Dude and the Duchess -the bottomless principle

It is no news that everybody knows that I'm really bad when it comes to saving money. The statement is pretty much evident by the fact that the earnings I acquired from the Leftblock junk sale was almost immediately spent after we headed to Bangsar Shopping Village. The initial plan of which was to find the latest Beyonce DVD for a friend, but in fact, it turned out to be a good half and hour of perusing in Dude and the Duchess store just at the upper ground floor of the mall.

Dude and the Duchess is a local clothing label which is spearheaded by a trio of friends -  Richard Tsen, a local designer,  interior designer Ben Yong and Ben Read the graphic designer (the latter two of Delicious restaurant fame).

Their interesting principle is selling basics without bottoms, because they firmly believe that a lot of people already have been covered in the 'bottoms' department - be it the black skirt, a good pair of slacks or even the oftly-used skinny jeans that we just can't seem to live without.

It was true regarding the 'bottomless principle' - upon entering the premise my sight was welcomed by a bottom-less mannequin holding an umbrella, in front of a bicycle.

The clothes seem to be more of semi-formal or perhaps office-wear type. They comprise of shirts which are seemingly basic but however on closer inspection are with quirky details for men, like that detached lapels, perhaps invented for those who cannot bear the heat of a real blazer/coat/jacket. I think it can be worn over either shirts or t-shirts...(the photo of which I'll show you later)...

Alas a small-framed me cannot precisely tick the 'Dude' box. Rather, I'm ashamedly more interested in one of their lady's shirts, which not surprisingly fits me quite well.

I'm particularly attracted to the wing-like detail on the chest, which also reminds me of an ornate origami of some sort. The contrast of the shoulder and the body is apparent in the difference of texture, pattern and sheerness. May I say it vaguely reminds me of Raf Simons as well?

I shall wear this to a Christmas dinner party (don't get me wrong, I don't exactly celebrate Xmas but it's more towards an excuse to have a night out with friends and be merry...)

P/s: Yesterday a self-respected specialist actually asked me HOW to spell 'Merry' as in Merry Christmas..classic case of confusion between 'merry and 'marry' actually... I was bursting with laughter internally :)

Junk in my trunk - Leftblock Junk sale!

We had a tons of fun while selling away our pre-loved clothes and accessories at fairly cheap price. during last week's Leftblock Junk Sale. We arrived at Fat Spoon Cafe at around 1100H and quickly unpacked the stuff for sale. An Audrey Hepburn portrait (which Arman acquired at one of his travels to Paris) definitely transformed my otherwise lackluster stall to a much welcoming one...

I must tell you the crowd was pleasingly eclectic - there were the typical teenagers looking for cheap thrills with tag-along boyfriends (which proved somewhat beneficial to me as they were the ones who hoarded my stuff)....

And the shopper's demographic could not be more diverse when I saw customers of the more opposite end of age spectrum flocking the stalls, looking for the extra bargain just like their younger counterparts. The peculiarly funny thing was when this one middle-aged man who seemed so fussy about the stuff I was selling; he was inspecting up and down a shirt and questioning which appropriate gender should be wearing that item. I'm sorry but at the price of RM5-10 per shirt, even that was TOO much to handle. And the 10 million dollar question was his adamant inquiry to purchase my laptop despite me explaining  it is not for sale and it is the only computer that I have!

Several of the footwear that I had on sale - gladly high street stuff and British classics were sold off like hot cakes (the black Fred Perry sneakers, the tan Clarks mocassin and the deep brown Zara lace-ups finally founds their new owners). Alas the pigskin ASOS desert boots and Hugo Boss shoes were still up for grabs... (a lot of people find those 2 shoes beautiful but my tiny feet - UK size 7 was the major factor deterring potential buyers to try them on)

The venue in which the event took place was a spot on - despite its tiny area Fat Spoon Cafe embodies a rather vintage kampong ambiance ( which befits most of the vintage articles on sale that day), complete with polaroid photos of yester years reminding memorable journey the owner had gone through...

Me and Arman was busy life-tweeting the event

 It was a funny moment when he just acquired that vintage YSL scarf for nothing and tried to emulate Maggie Abang Saufi's signature wrapped head look LOL!

The cafe was jam-packed from noon till around 1700H when the yard sale was closing down. The money earned was worthwhile but it did not last long after I spent it soon after the event HAHA!

Forgive my moo face but this is how I look like after 6 straight hours of hawking my stuff. I was wearing Muji shirt (slight nipple exposure won't hurt no?), H&M khaki pants, Johnson suede desert boots and random accessories.

All in all, it was definitely a fun event  as a first-timer and not to mention it was a good place to socialize with like-minded people - I had a huge feeling of belonging sitting beside all these young people selling their respective wares. Maybe I should switch my career to a rather more leisurely one like this???

P/s: Kudos to Joyce and Chelle part of Leftblock trio for organising a great event.. looking forward to another one (another 5 months eh?)
PPS: heaps of thank yous won't be suffice to great friends Arman and Syazwan who helped me setting up the booth and hawking our wares...