Day 34 - Going Native

Okay.  So this city is slightly better than I expected.  Its flashy.  It's polished.  It is all so new.  And the skyline is lovely - imagine a taller, more dense version of New York, set against a mountainside.  

This being said, I also feel like this city is almost overstimulating.  Or indigestible.  Its a bit too, too.  Do you know what I mean?  Its the type of place where I feel like you walk around in a daze; unless, you have gone native.  In that case, you are in a fully established routine of bulldozing people like me as you walk from bank, to mall, to home on your walking bridge of choice.

Speaking of going native.  As we were packing before we left, T and I were sure to leave room so that we could buy things along the way.  I made a pact with myself: I would only buy things that I could not buy at home.  Now it's bit of a stretch since almost anything can be had in New York; but by and large, I've been able to do just that by picking up things that are locally made, or a specialty of the area.  

For example, T bought me a jade bead necklace and an embroidered silk jacket in Thailand.  I got an ao dai-style shirt in Ho Chi Minh, modeled after the traditional dress of that country. Plus some lovely indigo belts made by Ye in Sapa. 

In HK, though, brands are king. For example, there is an entire mall that is dedicated to Armani (Armani men, women, sport, home, flowers, tea, etc...).  And all this Armani doesn't preclude the next mall complex, literally attached to this one, from having a sprinkling of Armani for good measure.  Every major posh brand you can think of can be found several times over within the same square kilometer.  And every single version of that store seems to be curated slightly differently.  There really isn't a "flagship," for example, which includes all the main styles, cuts or colors.  Nope, these are like branded boutiques suffering from gigantism, where mostly the impractical is on display.  And forget trying to find any shoes over 39.5.  I've tried.  They just don't grow 'em that big here....

Then again, the bane of having large feet in a country that doesn't has saved me from myself, has kept me to my word.  

So in HK, I have gone native -- insofar as it exists in this most global of cities. I am having a cheongsam dress made.  These are traditional, Chinese style women's dress, typically made of silk, lace or cut velvet.  They have a mandarin collar and "frog" style button closures.  They are cut very close to the body, typically floor-length as well, with a slit up the sides.    

Only once before - for my First Holy Communion - have I ever had a dress made from scratch.   I guess my wedding dress was made for me; but here you had the safety of someone's aesthetic making all the decisions on the details for you.  And now I was in the drivers seat. In this case, every decision is literally mine.  Long or short?  Sleeveless? Cap sleeves? The fabric?  The color?  The color of the dress lining? The color of the piping?  The style of the buttons? Even the color and accent color of the buttons! Its crazy!

I got as far as picking out fabric and color (a lovely navy silk with silver dragon and chrysanthemum flower embroidery).  I thought I wanted cap sleeves and a shorter cocktail length.  The piping - maybe aqua blue?  Or maybe go traditional with red?

That is when good ole Mama Tang came in.  Mama knew a deer-in-the headlights when she saw one, and she swooped in to lead this doe across to the other side.  No aqua lining.  With a tut, she says -- too much.  Silver is nicer.  No cap sleeves - why cover your nice shoulders? I'll make one sleeve each way.  When you try on, you'll see.  Oh! You want long!  You are having a dress made just for you--why wouldn't you want it long?

All this expert coaching came in very handy after the niceties, measurements and decisions were done, and I returned the next day to try on my dress.   You see, this is when I realized what I had gotten myself into.

As I was delicately re-assembling it around me with a complicated series of buttons, collar detachments and re-attachments - it occurred to me that a cheongsam almost has to be custom made.  Without an ounce of give, long, lean and shiny - its has just about all the features that a woman fears when pulling anything off a rack.  One inch higher, lower, or wider and you could look misshapen, uneven, or undefined. One inch tighter and you become a human seam ripper.  And yet, as Mama and the tailor pinned things here, adjusted things there, cut out the other cap sleeve so I could appreciate the full effect, the fearsomeness of what I had undertaken seemed to be worth it.  It really looks special I think.  And a man who has been tailoring cheongsams for over 60 years will have spent the time to consider me, to make me a dress that sets me off to my best advantage - at least that is the idea anyway?

And consider me he did.  My favorite part is when he suggested that I adjust my bosoms.  Yep. I guess they were sitting a bit low today, or maybe they were just perkier the day before, but when I tried the dress on, the front of it was a bit rumply.  The darts were too high on the bodice.  After pinning and re-pinning for 5 minutes or so, Mama took me into a back room.  I guess there is a golden mean of sorts here - apparently 10 inches from shoulder to um, well you get the point.  And if I could adjust myself just so, the dress and the rest of the world would thank me for it.  

There was a time when we would have all had this type of advice when clothing ourselves.  And this type of advice is still sought out by men like my husband, when having shirts or suits made. Even basic suits bought at a department store will typically come with a serious round of chalk, measuring tape and pins.  I think for some reason, over the last 40 years, us women have chosen fashion over fit. Or at the very least, fashions that we can fit into.  And as a result, we have an over-branded consumer experience, where price is the main point of differentiation.

Okay, I am off my high horse.  I love LV too. Even more if its been graffitied in hot pink. But I am really, really excited to see how this bad boy turns out.