Friday, August 27, 2010

I think I know what to wear for Halloween now

I figured, well, I already have a pair of skull crushing knee-high dominatrix leather boots, so why the hell not?


Thursday, August 26, 2010

What not to wear

I consider myself a very open-minded individual when it comes to fashion. However, there are some things in this world that I draw the line at. I am most likely going to hurt some feelings with this post, but frankly I don't really care. Because I'm pretty sure that I speak for a lot of people when I say that the following are an offense to society and my eyeballs:

(In no particular order)

1) Excessive tanning
In no way do I find this appealing at all. Considering that I had jaundice when I was an infant, you all are lucky that I'm not easily offended. I hope you look like a leather bag 20 years from now.


2) Leggings as pants
I admit, I do love the leggings/tights trend. It's very versatile, slimming, and works quite nicely in cooler weather. However, in the past few years, girls have been getting this asinine notion that it is okay to substitute these things as pants. I don't care if you're a size 00 or size 16, camel toe is never attractive, and neither is seeing your underpants.


(Fyi, it's only okay to wear these things with either a skirt, dress, or a really long shirt. And when I mean long, I mean long enough to cover your butt.)


3) Clothes that are too tight

It really grinds my nerves when people buy the wrong clothing size. All that tight clothing just makes you look even worse. Too often do I see a girl wearing jeans that are several sizes too small, bringing out the dreaded muffin top. Which is funny, because it ends up making them look fatter instead of the opposite. Here's a fun fact: skinny jeans don't make you skinny.


4) Clothes that are too large
I hate it when guys (and girls) choose to wear clothes that are several sizes too large. For one, it's impossible to tell a guy's age when he looks like a 14-year-old raiding his dad's closet; and two, it's not flattering at all. What's even more frustrating is, some of these people have pretty decent bodies, yet they choose to hide it. I remember I had that problem...in 6th grade. When I was a complete dork who didn't know how to dress and only wore the t-shirts that mommy bought me that were often too big but I didn't care because they had dolphins on it.


5) Asian mullets
Saw this A LOT when I was in Hong Kong. You know what I'm talking about. Asians who try and pick up the whole choppy 104832492 layers look, and end up spiking it with hair gel to kingdom come in an attempt to look like super saiyan. I've only seen it look decent on androgynous looking Japanese singers, but otherwise I really don't think it looks good at all. Mullets didn't look good in the 80s, and they most certainly don't look good now.


6) Sweats with buttwords
I've never been a fan of wearing sweats in public anyway. I don't care if your class starts in 10 minutes, it takes just as much time to slip on a pair of jeans. Unless of course you slept in sweats last night, either way you really shouldn't be wearing these unless you're going to the gym or taking the dog for a walk or something.

Anyways, I really think these sweatpants that have words like JUICY or SEXY written across the buttocks are just silly, because often times it's just false advertisement.

^I once saw a lady wear this exact same outfit. In public. And it was bright pink. It turned me off from Juicy Couture forever.


7) Crocs
....I really don't need to elaborate on this.


8) North Face jackets
For some reason, almost every Asian I know owns one of these and proceeds to wear it 300 days out of the year with every single one of their outfits. I really don't see the appeal. They don't look that nice, and they're not that warm to be honest. I only wear mine when I go skiing.


9) These things:
WHAT in GOD'S name are these? I don't even know what they're called, but I saw them everywhere when in HK. I couldn't understand it at first. Are they like...adult diapers or something? Do you hide things in them when going through airport security? I don't see why girls would need to wear these unless they have a dirty little secret...

If these ever become popular in the U.S., I'm afraid I will have to sew my eyelids shut.



And for those who know me well, you're definitely gonna see this coming....


10) UGG boots
These are the biggest insult to fashion since...I don't know. Like a friend of mine said, they look like loaves of bread on peoples' feet. NOT flattering, NOT sexy, NOT to be worn in public. Ever. Boots should flatter your legs, not make them look shorter by a foot.


I've been told that they're great for cold weather, but at the same time, if you live somewhere with cold weather, chances are there's snow, right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but these things do not look waterproof at all. I'm pretty sure you can find better looking boots that are both warm AND waterproof. And don't look like loaves of bread.

I especially love it when girls wear these with miniskirts. As if you already don't look confused, it looks even better when it looks like you didn't even bother to look out the window this morning to determine the weather and the proper attire.

No, my favorite combination goes to:


Sometimes I'm ashamed to be a college student.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Best. Shoes. Ever.

Oxfords. They're sexy, they're timeless, classy, sophisticated, and unique. In my humble opinion, they're the perfect shoe for fall and back to school.

Ladies, wear these and I guarantee you will turn lots of heads. You can either wear them as heels or flats, but I prefer wearing them with heels, to give them a feminine twist. I recommend two-tone, to make things more interesting.



