Qi Pao Shopping In Vancouver
After a couple of trips to K.K. Boutique in Chinatown, I finally got my qi pao. Well I paid for it but it’s not ready yet. I’m getting it custom made and it should be here in a couple of months. There are so many new designs for qi pao now but I stuck with the traditional one. Here’s a picture of the fabric I picked:
The one of the left (red one) is the fabric I wanted. It has dragon and phoenix in gold threads with some other stuff (sorry forgot what they were) in light blue and purple. The owner said the fabric is called “five colour dragon and phoenix” (Wu Cai Long Fung, pardon my bad Mandarin translation).
I didn’t quite like the neckline so I had asked for the more traditional design (see picture on the right). Do you think I look like some sausage in those photos? I know the qi pao isn’t as fitting as they should be but for some reason I look like I have more meat.
Anyways, I also saw this other qi pao which I absolutely loved. Too bad I have no idea where or when I could wear it. It’s only $60! Maybe I should buy it and wear it around the house for kicks.
If you noticed, I purposely cropped my head off because my camera person (a.k.a Al) isn’t very good at taking pictures.
The custom made qi pao cost about $155. I think the cost depends on the design and the fabric. The store owner told me a lot of girls are ordering custom qi pao that has gold/silver threaded dragon & phoenix designs on the front. The ones that looks 3D-ish. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to take a photo of it. But that cost about $500! I figured I’m only wearing it once so I’m not going to spend that much.
Are you also wearing a qi pao for your wedding? And where in the clothing change order are you planning to wear it? I’ll most likely wear mine for the tea ceremony and then during the reception but not sure when yet. Either during the toasting or at the end of the night to see the guests off.
K.K. Boutique
154 E. Pender St.
Vancouver BC
Tel: 604-608-2778
Find this interesting? I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
[...] For those that haven’t seen or were not aware of it (although the link IS at the sidebar), I’ve recently put a check mark next to the “get a qi pao” of my wedding checklist. It’s red with gold dragon & phoenix design. There are other stuff on there also but I forgot what they were. Al said they are pairs of fish. For more details, visit my post on the my Wedding Notebook. [...]
Hi! I just stumbled across your blog! I’m getting married in Vancouver next year and am looking for a cheong sam. Would love to see a follow up post from you regarding your experience at KK Boutique and how the dress turned out. I will likely be getting a custom made dress as well b/c I’m super short! Lol
Hi Strawberry Baby, thanks for visiting! I’ll post when I get my qi pao back from KK Boutique. Are you just getting a cheong sam or a kua as well?
I love looking at qi paos! I got mine custom made as well, in lilac color as I plan on wearing it again to parties (hopefully). Wow, $155 is a really good price for a custom dress. Will it be lined inside? In Toronto, the range is about $200 all the way to over $500.
I’m going to wear mine for the tea ceremony in the morning, and then change into it during dinner, right before the toasting. You looked really good in all 3 pictures!