I don’t know how Maggie Cheung breathed in those body-hugging and gorgeous cheongsams of hers in In the Mood for Love. The gold coloured cheongsam that I bought as my new clothes for Chinese New Year made me realise that the traditional Chinese garment is one difficult piece of clothing to wear.

First, I have to be conscious about tucking in my (big) tummy in all day, else I look like I have a baby bump. I should buy a corset or some tummy tucker. Second, because the cheongsam skims the body, it makes big movements difficult. For example, I can’t bend down fast to pick up something I’ve dropped on the floor. Instead, I have to bend down my whole body slowly in a squatting motion.

Despite its restrictions, I have to say there’s nothing quite like the cheongsam for a Chinese woman to make a fashion statement. I love how the dress’ cut accentuates the curves in a woman as well as how the flower and other ausipicious Oriental motifs on the fabric bring out a Chinese woman’s beauty. For someone like me who has a more curvy figure, the cheongsam is perfect for upping the sexy and feminine quotient.

I think I’ll look into including more cheongsams in my wardrobe henceforth. 🙂