CM Style Fashion Blog

Layering Styles

2012-01-28T04:14:00.000-08:00

Layering look! It adds warmth and makes summer dresses wearable all year round. It also adds colors to otherwise boring outfits and cover up some unflattering curves of body.
Some of the favourite layering styles include:

l. Using waistcoats and vests (or sometimes sleeveless tank tops) for layering. Choose an item with sequins, or made with faux fur to avoid looking old fashioned. Details like hoods, lace trimmings, or pom poms also help.

2. Another favourite is layering the bottom half with tights and leggings worn under a skirt or tunic, then paring with high boots. But it is important to make sure that the top is long enough hide the hip.

3. One of the layering accessories is scarf. Layering or not layering, scarves can be a frequent accessory. Pick sequined scarves and velvet scarves for occasions, and flowery prints for casual outfits. One way to wear a scarf is wearing it inside a blazer, with the ends of the scarf tucked in the waistline of the pants/skirt. This will make the scarf a nice-looking cross-bust blouse, fits for formal looks.

Sizing Issues of Buying Clothes Online

2011-10-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

Sizing is one of the difficulties for buying fashion clothes online. As different countries adopt different sizing system for their people, it is very difficult to communicate effectively in sizing. The LARGE size in asian countries may be equivalent to the MEDIUM or SMALL size in western countries. Even the sizes stated by different brands may also vary a bit due to different designs, manufacturing requirements and vanity sizing.

Vanity sizing has been one of the major sizing problems for women buying clothes online. According to Wikipedia, vanity sizing, also known as size inflation is used to refer to the phenomenon of ready-to-wear clothing of the same nominal size becoming larger over time. The purpose of clothing manufacturers in creating vanity sizing is commonly thought to satisfy buyers' wishes to appear thin and feel better about themselves. A survey by Which? has revealed that around 90% of women find the unpredictability caused by vanity sizing annoying especially when buying clothes online becoming part of our life.

To cope with this issue, we have developed our own measuring system by measuring the actual lying flat measurements of various parts of clothes and stated these information clearly with illustrations in our clothes listings. By comparing the measurements stated with their own well fitted clothes, customers can clearly know whether the clothes will fit them or not. This method has been proved to be effective for most of the time but there are still some discrepencies happened on and off as some customers may not have actually done the comparisons.

Sometimes, some common senses can also help a lot in finding the right size clothes for you by finding out the following information :

1. Is the design is loosely fit? Loose fit design will have a wider range of fitting. Your own idea of fitting also matters. You want to dress it in tightly fit or loosely fit?

2. Is the fabric stretchy? Same design can fit more people with stretchy fabric.

3. If the clothes is presented on a mannequin, ask the seller what size is the mannequin such that you will have a better idea.

After all, a unified sizing system will be very useful and helpful for the developement of garment industry selling online. To make this happen, the governments of different countries should work more closely to tackle the trading barrier problems between countries such that people all around the world can enjoy the best design and fitted clothes.

Fashion Trends - Fall & Winter 2011

2011-08-05T07:28:00.000-07:00

At the end of this hot hot summer, we need to start to look and plan for our new looks for this F/W 2011. How will the fashion trends go this time? What hints have the fashion designers provided to us to dress up ourselves? You must be very excited in finding the details. Below are some of the fashion trends this F/W for your reference :

1. Polka Dots

What? Some may think I must have made a mistake in typing this term. In the memories, this patterns belongs to the 80's and even older. However, I am serious in raising this fashion trends. This year the dots are presented in different ways and textures besides simple prints. Embroidery, sequin discs are adopted by Stella McCartney. Dots on lace fabrics in collections of Gucci, l.a.m.b, Malandrino and Salvatore Ferragamo. Dots with different sizes for Yohji Yamamoto, Lyn Devon and Azzaro. Even more, Marc Jacobs introduces a full set of polka dots design from hats, tops, dresses, skirts to hosiery in order to completely capture this trend,

2. High Class Fetish

Black leather, synthetic rubber, plastics, see-through fabrics and metal clips are common elements of Fetish fashion. This type of fashion is understood to be clothing that is not worn as the usual wardrobe of people, and is instead worn to create a particular reaction. However, fashion designers try to reform the tradition and create a Fetish fashion trend by mixing it with high class elements eg fur x fetish by Louis Vuitton, 3D cutting x fetish by Loewe and classic SM design by Alexander McQueen. Therefore this trend should be called High Class Fetish to differentiate with the traditional Fetish.

3. Gentlemen Look

In the modern world, this trend has always been hidden in the fashion designs of many famous fashion designers. Women like to be as powerful as men is the main theme behind this trend. Dress in a more masculine way also provides more varieties in fashion styles. One of the major appearance is the Tux look. Generally a shirt or a lace blouse inside with tuxedo outside in black or white colors is a great look to capture this trend. Another sexy way is a tuxedo outside with nothing underneath. Want more ideas? You may take a look at how Kirsten Dunst suited up for the 2011 CFDA Fashion Awards. The 29-year-old actress wore a Patrik Ervell tux and shirt with Prada shoes. She accessorized with a ring and white gold and diamond bracelets from Bulgari. Meanwhile, British designer Phoebe Philo, who is the creative director for Celine also dressed in a Tux when attending the same ceremony.

Color of Clothing - A Way to Change Your Fortune

2011-06-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

Maybe you are not so lucky recently. Maybe you feel that everything is going against you. Have you thought of selecting the right colors of your clothing to change your fortune? In traditional Chinese Fortune Telling, color is a way to affect your luck and fortune of your life. One of the popular system is the Flying Star System. In this system, 1 to 9 numbers are assigned to everything which in turn matching with the five elements to create an interacting effect. The nine numbers representing :

1 : white water

2 : black earth

3 : green wood

4 : green wood

5 : yellow earth

6 : white metal

7 : red metal

8 : white earth

9 : purple fire

Year of Birth for Women and matching Flying Star Numbers :

1960 : 2 ; 1961 : 3 ; 1962 : 4 ; 1963 : 5 ; 1964 : 6 ; 1965 : 7 ; 1966 : 8 ; 1967 : 9 ; 1968 : 1 ; 1969 : 2 ; 1970 : 3 ; 1971 : 4 ; 1972 : 5 ; 1973 : 6 ; 1974 : 7 ; 1975 : 8 ; 1976 : 9 ; 1977 : 1 ; 1978 : 2 ; 1979 : 3 ; 1980 : 4 ; 1981 : 5 ; 1982 : 6 ; 1983 : 7 ; 1984 : 8 ; 1985 : 9 ; 1986 : 1 ; 1987 : 2 ; 1988 : 3 ; 1989 : 4 ; 1990 : 5

From the above patterns, you can easily derive the Flying Star Number of your birth year. With this number and the knowledge of five elements, you can easily find the color which will promote your fortune. For example, if your flying star number is 8, your life element is earth so you can wear clothing with the color of fire such as red, orange or purple (fire promotes earth in five elements). Hope the above information can help to create a better lucky life for you.

Outfit Ideas: Bow Details

2011-05-03T20:50:00.001-07:00

Has ever bow detail be out in the fashion trend? Bows appear on prom dresses, formal shirts and also on casual tees, and could never look out of the places.

I love bow detailed fashion items. Be it blouses, jewelry, shoes, belts and other accessories, bows add a bit feminine flair to any outfits. Moreover, bows resemble butterflies which are a luck symbol. (Butterflies evolve from caterpillars and hence a symbol of rebirth and advancement; the pronunciation of Butterflies in Chinese conveys the meaning of multiply)

It’s easy to incorporate bows into your wardrobe:
- Replace your white shirt with a silky bow blouse. It’s classy and elegant, recreating that 70s feel which is so charming and trendy.
- Get a bow printed shirt, or a top with the bow woven into it. They make the bow part of their structure.
- Opt for sequined embellishment in a large bow pattern, it’s a interesting, bold statement
- Bow piece embellishments on tunics are fun, eye-catching and just right.

There's just not many ways to get bows wrong; whether an oversized feature or simple ribbon, a bow can add a nice touch to outfits this season.

Up and Coming Outfit Idea for Spring: Layering

2011-04-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

A good idea to stretch your wardrobe, go through the ever-changing weather of spring and to show off your unique sense of style. - Scarves are great items to create layering looks. Try wearing two light scarves to be warmer and funkier.

- Summer tops or slipdresses under cardigans, deep V-neck sweaters, or over a girly blouse. You can easily transform your favorite summer items by putting it over a tee or try a tube top underneath in a contrasting color.

- Try patterns / prints under solid layers, or vice versa.

- Lightweight tunics over jeans, a look you can get year-round.

- Try mix fabrics like sequined shrugs over t-shirts, denim over satin, lace over beaded/ prints for a more fashion-forward look.

- Add a blazer to any layering combinations for more important occasions.

Fashion Trends - Spring and Summer 2011

2011-02-11T18:47:00.000-08:00

1. Animal Kingdom

Traditionally animal prints belong to winters. Among the most popular are leopard prints and tiger prints which are presented together with fur to create a warm and wild feeling. However, the animal prints extend to S/S collection this year. Beside the traditional prints, more animal patterns are added to create a genuine animal kingdom eg swan in Miu Miu collections and sheer butterfly for Sportmax. To make this trend more noticeable, Louis Vuitton even filled their fashion show with tiger decorations to harmonize their tiger prints designs.

2. Ethnic Designs

Ethnic elements are always popular in fashion designs no matter it's for S/S or F/W. Every year, fashion designers have picked out different ethnic elements from different nations to enrich their designs eg millitary look from Russia, kimono style from Japan, hippie style from Gypsy etc. This year, the focus is on China. Chinese traditional prints and fashion styles are widely adopted in the fashion design of various brands eg. Louis Vuitton has designed their collection showing Chinese Cheong Sam styles and Chinese fashion elements.

3. Acid Color

Harmony of colors or Clashes of colors is always a dilemma for women in choose their clothing set. More people will prefer a harmony of colors as it goes more natural in outlooks. However, this year, the dressing concept may be challenged by some leading fashion designers. The color schemes chosen by designers are in a more energetic and raw way eg teal and electric blue from Haider Ackermann and shiny yellow from Moschino. Clashes of colors are common on the runway eg Blue vs Orange and Purple vs Green (Jil Sander), Purple vs Orange (Gucci, YSL), Orange vs Green (Loewe). Eye catching is the way of choosing colors for this trend.

4. Clean Cut

Minimalism never dies. Less is more. Less design in clothing means more attention to the natural body. Clean cut design is a better way to outline the natural curve and shape of women. Modern fashion designers tend to over-design with the intention of showing how gifted they are. However, to design with less design elements is more challenging. Only a few masters in fashion can do beautiful clean cuts without losing aesthetics. Leading this trend are brands like Max Mara, Celine, Chloe etc.

