Fresh Princess of Bel-Air

Several of my girlfriends and I organized a Spring Cleaning clothes swap + donation. Everyone came away with some great loot. Freaking awesome, I love my life here. 

THIS is what I call Shanghai Fashion Week. ;)

Now this is the story all about how
 My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there 
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called [Shanghai]

In [Fresh Meadows] born and raised
On the playground where I spent most of my days
Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool
And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys, they were up to no good
Started making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
And said "You're moving [and groovin to a new life in China???]"

I whistled for a cab and when it came near the
License plate said "fresh" and had a dice in the mirror
If anything I could say that this cab was rare
But I thought nah, forget it, yo homes to [Shanghai]!

I pulled up to a house about seven or eight
And I yelled to the cabby "Yo, homes smell you later!"
Looked at my kingdom I was finally there
To sit on my throne as the prince of [Shanghai]

What! HAHAHAHA.
xo.

Furry Little Things

Life piles up faster than I can blog. That's a good thing. :)

I didn't get to finish my Cambodia write-up, but I guess I'll throw it in here and there whenever I have time. I was in New York for about a week for work and Chinese New Year, it really is a perk to be able to travel "home" for business reasons. I'll be taking another trip back mid-March... now I understand why it's so important for frequent flyers to travel business class...my ass is SORE!

We caught AW's Fall 2013 fashion show, this time held at the historic Cunard Building down at Wall Street. The shows in the past were done in a warehouse-type venue so there was plenty of flexibility for stage effects, but this place was so beautiful in itself that I'm glad it was pretty straightforward. 

Aila gettin' her makeup did.

Such a cute moment.

Waiting backstage.

You won't believe how otherworldly models actually look like up close. It's not like they're only thin and tall (I was just a bit shorter with my own heels on), their bones look so delicate. It's like comparing a pterodactyl with a brontosaurus. I'm the pterodactyl of course. ;)

Presenting the most ridiculous fur hat in the world.

Also the warmest fur hat in the world.

I had given a her a piece of gum right before this impromptu interview. That was awkward, teehee.

Winter is coming... hahahaha. Sorry that was a super lame GoT joke.

Do you like what you see? Read the verdict here, here, and here.

Shanghai Fashion Week

It seems like every city and their mama holds their own fashion week, and Shanghai is no exception. This year thanks to the always lovely Anita, several of our girlfriends were able to join the fuss at the 10th Anniversary Shanghai Fashion Week opening show, which was also Vera Wang's Asia debut. 

I always tell friends who have known me for a long time that I still find it strange and amusing to be in this mix of fancy and rare birds. I love people watching in crowds like these, it's a great place to psychoanalyze everyone, including yourself. I hope I never take myself too seriously. I did have the chance to check out some of the other local Chinese designer shows, but right now they have very little professional meaning to me unless I want to 湊熱鬧，我最不喜歡妝模作樣。There are actually quite a few interesting ideas and proposals flying around on how to promote local Chinese designers, but I'll leave that for another time when things actually start cookin'.

Does anyone understand the real purpose of a fashion show? Unfortunately I don't think many people do, including those who attended the show. The sad reality is that there are very few buyers who attend Shanghai Fashion Week, so these shows are purely for press, which does not necessarily turn into any form of economic benefit. That is the major quandary that Chinese designers face when assessing whether to spend big bucks putting together a show, therefore the best designers either go to Paris/Milan/London/NYC or don't bother at all. And the brands that do show are ones that are more commercial (and less design). Then buyers are even less inclined to come to Shanghai Fashion Week because the shows suck. It's a vicious cycle. :(

BUT I have to admit that this was one of the best looking crowds that I have yet to see in Shanghai. (Reminder to self: don't drink the Kool-aid!!!)

Ma'am, I don't think your name is Vera... and you have a dot on your nose. Teehee.

Lots of pretty creatures! :)

I really liked all the looks that was shown in this collection, except for the red bridal dresses which were obviously directed at the Chinese market. Vera's bridal is going to do fantastically in China.

xo

Hm.

No, this is not me.

I think it's kind of weird that the number of people visiting my blog spikes during NYFW. It's because y'all are googling "Aila Wang". Don't think I don't know. It's ok so long as you guys aren't sick pervs, because yes she does have an awesome wardrobe as a 3 year old kid. Otherwise, I have your IP address and I will report you.

Dammit! This just proves that I am less interesting than a 2 foot leather-clad Barbie doll.

Figures. :)

Circle Circle Dot Dot

10 Corso Como AvenueL Opening Party // Seoul, Korea

Some Korean boy band personally entertaining our group at the afterparty, whee! So many famous Korean celebrities that I didn't know, hahahaha. SO MUCH EYECANDY. 

Everyone had a tremendous amount of fun, definitely a night to remember.

New friends.

New opportunities.

New beginnings!

