Dark days

The days can just go on and on, without reprieve and without much reflection, not just while going through the motions but even when it comes to happy and continuous improvements.

I have just also enlarged the format of my fledgling street style site, La Folie Douce, and in the past few weeks have been getting more traffic and comments on this page.

Things are moving into a clearer direction, and this also applies not only to my recent fashion choices, but also to my day job at the FT.

Then again, it's been months since I've sat down to work on my poems, which for me, bring everything together in a way that is totally unexpected. Else, writing has meant magazine articles and blog musings. (On the topic of changes, someone has actually followed my poetry blog, which is surprising.)

Personally, only the creative process can distill the sharpest and clearest insights. And there are no point-by-point blog updates or Twitter feeds mid-way. In between there is only silence.

I wonder when that time will come again. I both yearn for it and fear its inevitable return. Till then, I cannot say I do not really enjoy these dark, opaque days. I do. But not as much.


Tuxedo jacket, from a local department store; thrifted plaid shirt, Izzue; micro houndstooth pants, Custom Made; skinny belt, APC; thrifted sneakers and open bonnet hat: both 5cm

My latest fix: Black open bonnet

Open bonnet hat, 5cm; striped tee, Izzue; skinny jeans, Two Percent; skinny leather belt, APC; plastic necklace, Qeelin; plastic ring, Saizen (Daiso)

Precious, temporary things

I just realized that among my posts, thrift shopping is the most frequent tag. Five years ago, I never even considered buying any pre-owned items, except for furniture and books. Only when I started buying shirts and pants to expand my office wardrobe did I stumble upon the joys of bargain hunting, especially for thrifted shoes and bags. Also by accident, around the same time, did I begin to write for magazines on the side.


Wool trench, thrifted; tee, Polo Ralph Lauren; jeans, Two Percent; thrifted shoes, Clarks; old electronic typewriter case used as briefcase




Thinking about it, I have to admit that fashion has never been an obsession. I didn't grow up starry-eyed watching catwalk shows or gawking at glossies or store windows. Now maybe it's a highly time-consuming indulgence, a self-conscious way of sorting myself out, part of ordering my thoughts at the beginning of each day, and part of my never-ending process of sifting through inspiration from every aspect of life — mostly absent-mindedly, but eventually with the prospect of producing something creative.




Writers and artists of past eras dressed to the part as eccentrics and agitators of society. But in my case, I don't feel compelled to prove anything to anybody but myself. It is a personal challenge to seek to find something new each day — not just a new item, but a new way of looking at and wearing even just a single piece.


White tee and knitted hooded tee: both Bench; jeans, Sisley; open bonnet hat, 5cm



Not very different from discovering a new way of saying something even via the smallest detour from the usual turn of phrase. Initially just for myself, but hopefully, like a verse or a torn page, it can find itself bringing joy or use to somebody else.


First two photos by Patricia Suzara