Hong Kong Fashion Geek

Geek Spy: Well-heeled

2009-05-21T14:54:00.005+08:00

By now, you are probably well versed in us Geek’s affection for shoes. After all, why would we have the SHOErotica column, dedicated to shoes we love but can’t afford? Imagine my surprise when I saw a giant stiletto shoe chair in Quarry Bay earlier today. It was just chilling with a pair of jeans, a hat and a t-shirt and I immediately thought I needed to share this with you:

ShoeGeek (she’s called a ShoeGeek for a reason) then tells me that she’s seen cuter ones in the US. After a bit of digging, hey presto, FashionGeek brings you a website, aptly called Sexy Furnishings, where you can customise your own stiletto shoe chair AND they will ship it to Hong Kong. Enjoy!

Animal Instincts

2009-05-21T12:10:00.000+08:00

For no reason whatsoever, I've been looking for animalwear. Probably because Misters Margiela and Kane have had me dancing with wolves and kickin it with King Kong for the past couple of seasons...

Some days, a girl just wants to let her inner animal out. Christopher Kane knows that. He knows that once in a while (maybe once a month), a girl just has all this aggression, and she just has to let the world know of it, perhaps via a really angry gorilla dress. "You think my PMS is bad? Wait till you meet King Kong!"

Vivienne Tam did her Fall collection in cahoots with a bunch of fluffy pandas. You gotta love how she subtly worked them into the prints. Then again, who doesn't like pandas anyway?

Give up your foxy mink for a foxy scarf. Something about this scarf just says to me: "The quick brown fox jumped over..." It also kinda makes me think of Fantastic Mr Fox. Remember him?

You cannot imagine how cool it would be to be able to rock this owl dress without looking like a lame Asian lolita type. Supposedly Agyness has one of her own. Oh, to be young and edgy and able to wear owl dresses without worrying that you look ridiculous!

Images: Purse Blog, Browns fashion, Elle Hong Kong, ReLYME, Forward Forward, New York Couture

Made to Last

2009-05-21T09:00:00.000+08:00

As a girl, I always feel sorry for boys with shoe fetishes, because the men's footwear selections always seem so boring and limited. (Then again, I know of at least one man who can stare endlessly and shamelessly at his own Church's black work shoes for hours on end, nevermind the fact that he's in the middle of dinner or you are talking to him.) There's an abundance of funky sneakers, but those aren't work-appropriate and the high-fashion Lane Crawford stuff tends to be a bit over the top. So what recourse does a man of style have, but to custom-design his own pair?

In Hong Kong, it's easy to find stores that do customised footwear, as loads of spots specialize in doing "designer-inspired" designs (cough, knockoff, cough) at lower prices (in the HK$500-1000 range), but if you want the quality to approach that of John Lobb, JM Weston or Church's, these are the spots you should check:

Kow Hoo Shoes, in Prince's Building, has been around since 1946, which is quite a feat considering the face of Hong Kong's shopping districts changes on a yearly basis. They specialize in making Goodyear welted shoes, which is fancy shoe jargon referring to the way in which the shoe is attached to the sole. The Goodyear method is signature of well-made British men's shoes. They also claim to be the only shop in town that creates customized wooden shoe lasts for each individual customer, which means that a wooden "foot" is created in the image of your foot for fitting the shoes. Considering the last time I had shoes made, all the shopkeeper did was put my bare foot on a piece of paper and draw a pencil outline around it, crime-scene style, a real shoe last sounds pretty darn cool. The downside is that you have to wait an average of eight months to get these babies made, and the average cost is HK$5,000, but these are definitely the best in town. Shop 241, 2/F Prince's Building, 10 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong. Tel: 852 2523 0489.

Mayer Shoe Co. is slightly cheaper (if I recall, around HK$3,000), and can turn things around much quicker (a couple to a few weeks or so). They do fancier, trendier items as well, but it's the classics that keep customers returning to their boutique in the Mandarin Oriental shopping arcade. Supposedly, Henry Kissinger was a regular. Not sure if that's a selling point to anyone; I don't think Kissinger had the same kind of street cred that Imelda Marcos did. They do customized shoe lasts too, but from what I understand, they use pre-made ones in bigger sizes then cut them to fit, which is why they can shave six months off the waiting time. They've also been around for a while, since the 1960s, so the pedigree is there. Mandarin Oriental Arcades, 5 Connaught Rd., Central, Hong Kong. Tel: 852 2524 3317.

