The Shanghai Tang Fashion Show

So the other day I found myself at the Shanghai Tang Fashion Show. For those who don't know, it is a store that sells overpriced Chinese items including stationery, furniture, cups and fashion. You might have heard of it since it has stores all over the world including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris. In fact, I was impressed to find that their stores are located in prestigious addresses such as Madison in NY and Sloane in London.

Anyway, enough of the background knowledge. Firstly, I apologize for not bringing a camera to the event. Now I only have photographed pages of this catalogue to assist my narrative. Set in a posh looking restuarant, the entrance was filled with paparazzi's snapping pictures of famous people I haven't heard of (mostly). Stepping inside the venue, I was handed multiple glasses of champagne by waiters at the foyer and led into the reception area where I was surrounded by beautiful young people, ladies all done up (its amazing what plastic surgery can do) and businessmen.

After sipping champagne for half an hour, we were finally led into the main room where the fashion show was to be held, which btw was disappointingly small and obviously not designed for the comfort of the crowd. Even the front row seats (filled with 2 models I actually recognized and other people who I assume are important people) looked cramped.

Then the show finally started and craning my head through the crowd, I saw the models doing the runway in 4 inch heels that look most unnatural and outfits that only a model can look fabulous in.

Another interesting thing is the fact that there were more western models than Asian models. One would think that Asian models would be more suited to model clothes with the Oriental flair. But as you can see from the pictures here, even the catalogue was taken with a western model. Guess they're not targeting for the Asian market. . . Anyway, despite that, I loved it, because I just love the buzz, the energy and the glamour of fashion shows.

New York Spring/Summer 2006 Wrap Up II

Oh gosh yesterday's shows were so much better than the ones from previous days. There are simply too many pretty looks for me to blog them all in here! Some trends are starting to show up more obviously, like nautical, b&w polka dots and lovely dresses of many sorts.

Marc by Marc Jacobs
Marc is one of the only shows in NY that I ever look foward to. I simply love the combination of trendy casualness with a perfect touch of girliness. I absolutely ADORED this collection: Marc went for a chic mix of nautical and ballerina, which is refreshing from all the serious-looking, pretty spring-ish dresses seen in other shows so far.

The show opens with a typical Marc look -huge buttons prominent.

One of my fav looks in this collection -such a cool ballerina look!

Coat over dress -a trend carried off from AW05.

Subtle layering in all white, so simple yet not quite. And pencil skirt trend carries on with a casual feel.

A very teenage-look made special by the layering tops.

Pretty nautical dress made edgy by the side-shoulder bag.

And lots and lots of layering...

Matthew Williamson
Matthew Williamson is one of the few designers who moved his fashion show from London to New York, hoping to expand his market. Like Temperley, Williamson did a fantastic job. His signature silk dresses really stood out. In addition, lots of casual high society casual looks (such as those worn by people who work for Tatler, the British high society magazine,) were also present.

Amazing in a eye-catching way. Can you see how the silk simply flies around the model?

Stunning in a sheer elegant way. The design is so intricate on an otherwise simple ivory dress.

These two are perfect examples of Williamson's casual high society ladies-look. You can see the classy way the shorts are worn and the subtlly superior materials that make up the whole outfit.

Narisco Rodriguez
Rodriguez presented a monochrome collection of mostly dresses -all black, white and grey/ dull silver. The dresses were simple, comfortable and swayed beautifully around the models.

I love this dress simply because of its simplicity and the subtlties of its details (such as the bottom hem).

Something that a woman who possesses a comfortable, innate elegance would wear because she would automatically attract attention without using ornaments.

Roland Mouret
Mouret's collection is may seem alike Rodriguez's at first glance, but they are actually different. Alike is the color scheme used, but different in that Mouret's designs are much more feminine and structurally tailored.

The tailoring of these two outfits is amazing -from the top to the bottom, everything is perfectly planned out. I esp like the grey dress -cool and feminine altogether.

New York Spring/Summer 2006 Wrap Up I

The Spring/Summer 2006 fashion week has finally kicked off in New York! And I must say, so far its been very interesting and utterly refreshing. The nautical theme seens to take an even more prominent role, dark somber colors seems to have prevailed from the F/W collections to mingle with light and everything seems softer and flowier than ever.

Earthy tones like brown, green and cream adorned the Marc Jacob runway, with the occasional splash of red and remnants of f/w's black and whites. Definitely an interesting turn from the bright hues we saw this spring/summer. Collared shirt and oversized . . well everything seems to be key. Not exactly my cup of tea, but definitely interesting.

But I'm loving the evening wears. The asian model just looks so petite and cute in that outfit. And the dark blue dress because the poofy softness and the sparkles makes it look so whimsical!!!

I was suprised to see this name on the New York runway but was definitely pleasently so because this way I get to see the show earlier. And I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the Temperley show. Probably because it is just sooo pretty and feminine with its soft flowy pinks. .

. .adorable deep v fitted dresses. .

and gorgeous billowing black floral evening dresses. I esp love these two because it looks like they just walked out of a fairytale. And I'm a sucker for happy endings. I just LOVE this collection. Its all just so. . . elegant, pretty and english! You should just check it out yourselves here.

