Modern Hmong Fashion - Hmong American Styles

Hmong Inspired Scarf - Mislabeled as Aztec Design

Modern Hmong Fashion Style

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/550283648190595709/

Yearning Until I Turn Blue

 

 

 



I have been looking for a blue leather jacket for the longest time.  They don't make many in this bright blue color and when they do, it's extremely expensive.  This one is made by 1020 by Nicole.  It's perfect in every way and I absolutely love it.  The blue checkered material on the inside is t-shirt soft.  It's the perfect cut and length.  This brand probably run large because the one I have here is a size small. 

Outfit:

1.  1020 by Nicole Leather Jacket
2.  Chaps by Ralph Lauren dress
3.  Born flower heel sandals
4.  Hmong Vintage-skirt Hangbag
5.  Hmong Cross Stitch Pa Dau purse
6.  White opal long pendant cross - Sterling Silver
7.  Green opal long pendant cross - 14K Gold
8.  Blue diamond shooting star pendant - 14K Gold
9.  Emerald set wedding band and engagement ring - 14K Gold
10.  Ruby and diamond right hand ring - 14K Gold
11.  Glasses is Ray Ban - Titanium

Know Thy Enemies

As Americans, we have no problem knowing who the Vietnamese are and roughly where they were from.  And then the Japanese and the Koreans - we learn from our history books that theses were the people we went to war against.  But what about our allies?  Our friends?  Those who helped hide us, those who risked their lives to rescue one of us - a downed pilot, a captured soldier?  Do we only know our enemies or do we know our allies too?

To many American born citizens, 1975 is a year like any other.  To the Hmong people, 1975 is the year the Americans lost the war in Vietnam.  It is the year life as we know it can no longer exist.

If we stay behind in Laos, we can be sent to re-education camp where few return, and those that do, only in body.  Their minds have been taken from them.  If we go where the Americans go as promised to General Vang Pao, then it meant being taken from an 18th century rural area and thrown into the 20th century modern world.  Is it a toilet or is it a well of drinking water?  Is it a bed to sleep on, or something to look at, but not touch?  Where is that world where the people are little and they live inside this little box call a TV?

Yes, we, Americans know who the Vietnamese are, but very few know what Hmong is and even fewer know that the Hmong were our allies, our friends.  After more than 30 years, short of 40 by  a mere 2 years, the History of the Hmong and how they came to this land of the US of A will finally be included in the text books we teach our children.  A little late, but NEVER too late.  Thank you to all those who made this happened. 

Proud to be a Hmong American Girl Woman!!!

http://www.hmongcontemporaryissues.com/archives/HistoryBill78.html

History of the Assembly Bill AB78

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Assembly Bill AB 78 has the purpose to introduce the "Secret War" (1961-1973) in Laos as a part of the curriculum in social sciences or in history at California Public Schools. The main part of interest concerns Hmong and other Southeast Asians' critical roles in the "Secret War", part of the Vietnam War, which is a part of the American History. It recommands to teachers from grade 7 to 12 to initiate students to this war. Veterans, experts as well as other existing documents will be sollicited to increase the awareness and knowledge of this historical event.

In December 2002, this Bill has been initiated in Fresno by California AssemblyWoman Sarah Reyes, District 31 (Fresno) in consultation with a group of young Hmong women. For the support of this Bill, there was a mobilization by Hmong community through radio talk shows, petitions, TV shows, public meetings and lobby. The main supportive organization was Hmong Educational Task Force with its President, Peter Vang, and its two very active members, Doua Vue -- who proposed the idea of this bill to Assemblymember Sarah Reyes--, and Pai Yang, activist. This organization with numerous supporters and volonteers, well-known leaders and committed students, have strongly organized the support: lobby at the State Capitol in Sacramento, dialog with Veterans, private fundraising for transportation .