Hooded Style, The Unique Style

2011-01-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

Hoods are used to be incorporated into jackets and coats for comfort or protection against chills and rains. Wearing hoodie sweatshirt underneath leather jacket is something punk rockers had already been doing for ages. However, recent trends have incorporated hoods into everyday fashion from sweaters to shirts to casual blouses and even cocktail dresses.

Adding hoods to your outfits is a simple trick to jazz up your wardrobe. The hooded style gives a basic blouse that urban street wear look which enhances your uniqueness. Details like fur or lace trimmings could further express that casual chic that is loved by all, adding a spunky attitude into your character giving it a more fun and unique look. Hooded style is so versatile that it can be casual and dressy, and anyone can really look good in.

Enjoy the Fur Trend without Harming Animals

2010-12-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Luxurious and glamorous, yet warm and practical, no wonder the fur looks go strong in this winter. To enjoy the trend, opt for faux fur items. Not only that they come in jackets, vests, wraps, hats, bags that are fun but they also save lives and cash!

There are so many chic faux fur options at affordable prices. Wild animal patterns, fun patterns, bold or pastel colors, embroidered and sequined…they are warm and cozy.

If an overall piece is too much for you, why not try a fur collar to add to your coat, or add a faux fur wrap scarf to your wardrobe to pair with your party dresses. A fluffy cape or shrug is also a versatile choice to exude glamor and style in this festive season.

Spice Up Your Wardrobe with the Hot, Fun and Funky Animal Prints

2010-11-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

Animal prints have always played an important role in fashion. In the upcoming season, this timeless trend has evolved into something cool, wild and sexy, all at the same item. Unleash your wildness and reinvent this classic pattern to look stunning.

Why Make Animal Prints So Popular?
Animal prints are diverse and provide loads of varieties in its prints and colors. Leopard spots, zebra and tiger stripes, giraffe and snake prints are everywhere from tops, blouses, coats, pants to scarves, handbags and shoes. Their color schemes are so natural and vibrant that they look good almost on anyone. In the coming season, newer looks in bright colors are also as exciting and charming as ever. Numerous celebrities have got into the flow with animal-print pieces brought into spotlights.

Wearing animal prints is not easy as there is a fine line between fabulous and a fashion disaster. Here come some experts’ tips to handle the wild prints:

Don’t Overdo Animal Prints: don’t try too hard to mix too many elements of an outfit, aim for a balanced ensemble

Stick to One Animal Print: it’s much easier to carry animal prints if you limit the print to one item at a time, and pair the item with a solid piece. Neutrals, solid black, crisp white, chocolate brown and beige are good color schemes to compliment animal prints.

Accessorize with Animal Prints: for an initial start, play safe for a subtle look with animal patterns in smaller items and accessories, like scarves, belts, bags, hats, and heels…

Ethnic - A Fashionable Addition to Style

2010-10-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Ethnic has been one of the popular fashion trends in recent years with a cultural background of increasing awareness of environmental and cultural proctection since 1990's. To fashion designers, simply play with style variations cannot fulfill their needs for varieties. The popularity of ethnic simply adds more imagination to their fashion designs from tranditional Chinese Cheong Sam to Gypsy Bohemian, from Russian to Indian and Middle-Eastern. Non-Western aesthetics have provided a fertile subject matter to develop creativity. Designers such as Christian Lacroix, Dries van Noten, John Galliano, Kenzo, Vivienne Tam, Yeohlee and many others have taken these inspirations to create new design styles and mix & match different cultural elements into modern fashion designs. The inspirations are well prsented by Dries van Noten (one of the leading fashion designers for the ethnic fashion trend) who said "For me, exoticism is the elsewhere, the other, the difference. It is generally associated with distant countries. But for me, it is rather everything that reroutes us from the ordinary . . . from our habits, our certainties and from the everyday to plunge us into a world that is amazing, hospitable and warm." In fashion designs, ethnic is presented in gorgeous patterns and prints or some specific cultural fashion elements. As the world continues its globalization, it is foreseen that the ethnic fashion trend will keep going and may blossom to even greater success in the future.

As a piece of advice, when dressing in ethnic style fashion, don't forget to decorate yourself with accessories to beautify the fashion, in which way the characteristics can be highlighted and strengthened.

Fashion Trends - Fall and Winter 2010

2010-08-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

New seasons are coming. New fashion trends are coming too. Let's take a look at the main fashion trends for this F/W 2010.

1. Fur / Faux Fur

Furs are flourished along the runway for this F/W. Fur coats, fur shawls, fur jackets or fur trousers etc. Furs can fulfill all kinds of imaginations of fashion designers. In response to the claims for animal protection, faux fur has become a commonly adopted element to replace fur. Among them is the God of Fashion, Karl Lagerfeld who has turned faux fur into new chic by stating in his show at Paris Fashion Week "It's the triumph of fake fur … because fake fur changed so much and became so great now that you can hardly see a difference." His design collections for Chanel all comes with faux fur trim in various ways of presentation including the classic tweed suits of Chanel. He announced to the world of fashion that "You cannot fake chic, but you can be chic in fake fur."

2. Power of Women - Cape

In modern world, women have become more and more successful in their career. Therefore, a stronger look is welcomed by them to show the power of women. Wide shoulders, Oversized Dressing are some of these "powerful" elements revived in previous seasons. For this F/W, cape has come to life to continue this trend. Cape, poncho etc are among the collections from Emporio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Zucca etc.

3. Tribal / Ethnic Look

Whenever talking about the Tribal /Ethnic fashion trend, one must have raised her hands for Dries Van Noten. DVN have been a major force in promoting this trend each year. However, to your surprice, Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano are leading this fashion trend for this F/W. From Chinese Cheong Sam to Russian Styles, from Middle Eastern to South American, different cultural elements are mixed into fashion designs to tell us "The World is Flat".

Inspiring Outfit Ideas #1

2010-08-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Neutral colors are a big trend for 2010, from footwear, makeup to apparel. Anything from soft flesh-tone hues to earthy neutrals is going to be on the hot list for fall. Nudes go well when combined with other colors in an outfit. They are ethereal and chic. But nude colors tend to wash out some skin tones, so mix nudes with black and darker neutral tones like brown and gray.

For paler persons, khaki, camel and beige aren’t always flattering to their skin tones. So why not try gray instead? It’s an easier color to pull off, and it works well even with vibrant brights like Fusion, Coral or Violet. Somehow it also makes office attires like button-downs and one-piece seem, seem movie star-worthy.

Embrace the lighter shade of fashion with confidence and spice up your wardrobe with some trendy neutrals this fall.

An Evergreen Clothing Accessory – A Shrug / Bolero

2010-07-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

One excellent investment piece of clothing is a shrug. A shrug is cropped, open fronted (with long or short sleeves) and adds a unique dimension to any outfit, whether it is a tee shirt, tube top, corset, gown or any sleeveless or strappy outfits.

Shrugs are generally knitted like cardigans but can be made with cotton, silk, lace, satin, velvet, making it suitable for any seasons. Sequined versions would add extra sparkle to a boring outfit, while crochet versions offer a pretty layered look for casual day wear.

Shrugs are quite functional – they could keep off the chill while covering up bare skin and drawing attention away from problem areas, like heavy arms. Other than easy matching, shrugs are also easy to wear. One does not need to have a particular figure to wear shrugs. While covering the extra flab of the arms, they are open in the front and allow one to show off great jewelry, establishing sophisticated and polished looks.

A smart and timeless addition to any well-rounded wardrobe, a shrug presents a chic alternative to basic cardigans and jackets.

Enjoy Summer in Tunics / Kaftans / Smocks

2010-06-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

Smock / Tunic dresses are the simplest thing to throw on for summer. Tunics are versatile, comfortable and flatter almost any figure. They can form numerous looks or outfits, and in different lengths and materials, they are fit for various seasons. Even summer tunics can easily transition into fall with a sweater / wrap.

Straight or flared, solid colors or prints, with or without embroidery and sequins, tunics are great choices for this summer. Wear your favorite ones all sorts of ways:

Over leggings: A loose, longish tunic dress looks perfect when worn over cropped or full-length leggings. Pair it with flat sandals for casual chic or high-heeled booties for more sophisticated looks.

Over skinny/slim-cut jeans: If leggings aren’t your style, try wearing your tunic dress over skinny jeans or very slim-cut boot cut jeans. Jeans are so versatile and fit for various occasions.

Over wide-leg trousers: It may be tricky. A tunic dress and wide-leg trousers can look bulky together, but when put together correctly, it works. Choose a tunic dress with an A-line or slim silhouette, then balance it with dark wide-leg trousers. The darker color makes the trousers look slimmer, and the whole look isn’t too heavy.

With a loose belt: Tying a loose belt around a tunic dress creates a whole different look. It’s casual enough for day if the belt is worn low on the tunic dress on the hips, and it works when the tunic dress is worn over leggings or jeans. For night, try tying a glitzier or dark belt around the tunic dress with high heels or high heeled booties.

Alone as a mini dress: It could be real sexy for parties. For more dramatic head turning looks, wear with high heeled low boots or high heeled sandals. Wider boat like necklines exposing the collarbone detailed with a thin scarf or choker necklace keeps the look sexy yet fresh.

Looking your best while being comfortable has never been easier this summer!

Mother's Day Clothing

2010-05-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

As one of the important occasions of the year, Mother's Day is the day for us to share our love and care with one of the most important persons of our life - Mother. Have you ever think of how to dress up when joining the brunch or dinner with your mother? Nothing too sexy, low cut dress or mini skirts may not be suitable dressing for this occasion. A summer dress or tunic with sleeves may be a good choice for which the outlook will not be too exaggerated. Short sleeves are ok but more preferably with princess sleeves. Color should not be too sharp, beige or gray can be good. Ethnic patterns or some traditional embroidery can also be excellent additions. Matching up with some light makeup and a silvery necklace, your mother must be very happy in seeing her beloved childs on this special day.

Floral Chiffon in Spring

2010-04-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

After days in heavy chunks and dark colors. It’s not without reasons that floral prints in light materials come up in every spring. With March in full swing, it’s time to refresh your wardrobes. Chiffon wear is always a key item in springs and summers. The soft, flowy, sheer and fairy looks will keep you cool and sexy, while adding flower prints will make you more feminine or girly, depending on the pattern style. Sequin embellishment and lace trimmings are just that little something more to make you more sophisticated. Chiffon wear and denim make an ideal pairing with femininity and tenderness balanced out the roughness and ease.

