fashion

I'm feeling better now; just that I still have headache, runny nose, cough alot and there's lots and lots of phlegm. Eeeewww...

In between the 9am and 12pm lectures, I went to the Pioneer Travel Centre to book my train/bus tickets (which I'll do later to save on the Coachcard) and then bumped into Jen outside. So we ended up in Portland chatting with her other HK law friends- Jack and Grace, which was really nice. It's great getting to know new ppl! Jack's a really nice guy. So we were all talking about lotsa things; one of them happened to be fashion. And they were telling me how HK people dress up all the time, especially in HK because they're obliged to and more importantly, they just might meet someone they know on the streets. Also when they went shopping or else the sales people would ignore them! So I was telling them, come to Singapore! You can walk around in shorts, T-shirt and slippers and no one will give a hoot. Hahaha. I do that alot when I go to Parkway/Katong area. Even here, most of them dress to the nines- and as compared, here I am, sloppy Singaporean in jeans, top and sneakers almost all the time. They put in alot of effort into their appearance and it shows- most are stylish, some posh (like Stefanie and Deanna, the cream of the law faculty in HK uni), some funky but on the whole, they're all very well-dressed.

But I felt a little uncomfortable with this huge emphasis on fashion and appearances. So I asked them, Don't you think that over-emphasising clothes and externalities is kinda superficial? Won't other people think that all there is to you is just your clothes? Which is so sad! They laughed and agreed but still felt that the pressure to look good was too great not to conform. It is too in Singapore, but not as great an extent as that in HK. I still think HK is an amazing place with amazing people and would definitely want to visit!

And something I've learnt from interacting with people like Aidan, Hannah, Kenny, Lee (all my wonderful hall mates) is that the way you dress is not all there is to you. Kenny (a british born chinese) for example thinks that ppl who flash around their designer clothes are just trying to hide/make up for what they don't have. Perhaps. You can have very few clothes but still have a great conversation and leave a good, lasting impression on others if you've got character and confidence.

I'm so glad I'm beginning to learn all this. :)


Carol