The China Market

1/3 of the world population is Chinese. A Chinese company took over (part of) IBM and *gasp* Tommy Hilfiger as well (which is ironic seeing as he had discriminated against them some years back...)! It does seem like they're taking over the world doesn't it? LOL. Anyway, thats how the trend has been going for some time now. And thats how companies like LVMH and Prada has had such record high profits. As a results, there's been renovations and flagship stores opening all over the place. Now it seems that they're all taking it up a notch higher, and is catering specifically to the noveau rich Chinese out there.

As we all know, the Chinese loves to play mahjong. And they also love the monogrammed brands. Putting their two love together and viola-the brand named mahjong sets! Marketing genius. Here's the Gucci set. I've also seen the Vuitton set at the store. Isn't it cool that the Chinese culture is finally being taken into account by international giants of the fashion world?

But Prada, just so they don't miss out on the profit since they don't have a monogram, have taken to enlarging their name and emblazoning it oh-so-prominently onto their bags to compensate. At least thats what I think. I cannot find any other reason for a design that is so lacking in design. This design has been going on for a while now, when will it stop? Part of me takes pride by the fact that the Chinese are getting so influential that it can influence the design of Prada. But fashionably speaking, that is just not cool.

Rumor Has It

So in a good ol' friday movie marathon yesterday, I finally got around to watching Rumor Has It. I've wanted to watch it for a while because I liked Jennifer Aniston in Friends, it looked like a chick flick and its been plastered all over the place trying to brainwash us into seeing it.

I didn't exactly read the summary before I went to see it so I didn't quite know exactly what to expect. But I must say, it was quite a strange movie. Usually one knows what the main character in the plot is thinking about, but in this case, I just wanted to shake her and ask her, "What the hell are you thinking???"

The plot was positively incestuous what with Jennifer Aniston's character sleeping with this guy (Kevin Costner) who has slept with not only her mother, but her grandmother as well!!! Kevin Costner's character, Beau Burroughs, being the infamous Benjamin Braddock from The Graduate.

Although admittedly her affianced, Mark Ruffalo, is not exactly very exciting being a not so handsome version of Benjamin Pratt with a little of Ray Romano in him. But anyone who can put up with her crazy actions is a keeper. On a side note, I love her grandmother Shirley Maclaine played. She was hilarious.

And lastly, I would just like to note how unfair the process of aging is. While this guy who could potentially be her DAD can be said to be in his prime, Jennifer Aniston just looked to be a little past hers. In some scenes in the movie, she really did looked old with very deep wrinkles on her forhead when she frowned (which was very often). Especially compared to her little sister, Mena Suvari played. Maybe I'm just so used to her as Rachael in Friends that its hard see her playing someone else.

Olay Quench Rapid Repair Hand Lotion

I first read about this hand lotion in Allure last winter. And I thought, Allure and the 50 or so people who they claimed to have tried it, must've been paid to advertise for Olay's new product. I mean, it happens all the time! Especially when they put a lot of random products up and say its for the Christmas theme... .

But having tried it in an travel emergency, I must say, I am impressed! I have very sensitive hands, especially in winter when the weather changes. So I take very good care of it with the L'Occitane hand cream. But after having tried Olay for a few days and actually seeing significant improvement on my own hands at such a low price, I was duly impressed. Allure was right (for once). The people who tested it were right. The Olay Quench hand lotion indeed works miracles!

SS06 Trends: Pretty White Blouse

It seems that the romantic pretty victorian style blouses we all adore FW05/06 are going to be with us for SS06 as well. The lace, the sheerness and the shape of these blouses just makes it perfect for next season's structure and really much more ladylike atmosphere. The trick to this continuing trend? White of course!

Dolce and Gabanna obviously agrees, judging from what we see on both their Dolce & Gabanna and D&G catwalks.

The qualities of the ideal SS06 blouse is perfectly demonstrated on the Chloe and Moschino catwalk. Whether loose or fitted, both have a very definite shape.

My favourite pick of next season's offering is this gorgeous sheer blouse by Alice + Olivia. Its a victorian blouse sans the ruffles and laces. And the black stripes gives it an extra modern touch.

More traditionally, there is this lacy white blouse from Calvin Klein. I love the detail of the sleeves.

For those very hot summer days (oh how I long for those right now) there is this very lacy white blouse from Anthropologie. So good to know that our recent investments are going to last for another season.

Accessories Trends For SS06: Stockings

Stockings were quite the rage on the ever-so-important Prada and 20th-anniversary Dolce & Gabbana catwalks. This is one weird trend for SS06, or for any Spring /Summer seasons for that matter. I mean, stockings are usually present in loads of FW shows, but who in real life wears stockings in hot weather?

In the Prada show, stockings start right above the knees and are worn kind of crumpled. The material is translucent and slighly shiny. The key is to match the black or grey stockings with white/ neautral-colored shifts. And of course, it is only in the world of Miuccia that it's ok to wear stockings with sandal platforms and still look so elegant.
In the Dolce & Gabbana show, stockings start mid-thighs. You can only see this in some outfits (where the shorts/ skirts are short enough to see.) I didn't actually notice this was a trend at Dolce until the new SS06 ads were released:Btw, I heard many bad comments about this ad. I admit the 'lying on top of hay' concept isn't exactly what I pictured for this sophisticated season, but have you notice that everything in the background including hay is of neautral-colored? Talk about theme!

