Sunday, February 27, 2011

Auspicious Chinese New Year wear

I was wandering around Chinatown at the end of last year together with a friend of mine.  There are a few small little stalls in the Chinatown Complex on Smith street, selling sarong kebaya.  One was so crowded that it made browsing the shelves a little difficult (we are talking about something the size of a hawker stall here) but another a little further down with a smaller selection, was easier to see and access.  To my great delight, they had a series of nice kebaya tops in dark pink rubbia cotton for very reasonable prices.  Whilst I don't think that the quality of the embroidery work was as good as that on my existing kebaya, it was still pretty decent.  So I ended up getting my outfit for Chinese New Year in this little Chinatown stall.  What was a little sad was that the complex was quite quiet, with all the tourists milling around the streets just outside. 


One thing led to another.  I obviously am no where near completion on my first beaded slipper and I didn't think my existing pair went that well with my new kebaya top.  So I made my way to Katong Shopping Centre and there in another basement shop I found a pair of rather nice (and surprisingly comfortable) shoes and in another shop a few doors down picked up the kerosang.  Again, I must admit that even my pathetic amateur work is probably going to result in much finer beadwork (smaller beads)than that on this pair of kasut manek but I figured no one is going to be looking at my feet that closely.

So please note - there's no need to go all the way to Malacca to get one's nonya outfits - we have locally quite a few shops able to supply all our needs.  And that easily, I was able to venture forth on the first day of  CNY in full nonya regalia :-)  And of course in the most auspicious of colours to boot.

4 comments:

  1. Where abouts in Katong SC did you find the shoes? Do they have a decent range / variety and was it expensive?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Cathlyn,
    It's in the basement - just walk around and you'll see it. The shoes are displayed in the shop window. Range is reasonable, considering that it is not Malacca, but I thought the choices were generally ok and the shoes are comfortable. Price-wise, of course Malacca is cheaper but then you need to get to Malacca first!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, just wondering can you advise me on the price range of the shoes at Katong. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,
    I can't really remember the pricing off hand, but I think it is relatively mid range (about $100ish I think). Not the dirt cheap gigantic beads but not the small Japanese beads or the really tiny potong beads.

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