11th avenue

Paeonia marries the full figured, creative professional with their desire for progressive and nostalgic experiences through modest, feminine and comfortable apparel.

Even though it is just one sentence, the whole concept behind Paeonia took over half a year to realize. It was a work in process until the very last photoshoot I did for the collection. It was a self discovery for my personal aesthetic  in terms of fashion and lifestyle.

In the very beginning, I started to create Paeonia with the innocent goal of “providing plus size with feminine and modest clothing for her professional and personal needs.”  Little did I know I unraveled a hungry market who are passionate about their needs. I was overwhelmed and excited! I tried to listen to everyone and start to take every comment I encounter to the heart. Soon I found myself drowning in people’s wants and hoping to please everyone of them. It took a long while for myself to understand the concept of “keeping focus”, or as my teachers will abbreviate it as KISS.

Bing Bong!

It was a bit close to deadline but I was glad I realize it soon enough to refocus Paeonia. It is so funny how we tend to realize the lesson at the very last moment. If I had to chance to redo the collection, I would. I will create a lifestyle- modest, whimsical and optimistic, because that is how I want to live my life.

For now, please enjoy the current Paeonia- the modest collection that it is now.

I realize that my model is not a plus size. There was a bit of restriction when it came to choosing models for the runway/graduate collection. The whole design process was done with the plus size market in mind, to create a design that will flatter her body without sacrificing her aesthetics.

A little bit more can be seen over at my flickr account ~

A few days ago I received a very pleasant e-mail from Evans notifying me that my design was selected for the Breast Cancer awareness program they are doing. 1000 T-shirt will be produced and made available in October on their website and in-store (?). I am ecstatic about the final product and cannot wait until October comes!

The winning design picture is posted underneath the post. If the design does capture any of you lovely reader’s fancy, please support the Breast Cancer program by purchasing it. All proceeds will be donated to the program.

Just to note, Evans will have their own shirt design selected for the graphic. I wasn’t able to save their shirt design which is why I used one of my previous flats. To clear up, I was only responsible for the graphic and the placement of the art.

Yay! Can’t wait to see the final product Previous entry in regards to this contest is here

I have always had this fascination for traditional costume. I guess that was what drew me to the this top, and the fact that it is blue against yellow. The jeans are the most comfortable pair I have own for a long time. It gives me the mobility and wiggle room I need! I am not particularly a shy person but the fact that I am taking photos of myself seems to be an embarrassing act for me.  I will try to get a decent head shot one day… one day!

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A month after my graduation, I had the privilege to visit London and France. They call them the capital of the fashion industry. I cannot deny that fact but I would rather say it is the capital of museums, since I did spend all my days in them. For the longest time, I struggled to find my muse (my battery recharger, some may say) and I think I found it in London.

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Have you guys entered the contest yet? There is only one day left so hurry! I was on the Evan’s competition site yesterday but it was deleted. Luckily I was able to read the rules again on their Facebook page. The only thing missing is the flat that they used but I guess it is not that necessary. Hopefully it was just a technical error and the contest is still going on. Above is the graphic I designed for the contest T-shirt.  I did not have the original flat that they placed on their website so I had to take one of mine to substitute for it. Below is one of the design I entered for the contest.

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Witty and subtle, is how I describe Matt Stuart’s photography as. Each and every photograph encourages a second glance. And after that second take, it’s bound to end with a slight amused smile. The simplicity, focus and cohesiveness is what made Stuart’s works so powerful.  His philosophy triggered my never ending debate about personal style. I fancy the possibility that my work brings smiles to my clients. Of course, that is my ultimate goal but how I am going to do that is the mystery. I am still in the midst of figuring out my style. I want to stay coherent without confusing others with my diverse interest. I value simplicity and purposeful design but also treasure extravagance and excessive decoration. For longest time, I convinced myself that these two design statement will only clash and produce something vomit-able if ever blend together. It is my goal to be able to mix both styles  and conceive something new. I am not sure how I am going to do it yet but it will happen!

For now, please view more of Stuart’s photography and be inspired. His personal website is at MattStuart.com.

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There is a new contest going about at SimplyBe.  If you have thought about entering the plus size modeling world (size 14+) this might be a good place to start. The contest starts today and ends on August 27th 2010.  Unfortunately, it is only open to the ladies in the UK but all of us can wait in anticipation as to how this contest unfolds.

More information can be found on this contest page.

On the topic of models, who are some of you guy’s favourite plus size models?

I came to realize my passion for art at the age of 4, when I proceed to draw on the apartment wall with my seemingly vast choices of 12 colour felt pens, twice. My mother gave up trying to hide my mischief and left a legacy of wall art in our old house. Somewhere along the way, through many long nights of working as a costume seamstress for local theaters, I decided to invest four years into a fashion degree program. Exhilarating? Of course. Exhausting?  An understatement. Somehow, along those four years, I also lost touch with my illustration skills. My arts were used in other method such as illustrating flats and storyboards.  All the figures I use to love drawing was reduced to a stickman with a circle as a head to indicate front and back. Oh so exciting. The most blissful moments in every project was the process of drawing people with clothes on-score! After four years, what do I learn? I cannot live without creating art, that is my true passion. So what am I going to do with my fashion degree? Now that is a silly question, fashion is art and art is fashion (for me at least!). There is no need to separate those two because, they can coexist and will exist together in my creations.

A hefty claim I have there. I aspire to connect my two passion together. For now, please enjoy a sketch I did for my portfolio. Yes, I like my ladies with curves

I confess, I love window shopping, especially on polyvore.com. It allows me to create a look that I love and then dream/droll after it. I also confess that I created this just because of the Tsumori skirt (!) i saw on La Garconne.  Ahh… how I want that skirt. Do I stop here? No of course!

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