The (Asian) Education of Miss 爱美丽

A Nordic blast is sweeping Hong Kong – and I’m not talking about the weather. In these past few weeks of almost perfect-weather –  we’re talking high-pressure blue skies and temps hovering around 60 degrees – Hong Kongers have broken out their winter weather gear.

HK snow bunnies?

Never immune to the fashion forecasts, they’ve managed to absorb international runway hits and translate them into their own brand of South East Asian Arctic: Moose printed-sweaters, snow-flake knit mini-skirts, fleece trim and pom-poms, lots of sherpa-lined hoodies and the like. None of which is in actual wool, of course. Cottons and synthetics do just fine in this balmy weather.

While I happen to love this kind of cold-winter, ski-chic aesthetic, I feel my New England roots justify these tastes a bit more than, say, a subtropical islander’s.  Have these girls ever seen a single snow-flake, or one of those moose heads that currently adorns their tunic? As Ernie Boch would say, “I DOUBT it.”

Despite my playful hating, though, I have to consider the challenge in must be for the average HK woman – all 5 foot two and 95 frail pouds of her – to transition between sauna-like summers and brisk (if I’m being generous) winters. I’ll admit that I, too, have reluctantly added a few jackets (cropped, mind you) into the rotation to ward off some evening chills, but I’m saving my winter gear for Inner Mongolia, where it is currently a cool 15 degrees Fahrenheit…

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