McQueen and Teochew porridge: Inside one of Singapore's glitziest society balls
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CNA Lifestyle
McQueen and Teochew porridge: Inside one of Singapore'due south glitziest society balls
What does it take to pull off one of the primal highlights of the society calendar? A twelvemonth and S$250,000. CNA Lifestyle takes a peek inside this yr'southward Singapore Tatler Ball.
Susanna Kang (left) and Peggy Jeffs at the Singapore Tatler Ball 2018. (Photos: Singapore Tatler)
29 Oct 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 09:31PM)
A year of planning. A budget of S$250,000 – of which, almost S$100,000 went towards the food alone. Over 300 guests. And one Teochew Porridge Bar.
These are just some of the figures behind the Singapore Tatler Ball, one of the key highlights of the society calendar every twelvemonth. Organised by high society mag Singapore Tatler, information technology is attended by some of the country's most influential families and individuals. The mag is published by Edipresse Media Singapore.
As Corinne Ng, the house's Managing Director noted, "The Ball costs us almost S$250,000 every year, which is why we're so tight with the guest list. This is not a charity ball, where you can buy your seat. If you lot're here, you have to be somebody who'southward doing something for our order."
Among the guests this year were Kwek Leng Beng, Executive Chairman of Hong Leong Group Singapore, and his wife Cecilia Quek; Arthur Tay, Chairman and CEO of the SUTL Group; Haresh Sharma, resident playwright of The Necessary Stage; and Saleemah Ismail, social entrepreneur and activist.
This year's Ball historic the publication's 36th anniversary, and was held at the Capella Singapore ballroom in Sentosa on Friday evening (Oct 26).
"It'southward ridiculous, the amount of fourth dimension and effort spent on this Ball," Ng told CNA Lifestyle. "We started planning for adjacent year's Ball the moment this night ends. Okay, peradventure we'll give ourselves a three-day break. Just then it starts afterwards that!"
Each year's Ball has a theme. For 2018, it was Maximalism.
"When deciding on the theme for each year'southward Ball, we endeavor to ensure that information technology resonates with guests on multiple levels. On one level, it'due south quite superficial – inspiring [guests] on the fashion front, making them want to discover something spectacular and dress upwards," said Ng.
"On a deeper level, we try to capture the zeitgeist. Maximalism for united states of america is a response to the overly cautious mood of the world right now," she added.
ROCKING THE ROCOCO
Appropriately, the decor was a hat tip to France's Rococo era (1730 to 1770), a period known for its ornamental, theatrical way.
No expense was spared to evoke a maximalist mood. At the entrance to the ballroom, a crystal chandelier lay on its side, as if magically transported from the Palace Of Versailles.
The flowers that fabricated up the table centrepieces were carefully chosen to correspond blooms that were commonplace during the Rococo: Dusty pink roses, amaranthus, and ivy.
On some tables stood Lladro porcelain figurines that the Castilian company specially flew in for the occasion. "They cost upwardly of S$100,000," said Ng. "But they do add [to the temper] and our partners were very committed to pulling off a cracking event. Lladro did not bat an eyelid when we told them what we required."
All this in an effort to please the 300-odd guests, who are accepted to the finer – nay, finest – things in life. This is something that Ng was acutely enlightened of. "Nosotros have to try our all-time to at least run into the mark. It really does claiming us. They savor much more than than the Ball can maybe offer them.
"But I think what they ultimately come up for is the camaraderie, the fact that we have an insider space, a condom infinite, where they tin let their hair down with similar-minded friends."
MAXIMALIST STYLE
Certainly, this was the case for guests similar socialite Susanna Kang, who told CNA Lifestyle that "it'due south an opportunity to meet up with fabled friends and [relish] the incredible hospitality from Tatler. And the amusement".
Kang, similar many of the other guests, spared no expense at looking her best. Dressed to the nines in a red stole, cherry leather Alexander McQueen bustier and black-and-white printed skirt "from a Thai designer", she also engaged celebrity hairstylist Grego Oh and celebrity makeup artist Dily Wang, spending "two hours, all-in" prepping for the evening.
Another showstopper was Carmen Ow, Director of Clydesbuilt Group, who appeared in an ethereal, mint-green, bespoke concoction from Time Taken To Brand A Dress. The local design duo besides dressed actress Constance Lau at the Los Angeles premiere of Crazy Rich Asians.
On how she interpreted the theme, Ow said, "Maximalism is [all nigh] more than is more, so for this dress, I decided to work on the volume of the shoulders and the train of the skirt. The driver had to help 'pack' me into the auto and 'unpack' me later".
For other guests, however, there wasn't much interpreting to do. "If you know me, yous'll know that I ever dress maximalist," remarked society maven Peggy Jeffs. "My daughter told me to but go equally myself."
Jeffs stole the show with a bespoke aureate sequinned dress from Shanghai Silk Firm – "they ordinarily make Chinese dresses, but I asked them to brand a Western one" – and feathered headgear from Kristine Hakim, an Indonesian milliner based in Singapore.
The feathers were burnt to remove excess textile until simply the central quills remained. These were then affixed onto a hardened lace mount as a metal 1 would have been also heavy. "I used a hairband to agree it in place because my hair is brusk," said Jeffs, adding that she had to sit with her head tilted for the 45-infinitesimal drive to Sentosa.
For gentlemen such as Gaurav Kripalani, getting prepped for the evening was a much less elaborate affair. The Artistic Director of the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) spent all of "xxx minutes" getting dressed. Even so, he cut a dashing figure in an off-white Brioni tuxedo that stood out in a ocean of black tuxes.
After partying the night abroad to live music from American cover ring Liquid Blue – which, said Ng, "cost an arm and a leg" to fly in – guests welcomed a round of sustenance in the form of the Teochew Porridge Bar, a Singapore Tatler institution that opened at the stroke of midnight.
"Lots of charity assurance in Singapore have a Teochew Porridge Bar at the stop of the evening, only Tatler was the one that started it," explained Ng. "Y'all retrieve Singaporeans would be full at the cease of the evening, just no, they can nonetheless put abroad some Teochew muay!"
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/style/behind-the-scenes-at-the-2018-singapore-tatler-ball-238521
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