It's only a hop and a skip between the two shops, so if you're in the market, then you might as well hit both for yourself and check out the difference.

Image: Kow Hoo Shoes

Givenchy Private Sale

2009-05-20T15:35:00.001+08:00

We're all going on a summer holiday...

2009-05-20T15:07:00.006+08:00

Summer’s fast approaching and if you’re diligent about your skincare routine, it’s time to put away those winter products and change to lighter summer products. Here’s a select few that FashionGeek recommends:
Oily Skin
Instead of using a facial cream which will just lead to more build-up to your skin, try using the Aesop Fabulous Face Oil. It may seem a bit counter-intuitive to be putting oil in your skin during humid weather but trust me, this baby penetrates into your skin very quickly and will hydrate your skin while leaving you without that greasy feeling.

Combination Skin
Guerlain’s Super Aqua Serum is my absolute favourite to use. It is a bit on the pricey side but I’ve found that it hydrates the dry patches beautifully while not clogging up the T-zone area.

Dry skin
If your skin tends to be on the dry side, check out Clarins’ HydraQuench Rich Cream. During the summer, it might be a bit too rich (unless you have very dry skin) so be sure to only use a small dollop and adding more as needed.

Aesop: Available at Lane Crawford
Guerlain: Available at Lane Crawford, Harvey Nichols
Clarins: Available at Clarins (Yes I know this is a bit stupid to put in but for consistency's sake I included this line)

Guerlains and Clarins are also available at www.yesstyle.com for a cheaper price (Guerlain’s Super Aqua Serum retails for HK$1,400, on YesStyle it’s HK$1,178)

Images: From Aesop website and YesStyle

The Buddy System

2009-05-20T10:47:00.008+08:00

With all these warehouse sales going on these days, it's essential that you bring a shopping buddy along to help you filter all the rubbish that might go through your head when you become intoxicated by fashion and forget about things like, say, credit card bills, rent, or god forbid, food. ShoeGeek and FashionGeek make the perfect shopping buddies for a myriad of reasons:

1. We shop in the same price range (since we work together and are, ergo, equally poor...) You don't realize how essential this point is until you see your shopping buddy pick up four YSL bags, three pairs of Loubs, two Roland Mouret dresses and you have... a partridge in a pear tree. By Zara. Which you really can't afford. Or imagine it's the other way round and you're holding armloads of designer goodies and staring at your friend, who's crushing the partridge in a death grip so you don't take it from her. Middle-class guilt, anyone?

2. We know each other's closets so intimately well, we can actually say stuff like "but you already own two forest-green bags of similar size and stature, they don't need another friend" or "omigod doesn't this look exactly like those Choos you've been wanting but at half the price?"

3. Both of us have iPhones with data plans. Meaning that at any given moment, should the other party be stumped, we can do a covert emergency photo session in the changing room (or, er, in plain view of everyone else) and email blast girlfriends on the spot to ask for opinions. This function is also useful if you've been asked to shop on someone else's behalf, by the way.

4. Since we shop together a lot, we can actually hold each other to the secret deals we make with God (or the devil...) that allow us to make that extravagant purchase. "Okay, if I buy this ridiculously expensive, totally unnecessary, have-to-have-it-anyway dress, I won't take taxis to work for a month." Or: "After this, no more shoes for three weeks/months/years/decades/centuries." And when necessary, the other party can also act as agent of God to waive the ban: "Okay, you can take a taxi today, but you have to extend your taxi ban for two more days at the end of the month." Or more likely: "Okay, you can break the shoe ban early. But only if I'm allowed to break the bag ban!"

