escape

Back to the grind tomorrow. Being away in China for six days, and then being away in Malaysia before that diving, has left me feeling curiously out of touch with my immediate reality - I feel like I've been living on another planet. It doesn't help that the papers are all bad or very bad news lately - it makes me want to turn away, and unwilling to think too hard about things. It made me scrutinise the fashion week collections more closely than I normally would.

I don't normally think of fashion as a realm for escapism - I saw it as one of the more beautiful and pleasurable functionalities in life - one needs to be clothed, it is a necessity, but it's also a fun necessity. But with the economy being absolutely disgusting, the dreadful China milk scandal, the sudden passing of a indefatigable Singapore political stalwart, good ideas are more than good ideas - they are a blessed relief.

Because life has been getting so gratingly serious lately, I've been revisiting the question often asked by friends who know of my interest in fashion: why not work in fashion or lifestyle? My work is considered "serious" and "meaningful" and I've always taken pride in that. But I'm beginning to think that maybe I should simply go for something that wouldn't change the world or shape social values, but I would be good at it, and it would give people pleasure.

It's been especially inspiring to read the well thought out writings of Cathy Horyn of NYT and Robin Givhan of The Washington Post. Maybe I should keep a lookout for opportunities to try something new.

Photo by Chadwick Tyler, from chadwicktyler.com