battered but still usable Casio G-Shock watch seems to be the last piece of the jigsaw to complete my workwear look. I've managed to narrow my choices to a look of a metallic rectangular watch with a black watch face, with a black leather or rubber strap. Bonus features would be a battery-less design (either Tough Solar or Kinetic, etc) and stopwatch functions. The Citizen watch mentioned previously is a tad too expensive (listed as S$530 on the Citizen Singapore website), so I'm currently looking at this Casio Edifice model (EFA-120L-1A1V). PDF manual can be found here.

A shoe in for sucess

What's in my wardrobe then? Lets start with my shoes. No black lace-up leather shoes for me. I substitute it with a dark brown loafer from Everbest, a local shoe retailer. The other pair is a mid-cut tan coloured shoe from Bata, yet another local retailer. The damage? S$60 for the former, S$50 for the latter.

start with new glasses

Its been a long time since I've changed my glasses. A few friends and colleagues have commented on my existing pair of glasses, that its old and should be replaced. Frankly, I haven't had the time to look into replacing them. This humble pair of glasses has accompanied me through thick and thin. Maybe it really is time to let go.

Watch where you are going

Citizen Calibre 8651 (AP1030-02E)

Currently looking for a watch to complement my workwear (my current Casio G-shock just does not fit in), the one above looks quite nice...saw a similar design (different brand and model) worn by my friend recently when we got together for a dinner (class reunion gathering).

workwear - step by step

For most Singaporean men, workwear means a long-sleeved shirt, either in white or blue colour, black pants and also black leather shoes.

While there's nothing wrong with the above combo, its good to experiment with something different.

You can show your dress sense by simply changing 1 variable at a time, either colour, pattern, or texture.

For example, a normal blue shirt, but with a textured surface, can show your fashion dress sense.