FabGab

Chanel is always a “DO” in my book.  So when I was visiting a Thailand temple and I spotted this picture here, I couldn’t help but smile.

This was found outside the temple where the fashion police (monks) enforced the no showing of shoulders rule.  Yes, the shoulders are not showing through this tee.  But the fact that they wrote the famous fashion marking “DO” on top of the Chanel-logo-ed tee cracked me up.  Next to the Don’t which I should have taken a picture of was a photo of a tourist wearing a short skirt revealing  what they called her “too sexy” knees.

Speaking of which, they actually make you rent a long wrap skirt in the more strict temples in order for you the tourist who may have shown up wearing shorts, to cover up.  Here is a photo of me at Wat Arun in Bangkok where I had to do just that.

I quickly caught on.  And while I regretted not packing some longer skirts for the visit, it also gave me an excuse to pick up some souvenirs along the way.  What better souvenir is there than a little bit of exotic fashion?

I bought this rust-colored silk skirt that featured elephants at the bottom in Thailand for about $10 or less. I just found through a little research that if you try to buy a similar skirt off of ebay they will run you around $25. So I guess I got a steal.

I kept it casual with a simple white cami and then wore the skirt again later that week with a sparkly sequin cream tee, both already packed from the U.S. with my new tribal looking necklace that I bought from the Hmong tribe in the mountains of Thailand.  Tribal influence is huge trend for Spring 2012 by the way!  The variety of silks that you’ll find in Thailand is on every street block and it is dizzying but fun to pick your favorite fabric. 

With a little negotiation on prices (only optional with the street market vendors), you’re sure to leave with a deal especially if you are purchasing more than one.

I ended up buying the silk sarong that came with straps -sort of a wrap skirt if you will.  Because of the language barrier, I couldn’t figure out how I’d wear the other flat cloth variety.  But thanks to YouTube, I now know how I’m supposed to tie them – no pins or brooches needed!   Check this out if you happen to have a flat cloth sarong, perhaps it will inspire you too.  I’m thinking I could easily do this with a sarong I bought from Hawaii.

I can’t see myself wearing the sarong in NYC but I will save it for another exotic trip as it makes an excellent beach cover-up and is perfect for conservative cultures.  I’m sure I’ll continue to wear it with a mix of Western influences as I want to add my own spin to the traditional dress similar to how this other fashionista did from WhatIWore2day’s blog.

It’s not everyday that I want to look like I did below.