This blog has moved!

Ms. Match has been meaning to change this blog and have a simpler address. Soo.. now this blog can be found on http://sashandblush.blogspot.com

I Heart Jakarta Biennale 2009

This year is Jakarta Biennale's 13th year, can you believe it?? really.. Ms.Match has been living in Jakarta all her life and she has never heard about it until the start of this year! It is either their PR-ing sucks or Ms. Match just doesn't get out much. But c'mon, she is the type to devour local magazines and other media on a daily basis! Plus she used to work for a life style magazine where there should be buzz bout the event among her art writing friends, and there were none!. And... some friends of Ms. Match's who are still working for said magazines still don't know about this event!

Well... granted they are not artists or anyone hanging out with ruang rupa kids, etc, but Ms. Match really thinks that you don't have to go to an art school or be a suffering artist to appreciate and love art! Ms. match thinks that they should branch out a bit and embrace some potential art loving crowd who might just be corporate slaves like or fashion lovers (pardon the uncreative term for lack of a proper working brain) Ms. Match herself, who are just dying to see some decent contemporary art! Anyway.. She meant to go to the opening (which was on the 6th of Feb), but couldn't because she ended up staying at work until 3.30 am! So today Ms. match finally went with another contemporary art enthusiast, aka Mr. Match and son to their main venue, at Galeri Nasional. Mr. Match who has spent most of his live living in places with proper art museums and galleries with regular exhibitions, was quite scepticla at first and thought that he would just come to keep the missus company, but.. he loved it. They both did! And they are super happy to know that this is an ongoing thing. Looking forward to the next one! Here are some of their favorites:
First love: works from the public space workshop (which Ms. Match thinks should better be tittled, urban space). Ms. Match loves how the artists incorporate humor, ridicule and sarcasm into every work. This is the approach she was meaning to take when she thought about forming an urban space collective. Art in urban space. Anyone up for it? She thinks that traffic lights in Jakarta are just a tad too plain! Maybe applying some much loved plaid pattern from last autumn winter? Or should it be tribal prints from this spring summer? Hmmm





These are others that Ms. Match hearts

Beautiful pencil drawings by Sekar Jatiningrum. Ms. Match really would not mind having one in her future house she will share with Mr. Match (even though Mr. Match thought they were too morbid). The white painting of strawberry with the 2 faces by Thaweesak Srithongdee inspires Ms. Match to don an all white outfit with a touch of tan and cool prints tomorrow! Ms. Match hears that the artists does illustrations on t shirts as well! Would love to get her hands on one. Does anyone have an idea where she can get them?

Cool Londoners at London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009

What was the first thing on Ms. Match's mind when she got a scholarship to study in London?? London Fashion Week of course! Even though LFW is not the 'IT' fashion show to go to compared to Paris, Milan, New York, but for Ms. Match who is completely in love with London designers and London street style (she opens http://facehunter.blogspot.com way too often sometimes, especially when he is hunting in London!) going to LFW is a dream come true. Since she was not covering for Vogue UK or Elle, or any other European or American magazine, she can only get really really terrible seats, where the only thing she sees sometimes are the girls from the chest up. So.. no cool pictures of the show, sorry (even though there are some that was quite ok). So instead, Ms. Match took her camera outside and started shooting cool Londonders. Here are some that she likes (by the way, these pictures were taken in August 2008.. a bit late, huh? but here it is anyway)


Love the shoes and the canvas bag.

Not sure about the total outfit, but was drawn by the bright skirt (or.. are those shorts? hmm)

Clashing patterns. Love!

like the shoes, and also love the hippy vibe of her hair and floral skirt which is balanced by the tough leather jacket and shiny oxfords.

She manages to wear all black wihout looking like she's going to someone's funeral

Love the oxford and the sock combo! Ms. Match is sure she will be tempted to try it one of these days

Henry Holland and friend, 'nuf said

Would the outfit look this good if the wearer wasn't Erin O'Connor? Ms. Match thinks so! Great job, Ms. O'Connor!

60's Shift Dress

Ms. Match found another bargain! A 60's style shift dress at FCUK's sale at SOGO for a real steal: IDR 99.000!!! what a shocker. That comes up to only about 5 quid! Don't you just luurrrvveee a great bargain! Ms. Match is definitely more proud of a great dress she finds with a very low price tag than a dress that would cost her a month's salary. She thinks that there is not challenge in finding a great looking expensive clothes. About the dress, the blue is like one of those jewel tone colors that has been really hot these last two fall/winters. Ms. Match absolutely loves it! The cut is old fashioned 60s shift dress, with a hint of 80s shown by the exposed huge zipper. The bubble arm is nice too! Ms. Match then wonders if the dress would look good paired with a lacey on top.
Dress; FCUK, Bag: vintage bag found at the big Sunday market in Rome (forgot the name) for 1 Euro, Shoes: Marie Claire

