I Am Chinese, Am I Not?

It’s funny how a tradition can last longer than you can ever imagine. Especially Chinese’s. I don’t know why but Chinese people seem to have more traditions than the rest of the world. And along with traditions, there come some rules that you have to do, even though you don’t like them and swear to God that you will never do these silly irrational things again to your kids. End the traditions. ASAP. 

Anyway in the end of the day you will still accept them as a tiny part of who you are and defend it with all (well, maybe just half) of your guts. Now, in the spirit of Chinese New Year (yes, we have another new year to celebrate), I am going to tell you some traditions that I have to follow in my family. They’re very Chinese New Year-y and filled with myths, which sometimes can be a bad bedtime story for children. 

First, let me ask you a question: Why Chinese people celebrate (another) New Year? 

My mom told me once when I was just a young boy this simple easy-to-remember folklore. 

Once upon a time in China (probably), news about doomsday was spreading quickly in the crowd. People were afraid and decided to held a massive dinner in order to celebrate the end of days (why didn’t they build something good to shield themselves? They were Chinese for God’s sake!) They waited all day with such fear until the night finally came, but nothing happened. The sun suddenly rose once again, the birds were singing happily, and the river tasted as sweet as usual. Then, they realized the doomsday news was a hoax (huff, internet!) They made it through the night! In order to celebrate the new day, they ate all the foods they had prepared and sang merrily. They called it ‘New Year’ and live happily ever after (before the British came by and China fell into bloody civil war that lasted for years. I haven’t even mentioned World War eras).

Of course the story got mixed up here and there  and you will definitely find another version of Chinese New Year, if you are willing to do some researches. But hey… who is the owner of this blog? That should answer all your doubts right away. 

Second question: What do you have to do before Chinese New Year? 

A LOT OF THINGS. 

First of all, you NEED to have a haircut, even if you don’t have anything left on top of your head. It symbolizes cutting away bad luck and trust me, you need all luck you can get because after that… YOU NEED TO PREPARE A LOT OF FOODS.

Yes, your long-lost family members are coming to your home sweet home and they need to be served like kings and queens. Get your apron ready girls.

After cooking tons of pig meats (yes, pig or duck is the best choice), you also have to clean your home. Every inch of it. Almost the same with cutting your hair, cleaning your home means dusting away bad luck and let the fortune goddess in. Hopefully, she/he will feel comfortable in your clean home and will give you tons of fortunes as thank-you-for-letting-me-crash-by gift.

Finally: What do you have to do during Chinese New Year? 

For adults: time to give money to your kids. For kids: time to get some extra cashes from your aunts/uncles/grandparents etc. It’s like Christmas, but you can’t give stuff to your kids. You can only give them money. Wow, I am sure Chinese people, who invented this tradition, must be very clever.

But wait! You can’t give money, if you aren’t married yet or your ‘thread of love’ will be very thin. In short, don’t give money, if you don’t want to be single FOREVER. Ultimate rule.

Well, I guess those are the questions I can definitely answers. There are other tinier things you have to do of course. Like preparing oranges, apples, peaches, and other ‘red-colored’ fruits. Make some Chinese cupcakes. Make some sweets. Make other things you will only eat one and the rest goes to somewhere dark, smelly and nasty in the kitchen. Those kind of stuffs. 

Anyway, just be grateful and take it easy people. We love Chinese New Year! 

Jean Paul Gaultier Couture Spring 2014

If Hinduism is indeed true all this time and I am going to reincarnate as a butterfly, I want to be one of Jean Paul Gaultier’s butterflies. Sexy, brave, unique, colorful, and dangerous. It’s not hard to figure out what happened inside Paris favorite bad boy’s head. The dresses spoke loudly for the designer this time.

Amazing amount of patterns are used to create extreme illusions of butterflies’ wings and I can’t blame the designer’s obsession this time; all the dresses look very beautiful. Jean Paul Gaultier is usually one of those designers that make me question myself ‘who is going to wear those dresses?’, but this time I know exactly what the answer is: everyone. 

