“My style?” Astrid said incredulously.

“All this strange vintage stuff, no one gets it. Why can’t you just wear Chanel once in a while like everyone else? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and I think we need to make some big changes. I really need to revamp my image completely. People don’t take me seriously because of how we live. They think, ‘If he has one the most successful tech companies in Asia, why doesn’t he live in a bigger house? Why isn’t he in the press more? Why does his wife still drive an Acura, and why doesn’t she have better jewels?’ ”

Astrid shook her head in disbelief. “Every serious jewelry collector knows about my family’s collection.”

“That’s part of the problem, hon—no one outside of a tiny inbred circle has even heard of your family because they are so goddamn private! At dinner my client couldn’t imagine that those rambutan-size rocks you had on were real. So instead of making you look more expensive, it looked like you were wearing cheap costume jewelry. Do you know what their general counsel told Silas Teoh over drinks last night? He said that when we first walked into dinner, all the guys thought my date was some girl from Orchard Towers.”

“Orchard Towers?” Astrid was confused.

“That’s where all the escorts work. With those boots and earrings you were wearing the other night—the guys thought you were a high-class whore!”

Astrid stared at her husband, too stung to speak.

“We need to go big or go home. I need to hire a new PR consultant, and you need a new look. And I think tomorrow you should call that MGS friend of yours who is a realtor, what’s her name again? Miranda?”

“You mean Carmen?”

“Yes, Carmen. Tell her we need to start looking at new houses. I want a place that will make everyone who comes over lao nua^*2 the moment they drive up.”

*1 Literally translated as “meat bone tea,” this is not the name of a summer event on Fire Island but rather a popular Singaporean soup that consists of melt-in-your-mouth pork ribs simmered for many hours in an intoxicatingly complex broth of herbs and spices.

*2 Literally translates as “dribble saliva” in Hokkien. In other words, to drool over something with envy.

13

SAVE THE SEAMSTRESS FASHION SHOW

JUNE 2013, PORTO FINO ESTATES, SHANGHAI

NOBLESTMAGAZINE.COM.CN—

Society columnist Honey Chai live-blogs from her front-row seat as two of China’s most influential fashion forces come together tonight for the worthiest of causes.

5:50 p.m.

I’ve just arrived at heiress and fashion blogger Colette Bing’s heavenly country estate, where she’s hosting a very special fall fashion preview with her best friend, superstar Pan TingTing. This is the coveted invitation that only three hundred of China’s chicest have received. Prêt-à-Couture has flown in the most decadent looks from the top fashion houses in Europe. As Asia’s top supermodels, including Du Juan and Liu Wen, strut the runway, the outfits will be auctioned off to benefit Save the Seamstress, a foundation started by Colette and TingTing that fights to improve working conditions for garment workers throughout Asia.