colour riot | cait +tiff

April 1, 2016
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C / new tie dye

I have blue fingers right now. Not Smurf blue, but more of a “maybe she’s slowly turning into a zombie” blue. It’s super pretty. I have been working with different dyes this week, and seeing what works on what fabrics. There are plastic tubs of dye all over the house and I feel like a mad scientist.

I have had an aversion to tie dye since I lived in Oregon, which might be a little surprising, because of the whole Oregon thing. I always thought it looked kinda cheap and like it smelled bad. There was a strong patchouli-tie dye-stanky association in my brain. I also thought it was sort of appropriative, like it used to mean something in the 70’s and wearing it now felt like I was trying too hard to appear laid back or revolutionary or something. Long story short, I over-thought it.

So I like it now, selectively, and I am excited to see how my experiments work out. Things like this have been my inspiration this week. Less Grateful Dead, more Grateful-I-smell-good-but-look-cool.

Maria Grachovel, Tory Burch

Joel Janse Van Vuuren, Altuzarra

Rachel Comey

Now go have a great weekend, you big hippies.

caitsig

March 24, 2016
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T / fave photo apps

Let’s face it, the visuals that I put out there on social media could be a little more consistent. It’s what every workshop will tell you. Build a consistent look and the followers will come. But really, I just love playing around. With everything. There is never a moment where I’m not post processing a photo on my phone before it gets uploaded onto the web. I usually direct and compose photos with the intent of processing it with a particular app after. And I get asked, a bunch, about what apps I use to do this. So I thought I’d share my little trove of tools that I’ve got neatly packaged in a folder on my iPhone (also because I’ve re-learned that I’m a hyper ENFJ).

Hands down, my new favourite app this year. From the ladies behind A Beautiful Mess comes A Color Story, the best thing since dumplings. In addition to the minimalist and colour worthy filters they’ve got you can also play with effects like this colour fog I’ve got descending on this Phnom Penh market scene. And if you follow our Instagram, you’ll probably notice that I’ve been playing with light flare. A LOT. And I still need to jump on the bokeh bandwagon.

And it’s not just for the photos you take on your phone! I’ve been transferring the photos I take on my Canon 6D directly to my phone so I can share them with you, stat. This allows me to throw them quickly through A Color Story, make some rock star adjustments and light play like I did with my buddy Adam, last night. And up onto social media they go within as little as 5 minutes.

I heart a good collage. And while Instagram’s got Layout, I dig how FrameMagic allows me to border photos in a frame of whatever margin size I like, play with adjustments and filters, and in general make life so easy. I took these photos when I was front row at Dengue Fever’s last concert in Phnom Penh. Those colours are the product of their epic show! No editing needed on my phone!

Boomerang vs. DSCO! from Tiffany Tsang on Vimeo.

You know I like a good GIF. And now I can make them effortlessly on my phone! Over the past month, I’ve been experimenting with Instagram’s Boomerang and VSCO’s DSCO. My library is filled with Crossfit videos so far (just because gymnastics as GIFs are so fun). These apps were just released in the past year and have their own unique capabilities. While both allow you to upload to Instagram which will play the GIFs as videos in a never ending loop, Boomerang exports the videos as 8 second videos while DSCO does it for 5 seconds. Processing times are also a bit different. DSCO requires you to upload to your VSCO library first, while Boomerang operates at the speed of light. Save that GIF video (GIdeo?) file, and upload it later. Filtering and editing options are also a bit different. DSCO comes with a package of VSCO’s super minimal hipster chic filters, while Boomerang only allows for editing later on using Instagram’s embedded features. I still use both (much to the chagrin of my iPhone battery), but you can definitely change it up according to whatever you need.

March 5, 2015
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T / garden pairings for downtown chicks

Photo Credit: Tiffany Tsang

Sometimes inspiration sneaks up on you. Like when you’re documenting a number of hip ladies getting measurements taken for Cait’s creations in 40°C heat and you’re a little hungry. Then you look down, and notice that your ultra cool lady friend is sporting the most bold and brilliant of colour pairings with her acid washed denim cutoffs. Naturally, you make her pose for a shot. Sarah is our gorgeous pal who hails from the UK, strives for corporate social responsibility for the garment sector in Cambodia, and whom I connected with while running 400m laps during a monsoon (the lady has street cred). It was so cool to see such a badass chick connect with softer and neutral tones having chosen lavender on her tips and sea foam for her toes. It worked so well, I had to devote an entire post to it (with ulterior motives to prove that these colours aren’t just for ladies who lunch or bridesmaids dresses). Enjoy!

Colour-Riot---Lavender-and-Seafoam---Collage

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

PS – I’m advised that neutrals are in this year and Sarah is digging them with a neon. So I decided to raid her Pinterest. See below.

