How to live your best life the yin and yang way

30 August 2017
By Fashion Quarterly

Jacquemus

So you have a Masters in English Literature and you read Proust for fun when you were 12, but Twilight is your guilty pleasure. Or maybe you spend all day operating heavy machinery and then come home to your favourite Hello Kitty pyjamas.

Split personality? Um, try multi-faceted. Or, even better, yin and yang, which in Chinese philosophy refers to the way seemingly opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world.

If you’re wondering what tf that means, it’s quite simple. Being totes obsessed with juxtaposing stuff doesn’t make you fake or inauthentic. What it does make you is interesting and evolved and flexible and open-minded, none of which are negative qualities. And in case you hadn’t noticed, the world is pretty into the whole non-binary thing RN, so there’s never been a better time to embrace the many sides of yourself. Remember: you’re allowed to like whatever you like, you’re allowed to change your mind, and you’re allowed to do it several times a day. Miss FQ associate editor Phoebe Watt sure as hell does — and she shares how below.

Yin Yang food
Food
I love the finer things in life, including beautiful degustation meals at high end restaurants. I also love McDonalds — and I’ve been known to enjoy both in the space of one day. Sometimes even in the space of one evening. For reals, I’m super lucky that my job means I get to attend incredible events at fancy restaurants that I could never otherwise afford to go to. But there have been one or two occasions when four hours of broth and foam and a bite of wagyu beef didn’t really cut it. Cue diverting the cab through the drive-thru on the way home (this is even more amaze when everyone in the team is simultaneously sending snaps of themselves doing the same thing).

Yin Yang music
Music
My music library could be described as a hot mess, although I prefer the term eclectic. It’s 75% mainstream female RnB vocalists (Beyoncé, Rihanna, Ariana Grande), which segues very naturally into mainstream rap (Jay-Z, Kanye, Future, Drake). But then things take a weird turn. A weird, showtunes-y turn. As in, would you like a side of Phantom of the Opera with your Bad and Boujee? Cos I certainly would.

Yin Yang beauty
Beauty
My weekday beauty routine takes a full hour and involves a truly hectic number of products. See for reference: the beauty shelfie in this article that only displays my skincare arsenal (I may or may not have a separate BEDROOM for my makeup, eek). I have a signature makeup look for work, and a perfect red lip and winged liner are both crucial to it. Come the weekend though, unless I’m heading somewhere really special and I really like you (or really don’t), I’ma be rocking naked eyes and a nude lip gloss. Deal with it.

Yin Yang personality
Personality
As a textbook Scorpio and Miss FQ’s resident Slytherin, my defining characteristics are my ambition, cunning, resourcefulness, and intuition. I’m extremely guarded with my plentiful-but-supressed emotions (notoriously, there are about four people on the planet who have seen me cry) and I like to think that I exude fearlessness. That said, I’m thoroughly inconvenienced by (read: afraid of) the dark, and at 27 years old I still sleep better with a teddy bear. Oh and do you know what my resting bitch face loves more than just about anything? A goddamn bunny rabbit filter. Off-brand? Nope, just complex.

Yin Yang style
Style
I always strive to look impeccably put together, but this manifests differently depending on the day of the week. My work wardrobe is basically Blair Waldorf meets Dolce and Gabbana AW13 with a dash of Kathryn Merteuil from Cruel Intentions. But cash me outside the supermarket on a Sunday and you probably won’t recognise me for the grey marle tracksuit — albeit this will be paired with Isabel Marant flats and possibly a faux-fur stole. It’s all about the high/low mix, ya know?

Bonds mash up set
Underneath
My propensity for power-dressing doesn’t begin and end with my outer layers. I’m definitely more partial to a black underwear set than anything else. But much like my last meal on earth would be a double-cheeseburger with a bottle of Dom Pérignon, I love nothing more than an unexpected combination. If we’re talking lingerie, my current go-to is a no-fuss BONDS Hipster Triangle Crop in Black, $22.99, with the fun and flirty Hipster Microfibre Bikini in Feline Fine, $16.99. Like me, this mash-up is business on top, and kinda wild underneath — the ultimate yin and yang.

This article was brought you by BONDS Mash Up. Isn’t it time you met your mash? Create your own Mash Up with BONDS’ Hipsters clashing prints, found in your nearest Farmers store or at bonds.com.au.

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