Not Your Average Woman: Evelyn Lee

Here’s Evelyn who currently lives in Melbourne, Australia. We met in Singapore yonks ago through blogging as well as friends in interest groups. Evie, as she’s known to us, is a special one. I think she’s not an average woman because she broke out of the typical middle-class Chinese girl mould. And for that, I applaud her and want to share her story!

She’s always had music in her life and like many middle-class Asian girls, she took Classical Piano lessons. The only difference is, she’s made music her life’s work now. In school, she studied Accountancy (the decent thing for an Asian kid to do) then helped out with her family’s thriving apparel manufacturing firm, doing business development for 3 years (also the Asian family thing). She however plucked up the courage to uproot herself and a few years ago, landed in University of Queensland to study Music Therapy. And now, she’s finishing up her Masters in Music Therapy at University of Melbourne. Music therapists are a rare breed, especially in Singapore. How special is this one?

Evie’s wardrobe is peppered with designer pieces just because she can AND they are worth every penny! (Think Chanel & Louis Vuitton) Her favourite shoes are sensible and stylish Chanel flats. I so wish to own part of her wardrobe… Heh!

Last Sunday, 18th November 2012, I took a leisurely morning stroll from the Melbournian service apartment I was renting for my holiday, to her home on La Trobe Street. OMG, what a gorgeous place she shares with her roommate, Sherrene! Full of photo-taking opportunities!

Enjoy this little interview and the following photos!

What is your dress/shoe size? 14/16 depending on brands. I wear 38 for shoes. I share the same size with my mother so I help myself to her pumps when I need to dress up.

Describe Your Style My style is rather eclectic. I have a wardrobe for my ‘rock’ look (leather jacket, black jeans), and also one for the feminine dresses. I like my clothing to be plain and accessorised with scarves. I have lots of them.

What do you normally wear to work or a work event/meeting? I normally wear T-shirt and jeans to work. My work in the paediatric hospital requires me to dress up sometimes. I like to wear statement tees from Threadless. Unfortunately it’s difficult to wear dresses as a music therapist because I need to move around a lot.

Where and how do you shop? These days I shop online. I don’t have patience to source out all the shops so I tend to go for the ones that work for me. Otherwise once in awhile I go to M&S and do a big buy for staples. What’s important for me is to have pants with good cutting, and blouses with buttons that don’t pop.

What are your favourite things to buy? I love shoes. However my collection is divided between Singapore and Melbourne. Next up would be scarves. I love how versatile scarves are, and I buy them for all occasions.

What are your favourite brands or shops? I have only recently discovered ASOS. A favourite for me in Singapore is M&S (I like the Indigo range), and BritishIndia. Otherwise for Australian brands it’s SUSSAN and Alannah Hill. David Jones has really huge discounts during stocktake sales and I usually snap up good bargains from labels like DvF, Alannah Hill and Ted Baker. I need to find tops that fit me well because I’m quite boobsy. I have found PepperBerry which is my favourite site for dresses and shirts because they have clothes according to bust size! For shoes, I like the melbourne brand WALNUT. CHANEL does have the best cutting for ballet flats too. They are so expensive though, I’ll only buy my next pair when the current one wears out.