The Hari Raya sales are on until early October. So, I decided to go do some shopping today, for a few new shirts. As I had mentioned earlier, I was forced to bin all my clothes at Heathrow because my luggage was too heavy. I did some shopping at the beginning of the month, but only for essentials as I was waiting for this sale season to start.
While shopping for new shirts, I have come to realise that most mens’ shirts are of one of the following variety: plain, striped or checked. All very boring. So, I have decided to buy something else instead. After owning some barong shirts for the last few years, I felt that wearing embroidered shirts was a good idea. So, I only shopped for shirts with embroidery on them.
I bought a really nice Punjab shirt a couple of weeks ago. I bought it because I liked the pattern on the shirt and it is a formal shirt that has no collar. So, I would not need to wear a tie with it. It looks really smart with a suit (even without the tie) and can also be worn as casual wear if it is left tucked out. So, it is quite versatile.
Today, I bought a few more casual wear embroidered shirts. At one points, the sales girl spoke to me in Cantonese and said that she was surprised that I could appreciate shirts like these, because most Chinese men would not buy these kinds of shirts. I did not really know what to answer her as I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a compliment or otherwise.
What can I say, except that I embrace the wonderful diversity of Malaysia. I don’t really care if it is not very Chinese (What is a Chinese shirt anyway?) as long as it looks good on me. My family has always been like this. Both my mother and sister wear all kinds of clothes, often mixing and matching elements from different cultures, as long as they look good.
Isn’t that the whole point of getting dressed in the first place?
Alright, I will need to go look for a good mens’ tailor later. I intend to have a suit tailor made. I already know what I want, in my head. However, I’m afraid that the tailor may not understand what I need. So, I will need to find some examples to show him/her later. As usual, I like wearing formal clothes that are not very typically formal.
Anyway, I went to a pasar malam (night market) last week and brought my camera with me. I stood out like a sore thumb and people were staring at me while I took my photos. I guess that I did not look enough of a tourist to be snapping away with SLR at a night market. As usual, these shots were all taken handheld, without flash, under a low-light condition. I’m starting to love this lens.
Sybreon Ones Nought 