Oops, ran off the topic a bit. The question now are stockings going to become a main stream trend? The answer is: only if it's picked up by high street stores. But from experience, many Miuccia trends are so fashion-foward that most people don't actually pick it up, (or maybe Miuccia designs are just not slutty enough for the mass.)

Shop FW05 Sales For SS06

Shopping in sales sometimes uses up more of my brain cells than shopping at original prices. Reason for this? When I'm at sales, I inevitably think 'lalala, I'm in a happyland where beeautiful clothes and shoes are on sale,' and feel sooo cheerful just to be there surrounded by discounted racks. My brain zones into a 'must must must buy at least one thing since everything is like, totally worth it now!'-sort of mode.

Unfortunately, all the fashion-y stuff I've read and know about next season's style trends starts to dance around my brain and I start to analyse every piece of clothing I'm interested in. Questions like 'Will the whole military jacket thing still be in fashion next spring or fall?' are asked and the result is an indecisive, annoying customer staring at the jacket. And of course since I do possess quite a logical brain, I am at the same time covering all the typical pre-purchase questions like 'How often will I wear this'; 'What will this shirt match with my other clothes'; 'Do I have something similar already'; 'Can this be thrown into a washing machine?' etc.

Shopping end-of-season, fun huh? After going through many such expeditions to malls and department stores in three different countries last month, I've managed to come to a few conclusions:

• In anticipation for SS06, chose white, white, white! Anything in luxurious-neautrals should also be seriously considered.
• To avoid disappointment, never have your hopes up even after you pick up the perfect discounted item until after it is confirmed that a) your size is still available, and b) that item is not damaged and still looks relatively new.
• If it doesn't fit you, then put it down! Don't make pathetic excuses like 'but I've been wanting it for ages and it's actually on sale now.' Better to spend the money on something that you will actually love and be able to wear.
• Sale time is THE perfect time to buy closet staples like jeans. My sister managed to buy a pair of fantastic Blue Cults for only HK$1200 (US$150.)
• Another closet staple for last year and this year still, are flats. Marc Jacobs makes some of the cutest flats.
  Yes I know they're pricy, but if you wear them almost everyday, then they'll be totally worth it.
• If you're not familiar with the saleslady, then don't listen to her! She'll be giving you all sorts of praises even if the jacket makes you look like a puffball.
• One of the best things being a student is that we can discount-shop on a weekday morning/ early afternoon. It's so much more comfortable shopping without the crowds in weekends and not have to look at the same rack of clothing with someone else.
• Since next season is all about white jewelry, don't buy the leftover black jewelry (unless you really like it of course.)
• No matter which season, there are always pretty, classical high-heels, which even if they are not particularly in fashion, are always needed for dinners and nights-out. Sales always has those. These Louboutins are great examples:

Make sure you actually buy something before the end-of-season sales are over!

Gisele for Vuitton (Bye Uma!)

Happy new year people! Barneys Girl and I have a wonderful and restful week away from blogging and did what we said we will: I went to Taiwan with family, and Barneys Girl got sick and spent the days relaxing. But alas, I can't believe the holidays are coming to an end. Barneys Girl is on the plane (with many fellow students from U of C and NW I hear) back to Chicago right now. And I'm in a panic to get all those 'must-dos' like getting a haircut and facial done before flying back to London this Friday. Anyways......

What a wonderful start to s new season of campaigns! To start off with, Marc Jacobs finally got rid of Uma Thurman (read: yuck yuck yuck to the last few years of boring, celeb Vuitton ads,) and replaced her with ubermodel Gisele (an actual working model!) It was kind of hard to believe at first, and I didn't actually believe the rumours until Gisele actually went to Hong Kong to open the Vuitton flagship store and I saw the new SS06 ads.

"I certainly feel Gisele is iconic and recognised all over the world as Gisele. Also, the clothes were hot and sexy and colourful, and we thought she would exaggerate the strength and the heat of the collection." -Marc Jacobs

From what I've been hearing on forums, people's opinions have been sort of mixed, although to be honest, mostly negative: Some complained about the colors and how it's a bit too 'neon'; Some complained that the style of these Gisele ads are just too similar to the Uma ads; Others blamed the Vuitton SS06 collection was just ugly to begin with, so even Gisele could not make it look beautiful.

Frankly, I'm still too happy it's a non-celeb ad to care how well-designed the ads are. I do think Gisele is the right model to give off that bright and strong vibe Vuitton is giving off this season though. And let's face it, nine out of ten of Vuitton bags become hits with the customers anyways. Here's a little preview to the upcoming campaign: yellow suede for February, perforated monogram for March, printed silk scarf bags for April, denim ones for May and a multicolored fringed number for June. Something for all Vuitton fans to look foward to!