Assembly Woman Sarah Reyes has initiated this bill for 3 main raisons: her first reason was political: she sank vote and popularity upon the Hmong community like any wise politician. The Hmong population represents 10% vote of the Fresno area. The second reason was feminist: she would like to enhance historical awareness among Hmong women, and the third reason was politico-educational: she acts toward minorities recognition, especially Hmong people at California schools : it helps to raise self-esteem among Hmong children: during 2001-2002, more than 8 Hmong teenagers have been committed suicide in the Fresno area.
Something needs to be done. It was certainly this Bill.
SUPPORTERS' REASONS TO HELP THIS BILL
 When I collected signatures at various markets, many Hmong spontaneously offered to sign the petition, which was surprising to me. Because of my experience of researcher working within minorities community, I know that it used to be difficult to involve people. This discovery made me suppose that the bill AB78 is important for Hmong people. It answers to Hmong people's expectations from American politicians and leaders. The reasons why they supported the bill were:

*AB78 will decrease gaps between Hmong parents and children
*AB78 will decrease racism and cultural misunderstandi ng at school
*AB78 will increase self-esteem of Hmong students towards teachers and outsiders, and participation of parents towards schools so that children will feel confident to success
*AB78 will increase better understanding of each other's culture for better respecting each other,
*AB78 will increase the awareness of sharing the same values of peace and of mutual support because of knowing each other's contribution to this American Nation
*AB78 is important for children to remember the past so that  they will know better how to build the future by not repeating the sames mistakesDIFFERENT STAGES OF PROGRESS
The Bill has been approved by

1.) the Assembly Committee on Education - PASSED: March 19, 2003
2.)  the Assembly Floor - PASSED:  April 1, 2003
3.) the Senate Committee on Education - PASSED
4.) the Senate Floor - PASSED
5.) and the Governor Gray Davis' Office - APPROVED



THE BILL AB 78 WAS AMENDED IN JULY 2003
PROBLEMS DURING THE UNFOLDING 
 A group of about 30 Green Hmong or Hmoob lees have written letter of opposition  to oppose the Bill AB78. The reason they opposed the bill was that they wanted to add  the word "Mong" as a complementary term to the official ethnonym "Hmong" in the following spelling  "Hmong/Mong".  The green Hmong is a sub-ethnic group of the groupe Hmong.

In the stage 3, the term 'Southeast Asian" was adopted to replace the term "Hmong" to avoid the internal conflict within the Hmong community. However, this replacement of the term "Hmong" by "Southeast Asian" has been already evocated by the Assemblywoman representative during the first meetings (Even before the issue  of "Mong" came out) as a part of difficulty that we might face because it is not usual that a Bill only focuses on one ethnic group.This opposition has introduced visible consequences on the perception of Hmong as an ethnic group by Mainstream society in California. In the Central Valley, Hospitals or Public Institutions have removed the term "Hmong" as the official reference to the Hmong community, and replaced it by "Southeast Asian".Kao-Ly Yang (Nkauj Hli) Ph.D. Anthropology & Linguistics

(Coordinator for the support of the Bill AB78 from February to April 2003)

Hairstyles, etc - Face Framing

I usually wear my hair down.  One of the reason is that I have sensitive scalp and any type of barrettes or rubber band will give me a headache.  The second reason is that as I get older and my face gets rounder, face framing pieces, especially on the sides, helps to slim down my face.

If you look closely at the two pictures on the outside, my face looks rounder because most of the hair are off my face.  The three pictures in the middle have a more slimming look because the hair comes into the sides of my face, especially at the temple.  This helps to slim my face down because the widest part of my face is at my cheekbones.

A friend of mine said that they all look the same to her.  Do you see the differences that I am talking about or do they all look the same to you as well?

Accessories - Hmong Purse (Part 2)

I went into a lot of details on the other purse, so I did not want to clutter it up with more pictures of purses.  Here are some more of my collection.  I have a few more, but don't have pictures of them yet.

