Moving day.

Moving to a new domain. :) Click! Click! Click!
http://maraxchua.wordpress.com/

Music: I'm going through a phase....

and it's called TV on the Radio. :)

The New York music scene is what made me fall in love with NY (I'm more Paris

when it comes to fashion). Along with YYY's, The Strokes, Santigold, MGMT etc.,

TV on the Radio was high up on my list even though I do find their sound a little too

gritty for my effed up sunshine and rainbows and butterflies type of aesthetic. I just

like them because they're original and their experimental which I somehow can relate too.

I've known them since their "Staring at the Sun" days (still my favourite from them).

There are two version of this song. The other one doesn't have the people talking and the humming at the start... which I personally think completes the song.

This is a remake of YYY's "Modern Romance".... they get lots of brownie points from me for this one- it's just love!

Very nice fan made video btw.

They came out with a new album last April called, "Nine Types of Light", which I absoeffinlutely love!

I like that it's more pop than Dear Science... I'm such a huge fan of quality pop but quality pop

is becoming more and more an endangered specie. So thank you TV on the Radio being one of the last vestiges of good pop.

Here are some of my favourites from the album (I have at least 5 that I seriously want to post but I'm narrowing it down to 3 which I find extremely hard):

This is similar- ish to their previous sound in Dear Science. The video is love- it kinda

reminds me of Regina Spektors' *gasp* Samson video (the one with tons of paper art).

This is my second fave song from the album. The melancholy yet hopeful vibe

sounded like it was made for their then dying band member, Gerard Smith (RIP).

"Sunshine I saw you through the hanging vine

All memory of what was mine fading away
And as night heals the ground
And the moonlight steals the sound
I could leave suddenly unafraid"

This inched "Killer Crane" as my favourite of the whole album.

Only because I'm a sucker for songs about love lost and found and I love the video... it's deceptively normal... Plus I think that top the girl is wearing is from the Alexander Wang line. haha

"I'm gonna keep your whole heart

I'm gonna keep your whole heart

If the world falls apart,

Stil, I'm gonna keep your whole heart"

Fashion: Toys of my Childhood

Pattern I'm working on today... any guesses on what this is?

So I had a rather recent epiphany.While making this particular pattern and laying it out. I had this sudden pang in my gut and flashbacks started rolling. I had images of that sleepless night trying to finish this model with the assistance of my dad rolling like a reel inside my head...

It looked a lot like this. I remember the hull of the boat having a battery and motor compartment. No remote though. The lay outing looked very similar to this...

The pieces were held together with a square plastic frame and you had to individually cut the out of the frame either using a nail cotter or, my preferred method, twisting the pieces until the plastic holding it becomes weak and you can pull it out.

Don't you agree with me that the layout image has an uncanny similarity to the pattern image above or this pattern image below...

A hug and a kiss and a cookie for anyone who can figure out what this becomes. :D

And then I started remembering a time when the world around me didn't exist. The only things that mattered to me was getting a perfect score on my next quiz so I get paid 20php (pre-inflation; 100php was a huge deal then) ; and having a good time.

Playtime was full of make believe. I created my own world, but unlike most kids, I took it a notch further... I wold physically create my own world. 3D modeling was something second nature to me. My favourite toys always had something to to with building or problem solving while building .

Exhibit A. This was where is all started (I think)... I remember making mansions and castles and villages out of these.

And then I moved on to bigger things... Then I made 4+ foot buildings out of these.

And nice palaces and hotels for my Barbie too.

At the same time my love affair with Power Rangers robots started. I only really loved it because of the challenge of putting them together... I preferred to do them without the manual beside me.

This one is still on display in the bedroom upstairs. Went through a phase too.

And then the baking happened. And then the rest so they say is... writing is blog entry. :D

Soooo, this is my personal creation myth.

A step by step guide of how I came to be as a designer. It never was about the pretty colors but always about the way things are made. Ever since I started tinkering with the sewing machine. My question was always how this and that were done.

The progression from merely piecing things together to the act of making the puzzle pieces themselves and then piecing them together is the most natural thing. It's so natural that I never really even noticed the connection until recently! I've always thought my decision to pursue a career in clothing design was something random.