5. We have drastically different personal styles. If I had to boil it down, I'd say FashionGeek is more London-Milan (House-of-Holland neon-punk mixed in with the luxe knits of Italian fashion) while ShoeGeek is more NY-Paris (girly-edgy cocktail dresses by the armload and lots of monochrome basics, plus a little ghetto fab for good measure). You'd think this would be a roadblock in the shopping experience, but it's not, because we never fight over clothes! In college, my roommate and I had essentially the same aesthetic (if you can call super-low-rise jeans and slutty backless tops an "aesthetic") and that resulted in numerous duplicate purchases, which is not cool if you see each other every day and sometimes end up in exactly. The same. Outfit. Anyway, in the rare case we do spot something we both like, it's a first-come-first-right-of-refusal system with the understanding that whoever purchases the item must be prepared to loan it to the other. =)

Finding the perfect shopping buddy can be a lifelong process. I have plenty of friends whom I love and respect, both as friends and as fashionistas, but I simply cannot shop with them. That's why us Geeks have to stick together!

Image: NY Times (it's a partridge, in case you were wondering. Which you probably weren't.)

Shanghai Tang Private Sale

2009-05-20T09:48:00.000+08:00

In a Barbie world

2009-05-19T15:06:00.001+08:00

I was never very much a Barbie girl. Sure I had the Barbie dollhouse but I rarely played with it and I can’t even remember what happened to my Barbies of which I think I only had three (which I’m told is a very small number.) Fast forward 20 years and I’m oddly intrigued by Barbie. How does she stay so loyal to Ken? How did she inspire a whole slew of designers to design for her? Is it hard juggling the hundred or so careers she’s embarked on? Did she ever experience the mid-life crisis? What diet tips does Barbie have? Is she anorexic or bulimic?

Anyway, the reason for this tangent is that Barbie Shanghai just launched the world’s first Barbie dining experience. Cue the gasps. Barbie eats? Is this kind of like the Hello Kitty cafes where it seems to be a bit of an oxymoron to have a café named for a cat that doesn’t have a mouth? According to the press release, “Shanghai-based celebrity chef-restaurateur David Laris has created several fun and sophisticated dining destinations within its six-level flagship store.” So what can we expect?

There’s going to be an all-day diner aptly named Barbie Café, a tearoom called Pink Room and a late-night hotspot B Bar. Apparently there’s also going to be a premium chocolate line under the brand “Barbie Loves Chocolate.” What do you think my dear readers? Will Barbie be a fan of signature dishes like the Fashionista Salad, of shrimp, fennel, mandarin, walnuts and mixed greens; Seared Tuna on Crispy Wontons served with red cabbage slaw; Mediterranean Lamb with Ratatouille; and Barbie, Ken and Kelly Burgers?

Barbie Shanghai is located at 550 Huaihai Middle Road. Barbie Café Reservation Hotline: +86 21 6171 6036.
For more information see: www.barbieshanghai.com

Clutch Player

2009-05-19T11:30:00.001+08:00

My beloved came home one day with a surprise gift for me some time ago, and I was expecting chocolates (if you knew me in person, you'd be expecting chocolates or some other perishable consumable too), but what I found instead was these delightful clutches ordered from local handbag designer Diaeiss. When it comes to classic clutches by Hong Kong designers, nobody does them like Kotur, but on the days that you don't have a Kotur warehouse sale, and you don't have thousands of dollars to spare on a bag the size of a hot dog (see what I mean about the consumables), check out Diaeiss. And since I saw the bags before I visited the site, I can assure you that the final products are much superior to the photos on the website (not sure why that is, when even Etsy sellers have better product photography).

I have the baby blue crystal-encrusted clutch (but in fuschia) and it's eye-popping with an LBD (but nothing knit, or those crystals will snag the hell out of whatever you're wearing). I also have the stripey zigzaggy one in navy/gold and it's the lightest bag I've ever lifted in my life, it weighs less than a chocolate bar, no joke. (I never joke about chocolate.) The designers are Indian, so their forte is in embellishment and colour, but there's plenty of variety. Now if only they would hire someone to do their product shots.

Warehouse Sale: Kotur

2009-05-19T09:52:00.002+08:00

Starting in an hour ladies, can you sneak out for lunch?

Links a la Mode

2009-05-19T00:57:00.002+08:00

A little love from Independent Fashion Bloggers, and a lot more links, since your Geeks have been quite link-delinquent...

