I was recently reading an interesting article from Washington Post by Sarah Halzack called "Why are sales suffering at so many women’s stores? They made bad clothes." and I can't help thinking about how today's shoppers are so much more value-driven than older generation shoppers.

Halzack mentions about how post-recession we see a real downturn in sales from middle-class retailers (Gap, Anthropologie, J.Crew, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor to mention a few), and how the real reason for this is how savvy consumers have become. Today's moderns shoppers (including me) are not willing to pay $88 for a cheap unlined polyester sack dress. We revel in quality fabric, excellent cutting, and notable pieces.

Garance Dore describes this shopping process aptly in her book "Love, Style, Life":

“Bring your hand to the fabric and touch it. It should feel refined. Check the tag to see what’s it made of. The cuts and details [should be] almost perfect.”

— Garance Dore

I can't agree more with this! As a very value-conscious shopper who knows how much profit margin the fashion industry makes, I believe that every piece you own in your wardrobe should have a good return-on-investment.

While we all love Zara, H&M, and Forever 21, shopping there will make you have the same clothing as everyone else - you'll end up wearing the same uniform as everyone which well, kinda sucks because we revel in our individuality (I mean, who means the same #OOTD as another blogger, right?). Mix and match can only take you so far, so nowadays, I'm resorting to looking at local Indonesian fashionpreneurs to have key statement pieces that cannot be copied. After coming back to Indonesia, I did some trial and error to find places where they sell good quality clothing for a great value. It wasn't easy - photos on Instagram can be taken from other websites, cutting & sewing were subpar once they arrived at home (I would say this is the number one issue), and some even never delivered their clothes.

Here are some of my favorite fashion lines in Indonesia to get those key statement pieces that makes you stylishly unique without causing a hole in your wallet:

Cotton Ink (www.cottonink.co.id): This amazing line by Carline Darjanto and Ria Sarwono has made it big in Indonesia. They won Forbes 30 under 30 Asia for retail in 2016, and have made collaboration with Indonesia's rising star, Raisa. What I love most about them is that their clothes are made for everyone in mind - meaning you can be obese, thin, young, old, stylish or classic and there is something for everyone. Additionally, they do have retail presence - you can find their store at Kemang and Plaza Senayan, and also buy their clothes at The Goods Dept.

Label Eight (www.label8store.com): This is a new brand by Alberta Claudia Undarsa is the next big thing in the market. Everything is done in-house (just like how Zara started out): from fabric manufacturing, pattern making, cutting, sewing, to even marketing. When I talked to one of the employees, she mentioned that the owner can even make the patterns herself, even though she is a medical doctor. I'm looking forward to seeing this line grow even more and shop more, obviously!

Shop at Velvet (www.shopatvelvet.com): This great line by Yessi Kusumo and Randy W. Sastra was cited by Femina as one of the top 10 online fashion businesses in Indonesia. I really love their simple cutting with just a bit of an edgy twist. It makes a statement without being loud, which is something that is lacking in fashion nowadays. You can find their products in retail (yay!) at The Goods Dept, Widely Project or Happy-Go-Lucky.

Photo taken by me in Love and Flair top.

Love and Flair (www.loveandflair.com): If you are looking for statement pieces that will impress and bedazzle your family and friends, this is the place to go. This fashion e-commerce by fashion influencer Emily Jaury and Dewi Purwati carries tons of good brands including X Arissa by Arissa Cheo, Reves Studio, and Paulina Katarina. In-house, they also produce their own labels: Club Clueless, Love x Flair, Suki The Label, and my personal favorite, Real Eyez Studio. What makes this brand stand out from others is their awesome return & exchange policy, which most stores in Indonesia have not implemented yet.

Ladies Shop (https://www.instagram.com/ladiessshop_/): For my basics at a shoe-string budget, I tend to gravitate to this online Instagram shop which imports directly from Hong Kong and Bangkok. Everything they sell is under IDR 125,000 (equivalent to SGD 13 or around USD 10), which means I get to buy more stuff (yassss!!!). They are quite basic in the sense that they do not have any website so you will have to order via LINE or WhatsApp, but in terms of fabric, cutting, and sewing quality, they do quite well. Be sure to ask for more info before you order as sometimes they don't provide all the info that you need to make the purchase.

Happy shopping!

