My friend Naomi has been looking for a top with a Peter Pan collar for the longest time. She has been scouring the shops but still has turned up with nada. I want one too, but I haven't searched the way Naomi has, with.a.passion.
I used to have a cute one, when I was in my 20s. It was a cream polka dot top with delicate puff sleeves and a black Peter Pan collar that I would wear with a pleated black skirt that I bought at a uniform store in MBK in Bangkok for the equivalent of Php300. I wore it with Yulo Manila round toe pumps, which I bought from my grad school roommate Jaraiza. Her sister, the designer Kristel Yulo, used to make shoes then. That outfit was one of my favorite "office casual" looks at the time. But oh yes, that top, Peter Pan collar and polka dots, so right on trend for now!
But no use looking for that, it would just look to young and I would feel a bit silly wearing the same outfit now.
A few days ago, over hot chocolate and macarons at Antoinette in Mandarin Gallery with my SIL Leslie and I, Naomi spotted a group of middle-aged ladies beside our table. Of the five, two were wearing similar short sleeved knit tops, one in black, the other in red, both with crisp white Peter Pan collars.
"Tin, that's the perfect Peter Pan collar!" Naomi said. And she couldn't resist pointing the ladies out to me. As they all stood up to leave, I didn't see any collars, only a parade of crocodile Birkins that grazed our gaze. "Tin, look!" Naomi said again.
And then, I saw. There they were, perfectly rounded, just the right size and width, and it came across as totally classic. Totally age appropriate. The knit top was the perfect backdrop for it.
We wondered where they bought those, and made a mental note, filing each detail in memory - sleeve length, length of top, colors, that perfect Peter Pan collar.
A few days later, I serendipitously found them. A black knit top with the perfect Peter Pan collar hanging in front of me, in all its glory. It almost felt like there was a spotlight shining on it, saying, "Here I am! Buy me!"
Too bad it was inside Louis Vuitton Island Maison in Marina Bay Sands. The crocodile Birkins should have been a clue aka "You won't find that in Topshop".
I called Naomi, to share the news. Good news = "I found it!". Bad news = "It's not within our budget capabilities!" I felt her excitement rise up and then crash.
The search is still on.
