**WARNING @ 12.09PM GMT** The site I'm about to post about is currently down at the moment for reasons unknown to me (I promise I didn't break it) so for now, just enjoy the pretty pics I saved from the This is Naive until it comes back to life...
It might surprise people to know that the blog that I probably frequent most often isn't a fashion one. Well not strictly speaking anyway. This is Naive is probably one of the first blogs that I stumbled upon through my stats when I started Style Bubble as she had kindly linked to me through her old Notes by Naive site (she's been blogging since 2003 so there's a lot to gorge upon..). The tagline 'Miscellany of a girl's life' pretty much sums it up. Tommy is originally from Singapore and she has lived in London for a while. Without trying to sound too voyeuristic and nosey, I gather she works in a creative role that allows her a lot of access to brands like Visvim, Headporter Plus that might be more familiar to South East Asian people.
She also happens to take the most wonderful pictures either via Polaroid, Lomography, digicam, mobile camera or very sleek SLR. The thing that really got me addicted to getting my daily fix of Notes by Naive is the way she photo-documents the deets of her life. The food she eats, the sky that she's seen, the shoes she's wearing, the packages she has received etc etc. I must warn you, flicking through her entries can be time consuming stuff (oh and you start salivating over her food pics...) and it's probably true that her images hold my attention longer than most. There's something very satisfying and happiness-inducing about seeing Tommy live her life to the max, eating out a lot, exploring and unearthing hidden nooks and crannies in London that I never knew existed and in the end This is Naive is a beautifully assembled bit of photo journal-ism (breaking down the word...).
This post probably also touches upon my 'Funny about Money' queries because people commented that by having a blog, there's an element of presenting your lifestyle to the world and in turn, jealousy can ensue. Well if that's the case, then I'll admit that Tommy does sometimes bring out the green eyed monster in me but not in the way that you think. Style wise, we're probably miles apart but I admire the way Tommy picks her clothes and the way she is very selective about what she buys, always going for quality over quantity, yet still relying on her inner whimsical wants...
I was so chuffed she bought these beautiful John Rocha pearl encrusted ballerina flats (pictured here in the beautiful John Rocha store in Mayfair...
...but sad that the pearls kept on falling off so I think she returned them in the end...
Her outfits lean towards the childish but not obnoxiously so...
Her style inspirations (very very hesitant to use the word 'fashion' when talking about Tommy...) are quite eclectic, from granny issues of Japanese lifestyle/food magazines to one-off Birkenstock books...
The one thing that I probably really wish that I could do to enhance Style Bubble is to make it the pretty place I've always wanted it to be, and to take the sort of images that Tommy does and this is really apparent in her Lo-Fi city guides where she helpfully lists out shop/restaurant recommendations in London, Paris, San Francisco, Portland and Singapore (I'm thinking the more she travels, the more of these she will compile...) along with beautiful lomography images of the city. Another reminder that Style Bubble Shops, a project which is floundering in my half-hearted project heap... Here's London...
...and Paris...
At the core of it all this fan girl dedication, and yes I realise I might be contradicting myself, it isn't really about being voyeuristic and having crazy bouts of 'lifestyle jealousy' but rather it's because I admire the way Tommy has presented the tidbits and aesthetic-based matter of her life in such a way that makes it quite a delight to go back into her archives and surf (I don't archive surf that often...). As someone who is interested in the act of 'compulsive clicking' both from a professional viewpoint and a personal one, and as I'm at a bit of a 'Style Bubble rut' at the moment, Notes by Naive is definitely getting the mind cogitating...