Style Metamorphosis

Edited by STYLEMOM

The Fashion life cycle is ever evolving. Trends come and go faster than ever propelled by the information stream of online and social media. With each change comes a new perspective and new creative ideas flourish. Human survival demands that you must adapt and change with your environment in order to survive and this is also true of fashion.. Even old ideas sometimes are reinvented and come full circle creating an impact on the latest trends. This week’s links include everything from DIY and recycled style, to new discoveries and changes in the fashion industry, representing a testament to the constant evolution of fashion.

There's the full version of Links á la Mode here in the forums... there's a lot of great posts there too.

Links à la Mode : May 15th

Birdie at Bonne Vie is the cat’s meow clawing away at the bitchy & snark to open the door for positive girl power.
Capitol Girl spreads her wings with butterfly jewels
Dramatis Personae spins the color wheel of life’s fashion journey
Hong Kong Fashon Geek teaches you the ancient art of locking your love with your closet
Dirty Laundry spin dries into bat girl the DIY superhero
The Coveted shares DIY beauty secrets from around the world with Shalini Vadhera
Paint it Noir shows the artistic inspiration behind stunning jeweled creations
The Culturista shreds and threads the latest gospel of denim
Little Black Book puts it’s Fashionista star on Mischa Barton’s style revival
Ondo Lady has the fever for the latest fashion video epidemic plaguing the web
In Life and Fashion takes boho chic to a new level with designer Anna Sui
Style Symmetry shows off her joie de vivre as she reinvents flapper chic
Fashion Grail gives a frugally haute interpretation of Reese Witherspoon’s look
Fashion Matchmaker gives a costume critique of this years Met Gala
A Celebration of Curves travels back to Woodstock with a Summer of Love
Agent Dreamer discovers a retro chic eco-accessory on Etsy
Fete a Fete shows off Anne Hathaway’s sexy side with a Lancome give away
WorkChic shows the curvalicious ladies super fab scarf stylings
Brick My Lane straps on the shoulder pads and shows off her killer legs for her birthday
The Capitol Fashionista uses a small budget to make a big dazzling statement
Retro Chick shares 3 ways to wear structured shoulders.
STYLEMOM pontificates on the potential end of a fashion era for American Vogue Magazine
Independent Fashion Bloggers- How to run a successful and stylish blog giveaway

NOTE: Since the launch of the new IFB, we're currently in a limbo until I get the members imported. If you would like to submit your link for next week's Links à la Mode, please register first, then post your links here

SHOErotica: Camilla Skovgaard saddle sandal

2009-05-18T18:04:00.002+08:00

GET THEM at Forward Forward

Night at the Museum (Store)

2009-05-18T15:00:00.006+08:00

Half the fun (well okay, maybe a little more than half) in visiting museums is going to the store afterwards to poke around and see if there’s anything nifty. While Hong Kong sadly lacks museums that really ring my bell (the Museum of Science use to be rather cool… back when I was ten), the Museum of Modern Art in New York is the one I really like. I suspect that if I were living in New York, I would be known as the girl who wouldn’t leave the MoMA store.

Luckily for me, or perhaps unfortunately, MoMA has an online store that ships to Hong Kong. I’m rather taken with the chalkboard bud vase and the dry erase wall clock for some reason. They’re rather similar in concept and I know that I most likely won’t draw on them because a) my drawing skills are very limited and b) I’m too lazy even to update the iCal on my iPhone and Mac so I’ll probably not be writing on a clock. But at least both gives you the option to customise it and make it totally your own.

Available at http://www.momastore.org/

Itsy Bity Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot...

2009-05-18T08:48:00.000+08:00

It's officially hot enough to hit the beach, and although it's taking a bit longer than usual to get into bikini shape this year, online swimsuit shopping is a great solution, because the swimsuits always look fabulous on the Victoria's Secret models...

Of course, some of these specimens seem perfectly fine from a fashion vantage point, but fall apart when it comes to practicality, unless you want a T-shaped tan line on your back, or a curvy C on your stomach... The racerback is really hot though.

Below are some friendlier bandeau tops: best friend to frequent tanners but not great if you're top heavy, unfortunately. Yeah ladies, you win some, you lose some.