A Girl's Best Friends

I wear same 2 rings and same 2 bracelets everyday. I never take them off, not before a shower or bed, and rarely for other pieces of jewelry even if they hopelessly clash. I'm a lazy and sentimental gal. :) 

- A pinky ring that my mom gave me before I left New York, a simple white gold band with two small clear stones representing Mommy and Me.

- A vintage looking amethyst ring that I wear on my right ring finger, bought last summer at Bali's "silver village" as a representation of self.

- Red glass beaded bracelet, bought at Taipei Main Station's underground market for 50NT.

- Simple string pull bracelet with several small tiger eye stones from Ko Phi Phi, matching another one that I gave Vicki.

When I do wear earrings they're usually hoops the size of a small orange -- I guess they're part of an urban identity that I've held onto since high school... ha! :p Other than these go-to pieces, most of my jewelry have sat entangled in a mangled mosh pit from New York, to HK, to Taiwan, to Nanjing, and now Shanghai. I've culled many an item during each transition, so everything that's made the cut is currently indispensable, fitting a certain mood, situation, outfit, quirk. 

Oldest piece: Gold star earring I wore during most of childhood that lost its mate. Sad... :( 

Other life milestone pieces: Heart-shaped amethyst ring (lapse of judgment) from Zales (lapse of judgment) that I got for my Sweet Sixteen (lapse of judgment). Black dangle earrings from Senior prom. 

New pieces: Faceted silver knuckle rings (set of 3, primed to dish out ultimate pain muhahaha!). Leopard ring.

THANK YOU TAOBAO, for making it so cheap and convenient to purchase anything and everything, including jewelry display stands!!! I seriously love Taobao like a fat kid loves cake. After getting my package today, I spent a few hours separating my lump of treasure into an ultimate display of blingbling. Do you know the agony of painstakingly unknotting a nest of chains??? I swear, little voice in your head just starts begging you to just rip the damn thing apart already. It takes a lot of self-control, guys... O_O

But the end result was awesome, and I'm really glad I took the time to do organize my stuff. Now I won't have to paw through my baubles hoping that I actually find what I'm looking for.

Take a look -- my collection is well edited, if I may say so myself. ;) 

Loot: Prada Satin Lucite Heel

Say hello to my new investment piece, courtesy of Bluefly at over 70% off!

I love the clear lucite heel, it's a fresh modern twist to a polished dress shoe. 
I think we're going to have a very fruitful relationship. :)

The Supers

It's that time of the year -- NYFW Fall/Winter 2012. I was lucky to get a glimpse of AW's coterie of supermodels (yes, there is a distinction between super/models) posing for a final photoshoot before the show. It's a blurry picture, but the ones unmasked are Gisele and Carmen Kass. Yes, they're amazons in real life too. :p

Neo, I think they may be looking for you.

It's so very weird to see these people in real life.

Pretty Little Things

NY Fashion Week is here!!! Last Saturday I went to Alexander Wang's Spring/Summer RTW 2012 show, which was very enlightening for a fashion noobie like me. It was fun to go backstage and see how much work goes into a 10 minute runway production (a lot of work.. wow, and bankers complain about a powerpoint presentation). It was also the best people watching experience ever, where the normal-looking sticks out like a sore thumb as abnormal. Basically I got tickets to a circus of beautiful people with Alex as the ringmaster. :)

Aila Wang, the secret star of the show with adorable AW clothes made just for her!

Preparation bustle. Lots of leggy models.

Yes, that's Alicia Keys. :) And also a ton of other famous people that I'm too unsavvy to recognize.

I LOVED the runway set. It was so cool and creative. Basically they had 4 blocks of double-sided mirrors and the model would first walk straight down so that the front audience could see the look from all different angles. If you sat on the 3 other sides you could still get glimpses of all these different looks while the models were walking through the set. It was a great concept that was much better than the traditional up and down runway format. The music that they used was this super energetic techno African mix that got you really pumped up, really appropriate for the city chic sporty warrior look. For me the real winner in this collection were the shoes. GIMME.

AW sprinting in and out for credits.

Carine Roitfeld, former French Vogue EIC.

The afterparty at the pier had a frathouse themed setup that was really divey and incredibly fun. :D Again, beautiful drunk people abound. Really strict entrance policy though, but I was able to walk in with the family.

The guest performer was Odd Future, which I didn't appreciate (hoping for Lady Gaga, ha!). 

Call me prude, but rapping about doing sexually deviant and horrible things to women will never get any pass my musical vocabulary. I don't care how "in" they are right now, I'm putting it out there that I hated this group. Otherwise the party was legen [wait for it] dary!!!!

Beautiful things can be incredibly profound and moving when they're appreciated solely for what they are, but often times they're misused as social tools. That's when beauty turns superficial. Just like how you should love yourself for who you are, what you perceive as beautiful is just as much a personal choice. Never let someone else dictate that, even if some fashion influencer told you so.