May the Force be with you 星戰衣戀

 || Rodarte Fall 2014 || Preen by Thornton Bregazzi Fall 2014 || Star Wars ||

|| Preen by Thornton Bregazzi Fall 2014 ||

 || Rodarte Fall 2014 ||

|| Star Wars Queen Padmé Amidala Fashion ||

It seems that Comic Con and Fashion Week finally have something in common. The February fashion weeks are still well underway and yet, two fashion houses travelled to a galaxy far, far away. Both were quite literal, too. Being a Star Wars fangirl through and through, I am totally pro this trend. That said, I am more inclined towards the Rodarte collection. With their memories continuously as the design pillar, the Mulleavy sisters designed a collection in rich fabrics and jewel tones, something a 21st century Padmé Amidala would wear. I am pretty much convinced that this collection was made for the Queen of Naboo. As much as I love what Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi are doing at Preen of late, have to say Darth Vader didn’t make the most attractive of prints. In contrast, the jolly shade of vermilion was very much to my liking, and the voluminous ankle grazing coats make the perfect cold weather armour.

動漫展和時裝秀本來是兩碼子的事，但依然在進行的2014秋冬時裝秀把原本遙遠的距離拉近，兩大設計師品牌不約而同地從很遙遠的星系裡取得靈感，而且都頗為明顯。作為星球大戰的忠實粉絲，我個人是很喜歡時裝這樣向星戰致敬，但Rodarte 2014秋冬系列比較討喜。每一季Mulleavy姐妹都以她們共同的回憶作為靈感，新一季系列用上寶石色調及蕾絲、天鵝絨等高端物料，整個系列就是為二十一世紀的Padmé Amidala而設計的。我真的是這麼認為，剪裁用色太相似了。儘管近幾季Justin Thornton及Thea Bregazzi的Preen設計很有驚喜，悲劇反派黑武士印花實在不太吸引。反而我特別喜歡亮眼有活力的橘色，另外寬大特長的外套也是對抗嚴寒的時尚之選。

Isabel Marant pour H&M

Deep down I do hold a belief that designer collaborations are as gimmicky as coconut water. But somehow every time one of these happens I get intrigued and always end up buying one or two items. I have been – however – lucky that I have never ever queued. Anyway, this time round I am back in Hong Kong, the land of frenzied queuing. So I kind of gave up on buying anything from the Isabel Marant pour H&M collection, since (I heard) queues start the night before and a lot of people ask their maids to queue for them.

Nonetheless, I just had to try my luck. First, I went to the Elements store, which was completely empty. I then arrived at the Tsim Sha Tsui flagship store at 11am and found out there was plenty of stock from the collection. So I queued – 30 minutes later I was a happy shopper having bought everything on my hit list. (Which – fyi – only consisted of the slip-ons, white lace top and black lace dress) Not sure who or what to thank, maybe it’s my peculiar taste, maybe it’s tiny feet, maybe it’s the TST store.

心底裡我是知道的，我知道這些crossover合作系列都只不過是營銷伎倆，但奈何我每一次都被吸引到，結果都會購買一至兩件單品。可能我比較幸運，過去的H&M crossover系列我都湊巧不用排隊。但這次Isabel Marant x H&M就不同了，我身在香港，一個幾乎什麼都要排隊的瘋狂地方，而且排隊從前一天就開始了，有些人更有傭人代勞，面對如此瘋癲的排隊行為我就放棄了。

儘管如此，我還是想要試試運氣。先到了圓方分店，系列都被搶購一空了。然後上午11時到尖沙嘴旗艦發現貨源非常充足，三十分鐘的排隊過後我就買到我一直想買的單品，（其實沒有很多，就只是休閒鞋、白色蕾絲上衣及黑色蕾絲裙子）。這次行動成功其實大有可能因為我品味比較獨特和腳比較細，不過尖沙嘴店貨比較多也應該是真的啦。

AW13 Trend: Pink Coats

From top left: Paul Smith Neon Pink Cashmere-Blend Epsom Coat; COS Wool Alpaca Coat; Roksanda Ilincic Collarless Wool Swing Coat; Balenciaga House Classic Collarless Coat; Kenzo Boiled Wool Double-Breasted Jacket

Acne Olympia Wool-blend Bomber Jacket; Maxmara Studio Gambo Belted Coat; Topshop Fluffy Swing Boyfriend Coat; Rochas Oversized Wool-blend Coat in Pink; Red Valentino Pink Coat

J Crew Coccoon Coat in Blush; Marc Jacobs Double-Faced Cashmere Wrap Coat with Belt; Hobbs London Pink Lacey Coat; Joseph Man Wool and Cashmere-blend Coat; Bottega Veneta Cashmere Coat

Fifty Shades of... Pink. With every fashion magazine telling us to think pink this season, inevitably this idea is planted in our heads. While maxi, mannish, ankle-grazing coats lead the way this season, pink coats slowly crept into our minds, subconsciously reminding us if we go for a rather adventurous outerwear colour, pink should be it. Even the Marks & Spencer blushed pink coat was sold out before it hit the stores.

