Thursday, May 29, 2008
It was a cool autumn night in China's capital and she looked like she had been teleported straight from the Land Of The Under-dressed. She had on a light jacket over a knee-skimming shift dress. It revealed bare legs and the kind of strappy open-toed sandals that Singaporean women wear with everything from jeans to party dresses. In the century-old hotel, which counts state dignitaries among its guests, everyone around us was in leather or wool jackets, pumps or boots
There was not a trace of exposed flesh in sight. Having spent the last three years in Beijing and shopped my way through East Asia, I have experienced that kind of sartorial culture clash in reverse.
On a Saturday night out during one of my breaks back home, I remember feeling like a prude in my dark-brown Tokyo sheath dress that fell below the knee, while other girls flounced about in plunging, thigh-baring numbers.
I could go on with other examples of how Singaporeans think less is more when it comes to fashion, and dress that way all the time compared to residents of other Asian cities.
In Taipei where the summers can be as hot and humid as the weather here, camisole tops are seldom worn in the daytime without matching cardigans, out of propriety, and because fair-complexioned Taiwanese women fear getting tanned.
Whatever the season, it is hard to pry Japanese and Korean professionals away from their dark-coloured business suits. Ties are de rigueur for the men and for women, it is considered rude to go without make-up.
In Chinese cities in the summer, men wear short-sleeved shirts tucked into carefully belted trousers and shoes with socks - never T-shirts, bermudas and flip-flops, which are considered homewear.
To beat the heat, Chinese women will wear short-sleeved jackets to work, otherwise retaining the three-piece power-dressing ensemble. Silk scarves and flesh-coloured panty-hose - a must with open-toed heels - complete the look.
Just to give an idea of the culture shock that greets East Asian visitors to Singapore, a pretty, well-educated Taiwanese friend decided to blend in during her trip here by donning a sleeveless top with the barest hint of cleavage - and promptly told me she would not be caught dead wearing that in Taipei.
Two Beijingers I know - one male and one female - wondered how come there were so many 'prostitutes' around when confronted with the sea of spaghetti-strap tops and mini-dresses along Orchard Road.
Apart from being unused to seeing women bare so much skin as a matter of course, what befuddles East Asians from more patriarchal and Confucian societies - where group norms hold firm - is the lack of clear distinctions between home wear, casual dressing, work wear and formal attire for parties and ceremonies.Singaporeans are dressed down even compared to nearby tropical countries.
The average Malaysian or Indonesian woman is more modestly dressed. And ethnic-inspired looks, such as Thai silk shawls or Indonesian batik shirts, can always be counted on to give a sense of occasion and distinctiveness to both male and female attire.
In comparison, "all Singapore women know how to do is to wear Mango and Zara in different colours and sizes", laments one stylish Beijing-based Singaporean friend, who takes her pick from the city's quirky mix of Chinese tailoring, flea market finds and half-priced European designer overruns.
She thinks the actors and entertainers here lack star quality due to the dearth of individuality in the styling department.
As someone who would not claim to be a fashionista, I tend to look more kindly on Singaporean dress culture.
I attribute it to that strange combination of the islander in us, a Westernised willingness to flash some skin and a very Asian notion of conformity.
Our pop culture is essentially Western pop culture with its parade of down-and-dirty MTV videos and sexy starlets. The average girl next door here can be as skimpily dressed as any Sydneysider or Los Angeleno.
The sea at our doorstep possibly also does something to our fashion sense. Everyone looks like they could take a dip at the drop of a hat, surrounded though we are by a concrete jungle.
And yet, the ubiquity of our dress-down culture itself reflects that very compulsive Asian need to blend into the crowd.
The result, as my friend says, is that Singaporean women must be the world's biggest consumers of camisoles.
These are worn everywhere - to work (under a cardigan), to a club (over skintight jeans) or to the supermarket (over shorts or bermudas).
Both the easy recourse to a Mango top for the Singaporean lass, and the subdued three-piece suit for the Japanese, reflects the same underlying desire not to try too hard to be different.
What is interesting about Japanese design, though, is that it has produced quality, mass-market basics on the one hand - think Uniqlo or Muji - and one-of-a-kind high fashion labels such as
For the Japanese, it is as though the extreme rigidity of having different 'uniforms' for different professions - whether salaryman, taxi driver or elevator lady - finds its outlet in style mavericks and the whole Cosplay subculture of dressing up like your favourite anime characters.
I suck in my exposed midriff and wait with bated breath.
4:48 AM
Source : http://justwoman.asiaone.com/Just+Woman/About+Me/Columns/Story/A1Story20080222-50901.html
I once identified a stranger in the lobby of the illustrious Beijing Hotel as a fellow Singaporean, just from the clothes she wore.
I once identified a stranger in the lobby of the illustrious Beijing Hotel as a fellow Singaporean, just from the clothes she wore.
It was a cool autumn night in China's capital and she looked like she had been teleported straight from the Land Of The Under-dressed. She had on a light jacket over a knee-skimming shift dress. It revealed bare legs and the kind of strappy open-toed sandals that Singaporean women wear with everything from jeans to party dresses. In the century-old hotel, which counts state dignitaries among its guests, everyone around us was in leather or wool jackets, pumps or boots
and accessorised to the hilt with scarves and tights.