Prewed pics inspiration

As Ms. Match has shared before. She is looking for some inspiration for pre wedding pictures (for those of you not in the know, pre wedding pictures are something that every Indonesian who is getting married have to go through (Well.. maybe not HAVE to, but in the case of the bride's previous occupation as a moonlighting fashion stylist, it becomes a MUST) before the big day. Usually a couple, pre wedding day, would take some lovey dovey pictures. The pictures are usually done in a romantic setting (in most cases it would be a choice between: a. beach b. mountain c. Old town look in Jakarta Kota area-usually complete with old granma bikes and the resulting pics would have a grainy sephia toned look- get it?), with the either couples smiling idiotically at each other, lovingly looking into each others eyes, or laughing big and wide like they just won the lottery. The future Mr. Match absolutely hates those pictures. But what he does not know is that, pre wedding pictures do not have to be that nauseating. Minus all those 'main' ingredients Ms. Match mentioned, it could actually be pretty cool.
Ok.. to move on, here are some inspirations:

and this one

or.. this one


Whoever sees this must see that Ms. Match absolutely adores Alice in Wonderland and all other fairy tales that involve uhm well.. fairies.
And then.. while looking for inspiration for the look of the shoot, Ms. Match came across this picture. It is done by Eleanor Hardwick. A genious 15 yearold with her website here http://eleanorhardwick.com. Her pictures show similar moods. It almost made Ms. Match strangle herself. WHy oh why wasn't she that creative or gifted when she was that age????
Anyway,.... enough of the curhat colongan. Here is the inspirational picture. PS: The future Mr. Match has a very cute 5 yo son, who would be perfect to be the cheshire cat or the rabbit in a suit!



It's just perfeeeecccttt. The mood of the picture is mysterious and otherworldly with none of the usual lovey dovey romantic style lurking anywhere in the background. Plus Ms. Match's future hubby would not even have to show his face (if he chooses to be the rabbi that is. or the cat..)

Ms. Match actually started thinking along the line of fairy tales, but somehow got stuck on this Alice in Wonderland ideas. She is still looking for more inspiration though. Any help would be welcome!

Ms. Match is Getting Hitched!

Ms. Match's lovely boyfriend just proposed to her last weekend. Well.. actually it was more the work of the boyfriend's cute 5 year old son. He said" Will you marry us?" Ms. Match was speechless! She is about to become a Mrs. Match!

The setting was perfect, Ms. Match and her crew (boyfriend, son and nanny) were on the beach on a beautiful day. However Ms. Match just got out of the water after frolicking around and getting swallowed by waves repeatedly, hence the slightly snotty nose and messed up hair. Nonetheless, it was beautiful.

And.. I know what you girls are wondering about, the ring. The ring is perfect! its a simple yet beautiful solitary diamond white gold ring. Just perfect! and most importantly: it goes with any outfit! The setting is also just right, not too much detail but not too plain as well. Too bad the diameter was a bit small for Ms. Match's giant fingers! so Ms. Match said the thing one should never ever say when one is being proposed. She exclaimed "It's tiny!" when she saw the diameter of the ring. She knows that it's a really bad thing to say! But she just could not help it! It looked like a ring fit for a woman half her size, for God's sake.

Ms. Match's poor boyfriend was, of course, hurt to hear that, but after she said yes and explained that the size she referred to was the diameter of the ring rather than the rock, he softened. So... next up is.. looking for wedding outfit, makeup and and getting pre wedding pictures done!!!

Since Ms. Match was a former fashion stylist, of course she is eager to do a propoer photo shoot with her future hubby. Especially since two good friends of her from her days as a beauty editor, one a fantastic makeup artist and an amazing photographer, have offered to do the pics for free! Alas, Mr. Match is not the type of person who likes flaunting his pics around. He is every bit as vain as Ms. Match (sometimes more, she swears!) but he just hates having his picture taken. Again, Ms. Match thinks that the main reason is vanity. Mr. Match thinks that he does not look good in pictures. But Ms. Match has not given up yet! She will draw up some cool story boards of what she wants from the shoot and show it to him. Hopefully he would change his mind. She alreasy has some ideas for the photoshoot which involves a rabbit, a dwarf and fairies.

Quick note on boots and 80s power suits

Just saw the most hideous thing today. A pair of boots worn with a stiff, formal work trousers. FYI the trousers were not the sexy skinny kind. They were more the 80s style power suit style which reigned in the days of of Dynasty. I know the 80s is coming back and coming back real big, but maaannn you just have to see these power suits. While following Marc Jacobs lead on an era of style is one thing, following a decade to the T is very different thing!

To top it off, the suit worn with it was not exactly a perfect fit either. All boxy, loose, with no definitive body hugging accent. Even the 90s was not this bad. Its not that I have anything against boots. The boots were actually pretty decent. Believe me, I have seen uglier ones!

But its just that awkward combination... in fact, from what I saw, the boots could look pretty okay if paired with a mean pair of jeans or skinny pants. And if only, like in ugly-duckling-turned-swan-make-over-movies, the look betrayed the outfit, it would have been ok. Unfortunately it didn't.

What came to mind when I saw this look was the term invented by some friends at A+ magazine: shims (read the i like an english i), which is short for si mbak. Any Indonesian reading this would instantly think of a type of look which might be attractive for some (maybe for some mas-mas) but not quite so attractive for others.

Anyway.. Usually boots and power suits conjure up images of sexy, power executives, but in this case, paired with the makeup and hair and also the 80s look suit (which would probably look okay with a sexy toe cleavage bearing pointy stilettoes) it seems that the look is a mix of dominatrix wanna be and stay at home domesticated house wife who thinks that those bejewelled hair clips are the epitome of cool. clash in their heads.

Or I guess its just their way of showing their domination, one boot at a time.