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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
KATSEYE's Lara Raj Explains Why She Unapologetically Wears Her Bindi
Bea Oyster In Teen Vogue's May/June 2025 cover story, KATSEYE member Lara Raj opens up about the inspirations behind her style and how she uses it to represent her Indian culture. Among the many aspects of her typical beauty routine, one of the things most noted by fans, known as EYEKONS, is her bindi. Ever since she debuted on the competition series Dream Academy to earn her spot in HYBE and Universal Music Group subsidiary Geffen's collaborative global girl group, Lara has been known to wear a bindi with many of her looks, regardless of her makeup or outfit for the day. The bindi is a cultural staple for many South Asians, representing core Hindu beliefs and highlighting moments of bonding between friends and family. Such is relatable for Lara, who tells Teen Vogue that her love for fashion and beauty was ignited by her family, especially her mother. 'My mom loves to wear her traditional wedding jewelry with American clothes, which I always thought was so cool growing up,' she says. While the fusion of her shared Easter and Western cultures was inspired by her mother, Lara's dedication to wearing these blended looks on stage also comes from facing stereotypes in her childhood and how she could change things for the next generation. She explains, 'I really wanted to make something like the Ohm necklace or the bindi into a fashion statement and something that people could see as, 'Whoa, that's so sick!' and, 'That's so fire!' And other brown girls, they want to wear it too, as a thing. It's not something to get made fun of for. Because I always got made fun of for it, I really want to change that.' Since these are part of her signature style, they're likely to stay, even while she experiments with new trends. 'I'm trying to be a little bit more chic recently,' she says in our interview. 'Chic is so not my thing. I love sleek clothing, and I like black. I like glamour. And Diesel, Balenciaga, those are my favorite brands in the world. But I'm trying to get more into Miu Miu, Chanel. I even bought Tabis a couple weeks ago and I'm trying to experiment with that.' 'I feel like it feels a little uncomfortable on me because it's so posh in a way, which is so the opposite of my style,' she adds. 'But I don't want to be boxed anymore. I feel like I have a style and that's my thing, and it's always black or chrome or something like that, and I want to expand and be a little bit more fashionable.' Read more about Lara and KATSEYE's personal style in their cover story . Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Want more style stories from Teen Vogue? Check these out: Where Did All The Tween Fashion Go? All the Beauty Products We Spotted at the 2024 Olympics 9 Sunscreens Teen Vogue Editors Swear By for Year-Round Protection From Rose Water to Eyeliner, An Ode to Middle Eastern & North African Beauty
The Courier
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
Peggy Seeger:
'I loved Scotland from the moment I entered it on my Lambretta scooter in 1956,' says folk singer Peggy Seeger, casting her mind way back to her earliest days exploring the UK. 'It was summer, and I remember coming into Edinburgh from the south at sunset. Behind me and to the west was the most glorious, unbelievable sunset.' At the age of 89, Seeger's inquisitive nature is as sharp as her memory, and on the phone her voice sounds strong. She's been singing professionally for more than 70 years, and now she's going on tour for what she says will be one final trip – including a visit to Stirling as one of two dates in Scotland. 'I was coming up from London, and I wanted to get to the top of Scotland,' she continues. 'I only got to Aberdeen, where I stayed with Jeannie Robertson during an iconic rainstorm that lasted for three days.' Arriving at the house of the esteemed late Aberdonian folk singer, Seeger found all her belongings were soaked. She ended her journey there and never did travel further north in Scotland, a minor regret amid an extraordinarily full life. 'I come from a big country,' she says. 'The United States is 3000 miles across and a thousand miles top to bottom, you could fit Britain into Texas. I love the smallness of this country, how it changes every ten miles as you go north. 'The different stones that are used, the different architectural ways of making the cities, and the oldness. 'When I left America we only had about 250 years of history behind us. Of European history, that is.' Seeger can still pinpoint the main difference she sees between her birth country and her adopted UK home. 'I love the informality of America,' she says. 'Americans are impudent, and even now my manners sometimes offend people over here. 'But I've lost track of America, I've revoked my American citizenship. I'm just a Brit now. 'I swore allegiance to the Queen in 1959 in a fly-blown solicitor's office in Lincoln's Inn Fields.' Born in New York City in 1935, Seeger's surname is one of modern folk music's most famous. Her father Charles was a celebrated musicologist and folklorist, and her brother Mike followed in the family tradition while also playing music. Yet it was her half-brother Pete who became one of the most widely-celebrated folk and protest singers ever. Caught up in McCarthy-era discrimination against America's folk musicians, Peggy came to Europe in the 1950s and ended up living in Beckenham in Kent from 1959 until 1995. She then moved back to the US for 16 years, but she's lived near Oxford ever since. She had three children with her second husband, the famed British folk singer Ewan MacColl, who live within driving distance of her now (while this marriage also made her stepmother to the late Kirsty MacColl). Now her sons Neill and Calum are her backing band, while Peggy also writes with her daughter-in-law Kate St John, once of pop group the Dream Academy. 'They're the ones I always travel with,' says Seeger of her sons. 'I wouldn't want to play with any others. They're so sensitive, they put up with all my quirks. 'Sometimes family doesn't work, but ours has.' The tour, she says, is a chance 'to prove that I'm still vertical, breathing and walking'. 'I won't have a chance to have quality time with a lot of old friends in the audience, but I will get to say hello and goodbye to them,' she adds. 'It's nice to have new people come in, especially young people, and old friends can see I'm still here. It's a commemoration of more of 70 years onstage. 