Sense Of Style

Please introduce yourself.
Hi, I’m Suma. I’m a student at SMU studying psychology.

You seem like you’re really into fashion! How did this interest come about?
Back in secondary school and JC, I didn’t really get a chance to express myself at all. So when I started uni, I started thrifting and found out that I really enjoyed the customisation that it offers. Fashion has become a way for me to represent myself visually throughout the day, so if my fit is off, I just know it’s going to be a bad day (laughs).

The first piece I ever thrifted from was a shirt from Anteiku, and that was also my first alt piece. I was surprised by how easy it was to style and eventually, the flow for styling clothes came to me quite naturally. When I find new pieces, I like to figure out how it fits into my wardrobe. In my opinion, the more unique the combination, the more fire the fit.

Love how you’ve grown into yourself through fashion! Where do you usually get inspiration from?
I usually get fashion inspiration from Pinterest, and I also love looking at old scans of FRUiTS magazine. They feature different people and list where their clothes are from, so I’ll look up those brands on Mercari to see if I can find anything similar.

Do you personally own any physical copies of the magazine?
No I don’t. Magazines are cool, but I’d rather spend my money on fashion and actual clothes (laughs).

That’s fair! When it comes to fashion trends, are there any that you dislike?
I’m not a big fan of skirts over pants, maybe because it doesn’t look good on me. And I also think jorts are out. I’m so done with seeing fashion influencers wearing jorts. No more jorts (laughs).

Hear, hear. Career wise, what do you see yourself pursuing?
That’s something I’m trying to figure out. I’m currently taking some fashion short courses at NAFA, and I’m searching for ways to combine my psychology background and love for fashion.

Interesting, we hope you’ll be able to find something that suits both sides of you! Finally, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned this year?
To just go for it! I’ve been doing fit checks on my Instagram mostly for my friends for awhile, but I downloaded TikTok and started posting these fit checks on the app earlier this January and got quite a bit of attention. I’m really glad I took that step, because it’s something I genuinely enjoy doing even now!