Fashion Trends - Spring & Summer 2010

2010-03-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

Spring & Summer starts a whole new fashion year and give us new hopes and new looks. Let's take a look at the highlights of this S&S fashion trends :

1. Less is More

This is not the revival of mannish minimalism of the 90's. More feminine cutting has been adopted to make the styles clean and fresh. Cutouts and thigh-high slits enable more fresh air for your skins.

2. See-through

It's not surprising See-through is a trend for Spring and Summer. In this S&S, more innovative materials have been adopted besides the common chiffon or lace. Prada uses crystals for dress while Anteprima uses wirebag material for miniskirt. With this see-through trend, lingerie becomes an important fashion element for mix and match.

3. Patterns

Patterns give new ideas to a simple design. To go with the Less is More, fashion designers adopt different patterns on fabric for an eye-catching effect. Besides the traditional floral prints, Duro Olowu's tribal motifs and Givenchy's digital designs and many other patterns in other brands has raised the call for this Patterns fashion trend.

Feng Shui Clothing for Valentine’s Day

2010-02-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

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)

2009-11-30T21:43:00.000-08:00

"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)

2009-10-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-07-09T02:14:00.001-07:00

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)

2009-07-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-07-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

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.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2009 (3D Design)

2009-06-09T17:52:00.000-07:00

Volume cutting becomes a popular design trend in fashion in recent years. Fashion designers fulfill their needs for creativity by bending, folding and twisting fabrics in a ever bolder way. This year, 3D designs are leading the trends along the runways of different brands. Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, YSL and Chloe are presenting their ways of 3D ideas. Some people may think 3D designs are only showpieces to attract eyeballs in fashion shows and are not suitable for real life dressing. But, you may also catch this trend with clothes carrying 3D features like cocoon sleeves and draping designs. These features will surely make your dressing styles richer and more trendy.

Perky Yellow

2009-05-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

Isn’t it fabulous to wear YELLOW now? It’s the colour of sunshine and could brighten up one’s mood. After seasons and seasons of black, black and… black, perky YELLOW has finally come. It is the perfect colour to wear whenever your spirits needs an uplift. Yellow carries the same healing qualities associated with the sun. It offers warmth, optimism, and light. All shades of yellows (and golds) will cheer you up and help make you feel happier. Yellow is often criticized as being garish and overpowering. But there are so many shades of yellow.. from amber yellow, mustard yellow to tangerine yellow and buttery yellow. The options are unlimited. Pick one to match your own skin and hair colour and wear it out out into the world to make an affirmation statement.

Remember, being happy is your choice!

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2009 (Asymmetric)

2009-05-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

Symmetry is always a balance beauty in human history. In 2009, everything seems going in the other ways. Financial crisis, swine flu and other difficulties are driving people to lose faith in things thought to be right in the past. Under such circumstances, asymmetry gives an unbalance beauty from the chaos. Asymmetric design are one of leading fashin trends in this Spring and Summer. Asymmetric goes with one shoulder, one strap blouses, uneven skirt hem and all designs with asymmetric cuts. Versace, Ninna Ricci, Lanvin and Valentino etc are leading the influx of this asymmetric fashion trend.

Will Plaid be Out?

2009-04-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Plaid or tartan or gingham, or checkers, whatever you call it, is everywhere last season. Will the trend continue in the new season? On a second thought, I would ask, has plaid ever be out? Actually I have been seeing plaid since my childhood, my secondary, my college. I think pattern like plaid or floral or polka dots, will never be out. Every season, there are plaid designs, and one can’t possibly be looking “out”, for wearing plaid.

I like the versatility of plaid shirt. A tailored one paired with skirt makes one looks preppy. A loose one could be worn as a cardigan and paired with tube tops. Red and green tone produces a college look, while brown tone looks rustic. The possibility is infinite. How about plaid / tartan in ruffles and fluid flowy chiffon?

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2009 (Shiny and See-Through)

2009-03-13T02:05:00.000-07:00

No need to say, both shiny and see-through are the most effective fashion elements in attracting eyeballs. In this spring and summer, you won't make yourself look odd to dress with shiny and see-through because they are one of the fashion trends.

Shiny

Metallic colors, sequins, beads and shiny stones are the common elements for shiny. Fashion designers mix-and-matches them to create different charming effects. Prada, Chloe and YSL are the fashion brands leading this fashion trends.

See-through

To me, see-through is a better presentation of sexy than deep V, short pants or simply bra top as it gives more space for imaginations and goes in between sexy and conservative. Moshcino, Fendi and Celine all launch different styles of see-through collections this year. Besides fashion effect, the light material for see-through such as chiffon also gives you another advantage for S/S ie COOL!!!

A Worthwhile Investment – Scarves to Play Up Your Style

2009-03-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

Small square ones, long thin ones, large shawls, bandanna, silk, chiffon, lace, cotton, wool, pashima, knitted, crochet, floral, tartan, plaid, embroidered, beaded, sequined, patched… the list could go on and on. Expensive or bargain, scarves make great difference to outfits. They create layering effects, they give the wearer an ethereal aura, or sometimes an artistic touch. They give a chic and dressy feel to an otherwise too boring outfit. And the choices of scarves are so wide that you would be able to choose one to fit for different occasions and attires. Formal and business, evening, clubbing, yachting, outing, traveling, dating…and most important, it has a practical function to keep you warm, when it gets too windy or when the air conditioning is a bit low, not to mention its versatile way of dressing, as a halter top, headband, sarong or wrap skirt.

I heart scarves. I usually buy a scarf once it attracts my attention. If I don’t take immediate action, chances are I can’t find it again anywhere. What’s more, buying a lovely scarf is one of the many ways to make myself happy.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2009 (Summary)

2009-02-10T05:59:00.001-08:00

Though Spring is still on its way to earth, to be more precise Northern Hemisphere, we need to get prepared for the coming Spring/Summer fashion trends. The trends are summaried as follows :

1. Asymmetric

2. 3D Design

3. 80's Again

4. Shiny and See-Through

As usual, we will discuss each trend one by one in details later.

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2008 (Dropping Down & The 70's Glam)

2009-02-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

Short or Long are always two opposite forces for fashion trends each year. The trend is like a pendulum. Sometime it goes for short and sometimes it goes for long. Some people even relate the long short trend to economy. When the economy is hot, the skirts goes up and when the economy goes down, the skirt runs down. It seems quite correct for this year. Long is winning the trend. Length of skirt drops from knee length to Mid-calf and even drops down to floor-grazing. The lean and mean silouette look were shown all along the runways of Marc Jacobs, Derek Lam, and Erin Fetherston. Even the sexy Dolce & Gabbana go for more conservative and "dropped down" its skirt design.

On the other hand, the 70's Glam also revives for this F/W fashion trend. Hippy style, neutral look of Annie Hall and elegant dressing are all design elements of fashion designers. All these styles are presented in an elegant way with premium materials like silk, chiffon, fur and sequins. Brands like Hermes, D&G and Gucci are leading this trend.

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2008 (Checkers Again)

2008-12-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

In the Fall and Winter fashion trends of recent years, checkers is undoubtedly the most repeatedly used element by famous fashion designers. Besides checkers, many people use alternative words like Tartan or Plaid (American English). According to Wikipedia, Tartan/Plaid is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. D&G has used tartan as the main element in their F/W 2008 fashion show which has injected the soul of English countryside style into their new fashion designs. From scarf to coat to skirt, you can find checkers all around the runway. However, you will not get bored. Checkers are well presented in their design with different colors bands and mix and match with thin belts, faux fur coat etc. Besides D&G, Tommy Hilfiger also integrates checkers into their college look design. With their classice colors of red, white and blue, checkers have evolved into a modern classic element in their new design.

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2008 (Minimalism)

2008-11-09T05:21:00.000-08:00

Maximalism has been widely adopted for many years by fashion designers to give a more attractive and WOW outlook. This year, Minimalism gives a good balance by leading one of the fashion trends. A less-is-more philosophy is embedded in the DNA of many famous fashion brands like Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, Narciso Rodriguez, and Prada. Maybe you will ask whether it will be too boring for such a "Less is More" idea. However, without fancy designs, Minimalism is expressed in a different way through cuttings, contrast and combinations in materials and a marvellous use of colors. One of the master pieces is a nude color dress from Prada. The simple and clean design outstands the cutting. It's just like a second layer of skin for human beings!

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2008 (Summary)

2008-10-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

Fashion is a business hard to catch up. Fashion is a life style you want to catch up. Fashion is something ladies must catch up. Fashion is ..... No matter what, now is time for you to catch up with the lastest fashion trends for Fall and Winter 2008. Below is a summary of some major trends :

1. Minimalism - Less is More

2. Checkers Again

3. Dropping Down

4. The 70's Glam

As usual, I will further explain each trend in more details later. Don't miss it!!!

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Printed Matter)

2008-09-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

Printed matter? Yes, this time the printing is on clothes. Apart from the normal printings, you will find floral prints, stars and moons, geometric patterns and even a whole chinese painting. What a wonderful world it is! This trend reminds you to be more lively and energetic in your new Spring & Summer. It also gives you more options in mix and match besides simple colors. Leading fashion brands promoting this trend includes Chanel, Prada, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent etc.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Color Saturation)

2008-07-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

After a dull gray and black winter, the spring and summer of 2008 lead us back to a colorful world. The color is not simply bright color but a saturation of colors. Oh! No. To be more exact, it should be saturated colors. Colors like chartreuse, tomato red, electric blue and neon shades of green, yellow, pink and orange are all flying along the runways of S/S 2008 fashion shows. Brands like Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren and Alexandre Herchcovitch etc feature this trend along with ethereal design fashion. To go with the simple cutting design of fashion, materials are kept to be simple and basic. Generally one type of fabric is used (mostly satin) and pure saturated colors are adopted without any patterns like dots and stripe. Let's all go along with the most basic presentation of colors and simple cutting design.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Hippie Revival)

2008-07-09T23:42:00.000-07:00

It's not suprising that the Hippie styles of 60's has revived as fashion trend for S/S 2008. The core values of Hippie lifestyle represents freedom, love, peace and caring about the environment which are also the major concerns of modern people. During the 60's, Hippies borrowed clothing from folk cultures, used strong colors, flamboyant styles and a love of humble items such as jeans and other tattered and embellished street wear items to proclaim their non-conformism and thirst from freedom. Using anti-fashion as yet another form of protest against the establishment, they utilized clothing to tell of their plight for social equality and diversity.