There was not a trace of exposed flesh in sight. Having spent the last three years in Beijing and shopped my way through East Asia, I have experienced that kind of sartorial culture clash in reverse.
On a Saturday night out during one of my breaks back home, I remember feeling like a prude in my dark-brown Tokyo sheath dress that fell below the knee, while other girls flounced about in plunging, thigh-baring numbers.
I could go on with other examples of how Singaporeans think less is more when it comes to fashion, and dress that way all the time compared to residents of other Asian cities.
In Taipei where the summers can be as hot and humid as the weather here, camisole tops are seldom worn in the daytime without matching cardigans, out of propriety, and because fair-complexioned Taiwanese women fear getting tanned.
Whatever the season, it is hard to pry Japanese and Korean professionals away from their dark-coloured business suits. Ties are de rigueur for the men and for women, it is considered rude to go without make-up.
In Chinese cities in the summer, men wear short-sleeved shirts tucked into carefully belted trousers and shoes with socks - never T-shirts, bermudas and flip-flops, which are considered homewear.
To beat the heat, Chinese women will wear short-sleeved jackets to work, otherwise retaining the three-piece power-dressing ensemble. Silk scarves and flesh-coloured panty-hose - a must with open-toed heels - complete the look.
Just to give an idea of the culture shock that greets East Asian visitors to Singapore, a pretty, well-educated Taiwanese friend decided to blend in during her trip here by donning a sleeveless top with the barest hint of cleavage - and promptly told me she would not be caught dead wearing that in Taipei.
Two Beijingers I know - one male and one female - wondered how come there were so many 'prostitutes' around when confronted with the sea of spaghetti-strap tops and mini-dresses along Orchard Road.
Apart from being unused to seeing women bare so much skin as a matter of course, what befuddles East Asians from more patriarchal and Confucian societies - where group norms hold firm - is the lack of clear distinctions between home wear, casual dressing, work wear and formal attire for parties and ceremonies.Singaporeans are dressed down even compared to nearby tropical countries.
The average Malaysian or Indonesian woman is more modestly dressed. And ethnic-inspired looks, such as Thai silk shawls or Indonesian batik shirts, can always be counted on to give a sense of occasion and distinctiveness to both male and female attire.
In comparison, "all Singapore women know how to do is to wear Mango and Zara in different colours and sizes", laments one stylish Beijing-based Singaporean friend, who takes her pick from the city's quirky mix of Chinese tailoring, flea market finds and half-priced European designer overruns.
She thinks the actors and entertainers here lack star quality due to the dearth of individuality in the styling department.
As someone who would not claim to be a fashionista, I tend to look more kindly on Singaporean dress culture.
I attribute it to that strange combination of the islander in us, a Westernised willingness to flash some skin and a very Asian notion of conformity.
Our pop culture is essentially Western pop culture with its parade of down-and-dirty MTV videos and sexy starlets. The average girl next door here can be as skimpily dressed as any Sydneysider or Los Angeleno.
The sea at our doorstep possibly also does something to our fashion sense. Everyone looks like they could take a dip at the drop of a hat, surrounded though we are by a concrete jungle.
And yet, the ubiquity of our dress-down culture itself reflects that very compulsive Asian need to blend into the crowd.
The result, as my friend says, is that Singaporean women must be the world's biggest consumers of camisoles.
These are worn everywhere - to work (under a cardigan), to a club (over skintight jeans) or to the supermarket (over shorts or bermudas).
Both the easy recourse to a Mango top for the Singaporean lass, and the subdued three-piece suit for the Japanese, reflects the same underlying desire not to try too hard to be different.
What is interesting about Japanese design, though, is that it has produced quality, mass-market basics on the one hand - think Uniqlo or Muji - and one-of-a-kind high fashion labels such as
Issey Miyake and Comme des Garcons on the other.
For the Japanese, it is as though the extreme rigidity of having different 'uniforms' for different professions - whether salaryman, taxi driver or elevator lady - finds its outlet in style mavericks and the whole Cosplay subculture of dressing up like your favourite anime characters.
Will a Singapore designer one day do something eye-popping and out of this world with our national outfit, the camisole top?
I suck in my exposed midriff and wait with bated breath.
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ok article wasn't written by me obviously but seriously who are all these OUTSIDERS to comment on singapore's culture or sense of style. if you're not happy, just piss off right back to china or taiwan or any other cultured country you come from.
what makes you think people from your hometown dress any better than we do?:
i'm sure wearing a black bra under a semi transparent top makes china people very demure and unprostitute like also.
so, wearing spaghetti-strap tops and mini-dresses are slutty? do they expose our boobs, no. do they expose our butts,no. so don't comment on our dressing and call us prostitutes seriously, its cause its so freaking hot that we dress this way.
ey pretty taiwanese friend of the writer of this article, if you're not happy with the way singaporeans dress then don't follow our style. since you are so tau hu and don't want to get tan then DON'T IMITATE OUR DRESSING. its as easy as that, don't go back to taiwan and defame and insult singaporeans even though you have dressed like us before its total hypocrisy.
so in conclusion, basically, just don't say anything about us and we won't say anything about you.
4:48 AM
qian
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