Savvy + Chic Seniors
Images from Chinatown Pretty + Chronicle Books
Images from Chinatown Pretty + Chronicle Books
Calling all Asian-American style mavens! So excited to share my copy and first glimpse of CHINATOWN PRETTY Fashion and Wisdom from Chinatown's Most Stylish Seniors. In the latest Chronicle Books release from photographer Andria Lo and storyteller Valerie Luu, the creative duo share their interviews with Chinatown’s most culturally chic pòh pohs (grandmas) and gùng gungs (grandpas) on their blog and Instagram, Chinatown Pretty, since 2014.
“What would start with us waving and smiling or exclaiming ‘pòh poh hóu leng!’ (‘pretty grandma!’) would lead to personal conversations about their life journeys and immigration stories, their joys and their pains.”
Andria Lo is a freelance photographer from Berkley who’s been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Times, and Wired. Valerie Luu is a San Francisco-based writer and co-owner of the Vietnamese pop-up restaurant Rice Paper Scissors. Both second generation Asian Americans, Lo and Luu explored a shared fascination and curiosity about the people behind the clothes. So they began to approach people on the street and ask how they assembled their outfits and fashion statements. (Even as 90% demurely declined.)
“The Chinatown seniors’ dress and demeanor also reminded us of our own grandparents – their permed hair, their sock-and-sandal combinations, and the way their expressions could switch between extremely tough (and intimidating) and overwhelmingly affectionate.”
I am personally a huge fan of Dorothy G.C. Quock – better known as Polkadot – whose colorful, cheeky style is ageless and boundless in energy and effortless chic. Check out her rice bag-inspired tunic and elderly spin on modern leopard skin! Six years in the making and covering six Chinatowns in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Vancouver, this fresh collection highlights vintage, high-low, bold, cultural fashion at its best. Celebrating “urban senior street style” and glam golden years, each chapter focuses on a specific Chinatown, introducing a brief history of the neighborhoods.
With sage advice and a fashion sense all their own, these trend-setting seniors show us how to age gracefully and gleefully. From seamstresses, gardeners, store clerks, vendors, and social workers, most immigrated decades ago from China or Vietnam. A great gift to inspire Asian-Americans of all ages to up their fashion game for the outdoor markets and beyond. Featured in Vogue, San Francisco Chronicle, and Design Sponge, CHINATOWN PRETTY showcases senior portraits capturing the joyful human spirit – sharing heartwarming personal stories and life lessons about resilience, immigration and Chinese-American culture.
“These seniors taught us not only how to dress with joy and abandon, but also how to live a meaningful life. This book is for them.”