This year, it was the "Summer of Love" all over again on the runways. Brands like Balmain, Giorgio Armani, and Veronique Branquinho filled their designs with masses of fringe and splatterings of tie-dye. Prada embraced both fairies and flou. Nina Ricci mashes up hippie and rock styles to give a thought to be mad effect. In all, the Hippies are reviving in new ways in fashion design. Let's enjoy this new "Summer of Love" with our love of the summer and our hippie styles.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Ethereal Design)

2008-05-20T03:58:00.001-07:00

This year, fashion designers started the new S/S season with ethereal design elements. What is ethereal design? Ethereal design should give you the feeling of an angel coming down from the heaven. Loose fitting, see-through and sheer layers are the general features that used to describe ethereal designs. You don't have to very complicated to get along with this trend. The designs can be very simple, loose and clear cutting with fresh colors. Varous fashion brands have used silk, chiffon and jersey material to feature a feeling of lightness, freshness and comfortability. Excellent ethereal designs have been offered by brands like Lanvin, Dries Van Noten, Louis Vuitton and Loewe etc. Under this fashion trend, you should be quick to renew your gym membership as you may need to expose plenty of flesh.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2008 (Summary)

2008-03-30T02:41:00.000-07:00

After a long long autumn/winter season, we have come to the new season of fashion - Spring and Summer 2008. Spring is the start of year and season of new hope. Fashion designers has brought along the new life of spring and fill up their designs with vivid colors and freshness. Below are some of the major trends of fashion this year :

1. Ethereal Design

2. Hippie Revival

3. Color Saturation

4. Printed Matter

As usual, we will explain each trend in more details later. Don't miss it!!!

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Cross Culture)

2007-11-13T02:10:00.000-08:00

"The World is Flat" is a bestselling book by Thomas L. Friedman in 2005. He pointed out in his book that the flattening of the world can be a force for good - for business, the environment and people everywhere. However, the world of fashion has already flattened with the creative and cross cultural designs of great fashion designers. The year, "cross culture" is a major fashion trend for Fall and Winter. Among these greats, Nicolas Ghesquiere of Balenciaga is the most admirable fashion designer with a mix and match of different enthnic fashion designs. From oriental to western, from batik printed dress to Russian military jacket, different cultural elements have been mixed to create an attractive and elegant fashion collection. In his hand and mind, flattening of the world has already been made happened in fashion. Besides Balenciaga, multi-cultural designs are also adopted in the fashion collections from Dries Van Noten, Anna Sui, Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood. To keep up with the changes, you should prepare yourself for this evergoing trends of globalization in fashion designs.

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Couture Details)

2007-10-22T06:05:00.000-07:00

In the past, couture and read-to-wear are two separate sections of fashion. Couture is commonly thought to be deluxe, fancy designs only suitable for parties and important functions. This fall, fashion designers have brought along the details of couture design into the designs of ready-to-wear fashion. Cascaded ruffles running along the front, origami-like cranes, ripples and layering etc are found in the designs of latest fashion collections. Among these famous brands, you can find Christian Dior, Lanvin, Givenchy and Gucci etc. One of the best presentations for such details is from John Galliano of Christian Dior who is really a master in presenting couture details in ready-to-wear. His designs of multi-layering tube evening dress , bias cut gown as well as knee length skirts accompanied with sequins and embroideries truly bring out the most graceful parts of ladies.

However, design is design. Not everyone is brave enough to wear clothes with couture details in common life. But why not making yourself more attractive!

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Gray / Grey Market)

2007-10-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

If I say BLACK is the longlasting color in fashion for Fall and Winter, no one will disagree. You will be always right by dressing in black. However, fashion is about trendy. You have to catch up with the latest trends. This year gray/grey color has come into play. Unlike black, there is a great depth in gray color. Light gray, dark gray and charcoal gray or gray tones in between have offered a wide range of options for fashion designers. Following this trend, grays are adopted in different styles of fashion from dress to evening wear and from top to coat etc. Gray appeared as a simple single tone gray, mix and match of grays in different tones or gray with sequins or beads are found in the lastest fashion collections such as Yves Saint Laurent, Mark Jacobs, Calvin Klein and Vera Wang etc. To me, gray color gives a feeling of elegance and softness. Unlike the favorite black, gray offers a better presentation of clothes cuttings which is especially great in showing the detailings in fashion. The depth of gray is also a better choice in layering different pieces. So, have you found your own gray/grey for this Fall and Winter?

Fashion Trend - Fall and Winter 2007 (Summary)

2007-09-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

New season has come. Let's have a quick scan on the summary of latest fashion trends in F/W 2007. The key trends are as follows:

1. Gray/Grey Market

2. Couture Details

3. Cross Culture

4. Knit Parade

5. Suitting Up

As usual, we will go through each trend in more details in later blogs.

Chiffon - Another Great Fashion Material

2007-09-16T04:24:00.000-07:00

After the discussion on satin, we would like to turn to another major material adopted by fashion designers in the design of high class fashion ie Chiffon. Chiffon is originated from the French word for cloth which has reflected its importance in fashion history.

Chiffon is a lightweight, balanced plain-woven sheer fabric. Chiffon can be made from cotton, silk or synthetic fibers, but is usually associated with silk or nylon. Chiffon can be dyed to almost any shade desired, however if made from polyester it is difficult to dye. Chiffon is a good companion with satin as both are are light weight and give a feeling of elegant and floating by overlaying each other. Therefore it is a popular fabric used in evening wear such as gowns, blouses, ribbons, scarves and lingerie. Like other crepe fabrics, chiffon can be difficult to work with because of its light and slippery textures. Due to this delicate nature, chiffon must be hand washed very gently.
Most chiffon nowadays is made from polyester (for stain resistance). Silk chiffon is regarded as the premium type of chiffon. It is dry cleanable and does not suffer from the same level of degradation and tearing as polyester chiffon.

Satin - A Great Fashion Material

2007-07-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

For a long time, satin has been one of the major materials for high class fashion including couture fashion, party dressing and gowns. However, do you know exactly what satin is? Some people even mix satin with silk. According to Wikipedia, satin is defined as follows :

"Satin is a cloth that typically has a glossy surface and is dull black in colour. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibers such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is termed a "satin"."

The excellent features of satin such as light weight, shiny and soft surface has made it a popular material for fashion designers. Some satin manufacturers also add Lycra or Elastane inside the fabric content to increase the stretching ability of fabric and makes the clothes more wearable and fit to different body sizes. In general, fashion designers are keen to mix and match satin with other material such as chiffon, lace and embroidered silk to generate elegant effects.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Back To Future)

2007-05-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

"Back To Future" seems to be with a bit contradiction. How can "Future" can be "Back"? This is really a true description. The imaginary future fashion trend has been a hot topic in the 60's which was brought by the hot trend of space exploration. At the time, Appollo space plan of the US was starting to explore the moon and the former USSR also achieved great results in space exploration. People during the time also got crazy about the space. Fashion being a reflection of social culture also carried elements of space. Shiny materials in silvery, ironic or other metallic tones are the elements to show a feeling of cold and mysterious space. The styles are tunic skirts, mini skirts and short pants in sharp and clear cutting designs which shows a lively looks. This year "Back To Future" is a key topic of Spring and Summer fashion trend. The leading brands with such designs are Fendi, Channel., Miu Miu and Burberry Prorsum etc. So, don't hesitate to dress in this trend and get a feeling of travelling in a time tunnel to 60's space age!

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Exaggerated 80's)

2007-04-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

I always believe fashion is a reflection of the culture at the time being. For example, 60's is an age of the universe and the styles of fashion at that time is full of concepts of the universe. When you look at the 80's, what kind of things can you remember? 80's is a time of exaggerations. Oversize, batwing sleeve, bubble skirt, shiny metallic and clothes with sequins and exaggerated vivid colors are features of women's fashion in those days. Women at that time wants to show off with exaggerated concepts after the ethnic 70's. This year, this trend is back again for Spring and Summer. Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana and Yes Saint Laurent etc led this trend by presenting an exaggerated fashion design in their latest collections.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (White Again)

2007-03-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

White again! Just like black is a classic color for Fall and Winter, white is also a classic color for Spring and Summer. In general, black gives an impression of mysteriousness and depth. White gives us a pure and light outlooks. However, unlike black, white is a more challenging color for women as clothing in white can easily show up the "imperfect" parts of the body. Maybe just because of the challenging factors, fashion designers always like to take white as an essential color in their collections for Spring and Summer. This year, famous brands like Versace, Prada, Dior and Sonia Rykiel etc all launch their collections of clothing in white. The most popular materials used are chiffon, satin, silk and lace which gives the best out of white. In addition to the color, fashion designers also add some sexy elements into their designs such as low cut, see through etc to give a more attractive outlook. Therefore, pure white plus a little bit sexy can be a powerful tool for outstanding yourself in this Spring and Summer.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2007 (Summary)

2007-02-25T01:44:00.000-08:00

Long time no blog. It's time for us to start our new season. First of all, I would like to take a look at the summary of the lastest fashion trends of Spring and Summer 2007. The major trends are listed as below :

1. White again
2. Exaggerated 80's
3. Back to Future
4. Get Sporty
5. Time Travel

In the coming blogs, I will discuss each trend in more details. Don't miss it!!!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Couture)

2006-10-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

For quite a long time in fashion industry, couture and ready-to-wear are two different sectors of business. Ready-to-wear goes for the general customers with a design to be more daily use and the price is also lying within the medium range such that the products can be sold at a large quantity. Therefore, the design of ready-to-wear would not be too exaggerated and more general fabrics will be adopted in the manufacturing. Couture goes for the higher end of the fashion industry with the use of high grade fabric and the design should be more stressed on the curves and shapes of customers to give an elegant effect. Gown design elements such as low cut, puffy sleeves, ruffles and laces, see-through fabric and other high grade fabrics are usually the elements of couture. However, the two sectors get much closer in design with ready-to-wear goes closer towards the couture end this year. This could be a good news to the office ladies as they can be of greater chances to try on the clothes more similiar to those dressed by celebrities to participate in some important functions. Famous brands which go for this direction include Balenciaga, Fendi, Yves Saint Laurent, Miu Miu and Chanel.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Conservative)

