Fashion Fun Tainan! Intimissimi Silk Camisole & Trousers, Chanel Accessories Plus Chloé Cardigan & Slippers at Hayashi Department Store

Tainan, Taiwan

April 2024

台南妳好！猶記小時候過年至爺爺奶奶台南眷村老舍，總會經過陰森詭異的嚇破膽墓地（我都會隨便抓一件毛衣遮擋視線）、一望無盡的方塊水田、還有古色古香的延平郡王祠。台南市區甚少走走逛逛，只記得母親的中學好友在市中心開了二層樓書店，我們就可以邊享受冷氣邊挑選一本東方出版社發行的亞森羅蘋偵探小說當紀念。

In April 2024, with the warmest invitation from the dear cousins, we take the TAIWAN RAILWAYS from Kaohsiung to Tainan for this unspeakable exciting long-time-no-see-nostalgia one day trip.

 

We have our meeting at Tainan Railway Station and share the palatable brunch together before Jasmine heading for her afternoon shift. The temperature of Tainan in April could reach up to 30’c, considering the walking tour without relying on bicycle or Uber, the abundant street snacks and drinks are very much needed. 

We shopped the cute souvenirs and enjoyed a bowl of bubble ice sherbet at historical HAYASHI DEPARTMENT STORE台南林百貨, which, equipped with a shrine, originally opened for public on 5 December 1932 during the Japanese Colonisation. Upon completion, the building was with state-of-the-art features of elevators, while unfortunately the brick façade was bombed by the US air force at the end of World War II. After refurbishment since 2006, this five-story department store was finally reopened on 14 June 2014. There lays a delicate courtyard, a cute podium and an artsy snack bar atop, performs the perfect area to appreciate and have the photoshoot for fashion fun. 

The outfits of the Day at Hayashi courtyard are INTIMISSIMI 100% silk royal blue camisole and trousers, which purchased separately from Vienna and Venezia stores. Founded in 1996 by Sandro Veronesi in Verona, Italy, INTIMISSIMI specializes in lingerie and pyjamas for both women and men. As being a silk material fan, sleek ankle length trousers are the perfect pair for the humid and warm season, with the coherent camisole tucking in to create a casual yet sophisticated silhouette.

CHANEL bijoux and le sac in silver are already my daily essentials during the shopping day, beloved reunion or brunch time; they perform either chic or cute elements to enhance the fun of outwear. 

In order not to expose too much of bare shoulders nor catch the rather chilly breeze during the train trip, CHLOÉ 100% wool cardigan in tulip red can be worn or draped on the shoulders; together with Woody slides in 100% cotton embroidered the logo text at Blush Beige colour tone complete the whole look of Tainan one day trip. 

TOP TIP 1: Royal blue outfits are perfect with pastel hues of accessories, together with light warm colours

TOP TIP 2: Silk materials together with light wool or soft cashmere creates a contrast of the whole outlook

Special Thanks: Jenny, Sasha & Jasmine 

Magazine Madness ELLE USA: Penélope Cruz es la Madre Original

ELLE USA February 2024 

Ella es una joven monja embarazada que trabaja en un refugio en Todo Sobre Mi Madre de Pedro Almodóvar, ella interpreta un hermoso sueño en la película española Abre Los Ojos de Alejandro Amenábar de 1997; Ella es la madre original, ella es Laura Ferrari y ella es la increíble vista con Brad Pitt en el comercial de Chanel.

 

Alongside with Adam Driver at Michael Mann’s FERRARI, this is not Penélope Cruz’s debut to portrait a biographical figure, and certainly not her premiere “homage to a woman in a difficult situation”, still, Cruz felt the weight of “giving Laura Ferrari a public voice for the first time”, she arrives on screen bereaved, already grieving the loss of her never recover from. Relatively Laura is subdued for Cruz’s characters she has been through, while the sorrow reflected on getting dressed in every scene, making this film as a photonegative of Cruz’s works with Pedro Almodóvar, that built on primary colours. 

 

There’s a “back-and-forth dance between fiction and reality,” which Penélope Cruz realizes her hypersensitivity on “plays into a certain stereotype” of actors, but that doesn’t make it any less true, since she has been fighting for her traumatic memories with her long-lost sister from a tragic car accident. 

 

Cruz has been a mother under the public gazes before she became an actual mother. Almodóvar saw that strong, inevitable instinct of Cruz, either her motherhood character a divorce, abandonment, an unwilling or unfertile. 

 

Under the lenses of Photographer Zoey Grossman, by adapting the soft focus, which symbolize the subtle and sweet touch of Penélope’s personalities, according to the author Sloane Crosley, Cruz excels polka dots romper by BALMAIN, glittering evening dress by VERSACE or as global ambassador of House of CHANEL, she nails perfectly either on swim top, tweed suit or collection of fine jewelry. 

As for magazine cover photography, CHANEL No°1 travel size tube 5ml serum, 2023 limited edition of high lighters, Le Vernis Boy de CHANEL, No°5 body soap and CHANEL Exclusive Eau de Parfum 5ml are the tribute to this new face of CHANEL, while the addition of AESOP travel sizes tube 20ml and CHLOÉ brass triple rings and X pedant brighten up the rather bleaker autumn season. 

Having been a fan of Penélope Cruz since Pedro Almodóvar’s Todo Sobre Mi Madre, it’s a great loss of her absence at FERRARI premiere of the 80^th Venice Film Festival. While having my holiday in Taiwan, uncontrollably, I supported an overpriced ELLE USA (420 TWD), merely in order to collect another glimpses on the fragile yet elegant of Los Abrazos Rotos.