I have been contemplating about this. Pink coats are certainly a joy to look at, however once you get down to business – literally or figuratively – pink coats seem out of place. Unless you are Alexa Chung or a child, a pink coat would be rather difficult to fit into your wardrobe.

Undeniably, pink coats are delightful. After all, who can forget about that endearing pink coat from the Raf Simons final Jil Sander collection? While models clutched the coats we clutched our hearts. To buy or not to buy, I still had fun looking at all these gorgeous outerwear in a colour none other than the rosy, blushed, feminine pink.

當每一本雜誌都教你買粉紅色大衣，催眠效果最對不能忽視。 新一季秋冬大熱固然是大碼、男裝剪裁、長至腳跟的大衣，但粉紅色這個念頭不知不覺間就出現在腦海裡，潛意識好像有小聲音在跟你說要麼買主流顏色大衣，要麼就買粉紅色！如果不是如此，Marks & Spencer的粉紅大衣也不會售罄。

這個難題我也考慮了一陣子，粉紅色大衣當然好看，但細細一想就覺得不論是什麼場合粉紅色大衣都格格不入。除非你是英國時尚達人Alexa Chung或者是小孩，否則難以凌駕粉紅色大衣這種稚氣單品。

當然，粉紅色大衣也有可取之處。有誰能忘記Raf Simons最後的Jil Sander系列裡扣人心弦的一抹粉紅，模特抓緊大衣前襟我們也同樣被感動。潮流不潮流也好，無可否認溫馨浪漫女性化的粉紅大衣都讓人賞心悅目。

An Hermès Journey

There are just way too many exhibitions going on in London right now, and so many of which I want to go to. Well I began with the Hermès Leather Forever exhibition since it is on my ‘Must Go’ list and it’s free (considering I am quite broke at the moment).

We began with the library of skins with an intoxicating scent of leather that you can’t avoid. Next up was the artisan’s studio where they had two Hermès craftsmen at work, visitors could just go up to them and talk to them. There wasn’t much chatting going on though, perhaps no one wanted to interrupt the concentration and precision that goes into an Hermès leather good. I witnessed a grass green Constance bag (so cute) in the making. I asked the artisan when his Hermès career started and he said 20 years ago. (He looked quite young! Ah French people and their elixir of youth)


12 rooms make the whole of the exhibition and it was very well put together and immaculate (well it’s Hermès). The room taking you through their travel collection was lit in a shade of burnt orange and filled with sand – a true nomadic ambience. There was a lot of play with lighting effects as well. I was peering into a box when a mini light show took place right before my eyes.

It was such a shame that photography wasn’t allowed, but I managed to sneak this shot. Note the bag at the top left corner; it’s a tiny little Kelly with a cheeky face (isn’t it adorable!).

Hermès Leather Forever Exhibition

8 - 27 May 2012

6 Burlington Gardens

London W1

Chinese Lolita

Recently I read an article about Chinese Lolitas on WWD. Apparently, and I quote “The Chinese name for Lolita is Er Nai, or, literally, “The Second Mrs.”, really not too sure about this, but I have to agree that the modern day Chinese Lolitas are fashionistas with unlimited credit cards, luxury cars and chauffeurs at their service (of course chauffeurs for those Louboutin 160mm calf hair Daffodils, what else?).


Recognized or not, these Lolitas or Er nai or whatever surely are a trend in China. With soaring prices on practically everything, who can afford to make a living by themselves? (Okay exaggeration) And who are we to judge? Anyway, China is so populous, which means there are a lot of fine-looking young girls, simple maths. In addition, since plastic surgery is so popular now (whichever country), the not-so-fine-looking young girls can become gorgeous to add to the Lolita pack. My friend and I always make this joke about pretty Chinese girls all looking the same with their (A) eyes, (B) noses and (C) chins, like the menu from a plastic surgery clinic. Trust me, there are lots to be done on a normal Asian face to become “pretty”. For starters deeper and bigger eye creases and a straighter nose, don’t know who planted this in our heads but this is the general (and I say general!) “pretty face” for Chinese standards. And my friend and I would argue that girl’s nose is a (B) or (C). Yes, complete nonsense. Anyhow, my point is, they are a force to be reckoned with.