2006-09-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

For quite a while, sexy has been one of the most popular words used by fashion designers. Even in the fiercely blowing cold winds in winter, you can still see pop stars dressed in the sexy fashions designed by famous fashion designers to attract the attention of media. Off shoulder, low-cut etc are all the keywords representing sexy and above all, they are just synonyms of exposing yourself as much as possible. However, for this year, sexy dressing is out and conservative fashion like those have been popular in the 50's is back again. Fashion trend is always shifting from one extreme to the other and now it is conservative back again. Anyway, this is actually a good news for most of the ladies. Why? You don't have to expose yourself in the cold winds any more and you don't have to be in great body shape in order to show sexy. All you have to do is to follow the lastest fashion trend this year to cover yourself as much as possible. Above the sweater, you may dress in a small jacket to give a sense of layer or dress in clothes with different gray and black layers. This should be fantastic. Brands with fashion collections go in this direction includes Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Emilio Pucci, Atsuro Tayama etc. Therefore, being conservative is also a way of following the latest fashion trend.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Cape and Poncho)

2006-09-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

Cape and poncho are always one of the hot categories in ladies's outerwear collections for fall and winter time as they are suitable for ladies regardless of their body shapes and both offer a flexible way of dressing. You should maintain certain stocks in your wardrobe such that you would not be left alone when fashion designers turn to them once again. Fashion trends always repeat themselves after certain number of years with a bit new ideas in presentation but the main theme will not be too much different. The modern design of cape and poncho were introduced to the modern ladies fashion in around 50's of last century. Around those years, fashion designers from Paris tried the new short cape design which offered a more flexible and free dressing look. Such designs were suprisingly popular that more designs have been evolved from the original idea. Nowadays, short capes were offered in various material such as fur, faux fur, acrylic etc in different colours and patterns. As an alternative design to cape, poncho offers even more varieties such as turtleneck, buttoned or sweater types and many of the designs give different ways of dressing styles for different occassions. Just use your imagination for more and better looks with your ponchos!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Go Checkers)

2006-08-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

Checkers have been a classic pattern in fashion design. The best to present and being recognized is Burberry. It becomes so popular that it also launched another line - the Blue Label in Japan with a main tone of dark blue and black checkers. Many Japanese girls have gone crazy with this brand design. Nowadays, the checkers design in fashion has grown to a large varieties such as small or big checkers, checkers in horizonal or tilted arrangements and checkers in various color tones. In general, checkers give an impression of formal and classic. This year, the checkers have been back from various brands such as Balenciaga, Sportmax, Dsquared2 and Bottega Veneta etc. However, the checkers do not go small but bigger ones just like the classic tartan. To be more clear, the brown color tartan will be the most up to trend design in this A/W no matter it is used in skirts, dresses or jackets. But please remember, fashion trend is just a trend and you need to bear in mind your own body shapes. Large checkers dressing will be more presentable in larger size bodies. Good Luck!

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Ladies and Gentlemen)

2006-08-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

One of the trends for this Autumn and Winter 2006 is Ladies and Gentlemen which means you can dress in a more "man" outlook even though you are a lady. Those typical man's looks are shirts and trousers combinations, "Tuxedo" dressing, tough women dressing in the 80's or milliary look. Please remember this trend is rather different from last year's trend of boy's look. Last year the trend is rather boyish with some boy's typical dressing of boy's jacket, boy's school uniform etc. However, in this year, the trend is built around ladies and gentlemen and the look should be more mature and man. Anyway, this does not mean that you can simply dress in your husband or father's suit. More ladies elements should be added to give a softer and female impression. A ladies hair style, ladies boot or ladies shawl wrapping around can be an excellant matching with the "Ladies and Gentlemen" topics of this year. Such dressing is also very suitable for office ladies which shows the soft and hard sides of modern female executives.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Summary)

2006-07-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

For this autumn and winter, the fashion trends may somehow be quite familiar to you as some are just continuation of the trends in the previous years. Anyway, old ideas can be executed innovatively to give a fresh new look. We will list down the main points below and further explain in the coming blogs.

Autumn and Winter 2006 Fashion Trends :

1. Ladies and Gentlemen : Men's look on ladies bodies
2. Go Checkers : Checkers are back especially those from Scotish skirt
3. Gothic Punk : Gothic and Punk look will be back
4. Couture : Ready-to-wear goes for couture
5. Cape and Poncho : The trend is back from 2004
6. Fur : All time favourite for Winter but you may choose faux fur if you love animals.
7. Conservative : Cover youself as much as you could.

Fashion Trend - Autumn and Winter 2006 (Color)

2006-07-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Even though summer has not passed yet this year, the fashion industry has prepared the latest fashion collections for the coming autumn and winter. For this year, some trends are continuities of trends from spring and summer and some are the re-invention of all time favorites. Let's have a look at the fashion color trends first. The four favorite colors from fashion designers this year are black, grey, gold and the suprising red.

Black
Black color is an all time favorite from fashion designers for A/W fashion collections. For this year, it is also the central color accompanied by white, gold and brick red etc to create more tones. High class materials such as crocodile leather are used for presenting the classic and elegant black color.

Grey
This grey trend is not a dull grey or simple grey but a mix and match of different greys. Different scale of greys should be presented in different layers and by different materials.

Gold
A continunity of the 80's bling bling trend of this spring and summber. The gold color designs are led by Gucci by utilizing high class fabric materials such as silk, fur and leather. All kinds of gold are welcome.

Red
A surprising color for this A/W as the red should be a color for spring and summer. However, adding the red has added more eye catch elements for this A/W.

Fashion Power from the Southern Hemisphere - Sass & Bide

2006-07-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

Sass & Bide is another famous fashion brand from Australia. The label was founded by Sarah-Jane Clarke (nickname "sass") and Heidi Middleton (nickname "bide") who also use their nicknames to form the brand name. Sass & Bide began life as a stall on London's Portobello Road with customized clothes and then rose to new fashion heights with their famous East Village Jean - a sexy hipster with a daring 2 inch zip. In 2000, the brand has been recognized by Harvey Nichols, the famous department store in London and was allowed to be sold within their counter. Now, their fashion collection has expanded from the innovative new shapes and detailing in denim to an extensive and luxurious fashion range which showcases twice a year at New York Fashion Week. With their design characteristics of quirky and sexy, the brand has attracted celebrity fans such as Gisele Bundchen, Mischa Barton, Kate Moss and Sarah Jessica Parker etc. In particular, Sarah Jessica Parker has chose to dress in Sass & Bide to feature in the popular drama "Sex and the City"!

Fashion Power from the Souther Hemisphere - Kit Willow

2006-06-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

WILLOW is an international fashion brand from Australia. The founder and fashion designer is Kit Willow. Unlike KAREN WALKER which is a bit cutie boylish, WILLOW goes for a more feminine style. Kit Willow likes to strengthen the romantic shapes of women with tight and pleated design of fashion. She makes use of natural fibers and chiffon to create a lightening effect which accompanied with sequins and beads to give a feminine outlook. The brand was first introduced in 2003 at Mercedes Fashion Week Sydney with its contemporary lingerie with delicately jewelled straps and fashion and right now its design has expanded to a wide range of ladies fashion. However, her design is still full of lingerie elements to show up the sexy body shapes of ladies. In the past few years, this Australian fashion brand has swept across the world and is now available in many famous boutiques in major cities such as New York, London and Dubai etc. Many celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Cameron Diaz, Kate Bosworth and Cate Blanchett have selected WILLOW as one of their favorite fashion collections.

Fashion Power from the Southern Hemisphere - Karen Walker

2006-05-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

Traditionally, when people talking about fashion, they will mention the fashion from Europe especially from Paris which leads the fashion trend of the world. Later, fashion from US especially New York also generates significant influence in the fashion industry. Nowadays, fashion power from the Southern Hemisphere also shines along the fashion path. In the coming blogs, we will talk about some of the execellent fashion collections from the Southern Hemisphere :

KAREN WALKER (New Zealand)

A fashion brand named by its founder and fashion designer, Karen Walker who was born in New Zealand. Karen's collections are high casual with one foot in tailoring and the other in street wear. Mix and match of different extremes and pushing them together such as masculine and feminine, tailored and the street, luxury and casual are the major characteristics of Karen Walker's collection. Her fashion was described by UK's newspaper as "The kind of look that provided a means of appearing cool but not trying-too hard, cute but not saccharine, alternative but not self consciously so. The fact that these clothes appear to be so totally not 'fashion' is what makes them so now". Right now, this label has been carried in over 100 stores all over the world. Celebritites such as Jennifer Lopez, Kate Hudson, Claudia Schiffer and Madonna all favour her work.

The Da Vinci Code of Fashion

2006-05-24T07:19:00.000-07:00

Lately the movie "The Da Vinci Code" has brought about great disccussions in many religious issues. If there are the Da Vinci Code of Fashion, what would they be?
The most famous painting of Da Vinci is Mona Lisa. This figure of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated in a visionary, mountainous landscape, is a remarkable instance of Leonardo's sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modeling. The Mona Lisa's enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given the portrait universal fame. The dressing of Mona Lisa is the typical fashion of their time which is conservative and bulky. They were mostly made with wool, silk and velvet with natural dyes. Darker colors were naturally adopted. At the time of drawing, Europe is undergoing the Renaissance ages, a term adopted from the French equivalent of the Italian word rinascita, meaning literally "rebirth," describes the radical and comprehensive changes that took place in European culture during the 15th and 16th centuries, bringing about the demise of the Middle Ages and embodying for the first time the values of the modern world. Maybe from the smile of Mona Lisa, we can decode the Da Vinci Code of Fashion which means a radical change of fashion design will be coming in the later time and women will have a greater freedom in expressing themselve in fashion styles and own personalities.

The Magic of Accessories

2006-05-07T05:36:00.000-07:00

Whenever you think that the clothes you wear are not attractive enough or you would like to add more features or attractiveness to yourself, why don't you think of adding some accessories to your dressing. The beautiful style can just be added with simple accessories such as necklaces, bracelets, ear rings or hair accessories. In the past, ladies may tend to dress such accessories in a more formal party and they are usually composed of precious metals and stones such as gold, platinum and diamonds. However, the concepts have totally changed nowadays. When you attend the latest fashion shows in the world, fashion designers tend to add more simple accessories to the models' dressing in order to make their designs more presentable. The most popular ones are necklaces or bracelets with ethnic characteristics. This may be a continuity of the ethnic fashion trend which became popular in the past fall/winter fashion. The elements of the necklaces are normally composed of irregular beads or square in vivid colors and there may not be only one necklace but multiple quantities in different length and compositions to present the ethnic concepts. Therefore, whenever you feel boring with your own fashion, add more accessories which may generate a spark in your life.

