When I was younger, I was a complete Mummy’s girl. But over the years I became just as much of a Daddy’s girl, appreciating my gem of a father more and more each year. He’s now 78 and lives on his own in the Netherlands. It’s far away, but I speak to him every morning after publishing the first blog post of the day. We are closer now than we have ever been and grow closer each year.

As financial director for a large shipping company, my Dad worked long hours and was often away on business. But even though he worked extensively during the week, I have very fond memories of us spending time together as a family over the weekends. So I’m taking you back to 1976 when our family lived in Hong Kong. Brace yourselves for some 70’s fashion.

My Dad loves boats and being near the water. Given limited leisure time, he combined his love for all things nautical with spending time with his kids. So almost every weekend we were either on a boat, admiring boats, by the seaside, or enjoying the fresh sea air on our way to an outlying Hong Kong island.

The picture above left shows a typical Sunday afternoon family outing. We’d drive out to Tai Tam where my Dad docked his boat, “the Tikkie”. That’s my Dad, brother and I on a jetty walking towards the Tikkie. Who says you can’t wear a frock on a boat. The picture on the right was taken at Repulse Bay Beach, where we’d climb on the rocks and play in the sand after a very unhealthy meal at MacDonald’s. Doesn’t my Dad look dapper wearing shorts with shoes with socks – something he’ll still do when I’m not around. Oh well! He’s still my precious Papa. I don’t love him any less.

Below is another picture of Dad on a boat because he loves, loves, loves boats. Denim bell bottoms, tight polyester shirt, suede jacket, weathered brown belt and a rather ratty long beard. Got to love the 70’s. On the right you can see my brother and I holding puppies on one of our outdoorsy weekend adventures on Lantau Island (the biggest island in Hong Kong). Both my Mum and Dad encouraged us to bond with animals so there’s a picture of us and some kind of fur baby on virtually every family outing. That’s the last time I wore navy pants but my preference for button down shirts continues.

My Dad, or Papa as I call him, is a kindhearted, sweet natured, selfless and generous man. He’s gentle yet strong, quietly social and very polite. He loves to read, have political conversations, make pancakes and watch war movies. He also loves his afternoon “borreltje” (aperitif) and enjoys eating out at cozy restaurants. I’ve been blessed with a fabulous Dad whom I love very much despite his naughty stubborn streak. It is sad that he can no longer share his experiences with my late Mum, but at least he has his kids, kids-in-law, a very cute grandson and the most adorable grand Yorkies.

The picture below was taken in Amsterdam by my best friend Lori when we visited my Dad in the Netherlands four and half years ago. Papa might not have the best shoes and shorts style, but he hands down has the best laugh in the world. It’s straight from the heart and the belly and you can’t help but burst out laughing when he does. What a gift.

We at YLF wish you a all very happy Father’s Day on Sunday.

Here is a silly, but fun question to ponder this afternoon: excluding underwear and socks, what is the most common item of clothing or footwear in the world today? And by “common”, I mean by quantity. If we collected all the items of clothing and footwear and put them in piles according to their category, which would be the pile with the most items?

At first I thought the answer was obvious. In this order:

1. T shirts
2. Jeans
3. Sneakers

Then I began to have second thoughts. With China and India having such large populations, where do the unique clothing items from those cultures fit into the list?

What do you think is the most common item of clothing?

You enjoy fashion and want to look hip, interesting and cool, so you tastefully pick out trendy items that like you back. But you don’t wear those items you love because you’re worried that people will think that you’re trying too hard. They might think that… you care too much about what people think. Oh, the irony!

I hear this concern about trying too hard quite often, and I don’t understand how it all got so complicated. You don’t need to wear every trend to be trendy. To me, when you wear one or more of the current trends, you are trendy. That’s the long and short of it. So I am absolutely sticking up for the word trendy and consider it a compliment.

Fashion and trends unite us, but it’s style that sets us apart. It’s how you personally style a trend that counts. There is nothing “cookie-cutter” and negative about wearing a trend when you wear it well and make it your own. Sport a trend with confidence, sass and your own special stamp and you’re super stylish in my book.

On the other hand, wear a trend that doesn’t work for your lifestyle, persona, age, or body type and chances are high that you will look like you’re trying too hard. That’s when the trend is wearing you rather than you wearing the trend.

And then there is your environmental norm. Sometimes people feel they won’t fit in if they are the only early adopter of new fashions. This is more irony — it is choosing not to wear new trends that is the conformist option in these situations — but I do understand that the environmental norm is powerful and sometimes it just isn’t worth the effort to challenge it. Just be sure you aren’t confusing your individual norm with the environmental norm.

I keep coming back to the main reason I love fashion. It’s fun! Getting dressed in the morning is fun! Keeping abreast with the latest fashion trends is fun! It doesn’t mean that you have to wear them all. Pick and choose the ones you fancy and leave the rest. Liking a fashion trend and making it work for your unique style is in itself a fun challenge. Fashion trends inject the necessary “now” into your style and I think that’s important.

If you look great sporting a trend and it makes you smile, wear it. Of course, effective execution is everything. And everyone has days when they just don’t pull it off. But excluding an item from your repertoire because of what other people might think — isn’t that trying too hard?

There is a fantastic variety of hair product. This makes sense, given that there are products suited to all hair types and hair styles. Short straight hair, for example, requires completely different product to long curly hair.  Add in the variables of colour treatment, climate and budget and a multi-billion-dollar industry of hair care products is born (I’m extrapolating from a market research report in 2005 that put the hair care market at $7.6 billion in the US alone).

I have short, straight, razer-cut, hair and I like the texture to look extra piece-y and choppy. So after a wash and quick blow dry I apply a small helping of my favourite hair goo. I use Alterna’s Caviar Radiant Smoothing Lotion. It’s NON-STICKY, which is extremely important to me. I cannot tolerate sticky hair goo — it makes me feel like I need to shower and wash my hair.

It’s pricey, but Alterna lotion goes a long way. It brings out the rough edges of the razer cut and also adds a healthy shine to my hair. I’ve been using it since cutting my hair short again and will have an apoplexy if they discontinue the product. I’ve tried other brands and nothing yields the same good results.

Have you found a brand of hair goo that works for you? I’m sure others would enjoy hearing about your preference as it might help them to make better product choices. Hair stylists in particular, please weigh in with your professional opinions.