Another show I rather liked was the Esteban Cortazar show. It was all really flowy, soft, feminine and. . dreamy.

Ofcourse, it might also be because it bears a striking resemblance to Chloe. . esp the ones I picked here. Oo well, can't help it, I'm partial to these styles. OOo and it also helps that the designer is kind of cute ;) (if a bit short). Check him and his collection out yourselves here.

And I was also very excited about the Sass & Bide show because I remembered quite liking thier last FW collection. But I was sorely disappointed. Everything was all kind of strange. . in a punk pirate sort of way. Very nautical, but definitely not my thing. Ah well there's always next season.

Oooo this is all just soo exciting and its only the beginning!!!!

Gilmore Girls Season 6 Premeires Tmrw.

I can't wait for tomorrow to come: My favourite TV series ever, Gilmore Girls will premiere its Season 6 at 8:00 -9:00pm on Tues night. Gilmore Girls has the perfect mix of family, friendship, romance, humour, rich and not so rich lifestyle and all sorts of little town drama. Oh and as a bonus, Rory (Alexis Bledel) and Lorelai (Lauren Graham)'s wardrobes seem to improve each year. I love fashion-watching Rory's clothes throughout the episodes!

From the WB about Season 6 premiere:
"Picking up on the same night as last season's finale, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Luke (Scott Patterson) begin making plans for their future, but Luke (Scott Patterson) is embarrassed when word spreads that Lorelai was the one who proposed. Still hurt over Rory's (Alexis Bledel) decision to drop out of Yale and move in with Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard (Edward Herrmann), Lorelai tells her parents that they can take care of Rory from now on. Richard hires an old friend and respected attorney (guest star Robert Foxworth, "Falcon Crest") to help Rory get an easy sentence for stealing the yacht, but the judge gives Rory 300 hours of community service. Logan (Matt Czuchry) throws Rory a "felon" party."

The Talented Mr.Chow

Having heard oodles about how great and star-studded Mr.Chow (the restuarant) was last time I was in LA, this time around, we made reservations in advance and finally made it into foyer of Mr Chow in Beverly Hills. After being admitted, we were told to "chill" at the bar. And it wasn't until half an hour later when we were tired of waiting and was about to leave that we were finally seated in a tiny cramp booth near the front of the restuarant right next to this protrait of Mr Chow.

Of course, back then I didn't know that I had the honor of being seated right next to an Andy Warhol creation. Anyway, all that waiting and being seated near the entrance did give me a chance to observe my surroundings, and I must say, the atmosphere was faultless-exactly what one would expect of a celeb hotspot.

Energy buzzed throughout the restuarant as people stood at the cramp little bar space (shown above) happily sipping their drinks, chatting, seeing and being seen. Shiny outfits, big rocks, gorgeous models and all the bling. And yes, even celebs had to do the wait. Although I did not recognize who the celebs I saw that night were, I assume that they are because as soon as they enter/leave the restuarant the 2 paparazzi's standing outside immediately jumped into action.

The interior decoration of the restuarant is supposed to be very top of the notch too, with Mr Chow being one of the first designer restuarants around. And did I mention that Mr Chow himself is also a reknown designer responsible for the Armani store on Rodeo amongst others? Anyway, wasn't too impressed with the interior. A bit cramp with a little bit of an orient flair, but if it wasn't called Mr Chow, I wouldn't have guessed it was a Chinese restuarant. In fact, the settings of forks, knives, wine glasses were all very distinctively western.

As for the cuisine. . well, I like to think that I know my Chinese food and will know fine Chinese cuisine when I taste one. But radioactive orange shark fin soup, overcooked fried chicken strips and hard dry rice really isn't my idea of fine Chinese cuisine. And it amazed me that all the rich and famous around me were eating it all up with such enjoyment.

My verdict? Mr Chow is indeed a very talented man. Only someone so talented can induce the rich and famous of Beverly Hills to continuously go to his restuarant, wait in the bar for half an hour and eat questionable chinese cuisine at a ridiculously high price since 1974.

Belt Trends FW 05-06

My cousin bought this really cool buckled belt in Barneys LA, and after borrowing it on various occasions-did I mention that this was a male cousin?- I have a sudden infatuation with belts and am determined to find the perfect belt this season. After much research on the runway, here is what I've concluded:

As far as style goes, I can tell you that these multiple buckle belts seen on the Marc by Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren runway are all the rage. But personally, the perfect belt I had in mind is not quite as exciting, since I just found out that decent belts were actually quite costly (esp those beeeeeautiful ones from Barneys).

Hence I've decided to opt for a more classical and boring style, like these two from Anthropologie. Ok, maybe not exactly lime green, but I do so love the style of it. But you know what type I'm looking for now right?

To give perfectly boring belts a fashionable twist, take a page from the Marc by Marc jacob and Miu Miu runway. LOL, this time when I say twist, I literally mean a "twist".

Apart from the twist and style, this season it is all about the position of the belts. In celebration of the feminine curves, it is high up and cinched at the waist. As you can see perfectly boring dark buckle belts are used to achieve this effect on the YSL, Prada, Vuitton and Marc Jacobs' runway.

Anyway, I'm off! Probably to Zara. I think I spotted cute belts there last time I stopped by.