I'm needing this with the bottom in white. White bikinis are a must-have in every beach babe's arsenal.

I like the Burberry-ness of this. So Hamptons, so chic.

The white string? 'Nuff said.

Images: Victoria's Secret

Pedder Warehouse Sale

2009-05-15T16:30:00.002+08:00

Kick start your weekend by buying new shoes at the Pedder Warehouse Sale.

Friday Linkfest 5/15

2009-05-15T12:39:00.005+08:00

Are you ready to take a bullet? Check out artillery-inspired fashion finds
http://pipeline.refinery29.com/trend_spotting/_were_not_fighters_more.php

Paulina Porizkova, the only nice judge, has been fired from Top Model

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/americas-next-top-model/paulina-porizkova-fired-from-a-28599.aspx

It's so sunny... get your weekend playlist at Dazed Digital

http://www.dazeddigital.com/article/3278/1/DazedPlaylistMay2009

Fashion for boys: the Veritas RSIII car...

http://www.thelifefiles.com/nobody-has-these-wheels-yet/

First came the paper-clip heater, now comes the paper-clip coat rack

http://www.play.com/Gadgets/Gadgets/4-/9732296/The-Big-Clip/Product.html

Jeanius indeed

2009-05-15T11:53:00.000+08:00

Sometimes a well-written press release does garner you attention. Case in point; INDIGO Jeans. I’m giving INDIGO a plug simply the PRs labelled Eizelle Taino as a “Jeanius”. The press release itself is nothing remarkable, in fact it’s basically a promotion release about how you get certain discounts at INDIGO. But by the power of that one word, it is now getting a post for itself. So what special offers are there?

The jeanius suggests any of the following “recession remedies” to boost healthier bank balances when shopping at INDIGO:

1. Year-round denim recycling program: Ladies can save from $50 to $300 AND dispose of unused denim in an environmental way, on their next purchase at INDIGO with the Denim Recycling Programme. Women can drop off their dis-used jeans at INDIGO in exchange for a store credit that can be used immediately on another purchase of jeans. Labels that are already carried by INDIGO are exchanged for a HK$100 credit while brands that are not part of INDIGO’s “Jean Pool” are worth HK$50. Up to HK$300 of store credit can be redeemed against any one pair of new jeans

2. Fill out a Client Feedback Form: Clients who take 2 minutes out of their shopping time to fill out a client feedback form receive 5% off their immediate purchase. Ladies are rewarded with the discount by answering 12 simple tick-box questions about their shopping experience.

3. Bring your own shopping bag: Customers who do not require an INDIGO shopping bag or wrapping receive a 5% discount off their purchase. This thrifty consideration also offers environmental benefits, making the shopping trip doubly virtuous.

4. INDIGO Sales Shelf: Last pairs of runs no longer carried at INDIGO, last season’s jeans as well as discontinued brands can all be found on the permanent INDIGO Sales Shelf for as low as HK$500. Items change from week-to-week, often with current season lines that have flown off the shelf, also available.

The above recession remedies (items 1-3) are applicable for non-sale items only. Combinations of recession remedies are not permitted.

INDIGO is located at Ground Floor, No. 32A Staunton Street, Central, Hong Kong. Tel. (852) 2147-3000, Fax. (852) 2147-3111, or e-mail [email protected]

Mandarin Thai

2009-05-15T10:55:00.003+08:00

Another option for those in Central who can't get a booking at The Box for Thai buffet: Mandarin Oriental, following their Clipper Lounge Indian buffet, is bringing Thai chefs to town early next month, from June 1-10, to do a Thai-food extravaganza. Three chefs from the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok's Sala Rim Naam will be contributing, and both lunch and dinner buffets are available. Pricing is fairly reasonable, at $298 M-Th or $318 on Friday and weekends.