Classic JPG coat dress (or suit) opened the show with such simplicity until I thought I was clicking the wrong show, then the surprise slowly unveiled with sudden pops of colorful dresses, each represents different aspect of one butterfly.

I kinda like the way JPG extracted his theme this season. Unlike most designers, who like to give small hints of what their inspirations might be (and left journalists puzzled with their press releases), JPG chose to go straight to the point. Butterfly wings sewed into a dress (fake butterfly wings, in case you are wondering), flying butterflies were frozen in time to make beautiful head pieces for the models. Everything was popping and colorful and energetic, to the point where I was having visual-sickness that I never knew at some point. 

Even though the butterfly effect did make an amazing collection, I was everything but impressed with JPG’s final numbers. The beautiful butterfly girls suddenly took darker turn and came out as… here we go again… Parisian show girls. Ugh, not again! I have to say I am not really impressed anymore with JPG addiction to burlesque drama. Every single piece that he has created always has a slight reference to burlesque, sexy dancing, and Dita von Teese (yawn). At regular basis, I would give much bigger tolerance just like other obsessed fashion lovers. But I was so visually full with all those butterflies, I can’t help but frown at the dresses.

I learned one thing from the show though. No, not about the Hinduism reincarnation wish whatsoever. I learned about how important it is to maintain stability in fashion. Cheers for your butterflies Mr. Gaultier, but no money to waste at your burlesque club this time.

Images taken from Vogue. Edited by Gimme Good Style.  

Michiel Tersteege

#ArtSunday

Yeah… I am making up new segments like it’s a game of something, but whatever this is one of many reasons why people want to have a blog. Anyway, I apologize for letting your thirst for art unfulfilled in the last few days. You know… usual stuffs. Couture, fashion, blah blah blah. Seriously, who wants to talk about canvas types when we have a whole collection of expensive clothes out there?

But to fulfill my responsibility as ‘lifestyle’ blogger, I am going to talk about it little by little. Sorry man, need time to fully access my inner art skills. So this week we are going to appreciate Michiel Tersteege’s work called Strawberry Splash, which looks like… well, a strawberry with a little bit splash.

Very simple, colorful, tempting and high-definition. It’s actually an example of how to use tripods or something. Don’t really get the article because you know… art channeling stuff. You can read it for yourself in The Phoblographer (link below) and happy #ArtSunday!

Images taken from The Phoblographer 

Pose Lena Pose!

Posing for a big fashion magazine and don’t know how to do it properly? No need to worry dah-ling! Hamish Bowles and Lena Dunham are ready to teach you the ‘Vogue Cover Girl Dance’, right from the top! 

Image taken from Vogue.com. Edited by Gimme Good Style.

Outer Smile

What’s happening up there in the North? Not to be all superficial, but I have been hearing bad news about snow from all over Northern Hemisphere. Seems like you guys are dealing with such extreme malevolent nature power. I can only say good luck.

We are not doing really well here either in Indonesia, super rain season had demolished most of the main roads and ruined our daily schedules. And if it’s raining, flood will come in no time. Bam! Another flood season. Luckily, the flood didn’t really affect my side of the city, but still… I felt pretty bad for those Jakartans who had to deal with muddy water and snake (yes, they found one swimming happily in some broken poles and it’s quite big. Don’t worry, I think it found a way to escape from the zoo or something).

Here’s the deal though: try to look anything from its bright side. Hey, I know the winter sucks, but at least you can put on your outerwear and be all chic. We, on the other hand, had to buy the biggest, ugliest, most colorful rain coat that would turn into pieces in no time. At least, we never need to deal with snow (sometimes it sucks though, not to be able to do all those ‘western’ funs).

People has been asking around in social media about what clothes they should wear in this kind of weather. Let’s all remember that Fashion Week is going to happen next month and it’s not a really big motivator. Don’t worry though. Keep calm and look for the slickest black sweater you can possibly find (like this), then put on your skinny jeans (or jeans, if you have put on some weights) (dark blue or grey will do). Last step?Cover them with coat.