Sizing of Low Rise Ladies Jeans

2006-04-26T04:14:00.000-07:00

The popularity of low rise ladies jeans gives a good alternative to ladies who love jeans but want to be more sexy in presenting her good body shape and slim waist. However, it could be a headache to online fashion sellers. As different jeans manufacturers give their own sizing chart for low rise jeans based on the actural design of jeans, there are no common standards in the sizing of low rise jeans. Fashion designers tend to design their own low rise jeans at different waist level. Some may want them to be dressed near the bottom or some would like to be at higher waist levels. To correctly present the size of low rise jeans become a highly difficult task for online jeans sellers. In order to sell low rise jeans which we thought to be an excellent match with our selling tops, we have developed a detailed measurement chart with illustrations to present the actual measurements of the jeans on sale. Customers are suggested to compare the actual measurements presented with their own best fit low rise jeans such that they can be more clear in the idea whether the jeans will fit them or not. However, the measurements generally may vary a bit and the method still needs some common senses of the buyer to approximate the fitness. Anyway, this method has proved to be effective and we have successfully sold some beautiful low rise jeans to some ladies and they love their jeans a lot! Fantastic!

Sizing of Fashion Clothes

2006-04-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Sizing is one of the difficulties for selling fashion clothes online. As various countries adopt different sizing system for their people, it is very difficult to communicate effectively with customers in sizing. The LARGE size in asian countries may be equivalent to the MEDIUM or SMALL size in western countries. Even the sizes stated by different brands may also varies a bit due to different design and manufacturing requirements. Therefore we have developed our own measuring system by measuring the actual lengths of various parts of clothes and stated these information clearly with illustrations in our clothes listings. By comparing the measurements stated with their own well fitted clothes, customers can clearly know whether the clothes will fit them or not. This method has been proved to be effective for most of the time but there are still some discrepencies happend on and off as some of the customers may not have actually done the comparison. Therefore, a unified sizing system will be very useful and helpful for the developement of garment industry selling online. To make this happen, the governments of different countries should work more closely to tackle the trading barrier problems between countries such that people all around the world can enjoy the best design and fitted clothes in the world.

Key Designer Behind Fashion Brands

2006-04-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

When we watch fashion shows, we are impressed by the fantastic designs offered by each fashion brand. These fashionable clothes have been powered by the chief designers who give the soul to them with colors, fabrics and designs. Just wonder whether people know the key designer behind each brand. If not, below is a useful list for some of the famous brands :

Brand Key Designer
Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs
Channel/Fendi Karl Lagerfeld
Gucci Frida Giannini
Dior John Galliano
Prada Miuccia Prada
Hermes Jean-Paul Gaultier
Balenciaga Nicolas Ghesquiere
YSL Stefano Pilati
Celine Ivana Omazic
Loewe Jose Enrique Ona Selfa
Givenchy Riccardo Tisci
Lanvin Alber Elbaz

Plain vs Print

2006-03-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

"Plain vs Print" - a classic topic for fashion designers. In the past, people perceived "plain" to be more mature and "print" to be younger in image. Therefore, many of the girls around are going through a process of from plain to print. When girls are young, they tend to dress in more plain fashion with simple and casual design. Maybe this is the way that they cound be more mature in looking and they can show up with their young spirit even dressed in the plain way. However, when they are getting more mature, they tend to go for more prints in fashion especially floral patterns to generate a younger outlook. Many of the ladies may not have noticed this kind of evolution but I have observed many girls around to go through this process. Maybe this is a kind of psychological change from aging effect. However, in my opinion, "print" fashion will be more suitable for young girls for which clothes with prints can bring out the young spirit from internal. Among various print patterns, my favourite is floral prints which represent the spring - a season for all beings to start growth. Fabric such as chiffon and lace are the best matching wth the colorful floral prints. This is what the fashion designer brought about for this Spring. Don't waste your valuable young ages! Dress in prints, girls!

From Brokeback Mountain to Jeans

2006-02-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

After talking about the Spring and Summer 2006 fashion trend for several times, we would like to switch to the all time fashion - Jeans. This topic is originated from the thought of the award winning film "Brokeback Mountain" by Ang Lee with a story talking about two cowboys' life in the US. From the time being, jeans has been the major dressing style with the feature of custom fit and durability which was especially suitable for wild life. Jeans has become a symbol of cowboys with the character of freedom and wildness. However, jeans nowadays has evolved into a new style of fashion with a variety of design styles such as flare cut and straight cut in fiting styles, classic fit and low-rise in dressing styles and various color choices such as black, white, sky blue and navy blue etc. Apart from styles, various elements have been added to jeans design to make them more dressable for women such as nice looking embroideries and beads. With such modifications, jeans has become a major fashion selections for ladies with good body shapes. However, one should remember that there is one major difference between jeans and other fashion which is you should admire jeans from behind instead of from the front as the major attraction is from behind, right? This is why most of the jeans designers put their major designs at the back of the jeans.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2006 (Golden 80's)

2006-02-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

The 80's is an age of return from the extreme rebellion against tradition in the 60's & 70's . Mini skirts and bikini were no longer the major attractions in fashion and more conversative elements such as one shoulder, drainpipe and one-piece swimsuit were once against brought back in fashion trends. This trend is also back for Spring and Summer fashion 2006. Fashion designers adopt these elements into their latest design. With the 80's concept, they of course will not omit the bling-bling brought about by the riches in the 80's. We use bling-bling here for a more appropriate description though bling-bling is a late 90's term. Bling-bling is a hip hop slang term which refers to expensive jewelry and other accoutrements, and also to an entire lifestyle built around excess spending and ostentation. "Bling-bling" was popularized as a slang term within hip-hop after the success of "Bling Bling", a 1999 hit hip-hop song by The B.G., featuring his Cash Money Records labelmates Juvenile, Lil' Wayne, Turk, Baby, and Mannie Fresh. The key element of this year's bling-bling is metallic color with either golden or silvery color used in all kinds of fashion clothes and accessories such as dresses, skirts, handbags and shoes etc. Maybe such fashion style is also originated from the high rising prices of gold and silver lately. Please be reminded that these metals were also very expensive in the 80's. Therefore, I would rather say fashion is also a reflection of social phenomenons at times.

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2006 (Sweet Dandy)

2006-02-04T05:27:00.000-08:00

The "Sweet Dandy" trend is something about dressing in a neutral way. One joke about this trend is that a girl gets up in the morning but can't find any of her clothes around. As she needs to go anyway, she simply picks up the clothes of her boyfriend and goes out. Then she finds that she's at the front of Spring and Summer 2006 fashion trend. Ha! Ha! That's really the way of dressing for "Sweet Dandy". Boy style jackets, shirt with ties and other trendy boy style dressing come to the world of women's fashion. However, please remember the "Sweet" in front of "Dandy" which means to be dressed like a cute boy but not a cowboy. If you don't know what to do, go out in the street and get more ideas from the boys you like. By the way, Valentine's Day is coming and you have absolutely excuse to dress exactly like your boyfriend this year because this is the latest fashion trend and the most important because you love him!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2006 (Hi Dolly)

2006-01-22T03:16:00.000-08:00

"Hi Dolly" is another fashion trend that you should be aware of this Spring and Summer. If you are a fans of dolly toys when you are still young, you should be very happy this year as the way of dressing for those dolls would be exactly the way you should be. If you don't know what dolly clothes are, you should go immediately to your nearby toy shop to have a look. Pure white, puffy sleeves, cotton lace & eyelets and empire line would be the key features for these kind of dressing. Pure white means that your whole dressing should be with white color only and the highlights and decorations should also be in white color. To avoid a boring white, cotton see-through lace could be added at the trim to give a lovely outlooking or you may choose clothes made out of lace fabric. Puffy sleeves can also be a good choice to cover the unwanted fat to be seen at your upper arms. However, you should be very careful in dressing the white color dolly clothes to avoid getting any embarassing dirty on it. Furthermore, a typical and good "Hi Dolly" dressing look should also be accompanied with dolly hair styles, long curl eyelashes and related make-up. So go and get those neccessary accessories for a great and lovely dolly look for this spring and summer.

By the way, 29th January 2006 is the starting date of the upcoming Chinese New Year - Year of the Dog. We would like to wish you a Happy Chinese New Year and Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2006 (Kimono)

2006-01-07T01:41:00.000-08:00

One of the Fashion Trends of Spring and Summer 2006 is quite obvious which is brought about by the influence of popular movie "Memories of A Geisha". This film illustrated the life of the ancient Japanese society. The ancient Japanese culture was greatly affected by Chinese culture as mentioned in our previous blog. The design of Kimonos is rather conservative and without too many styles. However, they adopted very colorful, finely printed and high quality fabrics such as silk to generate elegant outlooks. Therefore, you may find the dressings of actresses in the movie "Memories of A Geisha" to be very eyecatching. However, fashion trend is not just a copy thing but crossover. Key elements of ancient kimonos such as simply wrap design, oriental prints (Janpanese embroideries and large colorful flowers) and obi are adopted by modern fashion designers in their fashion design for Spring and Summer 2006. Some of the bulky elements such as wide sleeves are modified to accommodate modern uses. These modifications have given new life to kimonos and make them more dressable for a modern and beautiful outlook. So don't wait in getting one to catch up with the coming trends and don't forget to dress in it to watch the fantastic film "Memories of A Geisha".

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2006 (Con't)

2005-12-29T03:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the answer for the previous post :

Trends (Features)

Hi Dolly (Puffy sleeves, Pure white, Cotton lace & eyelets, Empire line)
Sweet Dandy (Shirt & tie combo, Boyfriend jacket, Trilby, Braces)
Couture Dance (Volumious, Latino ruffles, Tulip skirt, Floor sweeping)
Golden 80's (One shoulder, Drainpipe, One-piece swimsuit, Bling Bling)
Go Geisha (Kimono, Simply wrap, Oriental print, Obi)

If you can get all these correct, congratulations. You must be a master of fashion.

We will further explain the details of each trend at later posts. Just add the RSS Feed to your news reader to keep up with our latest posting.

Happy New Year!

Fashion Trend - Spring and Summer 2006

2005-12-14T23:05:00.000-08:00

Before we talk about the fashion trends of Spring and Summer 2006, we would like to play an interesting game first. There are 5 key trends for the coming Spring and Summer and we will provide the names of key features below. If you can group them into 5 trends and give the name, you must have a great knowledge in terms of fashion.

(Hint : each trend should have 4 key features)

1. Puffy sleeves
2. Latino ruffles
3. Pure white
4. Trilby
5. Kimono
6. Braces
7. Floor sweeping
8. Empire line
9. Cotton lace & eyelets
10. Drain pipe
11. Oriental print
12. Simply wrap
13. One shoulder
14. Shirt & tie combo
15. Boyfriend jacket
16. Volumious
17. Tulip skirt
18. One-piece swimsuit
19. Obi
20. Bling Bling

See if you can do it! :P

What If Santa Clause Follow the Latest Fashion Trend?

