Fashionable Asians at the 2012 Academy Awards

Finding Asian celebs in Hollywood is like playing a game of Where's Waldo? And these lovely ladies were the only ones I could find ...

Actress Li Bingbing, star of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and the upcoming Resident Evil: Retribution, arrived on the red carpet in a white Georges Chakra Couture gown

Actress Zhang Ziyi wasn't invited to the Oscars but she was able to attend Elton John's Oscar viewing party wearing this fab cobalt blue gown by Elie Saab

Did you watch the Oscars last night? Who was on your best dressed list?

Asian Designer Spotlight: Jason Wu Fall 2012

Jason Wu drew inspiration for his latest collection from several decades of Chinese fashion history. Starting with the hats from the Qing dynasty, the cheongsams from 1940's Shanghai and the jackets from the Mao years of China. There's simply no better way to pay tribute to your roots than dedicating an entire collection to it.  

Wu's modern take on the classic cheongsam, dark and metallic

 Mao's military inspired jackets with structured shoulders and gold hardware

It's not a fall collection without some Clothes with the fur, with the furrrr!


I personally liked this collection, it's a lot more dark and fierce than Wu's previous collections. I love that he's such a versatile designer, I mean if you put his Target collection next to this you wouldn't even think it's from the same person. (I kind of wished his Target collection was as form fitting and streamlined as this one..) I can't wait for the sample sale on this collection, that red jacket is MINE! lol

I rate this collection a 5 out of 5! Perfection!

Do you think it's cliche for a Chinese designer to design a Chinese themed collection or do you think it can still be creative and different?

Asian Designer Spotlight: Tadashi Shoji Fall 2012

Japanese designer Tadashi Shoji showed at New York Fashion Week yesterday and here are some notable looks from his collection (influenced by the Golden Age of Shanghai); featuring plenty of lace, chiffon and velvet fabrics perfect for the fall season.

Dark emerald greens were featured in three of my top favorite looks from this collection. I especially loved the scalloped trim lace dress (center).

 Lace embroidery give a classic elegance to collection and the high collars of the two photos are reminiscent of the cheongsams from Shanghai.

Velvet makes a small appearance in the collection but he ties them in with the on going color scheme of emerald greens and dark reds

Though I see the Asian influence of the florals, I found that this print mixed with the colors and drop waists that Shoji decided to go with, aged the models by an extra 10 years.  And no woman wants to look older than they already are...

I think Tadashi made the "Golden Age of Shanghai" a lot more glamourous than it really was. I like to judge a collection by how wearable it is and while I find the designs to be beautiful, it would be difficult for most girls to pull off the drop waist dresses. It could be blamed on the models for being thin, but found that most of the dresses to looked really baggy. It made me miss his past collections of simple pastel dresses with soft ruffles and florals, but of course no designer can design the same thing for every collection.

I give this collection a 2/5, I just liked his past collections more...

Click here to see the entire collection and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Asian Designer Spotlight: Richard Chai Fall 2012

Ahh Fashion Week in NY, there is no better time to ogle at clothes I can't afford and wishing I was at a show instead of at my dead end job. Wait, where was I going with this post? Oh right, 'tis the week where I will feature all the Asian designers debuting their Fall 2012 collections at NYFW and there are A WHOLE LOT of them this year. So excited and happy for all of them! And to start things off we have Richard Chai's fall 2012 collection (Richard Chai Love), here are some notable looks:

 Chai throws some dark tie dye in the mix with this dress and pairs it with a large boxy coat

 Darker florals make this trench coat more fall appropriate

 Oversized women's jackets are prevalent throughout the collection

 Multi colored stripes are also another pattern Chai plays with 

 I would probably be swimming in a jacket like this but I'd be doing so in such a chic way ;P

     

How sick are those large pockets? It's like the new fanny pack!

Richard Chai kept this collection simple with the running theme of menswear for women or as I like to call it Girl becomes Boy.  Unlike most designers he wanted to make the collection more "approachable" so that even a woman not in the fashion industry would be drawn to it.  While I am all for wearing menswear, I can never wear anything oversized because at 5'0" I am undersized. 

I give this collection a 3/5

Click here to view the entire collection, and let me know what you'd rate this collection.

Jason Wu for Target: Haul, Style & Giveaway

Jason Wu for Target was utter chaos. Or "cows" as my Chinese/Spanish mother pronounces it.  I went to the Target about a mile away from me, got there just as they opened the doors, queued outside for 2 minutes, and finally went inside to find nothing left on the racks... 

So what did I do? I drove 10 miles to find the same result at another Target, but found the following on the racks in the fitting room =D  Unfortunately I couldn't get any bags and choked back some sobs as I saw someone checking out with the bag I wanted :(

The Haul/Review:

Overall the fabrics were pretty reasonable for Target standards. The fit was wide on many of the pieces though. 

I loved this sheer polka dotted blouse but it looks a little wide on me. The black pleated skirt hits right below my knees, so flats aren't an option with this skirt as it would make my legs look even shorter.

My favorite piece that I picked up, it's just my style and the fabric is soft and the blush pink color looks great against any skin color.

I'm returning this dress because it's very unflattering, it's big on me but also the pleating in the chest area gives me saggy boobs and I don't even have boobs to begin with! So back to the store it goes!

The Styling:

Jason Wu for Target top, H&M blazer and trousers, F21 headband, Lela Rose for Payless cutout shoes

See what I mean by wide fit on the blouse

Jason Wu for Target Top, H&M trousers, F21 headband and necklace, Calzado Jazpiel wedges

The Giveaway:

(because I hit 200 followers and wanted to say Thank You yay! I wanted to give away a bag but couldn't get my hands on any...):

I am giving away this Jason Wu for Target rayon bowtie tee (Size: Medium, Value: $22.99)

Giveaway is open internationally, winner will be chosen at random and all you have to do is:

1. Be a FashionableAsians GFC follower, leave a comment below on what your favorite piece was from the collection and your email addy so I can let you know if you've won

2. Follow me on Twitter (+1 entry)

3. Follow me on Bloglovin (+1 entry)

4. Follow me on Tumblr (+1 entry)

Giveway Deadline is February 29, 2012 

Thanks for supporting fashionable asians! Good Luck!