Here’s the fun part: you can experiment with your coat this time! Yeay!

I am really suggesting you to play with cuts and silhouettes because trench coat is just so mainstream (read: boring).  How about Maison Martin Margiela for H&M coat? I know it’s so last season, but remember we are no fashion trend victim. Or if you insist on something new and ‘high’… fine, let’s go to Prada and buy one of their gorgeous mural coats. Artsy, well-cut, warm, fuzzy… okay, I am going to stop right now. 

See? Winter can be fun too! Yeah, let’s enjoy it! Winter spirit! Snow! Rain! Dancing in the rain while listening to Taylor Swift  Beyoncé and pretending we are in her so anticipated music video! Woo-hoo! 

Almost forgot, try to wear real boots please! High heels are pretty as always, but you are dealing with gigantic piles of wet snows, mud, and God knows what. Being safe is always more fashionable than anything. Am I right? I know I am right. 

Image taken from The Sartorialist. Edited by Gimme Good Style.

Maison Martin Margiela Couture Spring 2014

Maison Martin Margiela is definitely Greenpeace’s favorite fashion label. Recycling old junks to haute couture pieces is not a common skill. I adore the brand’s classic spirit and unique roots, but I can’t help but frown at some point because the collection is just bizarre. In fact, I don’t think you can find a normal look in MMM Couture catalogue. Back to recycling old objects to beautiful million dollars gowns, MMM returned with it’s good habit this season. The brand didn’t collect old cans this time, they decided to recycle old fabrics. Old legendary fabrics, to be precise. Some of them belonged to private collection at some museums, the rest of them used to be adored by their possessive collectors. 

Let’s take a second to appreciate great jobs MMM’s PR people have done this season. I mean, I am sure you can’t just walk in to one of those collectors houses and ask them to hand their collections. Some transactions, lip-services, wines, good foods, meetings, and promises need to be done for sure.

After finding the perfect fabrics, MMM’s ateliers sewed them onto cheaper fabrics, then proceed to add soda cans, keys, glitters, sequins, and other junks they always use in their collection. The result is a  messy mix between high and low couture. Some of you might say that this is a waste of expensive fabrics, but you know couture; Sometimes you have to go bigger than life to create a mere dress.

The show continued with amazing high-low dresses kept on radiating such strange beauty. So strange until I felt it was almost horrifying. White t-shirts with a piece of Mariano Fortuny fabric that took 22 hours of works, tattoo-like top styled with glittering circus pants, simple black dress with giant eye for each sleeve to close the show. 

It’s not hard to write ‘beautiful’ or ‘extravagant’ or ‘ultimately creative’ in this review, but the masks are just too creepy for me. They totally ruin the almost-normal atmosphere. Hand-stitched and made carefully by MMM’s fashion experts, the face-masks are just another reminder of horror and extraterrestrial beings (aka aliens) (yes, I still believe there are other living beings in the universe), instead of iconic accessories Kanye West wore last year on his tour. 

Going as Jason from Friday the 13th this Halloween? You have to seriously consider buying one of those face-masks, it’ll go fabulously with your blood covered fake knife (or machete?). 

Images taken from Style.com. Edited by Gimme Good Style.

Chanel Haute Couture Spring 2014

There is no doubt in rewarding Chanel as the Emperor of Couture. Not only the amazing amount of masterpieces Karl Lagerfeld makes every season, but the show itself radiates couture aura. Strong, elegant, independent, and filled with passions. 

All this time Chanel has given us amazing drama and shocks. Do you remember the time when Karl simply put an iceberg inside the Grand Palais? He just dumped the ice there as easy as flipping his hands (he was trying to remind us about global warming, which was quite a trend back then). And don’t tell me you have already forgotten about ‘old world new world’ Chanel, when Karl predicted a bright future (after devastating end) of the fashion world. 

