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Item Of Interest: A Sumptuous Little Life, AKA Romanticise Everything!

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Fashion

Item Of Interest: A Sumptuous Little Life, AKA Romanticise Everything!

In this fortnightly column, we take a keen interest in things, celebrating the moods and whims that fuel desire. In this edition: setting a goal for the year to love life and commit to the pursuit of surrounding yourself with enriching beauty.

by Gordon Ng  /   January 18, 2022
item of interest

Louis Vuitton's Spring Summer 2022 spin-off show in Shanghai

Before this year started, I had an important conversation with a dear friend. We agreed that we were kind of done with traditional resolutions. The trouble with these is that the time-worn form inspires little motivation. What it needs is a slight reframing. What I’ve settled on is an arc for the year – a state of mind to inspire and suffuse my choices and decisions with.

READ MORE: Item Of Interest: Getting Back To Business

In the previous edition of this column, I wrote about the headspace of getting back to business. In an age of anything-goes-all-trends-are-dead free for all, I really do think that a bit of direction and authority can be helpful! Hence my arc for the year: a love for life through sumptuous things. In other words: romanticising and making even the mundane enjoyable.

item of interest
Credit:Hermes

A lovely new Spring/Summer 2022 creation from Hermes to get excited about: a folding fan crafted from pear wood with printed silk on the leaf – a term I’ve just learned from this fan enthusiast (fan fans?) site.

I got an affirmation of that thought earlier this month when I learned that Hermes has designated 2022 as the year of lightness. That means literally light – featherweight materials, open-worked designs that let in air – and also a lightness of spirit. The material and the conceptual as a guide for both things and thoughts… Delightful!

READ MORE: Item Of Interest: Costume Jewellery’s Ersatz Opulence

But that’s one luxury house’s arc. How does a direction or arc apply personally? To me, it’s taking very seriously the pursuit and nurture of surrounding yourself with beautiful objects. Things that enrich and enhance. The thing about aesthetic pleasures is that it takes work – which is why frothy artifice can also be so hugely inspiring!

item of interest
Credit:Louis Vuitton

A look from the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2022 that neatly embodies the collection’s spirit. Having just designed the costumes for Alicia Vikander’s turn as Irma Vep for Olivier Assayas’ upcoming series for HBO, Ghesquiere was inspired by the notion of a time-travelling vampire whose style combines past and present. Hence the wide pannier shapes, the opulently-textured fabrics, and modern touches like sunglasses as ball masks.

There was one recent fashion show that really helped plant this seed: Nicolas Ghesquiere’s Spring/Summer 2022 collection for Louis Vuitton. The set: crystal chandeliers hung low from the ceilings. The clothes: opulently historical, layered chock full of decorative techniques and artisanal wizardry. The point: I think we’re ready to move on from obsessively curating the perfect minimalist capsule wardrobe.

READ MORE: Max Mara’s Creative Director On Why Romance And Fashion Are Inseparable

Ghesquiere took the zeitgeist’s temperature and rightly guessed that what we need now is romance… To treat the decorative arts as serious endeavours! It’s a mentality of loving life enough to seek out the many degrees of beauty available to us.

And because this is a column about shopping, it’s sent me thinking about lovely objects that add a plum, sumptuous quality to day-to-day things and activities. Basically: romanticise everything! Here are some of my suggestions.


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https://www.femalemag.com.sg/gallery/fashion/item-of-interest-a-sumptuous-little-life-aka-romanticise-everything/
Item Of Interest: A Sumptuous Little Life, AKA Romanticise Everything!
Ulysse PM leather notebook cover, $440, Hermes
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The most engaging conversation I had recently about shopping was on notebooks. No surprises there, considering January is stationery primetime. In particular, a friend and I were discussing the merits of Hermes notebook covers. The beauty of these creations – refillable, crafted in hardy, scratch-resistant Togo calfskin – is that they make the thoughts you pen inside feel a little more sophisticated and worthwhile.

Hermes
Santos de Cartier metal ballpoint pen with lacquer and yellow gold finish, $510, Cartier
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Of course, when you talk about penning things down you’re going to need an actual pen. Cartier quietly makes some really beautiful examples, like this model inspired by the Santos timepieces. It comes in a yellow gold finish and burgundy lacquer that’s got a real old-world charm. At 125mm, it’s a handy portable size but also weighted with the heft to make even throwaway scribbles feel important.

