The year’s first significant holiday that has everyone filled with excitement. That’s right, Chinese New Year – a time for us to flaunt our new outfits and shoes, have a chance to win some money and most importantly, get red packets.
Chinese New Year comes early this year, falling on the 22nd of January – so it is time to go shopping for clothes! Thinking about what outfit to wear can be a taxing task, but not to worry, we’ve got the guide to help you get that drip! We’re featuring several styles for you to consider as you prepare for the upcoming house visits. Check them out below!
Preppy
The preppy style became a trend in the 50s, defined by the elite and the success surrounding them. Neat and classy, it emits an aura of being in the upper classes. It was a big hit with American students back then, and the trend is coming back in the modern era. Thankfully, you don’t need to buy from high-class brands to obtain the look.
For the Guys
To pull off the preppy style as a guy, it’s important to find clothes that give off a classy look. That means polos or cardigans combined with a collared shirt. For the bottom, preppy is versatile enough to try with both pants or shorts. Overall, the key is simplicity – choose bright options from the colour palette, with pastel hues complementing well with the vibes of Chinese New Year.
We decided to go ahead with something traditional-looking and pair a classic Rugby Polo Tee with Suit Trousers for a simple yet refined look. You can either roll up the sleeves or keep them down for a more classic look.
The tee comes from Cotton On and has multiple different colour options for you to choose from. For alternatives, you can look at HLA, which has a store in Suntec City selling rugby polos. Otherwise, Marks & Spencer or online platforms such as Shopee have great choices too!
If you prefer layering, you can consider this cardigan vest from Uniqlo! As for the trousers, H&M is the place where you’ll find them. Just make sure to try them on first to ensure that they fit well!
For the Girls
There are many ways for the gals to achieve a preppy look. You’ve got your staples like cardigans and plaid skirts, but stuff like athleisure can now be worn in the mix. As with the guys, it’s great to veer towards brighter colours to stand out this Chinese New Year.
For us personally, we decided to mix and match. We opted for a simple collared shirt to add a sense of formality to the look, pairing it with a tennis skirt which makes for a very cute and bright outfit that can work for your Chinese New Year visit. You can also add on a few hair accessories as well to finish off the look.
Alternatively, you can also opt to follow the same look as the guys. Either grab one styled for women or steal one from your man – polo tees can be remarkably versatile. What’s more, both you and your significant other could coordinate together with this style for a unique couple look.
The collared shirt comes from G2000, and the tennis skirt is from Cotton On, though you can get it from multiple online platforms too, for example, Shopee. If you are good to splurge, the Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger brands offer a variety of options in shirts, polos, and skirts that fit the preppy style.
Minimalist
Possibly one of the easiest styles to try, minimalist usually entails a streamlined shape and simple colours for a clean and effortless look. Moreover, with so many stores in Singapore selling simple, clean clothing for cheap, it makes it an affordable style for you to experiment with!
For the Guys
Simplicity is the main objective of the minimalism style, but you should have some direction in choosing your outfit. We suggest using colours that contrast against each other for your top and bottom to achieve an eye-catching look.
Repping every Singaporean guy’s favourite brand, we’ve gone for an all-Uniqlo outfit, with the top being a Supima Cotton Tee in Navy Blue and the pants being their AirSense Pants in Beige. The bolder navy hue is an excellent complement to the lighter beige tone of the pants, giving us something striking. To keep in line with the minimalist theme, we decided against adding accessories here.
Minimalist outfits need not only be from Uniqlo however. Being an effortless style, pairing any plain shirt and pants will work just fine! Muji may be famed for their stationery and household items, but they also extend their minimalist expertise to clothes. Pull & Bear is another brand that does it well. If you want to add a little bit of flair to your overall outfit, consider throwing on a plain overshirt such as this one!
For the Girls
Girls have many options to play around with in the minimalist style. You can mix blouses with shorts or go for a one-piece dress – the world is your oyster. Ensure that your outfit has no ‘loud’ patterns that detract from the simple look, and you’re gold! For colours, a good tip is the pick one that complements your skin tone.
This time, we’ve gone for pieces from Love, Bonito. The top is their Thorali Knit Crop Top, a simple but visually pleasing item. It comes in multiple colours for you to choose from. In this case, we went for white for a clean look. As for the skirt, we chose the Harlie Tiered Flare Skirt in the colour “Willow” to match our white crop top. The flowy flare skirt adds a sense of innocence that we feel works well for the overall look.
If skirts aren’t your thing however, you can also opt for this outfit. We’ve gone for bottoms and a camisole crop top from Editor’s Market, though a simple existing plain crop top could also work perfectly fine!
A fair few more options are available for the ladies to mix and match to try and achieve that simple yet clean look. With multiple brands and styles available for you to choose from, like The Tinsel Rack, with this dress in particular, a winner for its style.
Y2K
A style that has risen back to prominence in recent years, Y2K is a throwback to the fashion style of the late 90s and the early 2000s, popularised by pop stars at the time. Usually involving bright colours that stand out along with ‘excessive’ accessories, it is unapologetically loud and proud.