This season, Karl settled down with just two grand staircases (or what Parisians usually call as ‘Couture Stairs’). Usually the models walk down the stairs slowly and at some points to pose for clients, photographers, fellow designers, editors… you name it! It’s a classic tradition that symbolizes both women’s elegances (or in this case, models’ elegances) and the gowns’ graceful movements. 

When the show started, a full set opera started playing beautifully, giving a grand atmosphere with almost magical feeling. Was Karl trying to seduce our hearings instead our visions? The answer quickly revealed when the models ran down the stairs easily in their sneakers.Yes, you didn’t misread this one: sneakers. In Couture show. At Chanel Couture Show!

Skipping, hopping, jumping and running, the models looked perfectly comfortable yet still gracious. This is how modern women want to feel and Chanel is showing us a classic commercial line: we completely understand your need. 

What about the clothes? The corset is back on the rack. Okay, maybe wearing corset is not the best choice for you who hate stuffing your stomach into something so tiny, but look at the bright side! At least, you will be able to hide all those ‘extras’. And for the already-skinny girls? You will simply rock this trend. The dresses slowly blurred into more formal gowns near the end of the show. Feathers mixed with glitters got approved nodes from (judgmental) guests with a little help from the light-as-feather fabrics.

Actually, what really amazes me is how fluid the show went on. I didn’t have a hard time trying to figure out what’s happening on the stage. The show was entertaining and the clothes are very… relatable, even though (duh!) not affordable (well, you know where to start spending your mortgage bonuses). 

Hours went by and suddenly Cara Delevingne came out again (she opened the show) in beautiful Chanel wedding dress. A little boy was steadily helping her picking up the veil. And everything finally made sense.

Images taken from Style.com. Edited by Gimme Good Style.

Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring 2014

Only a handful of people want to talk seriously about couture. Not because this is one of the most complex sub-divisions of fashion (if you don’t know, or not willing to learn, then don’t dare to open your mouth), but because couture is located in the whole different dimension.

In dimension where US$ 50.000 means nothing more than a Chanel jacket or maybe a trouser. Couture has no price tag simply because even the designers don’t know the real price of their own masterpieces. Just like a smart businessman once said: there is no price for art. Hmm… or was it me? Whatever.

Of course, I can’t afford couture even if I sell half of my internal organs (selling organs is overrated. Never ever do it unless you are doing it for good)(this is a rare life-advice from me. Take a note, quick!). At least I can talk about it like those people in another dimension. Hey, someone needs to do the dirty job, right? 

Anyway, Versace did open the Couture Week, but I really want to start with Christian Dior. Mainly because Raf Simons really delivered an amazing dreamy cotton candy-like collection this week. Well, some of the dresses are not in my list of this-is-the-most-amazing-dress-I-have-ever-seen or make me cry in admiration (and jealousy), but the rest truly blows my mind away. 

After playing with nations and diversities last season, Raf kicked the stage with something softer, lighter, more manageable (Jennifer Lawrence won’t fall down this time) and very feminine. Experimenting with hand skills and cuttings, it was a surprise to see the dresses look completely modern, so easy to wear until you can look completely gorgeous on the street without getting those WTF stares from people (hmpf! Such blind people!) This is far far away from old Couture cake-dress-ball-gown stigma. In fact, Raf casually replaced huge ball gowns with (again) simple black/dark blue suits with nice little touch of volume and cuttings to make some dramas. My reaction? I love this man. 

However, it is impossible to make a perfect collection (or write about it). There are always a few things that look out of place, even in Dior. This time I have to criticize the multi-fabric dresses. Layers after layers of different fabrics and patterns just look confusing for me (the main reason why I didn’t include them in this post). To make things worse, Raf seemed to really enjoying this ‘playful’ technique. I mean, it is indeed a very high level of sewing, but you know… the bigger you are, the harder you fall, right?

I couldn’t deny that both Raf and Dior have done a really good job though. This show is just another simple (or chic?) achievement for the-man-of-the-hour. 

Ah, what a life! 

Images taken from Style.com

 

Feel The Howl: Wolf of Wall Street

Guys, do you know how biscuit and tea work together?

