Monday, July 26, 2010

Jeggings, Algebra and Hong Kong shopping markets


Stop the presses! As today, I broach the scholarly subject of...Jeggings. Pray tell, what are jeggings, I hear you cry. Allow me to enlighten you by way of simple algebra:

Jeans + leggings = Jeggings.

And you thought fashion and algebra were mutually exclusive! Fye on you nay-sayers. Despite the fact that the dictionary on this blog keeps drawing the rather irritating red zig zag beneath the word jeggings (fear not, reader, you will not be privy to such grammatical interference), jeggings are a real and recent variant of the legging, the love child of the 80's legging craze and the skinny jean trend of today. If you're in the mood for some comedy, check out Urban Dictionary's definition - and use of it in a sentence here.

Basically, I found some awesome jeggings (and legging) whilst shopping downtown in Hong Kong for a great bargain. I love a good bargain - not sure whether this is an admirable trait I should be shouting from the rooftops. Also, I can't quite decide whether it is because my taste in fashion is so fickle and I hesitate to drop hundreds on a single item, or whether I am simply just a cheap bastard. But I digress.
I was shopping in an area of Hong Kong often mocked for being, god forbid, 15 minutes from the more expat-laden area of Hong Kong island and thus nicknamed 'the dark side' for it's mistaken feral image and non- propinquity (I've decided that people who live on islands are a bit weird). It's called Tsim Sha Tsui, and I was in Granville road (buying neon themed clothes for a recent pool party but again I digress...). One takes shopping in markets here with a pinch of salt. There is a lot of junk to sift through before you find the good stuff. The term 'less is more' is foreign in these markets. Many items mix several fabrics and decorative materials i.e. I have seen dresses with wool, polyester, lace, sequins and some sort of chinglish print, all on the same dress. Which is not a massive deal if you want to look more Carrie than Charlotte.

In Hong Kong, I find normal denim too thick for the stifling heat, so jeggings/ leggings are the most suitable alternative. Plus, at literally $69 HKD a pop, they're a bargain and so it's fun to try out a few different styles. I almost bought one the other day that had a newspaper print. Almost.

I can't wait til my trip to Japan next month so I can get away with the quirkier (read: weird) stuff in my wardrobe. I find style here, in a city where the financial industry usurps the creative one, rather conservative. Oh, and so I can go mental with my street-style photography. Harajuku girls, here I come!