Red and the neutral emanating from that glow. Photo Credit: A Beautiful Mess

Photo Credit: Rebecca Atwood

Photo Credit: Tabarka Studio

Shades from the same spectrum. Photo Credit: Tulipina

October 23, 2014
by caitandtiff 1 Comment

T / peach & teal for badass springchicks

The ever-fabulous peach and teal combo is not just for bunnies and Easter dinner, spring and bridesmaids dresses, or soft light and gentility anymore. This duo is an easy fit for fun, fearless and inspiring chicks too. A little teal on the eyes matched with a peach lip perhaps. Adding a bit of a peach pink surprise to an otherwise serious teal dress. Or being weird enough to wear two colours on their toes. That’s what I’m talking about.

This post is dedicated to our globetrotting photog pal, Jen, who has a hilarious story involving these two colors and a pair of knicked knickers. Jen is one of the sweetest, nicest, people in the world too and maybe she will share her story with you if you run into her in Bangladesh, Palestine or the Philippines. In any case, this post is for Jen and all ladies who rock these colours around the world, convention be damned.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (left, right), 10

PS – Some other teal and peach faves below!

Palette by design seeds

Photo by William Abranowicz

Palette by Designcat Colour

October 9, 2014
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T / INSPIRATION: motor x cycle

Photo by Loomis Dean via Life Magazine

So this bad boy rolled through our gates last night. While I’m not the type to take one of these animals onto the road (read: fear of speed x motorized vehicles), I have always loved what they mean for the badass lady quotient, and there are so many badass ladies in my life. This particular post goes out to our friend Para. Para lives in far flung places, always seems to be on the move doing incredibly important work, and always looks like the belle of the leather-clad ball. Whether it’s the in middle of a desert, on a hot night out or grabbing a work day lunch, the girl crush happen within seconds. Perhaps most importantly: she rides. So this post goes out to the ladies who can put 250CCs between their legs and own it. These are the accessories that I think that should go with a sweet little ride.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and of course, the Royal Enfield

PS – Check out these vintage badass chicks on bikes.

September 9, 2014
by caitandtiff 2 Comments

C / green linen crop top thing

Because it was so much fun to show off last Tuesday, I am doing it again. Still designing, still having pretty things made by someone with better motor skills than I have. This experiment came in yesterday and I think its good enough for my booty and the Internet.

Booty brought to you by donuts.

The separates are linen and lined with a super soft cotton. I wore it to a BBQ over the weekend and was sweating mostly from my face, and not everywhere else, which is a win for Phnom Penh. I get that the look won’t work in most ‘Fall Collections’ but again, we live in eternal summer, so crop tops are actually relevant year-round.

Bringing this bad boy to New York next week, so let the real judgement begin.

September 2, 2014
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T / colour riot / speaking of grey…

Ahhhh the dregs of summer…last days on the beach, swim in the lake, or crowded around a campfire. We happen to live in a country where it perennially exceeds or hovers around 30°Celsius (that’s high 80’s for those who speak fahrenheit), so summer is really always. I am finding that my colour du jour is the one that’s always there: grey. It’s often relegated it to bad erotica, jersey, and sweatpants, or minimalist apartments in Berlin or the Meat Packing District. Since seeing it matched with coral and highlighter-yellow earlier this summer, I haven’t been able to get it off of my toes. In celebration of a dying or perennial summer, here are some favourite pairings with grey.

iPhone case, nails, knapsack, rug

A medley of greys via Better Homes and Gardens.

Pairings with other neutrals via Crystalin Marie.

Coral splashed via West Elm.

September 2, 2014
by caitandtiff 10 Comments

C / The Grey Dress

I have recently started designing clothes. I’ve always been interested in fashion, but never thought of it as something that I could actually participate in. Then I moved to Cambodia, where anybody can do anything, regardless of talent or qualification, and decided to start my fashion game.

I was able to use my new made-up skills when one of my most awesome friends asked me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding in Oregon. I was thrilled to do it, and particularly lucky that the girl has great taste. Our duties included: wearing a grey dress and yellow shoes, singing karaoke like a pro for the bachelorette and not falling down during ceremony or protesting the marriage. Pretty standard stuff.

I wanted the dress to be simple and cool and something I would sweat the least in. I drew an awkward sketch and Tiff took me fabric shopping, which is fantastic in this city, as long as you love haggling and the smell of durian. Fabric in hand, we went to the tailor, a lovely and always smiling woman named Monika. She was endlessly patient with my terrible Khmer skills and we worked out what the dress would look like.

The time between drop off and pick up was filled mostly with self-doubt and anxiety. I ordered a back up from JCrew and sent it to my parent’s house. I was certain that the dress I designed would be terrible, unfit for the wedding and something only low-class trolls would wear. (No offense trolls, I like your bridge.)

This is what came back.

Fabulous photo of Cait by Kyle Carnes

Honestly, I think its pretty awesome and I’m really proud of it. The feedback on it was super positive and one of my friend’s uber-hip Danish cousins asked me where she could buy it. I snort-laughed and said something about making it and drank my beer really fast and walked away.

So this is a thing now. I am currently imposing on Tiff and a few other friends to wear things I make. It’s a fun process and exciting to be doing something I never thought I could. More to come.