Simone - Your Style Architect: chinese new year

Showing posts with label chinese new year. Show all posts

Hi everyone,

I have to firstly apologise that much has been happening on my end and I needed to take a haitus from blogging over the last year. My main focus for social media interaction was ONLY via Instagram, hence for those of you are not following me yet on Instagram, kindly do so with my handle : @yourstylearchitect so you can enjoy the reels and videos I have put together as well as for more regular outfit inspirations.

Firstly, I have to admit that 2022 was a year I like to leave behind me as I had a few challenges from a fractured foot ( so that meant mobility was a big issue) which did not allow me to take many photos or do much styling. Then the disappointments with insincere people and friendships, of which I should have trusted my gut feelings from Day 1 when I spotted the red flags. Well, I guess we all live and let learn and so I have moved on leaving hypocrisy behind and definitely not wanting to reinvite such negativity into my life again. Sadly, 2022 also brought further sadness with the passing of our rescue dog from Hong Kong, who had succumbed recently to cancer and passed on 5 Dec 2022. It was a sad, trying few months that I had to administer palliative care for her. I still miss Rum badly. I will share a tribute reel I had put together for her in my next post.

Anyways, now with the Year of the Rabbit at hand, I finally decided to check-in again to my blog and at least say Hi to those of you who have continued to love and support me in what I do. So here's a big bang entry into the Year of the Rabbit and still pushing hard to inspire all of you on how to shop from your own wardrobe, keep fashion sustainable and be very selective on how you spend your money on new buys. Yes, we are all facing some financial restrictions during this tough economic times, so why spend what's not necessary but just restyle, re-wear and re-create new looks from what you have.

In the first qipao / cheongsam look - which is a traditional Chinese outfit that most women wear especially during special occasions like Lunar New Year, Weddings or formal events, mine here was custom made for me back in 2021. Unfortunately as I get older in years, the confidence of wearing short or mini skirts gets lesser, therefore I have decided to " extend " the hemline of this outfit without altering it per se, but throwing on a tulle skirt underneath and voila... we got a whole new vibe going on here. A fusion twist to a traditional garb.

In the second look, I added an obi belt made of men's ties to cinch in the waist and add a bit of " drama" to the outfit. And with the tassle earrings, it definitely changes the look of the outfit to one being more chinoi in vibe.

Hope you enjoyed this first post of 2023 and as mentioned, do follow me on instagram ( click here) where I post every other day and provide " 3 Ways To Style " series for fashion inspiration on how to restyle your current wardrobe items.

Love,

Simone xoxo

A week of celebrations gone by in a blink of an eye. Eating, drinking and making merry is surely taking it's toll on me now. The waistline is expanding and I am feeling exhausted.

This week has also seen a surge in temperatures and whilst trying to keep the festive Chinese New Year mood going, I decided to pair this lovely chinese style top with a pair of embroidered skorts so I can still look the part and yet keep cool.

If Chinese New Year is not about being loud and gaudy, then we would not be feeling the mood that much. So I paired this outfit with my pom pom sandals just to up the notch.

Top & Shorts : street stall from the markets in Chengdu

( similar here & here// here)
Bag : Gamiss.com

Sandals & Bangle : Forever 21

Jade Necklace : street stall from Jade Market in Hong Kong ( similar here)

Love,

Simone xoxo

Another year has come and gone and welcome, welcome the Year of the Dog! As many of you would have known, I am a big dog lover and have rescued dogs in Hong Kong whilst we were living there recently. We even adopted and brought one back with me. Good news - out of the 4 that we had rescued, 3 have found permanent and loving homes as of today! So you see, it just takes a little patience and effort.

So in line with tradition, I got this pretty cheongsam ( chinese dress) from .... ( drumroll)... you won't believe it... my favourite supermarket! Seriously it's your run of the mill supermarket pretty much like Costco and Publix in the states or Tesco and Asda in the UK and I chanced upon this beautiful maroon number at a great deal! I had to rock it for the new year!

Fashion need not be expensive designer wear - it's how you style and wear it.
So here's wishing all of you Gong Xi Fa Cai // Gong Hei Fatt Choy// Happy Chinese New Year!

Cheongsam : Giant Superstore ( similar here & here)

Earrings : Rumah Bebe

Diamond Ring & Bracelet : TAKA Jewellers

Shoes : Stradivarius

Love,
Simone xoxo

Red is the colour of the week - both for Valentines, and for the Lunar New Year. This pretty and comfortable dress from H&M fits the bill. Here I styled it for the Lunar New Year visitations where according to tradition and customs, the younger generation spend the day visiting the elders of the family and friends to pay their respects and offer well wishes and gifts. This lovely red camera bag from Gamiss was indeed a nice touch to complete the look.

Slip on mules were the perfect footwear to pair with this outfit, as it is easy to slip in and out of when entering people's homes. As you know here in Asia, we do remove our footwear when entering people's homes as a sign of respect and I guess it's more hygenic that way too. The loose fitting dress style gives the allowance for me to eat and enjoy all the goodies without watching my waistline too much as opposed to traditional chinese cheongsam.

Tassels are everywhere - in decorations, packaging for gifts etc and so I opted for these tassel earrings to complete my outfit and ring in the new year.

These lovely cookies and treats from The Peranakan were the perfect gifts for friends and relatives. I particularly love how they managed to package the goodies in typical peranakan style and colours.

As they say in asia - " Huat Ah" which means " Prosperity and Success"!

Dress : H&M ( get it here)

Bag : Gamiss.com ( get it here)

Earrings : H&M ( get it here)

Mules : ASOS ( get it here)

Love,
Simone xoxo

Hi everyone,

Whilst the general public was decked out in bright red or yellows around Hong Kong, I wanted to be a little different and with a slightly cooler New Year period, I decided to go for Pink this time around.

When I say " Pink" I truly mean head to toe Pink. The first for me and perhaps it could be a fashion Faux Pas but hey if you can't be daring during the Chinese New Year, when can one be where loud and garish is the motto for this period.

Seriously, when I was heading out of the house my 10 yr old son said to me "Mom, are you sure you wanna wear that out? I seriously think you look ridiculous!" And he went on to say " I think you should lose that coat and lose those earrings!". And he meant it!! ( sigh.....when your son starts to feel embarrass by you, it's a sign he is growing up).

To be honest, I was feeling weird in an all pink outfit but it was one of those days when I wanted to play around and hey it was Chinese New Year, so people should appreciate my effort of keeping the outfit to the preferred red / pink colour palettes.

Love how the contrast of textures play in this outfit, from lace to faux fur and tassel chandelier earrings. The pink jeans was to ground the whole look together and of course, if I had paired it with pink boots I might as well be sent to the fashion " Sin Bin" so kept it subtle with the bag and the boots to my favourite colour to match with pink - Grey!