Chinese designer behind the label Luvon, Liu Lu seized this preemptive opportunity with her new collection focusing on the popularity of Lolitas in modern China. Not going to go into details about that but her advertising campaign for the collection is striking. From the colourway, setting, choice of model to the props – all brilliantly executed. Look at the model’s face, what a typical china doll? Also the cakes, tiara and endearing posture just completely embody the youth and aspiration of a modern Chinese Lolita – everybody wants to be a princess. Ignoring the old guy/ sugar daddy, everything just looks very dainty and sweet to me.

via WWD

Vintage in Paris

"Where did you get that lovely gold cuff from?" "It's vintage." And then there would be some ohhhs and ahhhs. No questions asked. Vintage. This word is somewhat mystical, magical and vague, is it overrated? Sometimes I am just a bit skeptical. Does it feel like a go to term when people bought something that looks vintage when in fact it isn't but they didn't want to disclose where it is from so its vintage? 


Vintage pieces are by all means very special, obviously their one off exclusivity makes it impossible for every other person to just go grab one from the nearest Zara. They are the one and only (most of the time) and even more unique depending on what you pair them with. Feels like there is a piece of history attached and that element of fun, nostalgia or glamour is transferred to the outfit too. 


I dragged my friend to quite a lot of vintage stores when we were in Paris, in fact I seem to drag my dear friends out of our way to go to vintage stores and come back empty handed all. the. time. For instance in high school, I dragged a friend to Rellik when we were only allowed out in London for the Saturday afternoon. Vintage stores are always very nice to explore but I never can buy anything for some unknown reason. Could it be that I wasn't looking hard enough? Or am I reluctant to buy pre-owned things? Perhaps growing up in a country where all the fakes come from (fake handbags to fake eggs) made me very doubtful when buying vintage pieces. I am still not sure why but certainly it doesn't put me off exploring. 


There are quite a lot of vintage stores near the Rue de la Verrerie in Paris, I made my friend walk the all the way to Le Marais and I swear she was quite annoyed with me. Along the way you will find Free'P'Star (61 rue de la Verrerie. Paris 4è.), Fripes Star, Mam'zelle Swing (35 bis Rue Roi de Sicile 75004 Paris) and Coiffeur Vintage (Saint Gervais, Le Marais, Paris 75004). I came out empty handed from all of the above. Free'P'Star, Fripes Star and Coiffeur Vintage are all pretty similar, very very low priced, but I guess I was too tired from all that walking to seriously dig for goodies, and they do have some kind of smell. I did find a small selection of fur in Coiffeur Vintage but everything was just way to big for me and it wasn't the fluffy kind of fur. Mam'zelle Swing is a bit different with that 20s vibe, sequins, lace, feathers and all that. Again, most of the stuff did not fit me and my skepticism kicked in because it just didn't look very vintage to me. 


The more upscale vintage stores are Yukiko, La Belle Epoque and La Jolie Garde Robe near Rue Vieille du Temple. I didn't buy anything either but this time my friend actually enjoyed all that walking with me, because Rue Vieille du Temple was a delight. There were quite a lot of interesting stores (big names small names) to look at, especially some local French brands which also carried furs, mostly rabbit and very very fluffy. 


Last vintage stop on our trip was Marché Dauphine, one of the markets of Puces de Saint Ouen. I would say if there would  be a next time for me in Paris, this would be the only vintage stop. Although it is one of the markets among a few, half a day can easily go by walking in this gem packed bazaar. I finally bought this charming purple beady vintage clutch without any skepticism or doubt because I just liked it so much. 

The apparel from Marché Dauphine was awe-inspiring, a lot of sequins (which I am in love with at the moment), lace (a bit too delicate fore my taste) and it was, for a brief moment, the place where I thought I would score something in style of a 20s flapper dress (soon I let go of this thought because I remembered nothing would fit me). 


For some weird reason I kept looking at furs on this trip and I found an amazing vintage Dior cape in one of the stores but again, I was real suspicious because of the price tag. It looked somewhat like this:

Amazing cobalt blue wool cape with fluffy baby blue rabbit fur, god it was so lovely. I also found a white vintage Chanel cashmere cardigan in another shop which was in amazing condition with fine hand painted buttons lined with sparkles, regrettably it was way too big for me as a very oversized boyfriend cardigan. Even the very nice and enthusiastic shop lady who let me try on everything said "Trop grand! Trop grand!". Pas de chance pour moi! 


Generally speaking Paris was quite enjoyable, even though there was no visit to Disneyland and I was on high avoid-getting-mugged alert. My broken French wasn't extremely useful but we got by, I have got to be more familiar with numbers though, I knew how to say "Combien ça coûte?" and "Quel est le prix?" but my blank face just gave me away when they told me how much it costs, Parisians speak way too quickly. Well, at least I knew I should feel good about myself when the nice French couple who helped us take a photo said "Vous êtes très jolie." 

