FAIIINT

Archives for October 2017

Basic

Style

Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Reiss one shoulder asymmetric Keria dress with Rick Owens wave wedge shoes. All black outfit. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Reiss one shoulder asymmetric Keria dress. All black outfit details. Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Rick Owens wave black suede peak back wedge shoes.

Reiss ‘Keria’ Asymmetric Dress via Love The Sales * / Warehouse Bag / Rick Owens ‘Waves’ Shoes

It always throws me that ‘basic’ is perceived to be a bad thing. Some of my most treasured pieces are what you could call basic, if by that you mean pieces which are timeless, hard working and able to be styled up in multiple different ways.

This simple asymmetric dress, picked up in the Reiss sale, is one of those perfect, high-quality basics that I know I’ll have hanging in my wardrobe forever. It’s such a classic shape and so beautifully cut, that I couldn’t bring myself to detract from this by adding unnecessary accessories. So this is how I wore it, a basic worn in a basic way. I think sometimes it can be hard to rein yourself in when it comes to accessorizing, it becomes almost habit to throw on a necklace, a pair of earrings, a belt or an extra layer to finish a look off and make it feel like your own. Pieces like this really don’t need it though, and sometimes less really is more, letting the dramatic asymmetric neckline and softly structured silhouette speak for themselves.

I’ve been hunting for a pair of these wedges in my size for years now, and finally a pair showed up in the exact distressed suede finish I wanted. I couldn’t believe my luck when they popped up on my eBay alert, and I was even more excited when it got down to the final few minutes and no one else decided to bid on them. It’s rare enough to come across that exact hard-to-find thing you’ve been searching for, but it’s even sweeter when you manage to get your hands on it for a total steal. Those sharp peaked backs, the deliciously distressed suede, angular panels and little cut out details, I think I’m in love and I’m sure you’ll be seeing these around a lot in the future.

Bayon

Adventure

Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, faces sculptures. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, Buddha faces and heads along the bridge. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, detail of carving. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, stacking stone garden. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, corridor with sunlight. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, details of carvings. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, stacking stones. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, faces sculptures. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, room with no roof and detail carvings. Bayon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia, tuk tuks. Baphuon temple ruins Siem Reap Angkor Cambodia.

Bayon Temple / Siem Reap, Cambodia

With its narrow walkways and tall, imposing walls Bayon felt like the busiest of the temples we visited that day and it was easily my least favourite of them all. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t magical in its own right though, and it’s definitely somewhere you should see with your own eyes at least once.

I’m not sure if it was the crowds, the smaller spaces or even those huge faces looming overhead everywhere you looked, but to me it felt chaotic and claustrophobic. It had a very different vibe to the other open, airy temples, here it felt like a large temple squeezed into the space of a small one, with corridors and terraces stacked high on top of each other trying to contain all of its treasures. There’s so much to see in this tiny place that it makes it almost overwhelming and it’s hard to know where to look first, let alone be able to take it all in.

Constructed in the late 12th Century by King Jayavarman VII, Bayon stands in the centre of the ancient walled city of Angkor Thom. The site has been altered, adapted and added to many times over the years, and this is likely why the temple feels so maze-like and cluttered. New towers, galleries, corridors and decoration were added by successive kings who wanted to make their own mark on it.

The main draw of Bayon is the famous smiling faces which adorn its towers. Believed to represent the Bodhisattva Lokeshvara, over 200 of these masterfully carved faces with their serene expressions, gaze down from the 37 remaining towers. They are truly spectacular, and much bigger and far more impressive than you could imagine in person. Each one unique, I couldn’t help but wonder exactly how they had been created, were the blocks stacked and then sculpted, or were they carved individually first and then assembled like some giant jigsaw? Of course, these are the main areas where the crowds flock, but away from the upper terrace and central tower there were spaces of more quiet beauty, such as the garden littered with hundreds of stacking stones and the open terraces away from the main crowds. This temple also has some of the more beautiful and intricate carvings along the galleries, which tell mythological tales and stories of the empire’s history, but these small details are easy to miss and are often overshadowed by the large faces drawing your gaze upwards.

As we left Bayon, we passed by Baphuon temple (last photo). Sadly we didn’t get chance to look inside this one, as we were already short on time after spending so long at Angkor Wat, but our driver stopped to give us a bit of history and let us out to have a look. I’ll definitely be heading back to Cambodia in the future, and these smaller, slightly less touristy temples will be first on my list to visit.

Separate

Style

Fashion blogger Stephanie of FAIIINT wearing Tobi high low dress with cropped kimono wrap top, All Saints double belt, Quartz necklace, Kurt Geiger Saturn lace up boots. All black dark street style outfit. Fashion blogger FAIIINT wearing braided raw quartz necklace from Cambodian market, Tobi black summer dress. Outfit details. Fashion blogger FAIIINT wearing Tobi black summer dress with cut out low back. Outfit details. Fashion blogger FAIIINT wearing braided raw quartz necklace from Cambodian market, Tobi black summer dress and cropped kimono wrap top, All Saints double wrap around belt. Outfit details.

Tobi Crop Top * / Tobi Midi Dress * / AllSaints Wrap Belt / Quartz Necklace from Siem Reap Night Market / Kurt Geiger ‘Saturn’ Boots / Balenciaga City Bag

I’ve got a real thing for simple dresses and tops which at first seem quite plain, maybe even boring, until you turn around and find they’re all party at the back. This gauzy, summery dress from Tobi is exactly that kind of dress, with it’s deeply scooped back and graphic V shaped straps. It’s a bit too skimpy to be wondering around wearing in the middle of Autumn, especially now the cold is starting to creep in, but when paired with this cropped wrap top it becomes much more weather appropriate. Both pieces are made out of the same crinkly viscose material, so when the long ties of the top are wrapped around and tied at the back, it actually looks like these two separate pieces could be one single dress.

Every time I wear this necklace I get asked about it, and as nice as it is to have something one of a kind and special to you, I also love to share so I feel kind of bad when I can’t give people an easy answer for where to get their own. I’ve already written about its story and how I picked it up one evening at the night market in Siem Reap, but I recently came across some very similar pieces from UK based Telmatology on Etsy and wanted to share. Although the pieces aren’t completely identical, as mine has a braided hanging loop and is wrapped in waxed cord, these are the closest match I’ve seen for those of you who would like something similar.