Love,

Aly

This is going to be a rare post about Jokowi's administration. I rarely ever comment about politics, simply because I am not a trained politician. However, I do have my two cents about this administration and their progress so far. So, let's begin:

Joko Widodo, the incumbent president of Indonesia, won the election by promising a lot of populist and leftist policies. A few examples of these promises include: 1) free healthcare through Kartu Indonesia Sehat, 2) allocating IDR 1.4 billion to every village, 3) subsidy of IDR 1 million for every poor family, 4) create 10 million new jobs through IDR 10 million payments to Koperasi and/or small medium enterprises, and 5) creation of new transportation infrastructure of 10 new airports and 10 new seaports. Lofty goals, aye?

In terms of the spirit, these policies aim to reduce economic inequality - a great aim, given the negative impact of economic inequality towards a society. To quote Wikipedia (yes, I'm quoting Wikipedia):

"Effects of inequality: Researchers have found include higher rates of health and social problems, and lower rates of social goods, a lower level of economic utility in society from resources devoted on high-end consumption, and even a lower level of economic growth when human capital is neglected for high-end consumption."

Like what we see above, the goals are great. But we also have to remember, execution often matters more than the goals. And that's where I have concerns with the Jokowi administration.

First of all, financing these policies is not cheap - the money has to come from somewhere (or as Rihanna puts it, Bit*h Better Have My Money). With falling oil prices (and by proxy, revenue), Jokowi's administration has to rely on increases from tax revenue to fuel government spending. Our latest finance minister, Bambang Brodjonegoro, has set out to increase taxes by 30%. That's a very ambitious goal, given that usually tax revenues increase by about 6% annually. What's even scarier, is what the finance minister says about tax compliance:

"Of more than 250 million Indonesians, only 27 million register as taxpayers. Among that group, only 10 million actually submit taxes, and only 900,000 paid what they owed last year."

So it seems like there's a lot of room for tax revenues growth, right? We can target those who haven't paid taxes yet. Ummm, not really. If we see the recent tax edicts by the ministry of finance, we've probably added the burden of tax to those who are paying. Their tax edicts focus on a few things: 1) tax amnesty, 2) increasing tax rates for PPN (property), 3) increasing VAT.

A criticism on tax amnesty: those who don't pay (and are perfectly capable of doing so) have sent their money away to Singapore, Switzerland, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, and other tax havens. Asking them to bring their money home from offshore is close to impossible - Indonesia doesn't share financial information with these countries. Money stays where money feels at home, where there is good tax infrastructure, low tax rates, stable currency, and clear government policies. If you can't give that, there's no way these people will comply. As for increasing property taxes, apartment sales have felt the effects from constant flip-flops in property taxation policies. The increasing property taxes certainly don't help either. And as for VAT, realistically, when consumer spending is low (like now), increasing VAT is just slowing down economic growth.

Secondly, Jokowi's administration is frustratingly flip-flopping policies all the time. Let's take a look at a few policies in which their stances have changed over a short period of time: canceling a presidential regulation on substantial rise in car-purchase allowances, changing a proposed visa-free policies for 30 countries as it will break immigration law, and re-opening AND re-closing censorship from 22 websites under pressure from Muslim groups. Like, seriously? The only person who flip-flops more than Jokowi's administration is a 15-year old teenager who decides that he'd rather be grunge than punk.

This shows a great problem in policymaking from the Jokowi administration. Why aren't policies comprehensively studied before executed? Have you read these policies before you signed them? To quote Jokowi:

“I don’t know 100 percent of the content of [drafts and documents submitted to the President]. This should be handled by ministries. They should screen whether the drafts will have a good or bad impact on the country,”

This is the worst thing I've heard from a president. Please do not tell me you do not know what you signed because you don't read. The last time someone told me they don't like reading, I almost had a mini heart attack in a restaurant (yep, these are also things you don't tell girls on a first date - note to guys who want to take me out on a date). To hear that a president doesn't read is just unacceptable and unprofessional.

Those are my biggest concerns with the current administration: financing and firm policymaking. Unless we correct for these things, we won't be able to progress as expected. So, I hope that I have voiced out my concerns - and that Jokowi can fix these things moving on forward.

PS: I would personally pay for Jokowi to get speed-reading lessons. If you're willing, Mr. President, please contact me here on my blog, and I will make sure to wire you my money :)

5 Places To Go Shopping for the Budget-Friendly Fashionista

Execution, execution, execution - A Criticism on Jokowi Administration