For the Guys
Wearing a Y2K outfit might feel too loud for some guys, but you can also pull the style off in subtle ways. A simple plain shirt complemented by a denim overshirt may suffice, with some baggy jeans thrown in the mix. Go with colours that pop out, like orange or yellow, for your top to stand out!
Going for a more basic look, we’ve picked out this H&M Crop Top with green trims to go along with the jeans that we got from Vintage Wknd – the contrast of the tighter t-shirt works well with the baggy bottoms. The aim here is to go for a boyish vibe with our look, which is very on-brand with the Y2K style.
While we didn’t go for it here, you could add to the look with some denim. Levi’s is well-known for their denim pieces, and ZARA has a few options for overshirts, particularly this one. As for alternatives for the jeans, similar cuts can be found at H&M too or other stores. To get a patterning that you personally like, we suggest adding a few bleached spots, which can be achieved manually by self-bleaching on the jeans themselves.
To complete the look, you can throw on a few accessories such as this necklace also from, you guessed it, H&M. If possible, have them be colourful to add that extra bit of pop to the overall look to make it more flashy!
For the Girls
Like the minimalist style, the girls have many choices for the Y2K style. Baby tees are one clothing item that provides a more minimalist feel for casual settings, but still fits the look to a tee (no pun intended). Otherwise, you could go for any other tops that bare midriff, like cropped cardigans. For the bottoms, you can be flexible with skirts or pants. In terms of style, mini skirts and jeans that taper off at the ankles.
We’ve opted for a Graphic Crop Tank Top from Cotton On with a bright baby blue colour to pair with these cargo jeans from H&M. If not, you can take the budget route and head over to online shopping platforms such as Shopee, where you can find cheaper pieces of clothing which also complement the outfit wonderfully.
Since Y2K is all about expressing yourself, feel free to throw on as many loud and colourful accessories as you want. We opted for a multi-coloured belt in our outfit here, but these may be a little tough to find in Singapore. Once again however, Shopee can be your best friend while looking for such accessories.
Though if you want to be a little muted still, a typical belt such as this will suffice too. Top off your outfit with some hair accessories, such as these butterfly hair claws that we found from Rubi, and you get an outfit that can be worn for any occasion, including Chinese New Year visiting.
Street
Another popular fashion style that many have tried, street style, has been around for quite a while and has taken many influences from different cultures. Most notably, Japanese streetwear has become one of the genre’s most popular and well-known forms. Inspired by the rebellious nature of skate and hip-hop culture, the style will turn heads whether you are out in the streets or just visiting relatives.
For the Guys
You may think that streetwear for guys veers towards the Hypebeast culture, and while it is true, there is more to it than that. The style is defined by its relaxed but eye-catching aesthetic, so you don’t need to spend top dollar to achieve the look. Oversized everything is the name of the game, with a popular design for the bottoms being ones that are baggy in the thigh areas but become tapered around the calves. The colours used also tend to be a little dull and dark, with graphic elements seen for the top, but you can also go plain.
We wanted to keep it simple, yet at the same time keep the element of “street” in the outfit, we decided to pair a long-sleeved off-white shirt with cargo pants, both from H&M. We also chose a size up from our usual fit to make the overall outfit looser and mimic the relaxed look. While we decided against graphic tees, you can incorporate them into your outfit, with Cotton On having several options. Just ensure you get a size larger to emulate the oversized look.
If you are feeling a little rich and more outlandish, consider getting brighter colours, such as this Kangol shirt from Well-Bred. To pair together to complete your outfit, consider beige relaxed-fit shorts, which can be found in places such as Uniqlo.
We also threw on a bucket hat from Adidas (though any bucket hat will work), along with a necklace that you can get for cheap off online shopping sites such as Shopee to give it the classic street look that works as well as ever.
For the Girls
Similarly for the girls, much of the style revolves around the oversized design. That means items like hoodies, sweatshirts, and cargo pants are things you should look to get to emulate the look.
We wanted to try something different yet, at the same time, simple. Pairing a brown crop top with grey cargo trousers, we added a cream-coloured puffer gilet to emulate the oversized look while still letting the outfit be breathable. This culminated in an outfit that gave off street vibes. Top it off with a beige cap and a simple chain necklace, and you get an outfit that is simple yet, at the same time, makes you stand out.
The crop top, cargo trousers and puffer vest come from H&M, while the beige cap can be from anywhere, though if you’re out of options, you can consider this one from UNIQLO. The necklace can also be bought for cheap off online platforms such as Shopee.
For something a little more traditional to the style, you can check out local brand Sarah Thursday which carries a multitude of graphic tees that are inspired by anime and pop culture. It’s the perfect fit for streetwear vibes!
That said, we hope these outfits have given you an idea of what outfits you can consider getting or trying this Chinese New Year. Here at DANAMIC, we wish all our Chinese readers, Gong Xi Fa Cai and Happy Chinese New Year!
Eager to show off the style you’ve chosen for this year’s Chinese New Year? Be sure to hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok!
Photos by Brandon Neo and Glenton Weng of the DANAMIC Team.