On the menu:

Starters

Deep-fried spicy lemonade shrimp flavored with flaked kaffir lime leaves
Deep-fried minced fish and crab meat patties served with cucumber chilli sauce
Grilled chicken marinated with turmeric and coconut milk
Spicy mango salad with crab meat and fresh mango dressing
Spicy seafood salad with aromatic Thai herbs
Spicy grilled pork salad with ground roasted rice and mint leaves

* * *

Soups

TOM YAAM GOONG
TOM KHA GAI

* * *

Main courses

Green chicken curry with eggplants
Southern Thailand style mussamun curry with beef
Fried pork tossed with yellow curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and white turmeric
Roasted duck with pineapple and tamarind sauce
Stir-fried prawns with cashew nut and vegetables
Fried fish with fresh chilli sauce and kaffir lime leaves
Steamed Hom Mali rice

* * *

Live cooking station:
PHAD THAI
Stir-fried Thai style noodle with shrimps

* * *

Desserts

Caramelized banana with coconut cream
Steamed pumpkin custard
Sweetened coconut agar-agar topped with fruit compote
Sticky rice with mango
Water chestnut rubies in chilled coconut syrup
Sticky rice flour dumpling in warm coconut milk

One Size Fits All

2009-05-14T15:30:00.000+08:00

If I had a superpower, it would be the ability to wear clothes of any size. To me, an ill fit is an obstacle, not a deal-breaker. If those Project Runway contestants can take car parts and supermarket ingredients and, as Tim Gunn says, "make it work", there's no reason that a shop not having my size should impede me from owning a desired item. (Shoes are the exception here, ladies.) In Hong Kong, this talent is especially useful because there are a million cute and cheap boutiques that don't allow you to try stuff on.

I'm far from a seamstress (I've been known to give up on garments because I'm incapable of sewing on a button) so it helps if you are, but all you really need is a decent tailor and a good imagination. Just a few examples of adjustments I've made to either update an old piece -- I still wear clothes I bought when i was 14 -- or repurpose a piece that doesn't fit because I bought the wrong size.

Example one: the A-line skirt

I impulsively purchased a skirt that was like, 6 sizes too small, it barely fit over one leg. Instead of donating it to someone smaller, I had the tailor take it up -- from the top. Because of the A-line silhouette, the waist became wider and it became a cute flared mini.

Example two: the stretch jersey sheath dress

Zara was having a sale, and I just had to own this most-unforgiving pencil skirted dress in slinky stretch jersey. My poor belly just looked SO full and happy underneath it. TOO full and happy. I had the tailor ruche the sides, creating a nice effect that covered the offending bulge.

Example three: the Mom pant

My lover purchased a pair of the softest khakis ever, only to have them shrink in the wash and become man-leggings -- not sexy. So, for fun, I put them on, and voila, a mom pant. They're high-waisted on short me and incredibly unflattering. So I rolled the slightly tapered legs up to below the knee, added a mannish belt and an oversized tank and blazer, and gave it a casual-cool look that didn't raise any eyebrows at the office or outdoors.

I should really post visual illustrations of these miracles, I'm so very proud of them (nobody DIYs in Hong Kong!) but I won't, because they don't have the same impact laid flat, they need to be seen on a human, and I can't model them myself in the interest of semi-anonymity (yeah, me and my recognizable ankles, haha). You can never be too safe with your identity, after all...

Anyway, what are your outfit-miracles? Do you alter things to fit you, repurpose them or just pass them on to the Salvation Army?

Y3 Private Sale

2009-05-14T10:55:00.001+08:00

Have you found anything decent from these sales? We're interested in knowing and showing off your purchases. Please email us your pics with prices ideally (so we know what a steal it was!) to [email protected]

Victor-y

2009-05-13T15:30:00.000+08:00

I'm in love with Victor Demarchelier. Considering his dad, Patrick, looks like a more rugged and less orange version of Roberto Cavalli, he sure did good with the kid. The boy dates Caroline Trentini, whom he met when he was assisting daddy on a shoot, and the two of them are featured in May's Vogue. I swear I first encountered and fell in love with him after seeing him in party coverage on Style.com, but I can't seem to find the photo anymore (this is the only one that shows up, and it's so not flattering that I'm sure that's not what made my heart go aflutter). He's far from studly, but he's got that "cute thing" -- you know, that thing that makes everyone love Michael J Fox even though he's five-foot-nothing. On another note, this photo was scrounged out of Vogue's Meet the Boyfriends photo feature, which includes Chanel, Doutzen and Julia Stegner with their respective (some very short) men friends. I wonder, is the exclusion of Lily Donaldson and Vladmir Restoin-Roitfeld a reflection on Anna's relationship with Carine? Food for thought.

