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21 Mar 2018
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5 ESSENTIAL CNY FASHION TIPS

By Angel Tong

 

With the lovely month of February coming up, surely some of you have begun scratching your heads thinking of what to wear for 23 days of the Lunar New Year festivities. So grab a pen and paper, put on a purifying mask, blast the “恭喜恭喜” (gōng xǐ gōng xǐ) on your speakers and let’s look at 4 essential outfit tips for Chinese New Year this year.

 

The 2018 Lunar New Year is based on the year of the Earth Dog. Aside from loyalty, honesty and kindness in the Dog year; the Earth Dog is affiliated with communication and responsibility in the workplace. If you’re looking to be extra lucky and wealthy for this year, you might have to grab some treats and befriend the Earth Dog. The lucky colours to wear on New Years this year is red, green and purple.

1.It’s Red Letter Day!

The phrase “Red Letter Day” dates back to the 1300 century where members of ancient monasteries and convents were responsible for producing calendars. They used black ink for the majority of the calendar but made sure to use red ink to mark important dates such as religious occasions, holidays and atonement prayer dates. Red ink was also sharp and noticeable at a glance.

 

So for this year, prepare to rock that devilish red hot stilettoes to your aunt’s house for a prosperous gambling session. (Try not to overdo it like Lady Gaga though).

Tip: For the ‘unfairly’ fair skinned, wear darker reds to highlight your best features. Got nice lips? Carefully apply dark red lipsticks for an emphasis on the fullness of it.

2.This year, the grass will be greener on our side.

Take on a fresh new look with these soothing shades of green. In the Chinese culture, green symbolises health, prosperity and harmony. Always wear a green dress before you leave the house if you:

a) are attending a peace treaty

b) want to make someone green with envy (ps: tell them the grass is always greener on the other side, flip hair, walk away)

c) you feel like blending in with a tree

(Or you could use green falsies to show how bat-shit-crazy you are)

 

Tip: Green goes really well with white and beige. Pair a green skater skirt with a white crop top and you’re ready for tea with the Earth Dog. (Be careful with the shades of colour you wear, you could be mistaken for a coconut tree, if you’re wearing the wrong shades of green tops and dark brown pants).

3.Born to the Purple !

For the Chinese, Purple symbolizes divinity, immortality, love and romance. Traditionally, born to the purple refers to a category of people that were born during the reign of their parent and are destined for a prominent role in their lifetime. So honey, if you’re wearing purple today, you can ask your friends for “5 minutes to be a total queen”.

Tip: Purple is a very vibrant colour which should not be matched with many other colours simultaneously. Try wearing one base colour and use purple as your ‘pop-of-colour’. Royal purple is a good choice of purple for the average Malaysian skin tone.

4.Change is the only constant

The Year of the Earth Dog 2018 is a year of opportunities for changes in lifestyle as well as new business ventures. This year is also expected to bring loneliness or transient melancholy, which should however nourish the most sensitive and most creative minds amongst us. So be open to changes in your daily life and stay positive about it! Use your downfalls as your strengths and turn that depressing creativity into your new style.

 

 

Bold looks are all the rage. Try taking a step out of your comfort zone, put down that pre-matched set of clothes you always wear and try pairing them differently, you never know how much you’ll love the new looks. Try something that isn’t your style or get traditional for the Lunar new years.

 

 

 

5.No new clothes? Time to make them new.

This Chinese New Year is all about ‘new year, new me’ so DIY cut-up one of your ex boyfriend’s old t-shirts and turn it into a nice long top you can wear with stockings and sneakers for a fun ‘let’s go on an adventure’ type of look. Pick out a bunch of last year’s clothes and refurbish them with a good pair of scissors and some cloth paint for best results. Just because your clothes aren’t new doesn’t mean they can’t be.