'I first went on stage when I was 12, with my knees shaking in a talent contest which I lost, and I've been on the road since I was 21,' she continues. 'Of course I'll be singing I'm Gonna Be an Engineer, I'll be singing The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (which MacColl wrote in tribute to her). 'I'll be singing some of the old ones, but there'll maybe be one or two that people haven't heard.' This tour also promotes her memoir First Time Ever and the recent final album Teleology, both of which will be on sale in signed versions. It's a rare privilege, isn't it, to be able to consciously cap a career in such a way? What's on her mind in these songs? 'Well, what do you think is on the mind of a 90-year-old?' she smiles. 'You're very mortal at my age, especially if you had a bad fall a year ago and you're creeping about a bit. 'It's seeing the goal post, if you can see it without putting your glasses on. It's very humbling. 'Most of my political work at present is towards climate change, making people aware that human beings are part of nature, and until we start acting as if we're part of nature, we're going to destroy our own environment. 'I'm not trying to convert anybody, though. Some of the songs are for fence-sitters, people who don't know which way they're going to fall, and you're hoping to nudge them over onto a constructive side where they can pull their own weight. 'I don't tell people what they should do, I just show them what I've done and say, you can be very effective in your own little way.' Peggy doesn't consider herself 'famous', but rather 'well-known in my field'. 'Probably a lot of older people, if you mention my name they'll say, oh yes, I heard of her somewhere, what does she do?' she smiles. 'It's a nice place to be.' Although writing albums and touring are ending soon, Seeger still might record the odd song for Bandcamp or pop up near her home to talk about her life. 'I'm regarded as a resource now, somebody who remembers the old greats,' she says. 'People are always impressed: 'oh, you met Woody Guthrie, you met Leadbelly, Pete Seeger was your brother, you met the Lomaxes, Ewan MacColl'. 'I say, yeah and I'm still here, so let's talk about what I'm doing now. That's more important, because there's plenty of people my age who can still sing. 'They're just not given the luck of having a family that's willing to take them out on tour.'
Straits Times
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Things to do with kids: New play space at The Artground, June holiday camps, Mother's Day cakes
The UOB Learning Playzone at The Artground has role-playing activities to help children grasp basic financial literacy concepts. PHOTOS: UOB Fun With Kids: New play space at The Artground, June holiday camps, Mother's Day cakes SINGAPORE – Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities. The Artground's Lost Islands play space Embark on an imaginative journey at Lost Islands, the latest arts play space at The Artground at Goodman Arts Centre. The arts charity has partnered Indonesian artist Rachmi Dewi Pertama to create multi-sensory zones inspired by the rich folklore of Singapore and Indonesia. Engage your children with oversized folktale pages, discover hidden forest spots and tiptoe across a mythical dragon's back. Another highlight is a marketplace 'boat' at the UOB Learning Playzone. You can pretend to buy or sell fish, fruit and vegetables with your little ones, who will each get a card to track his or her financial activities. This fun zone, which runs until Oct 20, aims to help children grasp the basics of money management. They will also learn how money evolved from sea shells to coins, paper notes and digital payments today. Tickets to Lost Islands start at $5 a person, including babies, for a 75-minute session. Those with orange or blue Chas cards enjoy free entry. Book a time slot at Performing arts holiday camps in June Actress-director Selena Tan is offering performing arts workshops for kids during the June school holidays. PHOTO: DREAM ACADEMY Actress-director Selena Tan has organised performing arts camps for kids aged seven to 12 during the June school holidays. Explore four themed programmes under her theatre company Dream Academy's Performing Arts Club. Among them is a workshop for musical lovers who will learn to sing, dance and put together a show. In another course, children can have fun reinterpreting classic tales, such as Pinocchio, with a modern twist relevant to their lives . 'There is nothing I love more than giving children the space to explore their innate creativity,' says Tan , who had offered holiday courses in 2018 . 'There are no academic pressures to worry about, just an unbridled joy of self-expression, confidence boost through play and discovering that process is everything.' The fees for each five-day workshop at Dream Academy in Henderson Road is $450. Enjoy a 10 per cent discount when you sign up by May 10 at Cakes to celebrate Mother's Day Sales proceeds from the cake will be used to fund medical volunteers providing free surgical care to children and adults with facial deformities in Asia. PHOTO: SMILE ASIA Celebrate Mother's Day on May 11 by treating yourself or your loved ones to a Chocolate Orange Gateaux de Voyage cake from The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. With your purchase, you will also be contributing to a good cause. The hotel is raising funds for the Smile Asia charity and all sales proceeds from the cake will support medical volunteers in offering free corrective surgery for children and adults with cleft lips and palates, and other facial deformities. Each 500g cake costs $38 and comes with a carrier bag. Buy it from the hotel lobby between May 5 and 11 or order at least four cakes for delivery. Go to for details. Meanwhile, Swensen's fans, especially those who love its Sticky Chewy Chocolate Zer0 ice cream, are in for a treat this Mother's Day. The no-sugar-added flavour comes in the form of a cake with a chocolate crumble base, adorned with a red carnation icing decoration. Carnation Sticky Chewy Chocolate Zer0 Ice Cream Cake (left) is a new offering this Mother's Day. PHOTO: SWENSEN'S The ice cream cake also comes in the popular Strawrry flavour and is topped with a pink bloom icing. Each 500g cake costs $55. Order from Swensen's restaurants islandwide or online at Get the ST Smart Parenting newsletter for expert advice. Visit the microsite for more