Images: Fashionologie and Vogue.

FashionGeek’s tips for warehouse sales

2009-05-13T14:30:00.002+08:00

This post was requested by twitter’s @adalinelau last night and I instantly went “Duh! Why didn’t I think of it?” So here goes: FashionGeek’s tips for warehouse sales.

Never go during lunchtime (1pm to 2pm). It’s bound to be crowded and do you seriously want to squeeze your way through the throbbing crowd of OLs in order to see if there’s anything worthwhile? It’s getting really humid these days so you’re just as likely to end face first into someone’s smelly armpit. Can we say eww? Instead why don’t you take an early lunch? Say 11am. There will still be a crowd, hello tai tais who don’t have to work. But at least, you avoid the OLs.
Know your size for that particular brand before going to the sale. We’re talking shoe size, top size, dress size and trousers size. It will save you a lot of time.
Always head to the sample rack and those under $XXX racks. You’re at a warehouse sale for a reason. It’s to get cheap stuff. Go through the cheapest first to see if you can pick up any gems. Someone else’s trash just may be your treasure.
Check out accessories and bags after the sample rack, these are not size sensitive and take a lot less time to go through. (especially if you are sneaking out of the office to go to these sales) Shoes are the next easiest things to try on. Slip on. Slip off.
Hang on to anything that you might want to purchase. Sure that might mean lugging tons of items around but that one item you put back because you weren’t sure will be snapped up the next instant and you will be kicking yourself for it.
Finally take a look at ShoeGeek’s tips for everlasting love. You don’t want to have bought something just because it’s cheap and then not ever use it. (Trust me, it’s happened to all of us.)

Image: dailymail.co.uk

SHOErotica: Rick Owens hidden sandals

2009-05-13T10:53:00.004+08:00

Not for the faint of heart: Is it a shoe? Is it a dustrag? It's the Cousin It of shoes, a perfectly acceptable specimen of footwear made more interesting by a shower of material (in his case, hair; in this case, the softest grey suede). I'm confused, I'm perplexed, yet I still want.

GET THEM at Luisaviaroma
RICK OWENS - HIDDEN SANDALS

Designer Discovery: Rachel Roullier

2009-05-12T15:00:00.000+08:00

This budding South African brand has been making some noise within its country and getting quite a bit of coverage with just one product; La Petit Clutch. The beauty of this clutch is that it comes in three types of skins, crocodile, lizard or ostrich and can be converted into three different looks. And we all know how us Geeks love convertibility.

The clutch itself is a simple box clutch that will never go out of style and each hand made bag comes with a matching leather strap (the least appealing of the trio,) satin-finish silk ribbons (perfect for a girly look), and my favourite, a semi-precious crystal quartz beaded strap. The crystal quartz strap can be converted into a necklace as seen in the image. A necklace AND a clutch for the price of a clutch? I'm sold. For those of us who have the craft gene, you can even create your own straps to go with it making this clutch truly your own. Yes, BejewelledBespoke I'm looking at you.

The brand is currently only distributed in South Africa and London but fingers crossed it will come to Hong Kong soon.

Images: Rachel Roullier

Like a Fat Kid Loves Cake

2009-05-12T09:30:00.001+08:00

Passed through the Mandarin Oriental cake shop the other day and was once again amazed by the realism their confectionary creations approach. Honestly, it's difficult to tell goods from the goodies. It's beyond too good to eat. Luckily, they have so many other little delights that it's easy to pick something that didn't look like it took painstaking labour to create, like these chocolate lips.

Yum. I believe that the big brand cakes are created for v. special occasions alone but if you want a less refined (but JUST as delicious, I personally vouch for the cupcakes) version, try Complete Deelite in Central. You know how for some reason, random animal characters are really cute when they're dressed up as other animals? (You know, like when Winnie the Pooh is wearing a panda suit or something.) Well, for some reason, a cake dressed up as a char siu daan faan (roast pork rice with egg) is absolutely PRECIOUS! It was, also, coincidentally, what I had for dinner last night.