Fashion Fun Amsterdam! Burberry Wool Scarf, Calvin Klein Jeans, By Malene Birger Coat & Chanel Accessories

Chinese New Year 2024 
Amsterdam

Happy Chinese New Year! My greatest gratitude to the CHINA AIRLINES cabin crew that though the last-minute yet the warmest invitation makes the weekend holidays rock and roll in Venice of the North---Amsterdam! 

Located in the Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River, which was dammed to control flooding. Originally a small fishing village in the 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse of the 17th century. Nowadays Amsterdam has been holding a long tradition of liberalism and fetishism, we gang stroll at Red Light District, dine in the freshest seafood and shop but not to drop until midnight. 

The outfits in Amsterdam during the Chinese New Year are CHANEL 54% virgin wool and 46% cotton in navy blue, with CALVIN KLEIN 100% cotton Mom’s Fit high-waist jeans in indigo blue. For the outwear, the Guldknappen Award winner BY MALENE BIRGER offers both chic and soft personalities from the essence of fine fibers. The black long coat with slightly puffy sleeves during the weekend holidays contains 34% kid mohair, 34% wool, 27% polyamide and 5 % of elastane, and the label By Malene Birger carved on the bleak buttons, bestows the Nordic design of both detailed simplicity and high quality.

 

Made in Italy, BURBERRY PRORSUM 91% wool and 9% silk long scarf presents merely the off-white Equestrian Knight logo, is one of the best bargains I hunt at FINNAVIA duty free sales. Its 188x33 cm size is easy to wrap around the neck and the shoulders or the lightweight touch is comfy to place on the taps as an instant blanket during the dining time, and the black wool fringes gives out the rather feminine touch, surely dexterously to balance the Calvin Klein baggy shape of Mom’s Fit.

 

Though in July 2024, Burberry company announced a profit warning and suspended dividend payments, while under the accusation of using Uyghur forced labour camps provided by the Sunrise Manufacture Group Cooperation for production of clothing, still, my genuinely invoke that traditional houses of fashion altogether refuse to accept the cheap offers, due to the sustainability for the environment and the support of humanity. The clients would be very pleased to appreciate the good quality of craftsmanship rather merely the surprise on the price tags.

 

As for CHANEL accessories, AW22 espadrilles in black raffia outer soles, with pastel denim, sewn in golden threads CC logo complete navy and blue tone of outfits, and the rather both thicker inner and outer soles of new materials enable me to walk smoothly without hesitation in chilly windy Amsterdam. 

 

Third time in Amsterdam, second visit at RIJKSMUSEUM, and now the first time to stay at NOVOTEL AMSTERDAM CITY, for my lovely night watch. 

TOP TIP 1: Always carry a fine cashmere sweater in case of the midnight chill during the winter trip

TOP TIP 2: Tucking the sweater inside of rolling-up baggy jeans, showing off the ankles to reduce a rather puffy silhouette

Special Thanks: Cécilia 

Magazine Madness GQ UK: Jeremy Allen White--- The 2023-2025 Man of the Year

GQ UK December 2023 - Janauary 2024

A kid growing up in Brooklyn, the Chef of The Bear, a Golden Globe & EMMY winner, now the CALVIN KLEIN Underwear Ambassador. Born on 17^th of February, 1991, Jeremy Allen White is the most sought-after actor in film industry. In favour of renovating his 1920s cottage style house in Los Angeles for seven years, under the lenses of Photographer Luke Gilford and Stylist Michael Darlington, Jeremy teams up with BOSS crimson top and khaki trousers, conquers on the cover of GQ UK the 2024 Men of the Year issue. 

I noticed JEREMY ALLEN WHITE is not because of The Bear, but stripped down to Calvin Klein’s iconic skivvies, for the SS 2024 campaign with photographer MERT ALAS. He slouches way back on a terracotta sofa or gives the camera his best smize, together with the most brutal yet highly sensual of the skylines lingers prominently in the New York City. 

Meeting up the interviewer Cam Wolf firstly at furniture store and later the restaurant FOUND OYSTER, with the full table of razor clams and salmon crudo, Jeremy Allen White opens up about the weird aspect of paparazzi’s interest, still admits his fame accelerating the reservation of Michelin lists. He had built up a rock-solid fitness base after filming The Iron Claw in New Orleans during the wintertime 2023—though he’d slimmed back down considerably after putting on major poundage to play the charismatic wrestler, Kerry Von Erich, together with Harry Dickinson. While the muscle-up and weight-life process provided more of a psychological than a physical advantage, for Jeremy’s current Ambassador image of Calvin Klein Underwear. 

After being offered A24 scripts, is inevitably of a Marvel meeting. Nevertheless, Jeremy Allen White holds his skepticism attitude toward to this all-powerful Disney studio, rage against the evil Empire seemingly set on sucking every possible talent into its boring universe. The second benefits of being famous, is that being able to take a fuck off from blockbuster producers’ execs in the stride. 

Under the lenses of Photographer Luke Gilford, Jeremy is capable with quiet luxurious of Dior black shirt or vintage jumper, or masters a Vivienne Westwood logo knitwear, together with, indeed, for our imagination, of Calvin Klein sexy underwear. 

Jeremy declares that he was his characteristically anxious self before the Calvin Klein campaign shoot, as well as his private life with his two daughters. Jeremy reckons it is undoubtedly positive that he reached superstardom at a rather younger period of life, “getting stuck a little bit at that age. Maybe not forever, but for a period of time”.