Fashion blogging is a serious hobby.

I used to struggle making essays in primary school, not because I had literacy issues but it was the fact that we were to write essays based on the topics that were provided. Limited options that I just couldn't wrap my head around. My biggest fear was this one essay question that everyone else seemed to be able to approach more humanly. That one question that always had me mentally unprepared. It was

 "WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBY?" (write within 200-300 words)

This question would leave me in a stunt, life-questioning state. This is a writing student's nightmare! And look at that undersized word limit, whose crazy idea was this question???

Okay so, beyond this rant was the fact that somehow, every time I had to face this ridiculous question, I was forced to tap into my creative side and come up with a 300 word essay on a random hobby I pretended to have. It's not that I didn't have a hobby, I just didn't have a specific favourite one. I liked reading, writing, biking, sleeping, logging onto divastarz.com but I never did any of those consistently and grew out of some of them. I don't want my blog to go down the same path.

I took a pause from blogging since my last post to focus more on building a fashion portfolio in journalism rather than my amateur posts on ninaaneko. I really enjoy creating inspired outfits but writing decent fashion related articles is what I love doing. Fashion bloggers have a negative reputation for being well-heeled, wardrobe full subjects, prancing around the street or their house taking photos, only to post them on their blog for the world to see. Of course, this is far from the truth as I don't have that kind of wardrobe nor an official cameraman. I like to think that we put in that much effort as a way of translating creativity into our clothes and wanting to visually record it. I knew it would be better to deviate from this stereotype so I stopped blogging for a couple of months to get more involved in fashion and actually write articles that were more meaningful or had potential to be contributive. I think this short break taught me more than I could of imagined but now I've missed blogging. A few weeks back, when I handed in my CV, I was asked what my favourite hobby was and automatically I replied, "fashion blogging". This time, unlike all those essays I wrote - it felt natural and not pretentious at all. In an attempt to blog yet still feel productive I've decided to start writing more challenging posts about what i'm truly interested in. I will still post an outfit from time to time but I don't want that to be my main focus anymore. Fashion has definitely taught me that it's not about what I can wear - it's what I can make of it.

On a less serious note, i'm just going to throw in some random outfit shots I took over my short absence from the blogosphere! I've posted some on instagram before (@ninaaneko).

S I N G A P O R E

fareast plaza shoes; love moschino bag; zara top; topshop pants from Iman; photos by Iman

B R I T I S H  F A S H I O N  A W A R D S  2 0 1 4  -  L O N D O N

asos top; skirt designed and created by my mother; photos by Lenny

L E E D S




dorothy perkins coat; CO skirt; george cable knit; thrifted shoes; Qeela's belt; photos by cousin Zul

L E I C E S T E R 



zara turtleneck; urban outfitters skirt; new look shoes



photo credits to Bohemian Brighties 

M U S E E  D U  L O U V R E  -  P A R I S


dkny bag; dorothy perkins dress & coat; new look shoes; top shop cap; photo by Qeela

L E E D S




endless rose coat; zara men cap; hand me down top; zara red tied t; vintage bag; photos by Qeela

B U C K I N G H A M S H I R E



joss and florence poncho and leather bag (local boutique); zara shoes; unknown korean brand dress; photos by Troy ♥

So when one of my uni friends sarcastically asked me how my "modelling" blog was going, I shrugged and replied him "fashion blogging is a serious hobby".