Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Some women build their daily outfits beginning with their shoes. Beginning with this pair of Emilio Pucci wrapped purple suede heels, this is an outfit ensemble I could see myself wearing to the office in autumn. A wool blend Bottega Veneta shift dress paired with a charcoal grey jacket with doubel lapels by Vivienne Westwood. Over this ensemble, a square wrap coat by Vivienne Westwood Anglomania with a large purple patent tote (35cm x 40cm x 13 cm), also by Vivienne Westwood.

I’ve been following with interest, the following articles from the more lighthearted Daily Mail in the UK:

• Why women’s heels are high on the union bosses’ agenda
• Hands off our heels!

Apparently the Trade Union Council (TUC) in the UK would like to call for a ban of the use of high heels for women in the office (printed on the 6th of August, 2009), citing sexism and health problems for women who wear high heels to work everyday. This article was followed the next day with a counter article written by Maureen Rice (7th August, 2009) who said that the best careers advice ever given to her was one from her female boss:

Whenever you know you are going to have a challenging meeting,’ she said, ‘and especially if that meeting is mainly with men, wear high heels.

Rice’s article gets more interesting from there on, citing heels as a symbol of feminine power in the office and how heels can give women more confidence in the office when facing their male colleagues. Heels as symbols of small daggers clinging to the heels of women who wear them, are not so much “I want to turn you on” as “I want to take you on”.

In the numerous brands of feminisms, the one that caught my imagination most were essays from the genre l’écriture féminine or ‘feminine writing’, writings predominantly by Hélène Cixous and Luce Irigary from the late ’70s. The writings of Cixous in particular, would trouble women who resist the sense of being tied to the biological, but for others, it could offer a strong sense of relief that gushes from the inner core as her works encourage the celebration of differences between the biological male and female. Why fight biology and climb an uphill battle for equality that sounds defeating to begin with when we can revel in it, and with it, celebrate too the subsequent differenes in manifestations of the sexes whether in speech, writing or in this case, dressing.

The article by Rice voices this very aspect of being female and of possessing your feminity on your own terms, especially in the highly competitive world of business. And where once restraining clothing items such as corsets and stilettos were seen as a tools of constriction, a mark of biology, is now viewed as an expression of will and control of self when worn, for today, the difference lies in choice. Now women decide for themselves what to wear.

The beige Chanel flap bag seems a complement to the Ferragamo kitten heeled slingbacks.
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC, 2009

Ferragamo knows shoes. Classic and elegant in design, Ferragamo shoes are what I grew up witnessing most working women in Singapore own and love. A staple in most career women’s closets back then as is today, it isn’t difficult to understand why women generally rave about their Ferragamos – they’re utterly comfortable.

Made with the softest, buttery leather that feels like sheer luxury on your feet, Ferragamos tend to mould to the shape of your feet and make you forget that you’re actually wearing shoes.

Ferragamo shoes also come in a range of width sizes, from AAAA to D or E, the latter being broadest when measured across the ball of the feet. Most, if not all Ferragamo shoes sold in the Singapore stores are of width C.

“So, what’s with kitten heels? I don’t understand them”, a girlfriend of mine said whilst bringing a warm cup of hot chocolate to her lips. She added that kitten heels of 2.5 inches were odd because they were inbetween the inherently sexy spiked stilettos and the inherently girlie Marc Jacobs or Ferragamo’s Varina flats.

I’ve never really thought about kitten heels, especially when purchasing subconsciously, but thinking back on what kinds of shoes I end up wearing to the office, I realize that most have actually been kitten heeled pumps. Ultimately, it was the comfort factor, when having to walk about in the office from meeting to meeting or even getting to and from work, you appreciate shoes that are kind on your feet. In the highly competitive life in Singapore, missing the first 3 minutes per interval train system during your rush hour timeline also inevitably makes you feel behind time. This is especially so if you make it to the platform just in time to see the train take off without you. Kitten heels give you that two seconds advantage over the stilettoed.

Beige and black with an embossed logo on the front of the shoes.

This pair of two toned, sleek kitten heeled slingbacks are indeed comfortable. For the sassier career woman, you might wish to check out the new Ferragamo Creations range. The Viatica for example, is high on my list of appealing shoes! It probably isn’t as comfortable as these two toned slingbacks, but as with every Ferragamo piece, it’s symmetry and balance in design is a work of art. And definitely eye candy enough for office conversation.

A blue pinafore dress by Alice and Olivia in a royal blue that is close to, if not just a slight shade darker than the CHIJ (Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus) school uniform blue I grew up wearing.

Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC, 2009

As a student in Singapore, the days in the month of June are always long. It’s that month when most, if not all students in Singapore have their mid-year holidays, and I gather now that my days were pretty much filled with reading, the ocassional bowling session with friends, tennis or BBQ by the East Coast beach.

Red currants ripening, a fairly common sight in high summer in Sweden.

And though I spent a lot of time reading during the school holidays, the concept of ‘summer reading’ didn’t really hit home, partly because the seasons in Singapore were not distinguished as such, but rather with the monsoons, the summer monsoon and the winter monsoon. The summer monsoon brings with it warm rains, deliciously fat raindrops that drenches all in reach, quenches nature’s thirst, and the kind that ruins unsturdy shoes. The winter monsoon is what characterises the Christmas season in Singapore, with rains distinctly cooler than any other time of the year.

In my hand, my latest summer read entitled Shining Hero by Sara Banerji.

After having worn this particular shade of blue for ten years of my life, through primary and secondary school at CHIJ, it doesn’t take much to understand why I’ve refrained from having this particular shade of blue in my wardrobe, until now.

I thought it’d be fun to have this dress in my wardrobe because it was similar yet different enough from the CHIJ pinafore for keeps. The colour is reminescent, the pleats from the top of the dress are in place, but the dress is generally tulip shaped, its silky material ballooning from where you cinch the waist with a belt, parting like petals to the knees.

Draping at the sides, to the knees. The dress is belted by a columbia blue suede belt with silvertone ware. The outfit is paired with an intrecciato weave, chocolate brown Timberland flats.

A cobalt blue ribbon in the hair and turquoise stone dangling earrings.

This hairstyle is similar to what CHIJ girls would wear to school on a daily basis, back from my mother’s time till today. I’ve used in this outfit, a cobalt blue ribbon in the hair. This particular shade of blue for hair accessories as I recall however, was not permitted during my days at the convent. Navy blue, white or black were the preferred hair accessory colours and only one colour was permitted at a time for the accessories. So you couldn’t for example, have a braided black and white headband as that would be deemed too ‘fancy’ for the school uniform.

These red currants will be ready in a day or two, for red currant pie.

There were plenty of school rules to follow in the convent, one of which was that all girls should wear a pair of school shorts under their potentially billowing-in-the-wind pinafore skirts. I thought this school rule disastrous to follow for personal hygiene standards, the tropical heat alone would make the wearing of shorts under the skirt so uncomfortable that any concentrated effort at learning would be impossible. But shorts over underwear, under skirts were compulsory nonetheless and the students were spot-checked constantly for proper attire. The very act of spot-checking under skirts in the name of decency, would leave many a convent girl pondering the concept of virtue versus duty for the better part of their lives.

Reading, indoors.

Shining Hero by Sara Banerji proved a poignant read on livid lives both in high society and children of the streets of Calcutta, India. That so many of the themes in her book were also reflected in Slumdog Millionaire, 2008 was disturbing to me, never having visited India myself. I found Slumdog Millionaire to be much more genial and optimistic in its depiction of street children than Banerji’s work.

Dahlias in full bloom