2005-11-29T02:21:00.000-08:00

Traditionally, Santa Clause will dress in his standard red and white uniform to go to everyone's house to distribute Christmas gift. In everybody's mind, the uniform represents Christmas and Santa Clause. However, if we hold a Santa Clause fashion design competition to design a new uniform for Santa Clause and let Santa Clause follow the latest fashion trend, what would be the winning uniform? Let's have an imagination to predict the outcome. From the view of fashion trend this year, the trendy color is black and the fur / faux fur is the original wild color. So it is quite natural to imagine that the red color should be changing to black and the white fur collor and trimming should be change to original wild color. A black coat with wild color fur trim? It's really trendy but shall we still call him "Santa Clause"? Will you welcome him to come into your home? I think most of the people will answer "No way...!". Why? Because the uniform is a part of Santa Clause and Santa Clause is a part of Christmas. The most important is Santa Clause is where the Christmas joy comes from!!!

PS :
The latest posting date of items from our boutique to different countries in order to receive before Christmas is as follows:

Australia : 12th December 2005
Canada : 3rd December 2005
France : 14th December 2005
United Kingdom : 13th December 2005
United States : 9th December 2005

For cut off date of other countries, please email us before purchase. Thanks!

Dress for Christmas

2005-11-19T03:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming... How to dress for the parties is quite an annoying topic for ladies? To follow the tradition : dress like Santa Clause or like an angel? To follow the lastest fashion trend : dress like a Russian princess or like a Victorian queen? So many ideas flowing around to make you crazy. Here are some suggestions to make you look elegant and attractive for all these precious moments :

1. Color : Black is the all time favourite and the hottest picks from fashion designers this year. However, all black may cause you to be lost in the party crowd. Some shiny rhinestones or beads decorations mounted in the black would be prefect for drawing the attentions around.

2. Fur / Faux Fur : To dress with elegance, fur or faux fur decorations should not be omitted. Fur / faux fur trim collar or clothes trimming would be great to give an elegant effect. T0 be more, a fur / faux fur shawl or cape covering the inner evening gown is an all time favourite for popular movie stars and it is also an excellent dressing for every lady.

3. Sexy : A little bit of sexy in dressing would be like the addition of delicious dressing to a ready-to-serve dish. Don't waste the attractions brought to you by the God. A deep-V inner wear or see-through lace top would show your attactive body shape to everyone.

What else? Let's think more for Christmas later...

Fashion is general; Style is individual

2005-11-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

"Fashion is general; style is individual. Some people have it. Some haven't" These words came from the first chief editor of "Vogue" fashion magazine, Edna Woolman Chase which truly reflect the real meaning of personal fashion style. Many ladies try all their efforts to follow the latest fashion trend from world famous fashion brands.However, many of them may find that even they wear the designs from top fashion designers, they cannot draw much attention from other people. Such cases often happen to popular movie stars. This may be due to "style is individual". Everybody has her own style which is unique. Blindly follow the latest fashion trend but ignore the harmony of fashion and individual style will lead to a mismatching effect. Therefore, to dress best is to identify your own style first and pick fashion which can best fit your style. This is the key to have an attractive outlook. Remember "simple" does not mean lack of taste. This is also why we have the boutique name "CM Style Fashion". Style always comes before Fashion...

General Features of Chinese Style Clothes

2005-10-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

The modern Chinese style clothes are mostly originated from the ancient Chinese royal clothing as the royal clothing is considered as the best for the time being. The general features of these clothing are listed as below :
1. Fabric
In the past, the high class clothes were mostly manufactured from silk or silk blend fabric. General cotton fabric was only used by ordinary people. Therefore, the silky material would be considered as good Chinese clothing and most of the modern Chinese style clothes adopt them as major selection.
2. Embroidery
Chinese people like the idea of lucky. The images on clothing should be lucky symbols such as dragon (for men), phoenix (for women), flowers or some other Chinese lucky symbols. These images would be embroided on fabric with traditional skills. The major color of threads used would be golden, yellow or red.
3. Color
The generally prefered color is yellow and red color series. Yellow was the royal color in the past which represents superior and power. Red is the general lucky color for Chinese poeple. Therefore these colors are more preferable for Chinese style clothes. However, in modern design, the most favourite color nowadays ie black is also a popular selection by Chinese style fashion designers.

Cultural Background of Oriental Style Fashion (Con't)

2005-10-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

In the previous blog, we talked about the background of ancient Chinese style clothes. These kinds of style of Chinese clothes have been lasted for a long time over the Chinese history with minor modifications in fabric and styles. The general idea was just to make them more elegant but not revolutionizing the dressing styles. However, after the invasion and rule of Manchu from the northern part of China ie the Qing Dynasty (1644~1911), the Chinese style clothes has been changed a lot due to the mixture of different cultures. Manchu was established in the northern grassland of China and the ladies have been grown to be stronger and took up some of the responsibilities of men such as herding sheep and cows. Their dressing styles are more casual and open. The mixture of two kinds of dressing styles during the rule of Manchu over China then laid the foundation of the modern well known Chinese dressing : cheongsam / close-fitting woman's gown.

Cultural Background of Oriental Style Fashion

2005-10-19T05:33:00.000-07:00

After discussing the western style clothes for several times, we would like to shift our focus to oriental style clothes. There are two countries which have strong impacts on oriental culture in the history of Asia. One is India and the other is China. From the clothes point of view, it seems that the influence of China is more important than India as India has more influence on the religious side. The countries around China eg Korea and Japan have a very similiar culture as China and their clothing styles in the ancient times are very similiar to the Chinese styles. For the long time, the Chinese people live in a very conservative environment and the ladies dress in clothes with fabric wrapping around most of the body. Even the elbows should not be exposed. This style may be originated from the general concept that women should stay at home and handle the family issues while men should go out to gain a living and fight for their country. Therefore, women should learn more cultural knowledge such as music and drawing to entertain their husbands instead of their body shapes.

Fashion for Work

2005-10-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

For modern ladies, much of the time is spent in the office and this is a place where they need to show their best in order to get the best out of work. Therefore, fashion for work is really an important topic in women's dressing nowadays. The way of dressing is not only affecting the image from other people's eyes but also a kind of feel up for own confidence and comfort. This year, fashion for work goes back for the classic "HLINE". The "HLINE" style is originated from the giant in fashion - Christian Dior in Fall 1954. The "HLINE" design no longer goes for the direction of emphasizing the curve of ladies' chest and bottom but replacing them with simple straight line cutting. Such change enables women to have a dressing with comfort and free them from sexy tightness. This kind of style is back in this Fall and the most favourite color should be black and white. Have a try for such dressing which may make you the center of attention in the office!

p.s. Our own design shawl is selling quite well and thanks for the ladies who have a similar fashion favourites as us. Hope you will draw every attentions in your precious occassions with our shawl.

Fashion - A Dreaming Industry to Work In?

2005-10-07T05:01:00.000-07:00

In the past, fashion seemed to be a very beautiful and easy industry to us as we saw famous fashion designers working with beautiful models in fashion shows and highly respected by movie stars and ladies around. After each show, they were all warmly greeted by their audience. Everyday, fashion designers can work creatively to design whole new clothes to lead the trend and working in the industry seems to be riding on the latest trend. What a wonderful thing! When thinking of starting a new business, most of the girls will select fashion as their top choices. It may be the common dream of many girls. However, after working in the industry for a while, we have tasted the bitterness of it. For example, creating a popular and trendy design fashion is not easy and there are many factors laid behind to the success. From selection of fabric and materials, creating the right design, managing stocks and production to final marketing and sales, all require high level of professionalism, market senses and the ambition to success. We are now more respected to those successful giants in the fashion industry such as LVMH and GAP etc. Creating a successful brand in the fashion industry is really not easy! But whatever the hard work we need, fashion is still our dreaming industry as we are working to make people dress more beautifully!

Faux Fur Shawl - A New Design from CM Style Boutique

2005-10-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

In our previous blog, we have mentioned that we were developing a new design faux fur shawl. The design objective of the shawl is to provide a gorgeous design outwear that can be worn in different precious occassions. We have come up with a design that both side can be used. One side is pure color faux fur and the other side is a silk blend fabric with traditional oriental flower patterns. A traditional pattern design fabric clip has been mounted on the flower pattern side for a matching of oriental tone. The shawl comes with the three most poplular colors this year ie Black, White and Burgundy. It is our first brand new design and should be a good matching with any lastest design inner wears to give an elegant outlook for any ladies. These shawls will be available in eBay store (http://stores.ebay.com/cmstylefashion?refid=store) Please take a look at the burgundy shawl in the attached photos.

Velvet - The Element of High Class Fashion

2005-10-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

One of the most poplular fabric this Fall should be velvet. Velvet has been widely used for a long time by the noble class in Europe and it has been treated as one of the basic elements of high class and noble fashion. Its soft texture, elegant outlook and wide range of applications also made it the essential choice of modern fashion designers. Of course, a mix and match with other materials such as lace, silk, beads and sequins would be the trend for recent years. A well matched velvet top will surely well present the feminine and elegant character of a lady in her precious moments.
Here, we would like to provide 3 tips in maintaining velvet garments :
1. Velvet garments should be hanged in the closet instead of packed to avoid uneven surface of velvet.
2.Wash with gentle alkaline detergent by lightly pressing into the water. Drip dry and avoid direct sunlight.
3. Avoid direct iron. Using steam iron at a distance of 2~3cm will give an excellent effect.

Ways to Dress in Russian Styles

2005-09-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

We have talked a lot about the fashion trend going for Russian styles this fall. However, how to dress in the Russian styles would be more interesting. As the Russian styles involve the mix of different elements, we would like to suggest some for reference here:

1. Russia is a country consists of many different nations. Many of them are closely related to agriculture and nature. Therefore, their clothing designs consist of folkloric elements such as simple flower patterns. But these decorations should not be to fancy.

2. Extremely cold weather has driven the Russian styles to be furry like. Fur jackets, fur shawls and even little fur decorations over bags and hats are popular in every fashion show.

3. Years of instability in the Russian history has made Russian women stronger and these have been reflected in their ways of dressing. Military like styles such as Napoleon collar and shoulder strap mounted on long jackets give a solid feel out of feminine.

4. The arts of royal embroidery, brocade and beads attachement have been developed rapidly in Russia history accompanied by the extreme status of Russian Imperial. How can we missing them when dressing like a Russian.

