If my first love is fashion, then my second is food. It explains why I’m a bit of a fatty and to be honest, I’m glad because I have had the pleasure of ingesting some gooooood shit. My adventurous (corrected!) attitude towards fashion is extended to food as well, having been brought up in a foodie family. Chicken gizzards? Yum yum. Veal sweetbreads? Delish. Japanese natto? Lovely. Bar my fear of certain stinky cheeses, I’m pretty much gung ho about most things.
So I’d thought I’d share the link between my two loves with some relatively mundane outfits that suit the mood/nature of what I’m eating. For a lot of people, going to a certain restaurant or eating something specific doesn’t have much correlation with what they’re wearing. However, if I know I’m going to be going to say Abeno Too for some okonomiyaki, I have a distinct urge to wear something gauzey, floaty and light. Or if I’m going to Laduree, I have a thing for knee socks with bows at the tops and my white patent multi-strapped shoes. There is no real practical explanation for any of this; just whimsies that I have, bearing in mind the restaurant/food of choice.
Nothing fancy/stylish going on in any of these outfits but they do give a realistic picture of what I’d actually be wearing whilst scoffing to my heart’s content.
Mooching at home: Stuffing my face with fish and chips requires leggings (stretchy waistband comes in handy), my fave stripy top and hanging-at-home nude slipdress. For cooking Nissin noodles (I’ve been through every flavour but miso or XO Seafood are the best…), it has to be shorts and knee socks (I don’t really wear slippers at home) with my treasured NY Mets t-shirt (faded and washed to an optimum level).
Les Trois Garcons: The interior is ‘Parisian flea market’, the food is pure French, a contrast of the kooky and traditional. So it’s the old-fashioned Roland Mouret check dress with spacey leggings.
Yauatcha: I love dim sum. I love cakes. Combine the two and you get Yauatcha. Something fancy for the cakes (the dusky pink lace shirt) and something a little off-beat for the dim sum (this Steve J & Yoni P for Topshop jumpsuit).
St John, Smithfields: This is me at my most savage, knawing my way through ox hearts and bone marrow. So in reverse effect, a demure and conservative outfit is in order.
Ikkyu (TCR): A favourite student haunt of mine. The shabby outfit made of lovable pieces (Bernhard Willhelm t-shirt, Martin Margiela skirt and well-worn grey wool beanie) matches the shabby basement of Ikkyu where the food is equally lovable.
Tea Palace: I don’t venture out West much but for Tea Palace, I go for quirky classic. Classic dress shape with odd car print. Classic trench with red plastic belt. Classic Salvatore Ferragamo shoes with strange Prada socks.
love this post
A bit of a fatty? Susie, you’re nowhere near fat! You must be mad if that’s how you see yourself (no offence)…
Love the Tea Palace outfit, as well as the St. John outfit.
fatty? Huh? Wha? You’re teeny! And I want your trench coat.
Trust me, you’d feel like a fatty too if you went back to Hong Kong…. honestly… anything over a UK size 8 is considered huge….
Fatty – in what universe?
Working at Liberty (& getting staff discount!) & Abeno are the 2 things I miss the most about living in London – having relocated back to South Africa!
hi where is the trench coat from?
love the outfits its like wearing appropriate clothes for different exams- like on my french exam i went for a kind of french look- anything to take the mind off revision!
The trench is an old hand-me-down Burberry from my dear mother…
Yes! This is such a great post. I always dress pretty plainly but going out for dinner always calls for an ‘outfit’. Love the Yauatcha look. Have you been downstairs? It calls for sparkle… x
what a great post! good to know i’m not the only who requires different outfits for different types of food! 🙂
You’re not fat in the least.
AhA! A size 8 is fat?! how tall are you?! I’m glad I’ve never been to Hong Kong because I would be both a giant and an elephant. A gigantic elephant infact.x
In any part of Eastern Asia anything over size 8 is considered huge. I could testify for a friend of mine… <_< But anyways, I love this post! Very creative and funny.
“Voyeuristic” doesn’t really make sense in this context, as a voyeurist is one who enjoys watching rather than taking part, so the implication seems to be that you would rather look at food than eat it.
Not intended to be a rude attack, I just know I hate using the wrong word by mistake.
^ Corrected…sorry, English isn’t my first language….
That sure made me hungry! As a Queens native, I truly appreciate the NY Mets t-shirt…and now I want to visit Tea Palace even more. I love the pairings of food and outfits.
what? fat? oh dear.
anyway, where did you get your spacey leggings? i’ve been trying to find some for ages, and i don’t think i want to get the american apparel ones.
susie were you a bit drunk when you wrote that post?!! haha. You’re not a fatty but I do also enjoy using that word. Some lovely places on there. I can’t wait to be back at home in London at the end of the month and go to my favorite haunts and some new places too
GREAT post! Are you foodie?? I am, but it took me some time to develop a love for food, unlike fashion. You are really creative…
hey, great post.
lol, i really burst out laughing when i imagined you knawing on bone marrow in that gorgeous, demure outfit.
i am totally with you when you say fashion is correlated with your love of food~!!!! 🙂 i luuuuuuuuuurvvvvve food!
in the last pic, where did you get the trench coat? it’s really nice.
that last outfit is the best! The coat is just great.
great post! love for your two passions shows through…
that’s dining in style at its most original..
Guys, when I say ‘fatty’ and this just could be a Lau family thing, I also mean a bit of a ‘porker’, i.e. someone who eats a ton of food….. Like..’Oh my god, you’re such a fatty for eating that whole bag of Twiglets!’. No offense meant really…but yes, I’m not the thinnest person out there either and it is unfortunately all down to my love of eating rich, exceedingly good food….
Eli: Spacey leggings ARE from AA!
Heather: I think I already said the trench is a hand-me-down Burberry from my mother.
Ppl, don’t believe what you read about London being a shit place to eat… there are some FANTASTIC places if you know where you’re going…
FOOD!
I share exactly the same passions.
I love to cook too. so usually in the kitchen it is something white and flour coated.. hehe
I agree, going to east asia .. not so good for the self esteem. Same in korea, but they are still amazing eaters!
But life is there to enjoy. … Whats the point in fashion if you’re dead from starvation …
THis is such a great topic!glad to know there are others out there.
thanks susie.
I’m really interested in what you’d wear to the Fat Duck. http://www.fatduck.co.uk
love the tea palace outfit 🙂
1. You are not fat. Please don’t contribute to the fashion world nonsense – you seem better than that.
2. St. John’s marrow and parsley salad!!!
3. Great outfits. How do you find vintage Prada AND Ferragamo that doesn’t cost a small limb? Or did it?
brilliant entry!too cool.
Superfun post! Love your Yauatcha and Tea Palace looks….
fantastic post!! wish I’d thought of it myself. combining two of my great loves in life…
susie where is that white pleated skirt from? I adore it. I used to have a black one in the same style from miss selfridge but im hoping you might have got that one more recently than I did?
Unfortunately I bought the skirt ages ago from Tokyo in this shop – can’t remember the name though! Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!