Cartier
Smythson A4 Writing Paper, $36, www.smythson.com
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When you’ve got a pen of your liking, you’re going to want beautiful paper to match. Smythson remains top-tier in that regard. These pale blue A4 sheets come in a box of 50, and at 115gsm have a nice, crisp weight to them. It’s pricey for paper, but think of how touching and chic it could be to dash off a handwritten note of thanks on stationery like this – pieces of correspondence that are lovely to receive and treasure.

Smythson
Dior Maison porcelain mug, $340, Dior
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I’ve been really into fine porcelain lately – particularly porcelain from Limoges, the French and European heart of the craft since the 1700s. It goes really well with my intent this year to drink better coffee, which is an effort to literally start days off on a more tasteful note. Dior Maison has some truly gorgeous things that elegantly adapt fashion motifs like the toile de jouy print. The homeware collections are not available online now, but well worth checking out in person at the brand’s Ion Orchard boutique.

Dior
Travellers' Tales Bags Unpacked, $140, Louis Vuitton
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Being a busybody can be invigorating. But rather than hound people around you with questions, why not scratch the persnickety itch of curiosity with a coffee table book? It’s a bit more dignified. This one is a fun and lighthearted look at what glamorous, worldly travellers throughout history have packed in their Louis Vuitton trunks and suitcases. Better still are the fascinating custom designs: trunks with a bed, trunks with secret compartments, trunks with a fold-out desk, and so on. These are presented through cheery drawings by Pierre Le-Tan, an accomplished illustrator who started out at the New Yorker in 1968, and narrated through snazzy writing by Bertil Scali, a longtime Paris Match reporter who understands the intrepid thrill of poking around in someone else’s luggage.

Louis Vuitton
Cotton-blend hair band, $650, Fendi
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This vivacious creation is from Fendi’s Spring Festival capsule collection – hence the tiger motif in its colourful print on silk duchess satin. What’s most attractive: is this not a truly fabulous thinking cap?!

Fendi
Nylon pouch, $505, Prada
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My mother used to house an ungodly number of coins in a black nylon Prada pouch. As it got heavier and heavier over the years (at least two decades, really) it transitioned from being a useful, portable change carrier into a permanent home installation/repository. The lesson here is that when Prada lovers talk about the nylon being indestructible, they’re only slightly exaggerating. That relic has since been lost while moving, but I’m very into continuing this little legacy. This time in vibrant orange (the brand calls the colour papaya – cute!) and a commitment to keep the change inside at a reasonable amount.

Prada
Teddy-D polyester-blend reversible bucket hat, $1,150, Dior
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Bucket hats are near ubiquitous today, but what if you took it up a notch? What if, for example, you looked to Dior – one of the grandest names in haute couture and one of very few maisons that has always maintained its own millinery workshops and today has its hats designed by milliner par excellence Stephen Jones?

Dior
Tomato Leaves medium candle, $250, Loewe
image

Loewe makes some really interesting home scents. There are also sprays and reed diffusers, but I think the candles best capture the Spanish house’s crafts-forward ideology. They come in glazed terracotta jars that make for lovely home decor, even after the wax is finished. There are plenty of scent options, but I really dig the tomato leaves one, which is also what the brand scents its Casa Loewe flagship with.

Loewe
Loro Piana cashmere-blend scarf, US$2,140 (S$2,881), www.net-a-porter.com
image

Most of the year, ‘keeping warm’ is a ludicrous ambition in Singapore. There are, however, always going to be indoor moments that call for something snug. That, consequently, calls for fine cashmere. This one from Loro Piana has a fun print of a Tokyo street, and is made from a plush blend of cashmere and silk that feels like heaven and drapes like a dream.

Net-A-Porter
Nº1 de Chanel L'Eau Rouge, $179, Chanel
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The most intriguing product from Chanel’s big new skincare line is this L’Eau Rouge fragrance mist. Unlike the serums, cleansers, creams and makeup, this has nothing to do immediately with skin. Rather, it’s meant as a sensorial prelude to your day or nighttime beauty routines. Taking cues from the revitalising benefits of the Nº1 de Chanel line and the red camellia key ingredient, this fragrance mist is meant to jolt the senses awake and prepare it for invigoration – a lovely accompaniment to make the whole lotions and potions routine more pleasurable.

Chanel
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MCI (P) 032/12/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.