Of course you do. We all have done it a few times when we are having tea. First, we take the cookies, then we dip it inside our tea for a few seconds and (this is the best part) bite it quickly to get the perfect mix of tea and biscuits. But this pleasure can be a little bit tricky to get. If you accidentally dip the cookie for too long, it will slowly crumble, leaving you with mushy wet grain. Disgusting. The only thing you want to do with those mushy mixtures is throw it right away to nearest sink. 

That’s what happens in The Wolf of Wall Street. 

Martin Scorsese directed an elegant adaptation of one of the biggest douchebags in USA, Jordan Belfort aka The Wolf of Wall Street. With Leonardo DiCaprio as the main star, supported by Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie, Wolf of Wall Street is one of the biggest movies in 2014, going all the way to Golden Globes and Academy Awards. The first question that has been lingering in everyone’s mind is: is it really that good? 

The storyline revolves around the life of Jordan Belfort. Starting as a poor newly married man, Jordan has to work like shit in Wall Street as a young stockbroker (connector, stockbroker, everything feels the same in my lip). His life changes when his boss teaches him a thing or two about how money goes in and out… and how to slip some to your pocket when nobody’s seeing (man, love this kind of boss!) Jordan rises quickly and in no time, he is the Wolf of Wall Street. Tricky, persuasive, charming, world-class playboy, and drug addict, Jordan Belfort has to wake up before he falls straight into his own hell hole made of money (well, technically made of stock papers, but whatever).

First thing that comes up in my mind: Leo DiCaprio knows how to act like a frequent drug user. Second thing: this movie is great, but very very VERY long. Well, don’t push your luck this time movie-sleepers. The story goes up and down with no sign of endings or climax or anti-climax, which is great because drama can be very boring without this kind of… wave. I personally like the way Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio draws Jordan Belfort. He was a good man before money corrupts him, and that corrupted mind will go all the way until the end of his life (the money stays. That’s the best thing about karma). A bit cruel, but really delivers the moral of the story. Praise for Jonah Hill, who is very successful in delivering stupid-yet-sincere best friend, cheering up both Jordan and us all the way until the credit ends.

Of course, the language is not appropriate. Man, never heard people saying that many harsh words in one sentence. Damn, fuck, asshole, bitch, slut… brace yourself parents because even my ears get red during the movie. And yeah… it’s not really a good thing to show strippers (or drugs)(or people shouting to each other)(or cops arresting men with all those scary expressions) to children, even when the scene is actually in the office. 

Children purity aside, this movie is really worth the hours. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers a stronger performance than Gatsby (which is, let’s admit it, a flunk). The story is solid, even though a bit long. The moral is great (too much money = mushy wet cookies). And the whole cast really uplifts the story to an easier yet also higher level. Truly elegant, dirty, and… surprisingly smart. 

Watch the trailers (and my favorite scene) here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iszwuX1AK6A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pabEtIERlic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6axK2aNxFg

Break The Ice

The silence is over! I am back everyone!

I know, it must be weird for you to see me giving you the infamous silent treatment, but I didn’t do it on purpose. You see, my internet had been acting weird and before I knew it, BAM! Everything’s dead. I was totally isolated from the outside world (seriously, everyone was talking things that I never heard before in just 10 days!. To make matter worse? The ‘internet guy’ never shows up because he is stuck somewhere in Jakarta. Blame the flood I say. 

Anyway, I am back just in time for Couture Week, which is without doubt, the most magical week Paris can give. The mystical (and expensive!) shows that blur the line between fiction and real world, and all the beautiful people judging silently with their sunglasses. Of course, a huge dose of drama is needed to keep the guests excited-to-death. Aw, I am in such delirious exciting energetic state now! 

Well, I just want to tell you this thing and um.. please, don’t stop reading my blog and I promise you I’ll catch up s fast as I can. No more procrastinating! No more broken network! At least, until I finish watching AWKWARD…. 

Image taken from The Sartorialist. Edited by Gimme Good Style.