I could have on all counts went on and became a less specific designer of the industrial kind- doing anything and everything under the sun. It's the fact that you can do "magic" with any sewing machine is what made clothing more appealing.

The industry at large is still a very ugly one- both in front and at the back of the camera. I end up questioning why I'm here a lot of times. But in those moments when I'm in the thick of making and seeing pieces come together and take on a life of its own... I forget the ugliness and just get some sort of natural high similar to the feeling I get back when I was a child. Just the excitement and awe and satisfaction of being able to create and transform benign objects into something more than what they were.

On a lighter note. I'm ending by being a bit more interactive. Here's a question, "What toys/ objects did you play with during your kid years and have those toys been in some way reflective or helpful in your current profession now?

PICTURES ONE AND FOUR ARE PROPERTIES OF ME. THE REST ARE COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS PUBLIC SITES.

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing Tumblr giveaway!

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is giving away free clothes!<3
What is at stake?
You can win an outfit (top+ skirt of your choice) from the Nitrogen Blossoms Collection (subject to availability and sizes). Each winner can only choose 2 items.There will only be 2 winners for this contest.
Here are the rules and mechanics to join:
1. This is only open to tumblr users based in the Philippines.
2. You must reblog this post.
3. Like Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’s fan page.
4. Vote for Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing here (take note that likes is not = vote. find the heart to vote.:D)
5. If you have done everything above, send in my Ask your full name, email and tumblr so that I can check your entries and contact you if you win.
6. The winner will be chosen in random through the entries in my Ask box.
7. The winner will be announced on May 16, 2011.
The mechanics is really simple. So there! Good luck guys!:D
Spread the love, spread the word!<3
ps. if you have any questions, do not hesitate to message in my Ask.
comentários9 notes

Music: Origin of Love

From the "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" OST.

My friend posted this on her FB page. I instantly fell in love with it!

Released way back in 2001, it begs the question how the hell did I miss this. :)

These lines are just way too beautiful:

"Last time I saw you
We had just split in two.
You were looking at me.
I was looking at you.
You had a way so familiar,
But I could not recognize,
Cause you had blood on your face;
I had blood in my eyes.
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the one down in mine.
THAT'S THE PAIN,
CUTS A STRAIGHT LINE
DOWN THROUGH THE HEART;
WE CALLED IT LOVE."

The longing is plastered against this song in all red caps. You can feel it oozing. Just love this to bits!

It's really great jogging music too btw. :)

Fashion: Swan Song

Swan Song.

A folk myth about the first and last song a mute swan sings before it dies.

Also, an idiom referring to a final great 'act' before one death an interesting factor one has to consider is that the 'actor' has to know he's going to die.

An ironic name for a dress I consider my #0 or my first dress but I can't help associating the mood of the fabric to the said idiom. Plus it's a very very good reminder that a designer is only as good as his last dress...

Dress.

This dress is from my archives. Done way back in December 2008.

Dress is made of blue silk (most likely synthetic) with pleather detailing

and black wool base. All by Mara Chua. Leggings also by Mara Chua.

Shoes are store bought.

To contact:

chua.mara@gmail.com

Fashion: Black Cloud

My client, Lyan wanted a vintage themed tutu dress,
What makes this project so unique is the time element...
I had less than a week for this one.

Time.

Pressed for time, my best option was to utilise fabrics that were readily available in the studio. I used dupioni for the bodice. Obviously, a tutu dress isn't a tutu dress without the tulle skirt. Also, old lace and some leather that I cut into swallows for the embellishing.

Vintage.

I avoid doing or at least calling this a period piece as I feel like I'm disrespecting a certain era of fashion by not really capturing the substance but merely the form (plus it's very easy to go way over the top with period pieces and end up with a dress looking too costume-y so I guess my bit of reluctance is 'healthy'), With that in mind, I exercised a bit liberalism in the details to balance out that 'old world glamour' with something more current and unique and fun like steel zipper for closure and leather swallows.

Ultimately, my aim was for this to be a subtle but firm statement of who I am as a designer (as always, but I only seem to have articulated who I am and what I want to be as a designer a few days ago). And that is sensible but still clearly bespoke and one of a kind clothing.

For contact:

chua.mara@gmail.com