[Street Chic] August Hot Weather for Hot People

With the tentative permission of climate change, the end of summer is officially fast approaching. We truly have been through a lot this season, from heatwaves, to floods, to suspicously dangerous mosquitoes. Perhaps climate change is real?

Anyways, to still have a sense of normalcy, here we come with our good-old street chic. Shanghai's weather is not for the weak, as we kept hearing from our interviewees, all of whom are short-term tourists coming to the city to shop, dine or to research the culture and the people. It is always interesting to find out what is people's first impression of Shanghai and China by and large.

1. Yours Truly

Starting off strong, as always. Though we keep it simple, especially when it's 35 degrees Celsius (or +56907 F for all my Americans I guess). The hottest piece of clothing this summer has been jorts (jean shorts) and vintage inspired sneakers. If you're tired of seeing same old adidas sambas and Nike dunks, take a look at new Puma collections, I've been really into them lately.

2. Bianca, 20, a Girlie from Romania

Speaking of jorts, exactly my point. They just look good with everything, I swear… Bianca is Romanian, but she lives in London (evident by the accent), she came to shanghai, and I quote "to shop and eat a lot." This young lady makes excellent choices.

"I came to Shanghai just for a few days, I'm leaving tomorrow actually. Besides the weather, my experience has been very pleasant. The sightseeing, the technology are simply fantastic, much better than in London. I loved the city center, with all the lights, and Disney, of course. And I couldn't get enough of the food, especially those noodles… I think they had crab sauce on them, I could've eaten three portions of them I swear."

3. Nori and Haruka, 28 and 29, First-Timers in China from Japan

It is always so cool to see tourists from Japan, their fashion choices are just so unique from any other. And it follows through every part of their looks, from styling the clothes to styling your hair and picking the earrings. Obsessed with Haruka's blue pleated dress under her white corset top, so summery, so elegant.

"We both came from Tokyo. This is our first day in Shanghai, and in China. The shopping in Shanghai is comparable to shopping in Tokyo, but here they have a lot of specific merch for gamers, especially for mobile gamers." Shanghai, now the capital for mobile game merch apparently!

There is a big gamer culture in China, something similar to Japanese cosplay and Korean idol fan clubs. And from my own observation, it covers a very wide range of ages and lifestyles, from students to office workers, to Eleme delivery drivers.

4. Katerina, 18, a Sweetheart from Germany

It always fun to encounter someone from Germanic or Scandinavian countries. There is some quiet, effortless, stoic aura around them, from the way they dress to the way they carry themselves. I loved her simple, youthful look. The color scheme really compliments her own color palette (a soft summer I believe). Katerina is 18 years old. She is actually visiting her friend's family, who moved here for work. She's been here for nine days already, and her experience has been novel, but very pleasant so far.

"My mom's friends have been living here for a couple of years, so I come to visit them. I'm staying here until Monday, and I've been really loving it. Everyone is so polite, always ready to help. The architecture is amazing, I especially loved the Bund, the (Shanghai) World Financial Center. And I've been loving the xiaolongbao. They've been my favorite!"

5. Three matcha businesswomen from Thailand, 28 (all)

Well, here we have a group of three ladies from Thailand, who aren't only looking fabulous, but also work in the matcha business. What a coincidence? (check out our recently published Hai Lights on matcha in Shanghai). I'm telling you dear readers, matcha is the next big thing in Shanghai. Mark my words.

Now, when I first noticed them, I knew I had to run up to them. They just had that casual chic vibe to them, like they knew where they were going and why, though it's their first time in Shanghai. My personal favorite thing about each of their outfits was their shoes. Here we have three popular shoe choices, adidas sambas, New Balance 530 and some balete-mary-jane hybrid shoe.

"We went to Disneyland, we ate a lot of dumplings, some Michelin ones on Nanjing Road. Also, the Bund and Wukang Road are very famous in Thailand, so we took a ton of pictures. All three of us work in a Japanese matcha company back in Thailand, so we were also very curious to try out what matcha they serve here."

Well, lucky for them, since I am a local matcha expert here, I've recommended them two particular places, Matcha Love and Bitmatcha, my two personal faves.