Feng Shui Clothing for Valentine’s Day

You might be wondering what to wear on the special day of hearts. Outfits that make you look and feel sexy? Have you ever thought of using feng shui in clothing to enhance your attractiveness?

Black is favored by many for its mysterious quality, and most important, its slimming effect. But before slipping into that little black dress, think twice! Black has long been the color of mourning and loneliness. A person always in black will exude aloof and detached energies, which in turn attract the same kind of energy (or chi) to him/ her. On the contrary, bright hues, in particular pink, fuchsia, red, lilac, lavender and purple, bring a strong vibration of energy to make you more alluring. Shades of pink help draw affection to you, while stronger colors like red, generate passion and create sensual energy for you. Wear purple to draw your soul mate! It’s a spiritual color and considered lucky. You’ll feel optimistic about love and life in purple. And if you feel that way, things are likely to be that way. Do believe in “magic”! So, check your closet and see if you have enough love-friendly colors!

p.s. Don’t forget to allow your pink rosy cheeks express warmth, gentleness and softness to people around you…

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2009 (See-through)

"See-through? Are you kidding? You must have mistakened the trend with Spring/Summer for next year." Maybe this is the general comment from people when noticing this trend for the first time. However, this is true. See-through is one of the Fall and Winter trends this year. With the effect of global warming, the difference between four seasons is becoming not so obvious. Less fur may be an environmental protection claim but also a fact to face with the warmer winters. See-through has extends its influence from Spring/Summer to Fall/Winter fashion. In winter, see-through is more of a sexy, mysterious presentation. See-through materials such as chiffon are generally accompanied with deep V cutting to exaggerate the sexy effect. Brands presenting this trend includes Paul Smith, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu etc.

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2009 (Black Always)

Whenever we ask what the favorite color of fashion is for Fall & Winter, the answer is always black. Some people may not admit this fact and state different colors that may replace black as the dressing color. However, when you pick your clothes from your closet in the "cold" time, you may have taken a black one in your hand unconsciously. As such, in strick speaking, we should not treat BLACK as a fashion trend as it is always a favorite for Fall & Winter. Black represents "cold and mysterious" which is a perfect match of the mood of Fall & Winter. Dressing in black, you can easily catch up with the fashion trend in every Fall & Winter. Though black is a must color, fashion designers have used their imagination and creativity to create black fashion in different materials, different styles and different cuttings. Black color is all along the runway of brands like Chanel, Fendi, Calvin Klein and Lanvin etc this year.

An Introduction to Kimono - The Traditional clothing of Japan

Kimono is a traditional clothing of Japan. The word "kimono" is originated from Japanese which means a "thing to wear" (ki "wear" and mono "thing").

Kimonos are T-shaped, straight-lined robes worn so that the hem falls to the ankle, with attached collars and long, wide sleeves. Kimonos are wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right (except when dressing the dead for burial), and secured by a sash called an obi, which is tied at the back. Kimonos are generally worn with traditional footwear (especially zōri or geta) and split-toe socks (tabi).

The earliest designs of kimono were heavily influenced by Chinese clothing as the Chinese cultrure has great impact on many Asian countries in ancient times. Designs have been modified by Japanese during its developement to make them more stylish and elegant. Today, kimonos have become a high class dressing for Japanese women and are most often worn on special occasions.

Fashion Power from Japan

Japanese fashion designers are now an influential power in fashion industry. Yohji Yamamoto, Tsumori Chisato, Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garcons) and Issey Miyake are well recognised Japanese fashion designers in the global fashion industry. Though they are with their individual collections, one thing is in common that they do not simply follow the western design styles learned from fashion schools but to mix the traditional Japanese kimono, origami, cultural, architectual elements into modern western fashion designs. I would like to call this a "Fashion Fusion" in line with the popular "Food Fusion" in the dining industry. Fashion magazines like to call this "Fashion Fusion" as "East meets West" but I will recognize this as "Japan meets West". Irregular shapes, multi folds, loose designs and fine embroideries are all basic elements of Japanese traditional kimonos. Now they are mixed, matched and simplied into kimono style clothes to meet the needs of different modern occassions.

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2009 (Golden 80's)

The 80's seems to be a memorable and golden decade for us. We have different great MJs around the time, Michael Jackson in POP, Michael Jordon in Basketballs and Marc Jacobs in Fashion. Oh, don't mix up. Marc Jacobs is not quoted to be great in the 80's but his greatness in promoting the golden 80's for this Fall and Winter fashion trend. Bright colors, oversized jacket and power shoulders all featured in the runways leading by brands such as Louis Vuitton, YSL, Dolce & Gabbana and surely Marc Jocobs etc. New elements have been adopted by fashion designers to give a new look of these 80's features such as geometric cuttings of power shoulders from YSL. Tight pants or pencil skirts are also dressed with oversized jacket to create contrast effects.

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2009 (Summary)

The year, the Fall and Winter fashion trend is a continuation of the Spring and Summer trends. Under the financial tsunami, fashion designer tends to goes from "Runway Fashion" to "Dressable Fashion" and from "Conceptual" to "Practical". Below are some of the fashion trends for Fall and Winder 2009 :

1. Golden 80's

2. Black Always

3. See-through

4. Dress Coat

We will discuss each trend in details later.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2009 (80's Again)

History repeats itself. Fashion elements in different decades also repeat themselves to create new trends. One typical example is the hot "bling bling" of 60's becomes trendy again around these few years. This year, it's 80's turn. In the 80s, the fashion trend was masculine influenced with the wide use of shoulder pads for women. However, fashion designer will not just simply copy but adopt. Fashion designers manipulate fabric in ever bolder (and bigger) ways but the shoulder pads are smaller to give a less masculine effect than the 80's. Fashion brands leading this trend are Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy, Christian Lacoix and Ralph Lauren etc.