The primary colors in this one is pink on a midnight blue background.  I also have a smaller version of this one.  The scarf is actually a Hmong inspired scarf sold at Target.  The hot pink leather jacket is by Nicola Berti.  The skinny jeans are from Sears and the boots are by Fitzwell because I have a large calf.  I ordered the boots from www.6pm.com.  The shirt is from Black House White Market.  It has a very pretty flora embroidery at the neckline.

I wanted a black one to coordinate with my black clothes.  In the pictures, the cross-stitch embroidery looks very golden, but they are actually not as bright.  More neutral looking, almost an oatmeal color.  With the black background, it is a nice compliment to my darker outfits.  My husband wanted to know why I have so many of them, but colors do make a difference when you are trying to create an outfit.  And believe it or not, the wrong color to break an outfit and the right one can take it up several notches.  Same base outfit as from above.  I exchanged the jacket for this beautiful Teri Jon velvet blazer.

Here is another picture of the black and tan purse.  In this outfit, I am wearing my Teri Jon bejeweled sweater.  It is adorned with rhinestones and real semi-precious stones.  It is absolutely gorgeous!!!

This one was made from a Hmong skirt as well.  I love the blues in this one.  At the time that I bought the very first purse of this kind, there was also a blue one, but I could not negotiate it low enough and decided to let it go.  Only to realize the next day that I really really need to have it.  But by the time that I went back, it was sold already.  I bought this one much later.  Is this obsession   Lolz... I hope not, but I have a nagging suspicion that it is.  As for the outfit, I am wearing a DKNY denim moto style jacket, a white V-neck T-shirt, dark blue skinny jeans and purplish brown suede boots.  The scarf is a cashmere/silk blend.  Scarves are another obsession of mine.  But we won't talk about it, at least not yet.

OK, so the 10 Commandment said that Thou shall not covted... but boy did I coveted this purse when I first saw it.  Because these purse are very stiff and boxy, they are expensive to ship, so between shipping and the price of the purse itself, it would have been around $125.  It was more than I wanted to pay, so I kept on watching it and coveted it more and more.  After several months, it went on sale and I negotiated it down to where I paid $80 for the purse and shipping.  I was a happy camper.  The embroidery on this one is from the Hmong living in China, also known as Miao, an ethnic group in China.  This is made from a baby carrier.  There are actually quite a few purses made out of this embroidery but I love this one for how it was put together.  The layout on the outside created the perfect frame for the flowers in the middle.

The outfit is the same base as above.  I exchanged the jacket for this beautiful gold Nicola Berti leather trench coat.  Yes, I am obsessed with leather jackets too.  I could never have enough of these.  I want to buy every single leather jacket that I come across.

Here are some pictures of the baby carriers being used.  Aren't they beautiful?

Accessories - Hmong Purse

I don't know if I believe in love at the first sight, but with these purses, it definitely was love at first sight.  I really like the shape and structure of these.  I will go through and explain each one.  If I could, I would buy one in every color and every design that I can get my hands on.  Unfortunately, I love too many things Hmong and so every once in a while, I have to pass up a few.

This was my very first one.  I saw it at a Hmong soccer tournament and I knew I had to have it.  It is made from a traditional Hmong skirt.  All the embroidery are done by hand, in cross stitch.  It is beautiful beyond words.  In this picture, I am wearing my all-time favorite, go anywhere, wear with anything leather jacket by Dana Buchman.  I love this jacket to pieces.  The shirt is from Black House White Market and the jeans are from Sears.  The boots are made by Fitzwell from www.6pm.com.  I have gigantic calves so it's hard to find knee hi boots that would fit.  These actually have a 16.5 circumference at the top opening.

This is a Hmong skirt being displayed on a fence.  Make sure that you right click on this picture and open it into a new tab.  The details are mind blowing.

This is what it looks like when it is worn.

