I've new respect for bloggers after recently spending the morning with the effervescent duo Ms. Yin and Ms. Yang - aka American model/photographer Sabrina Sikora and fellow Brit Katie Kay. On one of Singapore's more humid of mornings, I met the pair at the delicious Vanilla Bakery on Yong Siak Street, in the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood. I arrived laden with bags for their scheduled shoot, more than just a little bit glistening with sweat from the trek from the car and regretting not having put on a pair of heels (Sabrina is super tall and makes me feel all of my 5 ft 3 3/4 inches small). By total contrast, both Katie and Sabrina, glowed with perfectly (natural looking) made up faces wearing some enviably lovely things from my latest Singaporean label crush (husband take note for Christmas!) - The Missing Piece.
After a power flat white and having finalised the looks, bags and accessories for the morning's shoot, I watched agog as the girls jumped straight into it, working at pace to make sure the imminent rain shower didn't affect timings too much. Now, I'm not really one for having my photo taken. In fact, I'd say the ratio of having my photo taken to liking/approving said photo, is probably around 200-1. It must be in large part due to living in the Tropics - the daily Singapore hair Frizz, the permanently sweaty upper lip and the lazy quotidian work-from-home attire of shorts/tees don't really make for glamorous blogging style pictures. That said, this summer I did learn one trick from my always-looks-amazing-in-photos friend Sophie. To condense the advice it is simply this - "tits and teeth." Quite literally, if you ensure you puff out your chest and flash a great gnashers smile, the snap will look ten times as good as if you cower in the corner.
The Ms. Yin and Ms. Yang duo seemingly have no qualms about having a picture or two taken. Admittedly, Sabrina was a model and Katie appears to just be a natural. They swung from Vanilla Bakery's instagrammable-hot-spot-swing, they couched on the street corner, paraded through the back streets of this art-deco neighbourhood using bikes and murals as props while (probably a bit) bemused kaya-toast eating diners watched from afar. All of this in 32+degree heat and numerous outfit and lipstick changes.
Ms. Yin and Ms. Yang (aptly named due to their starkly contrasting fashion styles - Ms. Yin favours a monochrome wardrobe while Ms. Yang is never out of hot pinks, oranges and isn't shy about colour blocking) are doing such great things to champion the work and craft of so many local Singaporean and Asian designers. You must check out their collaborations and reviews here. I've included a few of the awesome images they took here but be sure to head to their website to see the full article.
Enjoy!
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