Tory Burch Spring 2011 Preview

SPRING 11. The other day I went to the Tory Burch Spring 2011 preview in IFC Mall Hong Kong. The collection consists of vibrant reds, yellows and greens as always, but this time together with a mix of nature and nautical vibe, with animal patterns and a touch of navy blue.

J'adore this chunky plastic necklace, the plastic pieces are silhouettes of swallows.

This new Robinson Satchel in yellow is lovely too, the top handle and shape makes it very different from ordinary satchels. Featured in Harper's Bazaar, Poppy Red and Cricket Green available on Tory Burch.

Not a big fan of brights, so this outfit became my favorite out of the lot. Together, all that golden tweed, dots and wavy patterns do not seem too much at all.

Neon orange in unanimity with the rainbow brights Spring 2011 trend.

Another Spring 2011 trend, the flatforms, also sported in Chanel and Prada. Yay or nay? 

A little resemblance with the Céline box bag and Hermès Constance? 

Wooden wedges, tan soft buttery leather, perfect for a relaxed spring day.

Leather jacket Calvin Klein

Camel button down sweater Zara

Pointy capped toe flats Chanel

Navy Bayswater bag Mulberry

Pringle of Scotland Spring 2011

POST HOLIDAY. After a relaxed and well rested holiday I am back again, missed the first class of my last semester today. So first up I wanted to share this lovely Pringle of Scotland Spring 2011 ad campaign, featuring actress Freya Mavor. Those shoes are heaven aren't they? 

Obsession du jour: British VOGUE December 2010

I do not own these images, all images are scanned from British Vogue December 2010, they belong to their rightful owners. 

STARSTRUCK. I apologize for being so late and outdated, but this is one issue too splendid not to share. 


Before NASA announced their 'discovery of an exceptional object in our cosmic neighborhood', British Vogue published their exceptional Star Issue for December 2010 (with Emma Watson on the cover). Pretty self explanatory, the whole issue revolves around stars, everything is outright spellbound and mesmerizing with fancy colours, supernova graphics and of course Christopher Kane's prints. The fashion editorial is based on Zodiac (Star) Signs, remarkable images that are truly 'out of this world'. They even have typography specially designed for this issue! 


These scans are some of my favorites obviously there are more fabulous spreads from the magazine. Do have a look (if you haven't yet), it sure is one starry fantasy. 

Fall 2010 Trend: Leather Trousers

LEATHER. Leather trousers (or leather pants) are no longer limited to rock n' roll. With fall 2010 updates they can be relaxed, romantic, nostalgic, utilitarian... and the list goes on.

Images courtesy of style.com

BURNT SIENNA. Try leather trousers in reddish brown for a bit of blithe nostalgia. (Top and bottom) Ralph Lauren Blue Label Leather Pants from Saks and Wax Effect Leather Shorts from Zara. I know this post is for leather trousers, but I came across some amazing leather shorts that I really want to include. =)


RELAXED FIT. They don't necessarily need to be tight fitted skinnies, slouchy slightly harem styles are really chic too. (From left to right) Cheap Monday Faux Leather Trouser from ASOS, Davi Leather Pants and Davi s Leath Shorts both from Acne.

MOTORCYCLE & BIKER. What is grungy chic without leather trousers? (Left to right) 1971 Reiss Gael Leather Motorcycle Pant from ASOS and ASKET Leather Biker Trousers from Ted Baker.


PANELED. Add a pinch of zing with paneling, structural + black leather screams Gareth Pugh to me. (Left to right) Superfine Swirl mid-rise stretch-denim and leather jeans from Net-a-porter and Helmut Lang Jersey and Leather Combo Leggings from Shopbop.


BASIC SKINNIES. Be inspired by Olivia Palermo with basic leather skinnies, from what I gather hers are from Daryl K. (Left to right) True Religion Stella Leather Pants and Helmut Lang Skinny Leather Pants from Shopbop.

Camel Cape

CAPE. Instead of a camel coat, I am leaning towards a camel cape more this fall. I have been looking at a lot of high street brands for the perfect cape, but somehow most of them are 'nice capes with a little bit of something that I don't like'. Finally I came across a camel cape that I really like from Karen Millen (above). Normally Karen Millen is a bit mature for my taste, but essentially it's how we pair things up that determines the age. I love the way this cape can be fastened or un-fastened, there should be quite a lot of ways to button up with the four buttonholes on the sleeves.  

Another camel cape that I'm considering is this Ash Grey Woolen Studio Cape from Zara (I have no idea why it is ash grey), love the silts, very Alexander Wang Fall 2010. But it is lacking a bit of detailing and slightly too camel, a somewhat lighter hue would be perfect. Nonetheless, it is from Zara and I'm not sure how long ago this cape has hit the stores, so probably won't be able to get my hands on it anyway.