Another Trendy Style - Victorian

2005-09-24T03:27:00.000-07:00

The word "Victorian" may have climbed on the top 10 search key terms for fashion in Fall 2005. Apart from the revival of "Russian Styles" from their gorgeous ages, "Victorian Styles" are also back from their times through the hands of fashion designers this Fall. The typical promoter brands should be Rochas and YSL. Their designs are all filled with Victorian elements such as turtlenecks, lace and ruffles. Beautiful and grand outlooks were brought to us by two marvelous and great Queens from Great Britain. One of them powered its kindom and showed its strength to the world and the other empowered the dressing styles of women's clothing. People at the time focused on creating the best fabric and producing the best fashion for ladies. Though the styles are rather conservative to enclose most parts of the body, the clothing is really a classic and unforgetable masterpiece in fashion industry. Nowaday, Victorian clothing is one of the most valuable to collect and we believe every lady dressing in Victorian style clothing would be delighted with their attractive outlook. Up to now, we really feel that we need to know more about the European history in order to fill up the contents of those classic designs brought to us by respected fashion designers.

Russian Dressing from "Anna Karenina"?

2005-09-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

In our blog about fashion trends in Fall 2005, we talked about "Russian Dressing" will be one of the key trend. Just read an essay from Cosmopolitan suggesting that this Russian Dressing trend may be originated from Oprah Winfrey who recommended the famous Russian novel "Anna Karenina" last year and generated an enormous impact to the western society. The book sold nearly 1 million copies in a single week. Such Russian enthusiasm may have influenced fashion designers in their 2005 design to incorporate the classic Russian elements in their lastest design. To us, it is not surprising that classic Russian styles come to the trend as we believe fashion is also a cyclic industry just like economy. Trendy elements repeat themselves after certain years. For example, after years of vivid color design, fashion designers go back to the basic black and white and maybe after some years, vivid color design will be back again. As Russia actually has a great influence in western culture and played a key role in some moments of European history, people adopted Russian fashion into the modern design would not be surprising especially the Russian styles are broadly thought to be gorgeous, elegant and high class with some royal feelings. So maybe we need to thank Anna Karenina bringing us back to the enclosure of Russian royal pieces.
By the way, do you really know what Russian styles are?

Our Own Design Fashion

2005-09-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

These few days have been the exciting and also busy moments for us. After accumulating years of experiences in the fashion industry, we are setting up our own fashion design in the coming winter. The first design will be a faux fur shawl with two sided usage. It will be a combination of Western and Chinese design styles. The idea of setting up our own design is to further differentiate from our online competitors and build up a brand loyalty to our own products. However, design our own fashion is quite a different job from our past work. First of all, a simple market research will be much helpful. We need to find out the best selling items in the past winter and mix the ideas of latest fashion trend. After selecting the correct product and come up with a satistied design, we have to source the right materials for production. Then it should be the sample production and modification before we can mass produce our own design products. Now, we have completed most of the processes and the first product ie our CM Style Design Faux Fur Shawl is expected to come to the market in the middle of October. Hope we can catch up with the schedule and have great success from our first design products!

Remarks :
Will post the new product photo in this blog when launching. Please give us some comments on it.

Lace - An All Time Favorite

2005-09-14T04:52:00.000-07:00

"Lace" has been an all time favorite for many ladies in their dressing style selections. The "Lace" element can enhance the feminine effects of a well designed fashion and this element has been frequently used by fashion designers around the world. In the past, "Lace" has been interpreted to give a more mature and elegant image for women and mainly used in the design of fashion for mature ladies. However, nowadays, "Lace" design is going in a more casual direction. Lace shirt from Chloe and the latest lace dress from Miu Miu all go for a younger and casual idea. They are welcomed by young ladies around the world and become their favorite fashion in their daily life. We also love the lace design and maintain a certain portion of our stock with beautiful lace design.
Another good news is that we have generated a feed for our fashion blog in rss. You may generate an automatic update of this fashion blog by pressing the buttons at the right of this blog to add this blog into your My Yahoo and My MSN. For the others you may add the atom or rss feed into your news reader by getting the link from XML and RSS button. Enjoy your day!

Ladies Watch Goes for More Feminine Design

2005-09-10T06:28:00.000-07:00

"The world of watches is so huge." This is my first impression after attending an internation watch and clock trade fair. Within the fair, the latest design trend of watches have been clearly reflected. For a long time, watches have been serving the function of time indication for human daily life. In the modern world, you may find time indications everywhere such as palm, mobile phones and car etc and the need of watches should be shrinked as a result. However, people still wearing watches on their wrist. This can be a typical MBA case study. The functions of watch have gone far beyond time indications. It is a kind of decoration. It is a kind of social status. It is a kind of personal image. It is .. it is.. etc. With these expanded functions, watches still serve to be a necessity for human life. It's really amazing.
With the addition of functionalities, it can be easily observed from the fair that besides some well established brands, the majority of ladies watches adopts a more feminine design approach with crystals, colorful leather bands and mother of pearl watch faces. Exaggerated numeral marks with fancy colors also presents a trendy effect. Furthermore, dual time zone seems to be with growing needs as the world is going more and more united. A well designed watch can be a part of fashion.

What fashion is about?

2005-08-30T04:23:00.000-07:00

It can't be denied that wearing famous brand fashion walking along the street really give someone more confidence in presenting herself. From design to cutting and to quality, these brands have accumulated years of reputation and with successful marketing strategies, they have won the hearts of famous movie stars and rich ladies. Wearing them really gives a feeling of behaving like a star and wins the admire from people around. However, the attraction of fashion is not solely from brand itself but the combination in fashion and the person who wears them. Therefore, some simple design fashion clothes can also give an outstanding effect as long as they fits you well and presents well for the occations. Sometimes some minor adjustments or accessories can be the magic rod for a whole new feeling. A small ribbon tie at the front of tops gives a more feminine effect. Ethnic tops can be enhanced with the matching of mixed color beaded or special shape necklace. Give more creativity in your dressing today will generate an exceptional outstanding effect without spending a lot.

Remember, fashion is about feeling and matching! Dress up to give your best in outlook!

I Love U

2005-08-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

"Love" seems to be a forever topic in all aspects of human life. People grow up with "Love", wish to have "Love" from others and give "Love" to others. Therefore, each time a designer presents a new fashion design around "Love", it seems to be one of the attractive elements to be highlighted in fashion magazines for their readers no matter it is a heart shape logo or a simple slogan of "I love U". In the coming fall, these elements still not be omitted by fashion designers. The red "I love you" slogan on Viktor & Rolf white shirt and the big hollow heart shape in the design of Stefano Pilati for Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) both attracts the eyes of many ladies in fashion shows. Anyway, if we not just wear the "Love" on body but also show more cares to the people around us, it should be more meaningful and give the "Love" design more content in its future.

I love U all, our most respected readers!

"Paris 6" = Future Fashion?

2005-08-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

The key to the success of a famous fashion brand relies on its fashion designer. Every year, people working in the fashion industry all focus on the fashion shows in Paris to get the latest idea for coming fashion trends. Besides the Fashion Master - Karl Lagerfeld who has gained respected position in the industry, the upcome of "Paris 6" also draws a lot of attention. The "Paris 6" includes Marc Jacobs of Louis Vuitton， Nicholas Ghesquiere of Balenciaga， Phoebe Philo of Chloe， Stefano Pilati of YSL，Olivier Theyskens of Rochas and Alber Elbaz of Lanvin. They represents the future of fashion industry in many people's eyes. However, I also find a tremendous potential from a truly new star who is Lars Nilssen of Nina Ricci. He truly reinvented the brand. This season his renowned design red ethnic dress has occupied the minds of editors of major fashion magazines. Let's see what his future will be?

Ladies Fashion Trends Fall 2005

2005-08-17T03:18:00.000-07:00

At every turning point of seasons, to catch up with the fashion trends of the coming season is the major challenge. After a serious observation of fashion shows held by different famous brands, it has come out with some clues for the ladies fashion trends in the coming Fall 2005. We would like to share with others for these trends such that we all can catch up with the upcoming rhythms of time.

1. Back to Black :
Black color and minimalism has been the fashion classic throughout twenties and nineties. This year these elements will be back for the upcoming trends. Designers went dark for Fall with little dresses, swingy coats and column gowns - all in attention grabbing Black color.

2. Edie's Sixties
Newsboy caps, stripy sweaters and flat crocodile boots, elements of Sixties have been in the fashion spotlight for over a decade.

3. Russian Dressing
Tactile embroideries, satin bloomers, glam furs in deep claret and frosty white all gives a folksy flavor to luxe Russian looks for Prada, Giorgio Armani and D&G. Fashion keeps reinventing old Russia's folkloric embroideries and cozy furs.

Any more?

Market Niche

2005-08-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

Running the fashion business for some time and really tasted the fast moving character of this business. We have to manage the business with the most trendy items while maintaining the stock at reasonable level. To achieve this, we have been trying hard to find a market niche for our targeted customers. Our online outlets are selling ladies fashion clothes. However, even with this category, there are still many other sub-categories within. We have to find the right products to fit our targeted customers who are women at the age of 25~45 with the highest spending power. In addition, we try to be more unique in our product selections to avoid competition with general chain stores which sell casual wears. After years of trial, we are now heading to a more successful way of doing fashion business online. Please take a look at our ebay store : http://stores.ebay.com/cmstylefashion?refid=store to give us more comments.

Froogle Listing (Fashion Blog)

2005-08-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

Today is a happy day for us as our CM Style Fashion store listings have been successfully uploaded into Froogle and made active. We have been trying this new way for a while and the uploaded file has been modified several times to make the data format be accordance to the Froogle file requirement. Now they can be viewed on Froogle though there are still problems in displaying the images and product page. At least we are successful for step 1. We will work hard to solve the displaying problems in the near future. We hope that Froogle can be a new way in promoting our own website : http://www.cmstyle.com.hk . Let's wait to see what the effect would be!

Blog about Ladies Fashion

2005-07-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Today, we start our first blog which is a whole new experience to us. The internet is really an amazing innovation and creates a lot of revolution to human lifes. We started an online business of selling women's fashion clothes, ladies crystal watches and hair accessories etc in the view of catch up with this kind of turning point for which we may not have seen for the whole life. On the other hand, this business also incorporates our interest in Ladies Fashion. Right now, we have two online sales outlets including http://www.cmstyle.com.hk and http://stores.ebay.com/cmstylefashion?refid=store for which the latter is an ebay stores. This business is really amazing and challenging and we really like to share our experience (both happiness and sadness) through this blog with other interested people about fashion and online selling. We will post one beautiful item each time when posting a blog.
Anyone who want to share your opinion please feel free to email us your ideas and comments.