In your homeland it's not tough for most people to be fashionable but, when travelling abroad, it can be tricky as a weasel to do it right.
In your homeland you know just how it's done. Throw on a dapper hat, mix in some plush frillies, throw on a bow or your slickest shoes and you're all set. When you're travelling, however, you must consider the local culture as well, which is never an easy task.
When I got to China I promptly picked out a stylish yet traditional outfit to wear. It's of a local style, yet blue so people can know that I'm still a boy. It's cute and slimming for sure, but how do I trim it out properly? Therein lies one of many conundra.
Check out this hat for instance. It's cute, unusual, and hails from the local accessory palate; but what message does it send? Does it say I'm hip, trying too hard to be hip, that you've offended my Kung Fu school and must die, or worse still that I'm some kind of a journalist?
What you can't likely detect from the picture is that it includes a long black braid of hair down the back. Does that make me look older, wiser, or just like my roots are growing out and I'm in dire need of a root job to update my haircolor? See, that's the thing, I just don't know.
What makes it the last step abysmal is that we really can't talk with the shopkeepers. I don't know how to say "it's too big" in English, let alone Mandarin. My entourage of three babbling Americans, a boisterous nine-year-old, and a beautiful artist from Hong Kong were of little help to me. Nave's Mandarin is real good but she often finds her Cantonese accent to be prohibitive. This particular merchant wanted the sale so badly I think he would have pretended not to get it even if we spelled it out in plain English.
Ultimately I settled on a red silk good luck tassle that I fastened to my zipper jacket. Though I don't know what it means or what message it sends, I am confident of one thing: I love it!
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