Here is a skirt deconstructed and ready to be made into other things such as my purse above.  Please do right click and open this in a new tab as well.  The design on the cloth is made by drawing the pattern in using wax on a white cloth.  And then the whole thing is dipped into indigo ink.  The pink and yellow ribbons are strips of cloth cut to length and then it is laid on the pre-drawn in lines.  The edges are folded underneath before it is sown.  On this particular piece the ribbons are sown on using a sewing machine.  In some, especially in the olden days, these ribbons are sown on using invisible stitches.  The embroidery is done in cross stitch.

Here are a few more pictures for a closer look at the ribbon design.  If you open this into a new tab and look carefully at the yellow and green triangles, you can see the invisible stitches that I was talking about.  There are cut out little triangles of cloth.  The edges are folded down and then sown on using tiny invisible stitches.

I was fortunate enough to be taught to basics so I understand how they are made.  However, I did not have the patience to stick with it so it is pretty much a lost art for me.  I know just enough to appreciate it's beauty and worth.

Olive Leather Jacket

This is one of my favorite leather jacket.  I like the color and the styling as well as the fit.  It is perfect.  This is something that I put together for a social function.

1.  Marc by Marc Anthony Olive Leather Jacket
2.  BCBG Black Lace Dress
3.  Hannah Black Skinny Jeans
4.  Born Black Oxford
5.  Purple Multi Silk/ Cashmere Scarf
6.  Nicola Berti Brown Leather purse
7.  Ninewest Newsboy Cap

Here is a close up look at the jacket.  The color in the jacket is beautiful.

Here is another olive green leather jacket.  This one is by Teri Jon.  I love the fit of this one as well.  It is in the style of a shorten trench. 

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Here are some more ideas on how to create an outfit with the olive leather jacket.  Enjoy!

Here is Heidi Klum in an olive jacket and skinny jeans.

Chic Camouflage for Work

Although these pants are very casual, I think that with the right design and right blazer, it could work for a casual workplace.  In a casual work environment, such as technology, media, and entertainment, it would be perfectly acceptable to wear your earbuds all the time.  Since there are no established rules, you will have to figure out what is appropriate and what is not.  You don't want to seem square or be ridicule for being formal, but at the same time, this is your career, and you want to be taken seriously.  You can wear casual, creative, and offbeat items.  A full suit or anything formal looking that would make it look like you're trying too hard.

Another type of office environment that this might work in is impersonal, such as manufacturing, hospitality, and call centers.  In these types of work place, it may seem like everyone who works here is just passing through.  While you may enjoy the cordial working relationship with your boss, it's possible you've had little face-to-face contact.  You might even feel more like a number than a person.  You feel invisible - so it is virtually impossible to care about how you look.  You can wear pretty much anything you want, but people might look twice - and not in a good way if you were to put on anything too showy.

Cool and Casual Camouflage

I love the cool casualness that camouflage gives to an outfit.  Here is Kim wearing a pair of olive pants with a cream leather jacket.  There is just something about leather jacket that is so enticing.

Here is Kim wearing a pair of olive pants with a cream leather jacket.  There is just something about leather jacket that is so enticing.

Here is another look with a navy blue blazer.

I really like the silk/ satiny look of these olive pants.  It is the perfect combination of masculine and feminine.  Although I love dressing like a woman, I can't do all girly girl, so I like a touch of manliness in my ensembles. 

I love this woman's style.  So cool and chic, yet still so stylish and professional looking.

Here is my take on this look.  I love the pretty color of hot pink with olive skinny pants.

1.  Nicola Berti Hot Pink Leather Jacket.  I love love love this jacket and this designer.  He was a soccer player, turned designer.

2.  Olive pants from TJ Maxx.

3.  Stripe shirt from Sears.

4.  BORN pink heel sandals.

5.  Pink Multi Silk and Cashmere Scarf.

Here is the closeup on the jacket and scarf.

This one is such a fun look.  Love the shoes and the hat.