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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Hong Kong's dress code

有感近日文思乾塘, 身心皆有點疲. 不想悶壞上來捧場的朋友, 於是想到這個好主意, 就是邀請好友執筆, 一舉多得. (一個字: 懶. 請勿抗議)

那天電郵七友叫她們參與, 並歡迎她們的另一半也可幫忙. 怎知第一個"交稿"的竟然真是某位的另一半.

其實大家都讀過他的文章了. 就是數月前有份寫福岡遊(英語版)的男士. 這位仁兄乃大家閏秀的先生.

題目都是他自己起的.

One of the first things I noticed when I got to Hong Kong was how much better most of the Hongkies (no offense intended) are dressed up. However, the thing that baffled me was why my friends would fret about having to dress up even if it was only going down to the supermarket. The generally accepted dress code from where I come from was a tee shirt, shorts and slippers. You can even get away with these if you were going to the mall.

The rules, seems to be very different in Hong Kong. There is a minimum of what you need to wear when going out and slippers are definitely a big NO, NO (unless you look gayish and the slippers are Gucci). So until I exercise till I have a six pack and bulging biceps, wearing slippers to the malls in Hong Kong is a big NO, NO for me. After living in Hong Kong for the pass few years, I come to appreciate that my friends were actually looking out for my best interest by insisting on the way I dress up in public over here. Because, apparently most people in Hong Kong are judged by the way they dressed. People tend to be more polite to you if you are wearing the right kind of clothes and carrying the right kind of bag.

In fact, it could be quite embarrassing if you were not dress appropriately in Hong Kong. Just ask the hundreds of youngsters who dress with MK (Mong Kok) looks who are being asked for their ID cards by the police daily.

15 comments:

laichungleung said...

Yes, mad dog would remind us how men or at least most men suck at wearing shorts and sandals in the summer.

gar~* said...

Hong Kong's dress code is pretty simple: Just get as many brand name monogram products on your body as possible.
Which of course reminds one of the hilarious (and one of the best) rooftop scenes in Lee Kang Sang's "Help Me Eros", where some of the most familiar monogram patterns are projected directly on the actors' naked bodies, i.e. where capitalist greed and animalistic lust meet. So sad, so true.

aulina said...

my expat bosses share the same observations.

Some 10 years ago at my wedding, I told them the dress code is "casual"... hmmm...

We don't get guests in shorts and slippers at every wedding. :)

Arael said...

I hate HK's office dress code (although I don't work there).
HK's wedding banquet dress code is more casual than US's though.

Btw, 'hongkies' IS OFFENSIVE.
This guy is from singapore?

Anonymous said...

只要你著日日黑色 好似去送殯咁 就咩問題都冇啦
夏天就大鑊D

唔知係唔係個blog post 係全英文,D comment 都係全英文嘅呢?

English version
The Hong Kong offical dress code is "all Black everyday", a.k.a, Funeral Attaire!

Anonymous said...

I know, Hong Kong people tend to dress up at anytime anywhere...and if you don't dress quite as "up" chances are you'll get weird looks from the HK youngsters whose outfits are all "branded"...conclusion is, you wear something not as fancy (or branded), HK people immediately view you as a china mainlander

mad dog said...

oh writer: u can respond to the above comments ga, pls feel free to do so.

LCL: hahah! right, except Daniel Wu, Anthony Wong, Jude Law, JRM lookalikes...

gar: oh I haven't seen "Help Me Eros", how was it?

aulina: u mean ur ex-boss actually wore shorts to ur wedding????

arael: right, hkers actually wear jeans to wedding banquet...

eeeason: 咁大家尊重筆者嘛, 佢唔識睇中文呀. spelling mistake: attire.

ingrid: well it depends sometimes... now that a lot of chinese mainlanders in hk wear branded clothes from head to toe.

Anonymous said...

mad dog- lazy lazy ah

writer- I don't think wearing slippers is a definite no in HK. It will depend on which shopping mall you are going to.Of course it will look very out of pace if you wear slippers in PP or IFC.

Carrie said...

i don't quite care (but 講係咁講lor..hahaaa)...i love tee and jeans, even on working days (作死)...hahaa

i remember my dad once wore shorts and vest (底衫style) and went to CWB with me in the evening...我覺得好yeah....老爸好勁!hehee....

Anonymous said...

I actually hate how Hokies judge people by how they look even he/she is just a random person on the street. For me, as long as they are not just wearing underwear, I couldn't care less. I have more important things to care about.

mad dog said...

uncle ray: i quite enjoy reading my friend's writings! ha!

carrie: 我今日就係bad outfit day! + 戴埋眼鏡, 真係唔想見人! :)

janice: but HK is HK... sometimes how ppl look at us can be quite disturbing.

Anonymous said...

True, lots of mainlanders wear branded stuff from head to toe...sometimes can be hard to distinguish la~~ but it's also worth noting that...in china, take shanghai for instance, you see a lot of people in their very-casual outfit strolling around in supermarkets (namely the now so famous Carrefour)...

I guess it's just a cultural thing gua...plus, HK is so small, high risk of bumping into people you know of at anytime, so....

c.r said...

hahaha. i enjoyed the post. but the comments are more fun to read, guys, keep it up!! :)

i hate seeing ppl wearing monogrammed stuff, or plaid checks come to that, it's like being puked upon by those big brands. knowing how to put together expensive but subtle yet chic clothes still is sth that we're learning. =)

ppl in shanghai are famous for wearing pj's to everywhere on the streets. but that's totally beside the point.

Anonymous said...

Hope you guys enjoyed my entry. Guess I should use "Hong Konger" in the future. Should also come up with a name instead of being referred to as "writer".

mad dog said...

writer: yes! pls think of a nickname for urself. and... i'd like to say... pls feel free to contribute more anytime u like! :) maybe later on u'd find it's time for u to have ur own blog too! ha! :) thanks again!