The theme for the night was
Shanghai 1930s, the purpose was to celebrate
Chinese New Year of the Dragon with my lovely friends and the place I picked was McQueen in trendy Shoreditch of London! But the dress of course is one of the new Qi Pao I added to my collection for the new year, whilst the hair is my version of the 1930s Marcel Wave or finger wave with pin curls framing the sides and a swirl bun-like up do at the back (more on the hair in the next post).
Some of you may already know that I have a passion for
the Chinese dress called
Qi Pao (also known as Cheongsam) and love teaming it up with a vintage 1930s Shanghai inspired look. This shiny green embroidered and sequined brocade with a high mandarin collar, mini capped sleeves, functional Chinese knotted buttons, polished side slits and reaching knee length is a beautiful standalone piece. Fitting is a crucial factor when wearing a Qi Pao, as it is a dress that showcases the female form and definitely not one to hang lifelessly loose. Being far from the ideal Qi Pao wearing Chinese frame myself, my trick is to create the right fitting for my frame by buying a larger size and taking it in by a few hand stitches. If you were to turn this lovely garment inside-out, you would probably find my poor handiwork stitched across the material and any tailor could easily be shaking their head disapprovingly, but yet I am thankful that I managed to do it as sewing was never my strongest skill. Anyway, good thing I paid enough attention during the textiles module of my home economics class to remember a few stitches, and so this is the fitted Qi Pao I achieved in the end!
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| My 1930-1940s Shanghai inspired look........... |
To complete the
Shanghai 1930s inspired look I matched my shiny green brocade short Qi Pao with a pair of pearl earrings, a grey shaggy faux fur coat (BooHoo - past season), gold art deco detailed black suede shoes (Primark - past season) and a gold sequined clutch passed on to me from one of my aunties. Of course not to forget the Marcel Wave and pincurls framing my head like a hat, which had been set in place with bobby pins and curling serum the night before......as well as a quick dash of my bright red Clinique High Impact SPF15 lipstick and Clinique Quickliner for Eyes in Blue Grey.......and off we went to the ball!
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| .......equipped with pearls, red lips, Marcel wave, faux fur and Qi Pao! |
To celebrate the occasion, my lovely Bee looked fabulous in a purple Qi Pao dress and added her own touch by making it into a top with a pair of long high waist black trousers......effortlessly stylish! The purple Qi Pao was actually one of the earliest in my collection and goes back to my girlhood days, but it goes to show how timeless and versatile the Qi Pao can be even when teamed with modern style!
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| Bee and me getting ready for the party! |
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| Is it 1932 or 2012? |
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| Feeling back in time in the London Underground.....1930s in Bethnal Green? |
This time the location of the ball was the opulently trendy award winning 3 in 1.....bar, restaurant and club.....called
McQueen in Shoreditch (East London). I tend to like selecting new places to try when I organise a party or a night out, and so this was my first time at McQueen. I must say that I was not at all disappointed, as McQueen has more than lived up to my expectations of a glamorous night, and is unlikely to embarrass the amazingly talented designer it has been named after. From the first point of contact when I emailed to request a guest list, the staff members in charge have been very helpful and accommodating. The location may not be the easiest to find for someone with little sense of navigation like me, but entry was not a problem and quick; provided that you arrive reasonably early as it tends to get very very busy with the bar area completely packed with people and the club area is not open till after 10.30pm to allow more space. The decor was unique and stylish with a dominant theme of black......polished shiny wood, space-age like shiny armchairs, buttoned black leather sofas as well as wall panelings and a black manikin cluster hung off the wall as though they were in a trendy art gallery. The DJ in the bar area kept the atmosphere fun with conversation still possible and got us tapping our toes in anticipation of a dance or two. Once the club downstairs was open you could flock between the two floors quite easily, until they close the bar area in the early hours of the morning, and the club then becomes the main focus with a brightly lit saxophonist performing alongside a different DJ who kept us dancing so much that we hardly sat down. All in all it was a fun night out in a trendy place with a glamorous atmosphere, that deserves a high
4 ♥♥♥♥ out of
5 lovely hearts rating from me, and you can also check out some photos on the party organiser's website
(SinTilLate Photo) as we just happened to be in the way of their photographer on the night!
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| Sending my hot Christine some kisses! |
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| My gorgeous girlies at McQueen (Shoreditch)! |
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| More of my gorgeous girlies......at McQueen (Shoreditch)! |
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| My beautiful Bee and me........in our favourite photo! x |
I hope you have been enjoying the Chinese New Year festivities and that the photos from my Shanghai 1930s night has sparked off some ideas for your own look too! There is most certainly more to come on how to create the Marcel Wave, especially if you happen to have straight and thick long hair like mine, and also on the excitingly new
'Versatile Blogger Award' that I have had the great pleasure of receiving from fellow blogger
Karen at
shinigami-u-openingmymind.blogspot.com last night! Thanks you so much to Karen, and of course to all you wonderful darlings who have been ever so supportive by reading my blog! Lots of love to all of you and wishing you darlings a fabulous day!
Until the next time,
May xx
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Why do I love Qi Pao? (Shanghai 1930s)