I especially love these. So vintage! Like someone had pulled them straight from an old sepia photo from the `20s.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Hong Kong

I've always considered myself a city girl. Growing up in the sleepy suburbs of Western Washington, I have grown to despise the quietness and lack of excitement of living in a 3-story house surrounded by nauseatingly nice neighbors and pleasantness in general. That's why, when I was given the opportunity to go to Hong Kong, even for a few days, I squealed with excitement. For quite a while I was craving the rush and excitement of being lost in a giant metropolis, a thick urban jungle that stretches as far as the eye could see. Hong Kong, with its population of 7 million people squished onto a tiny island in southern China, satisfied my cravings quite nicely in both the atmosphere and culinary triumph.

However, my entire trip was not quite spent in Hong Kong. We first flew from Seattle down to San Francisco, home of one of the nation's largest airports (by the way, I cannot understand why they put such a giant airport in a place with such bad weather problems). Due to fog, our flight was delayed for two hours. During those two hours, the flight to Hong Kong from San Francisco left without us. Thus, my mother and I ended up spending the night in SF. I confess, at first I was dreading having to do this. Being a bitter, snide and moody Seattlite, my conception of California in general consisted of sun-worshipping, obnoxious orange people running around with bleach blonde hair flaunting as much skin as legally possible. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that San Francisco was quite a swanky city, at least the downtown area. I spent an entire day walking around, looking at high-end stores and dreamily window shopping at the local Gucci outlet. The food in the Chinatown area was also quite delectable, but it was nothing compared to what was in store for me in Hong Kong.

Upon arriving in Hong Kong, I was immediately blasted by a solid wall of 90 degree weather, 70% humidity and the lovely aroma of Hong Kong sewage that is ever present in Victoria harbor. Usually I am very irked by such things as hot weather and bad smelling places, but with the thought of food blaring loud and clear inside my head, such trivial matters were cast aside. After leaving the airport, we met up with my aunt in a buffet at Hotel Excelsior on Hong Kong Island (Hong Kong consists of three main subdistricts: HK Island, Kowloon, and New Territories). In terms of dining, the next few days proceeded in a similar fashion--meeting up with relatives who wouldn't stop raving about how much I've grown since I was two years old and, due to my influency in Cantonese, treated me like a goddamn white tourist instead of a person who's been raised in an Asian household. However, the food was amazingly delicious, so I wasn't one to complain.

And, of course, every meal is accompanied with a nice cold glass of Hong Kong style milk tea:


In my opinion, this is the best thing to drink in such disgustingly hot weather. I'm craving one right now as I type this, and I'm at home in Seattle relaxing to 73 degree weather.

For those who are not familiar with Hong Kong style cuisine (which is slightly different than regular Chinese food), the best thing to eat during lunch time is dim sum. It's where waiters go around the restaurant pushing carts full of food, stopping by each table and offering a wide variety of small dishes. It's kind of like a sushi conveyor belt, minus the conveyor belt. My personal favorite dishes are sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves, ha gao (shrimp wrapped in...hell, I don't know what it is, I just eat it), beef balls with vegetables, and beef chow fun. Of course, there are way more dishes than this, these are just the ones I enjoy eating the most.

Being a girl, of course food wasn't the only reason why I came to Hong Kong. Asian fashion is a world all on its own. I wouldn't say that it is mutually exclusive to Western fashion; I mean, they do follow the general trends set by major European fashion houses, but they add their own twist to it to make it exclusively Asian. And of course, every woman must have either an LV or Burberry bag at all time. These might or might not be real, however.

Outfits usually look like they're thrown on at last minute, but somehow they work quite nicely. It doesn't follow the rules. It's innovative. It's sometimes quite outlandish. It's different.
It's...Asian.




Shopping in Hong Kong can be a bit pricey, but it can also be very cheap if you know where to look. Forget all the large shopping malls and department stores; where you want to go is the Kowloon area, more specifically, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay. Look for little markets and hidden shopping centers. That's where you'll find the good cheap stuff. Accessories such as necklaces go for around 20HKD--around $2.50USD. I scored several pairs of shorts for $30 each ($3.75 US) and many, many pairs of legwarmers for around the same price. I left Hong Kong with a full suitcase, but surprisingly a not-so-empty wallet.

However, my shopping crusades were not over yet. Realizing that there was no way we were getting to San Francisco with just a couple of standby tickets, we instead flew to Tokyo, Japan, for an overnight stay. To my disappointment, we didn't have enough time to take the train to downtown Tokyo where all the action is, but instead stayed in the small airport city of Narita. The next day, before we left for the airport, we stopped by the AEON shopping mall to have a look-see. Due to previous shenanigans in Japan, I realize that the clothing they sell at this mall is a more "tame" version than what you see in downtown Tokyo. It was a lot like what I saw in Hong Kong, except more expensive. And yes, I bought more legwarmers. I am ready for winter!

And you know what I'm craving right now? This stuff:


This delicious thing consists of sweetened coconut milk with tiny tapioca bubbles (sago). It tastes even better with purple rice or some sort of fruit, like strawberries or mango. The perfect summer treat.

Being the daughter of a flight attendant, I've been bitten by the travel bug ever since I was a small child, with no hope for a cure. Who knows where my travels will next take me? Rio? Moscow? Athens? Bangkok?
Until next time,

-MM