Where to buy stain-resistant white jeans for yummy mummies, and chemo wigs

Stain-resistant white jeans are finally here.

The Dictator

Published: 4:30pm, 1 Jul 2016

Why you can trust SCMP

My friend calls me the stain magnet because I can’t seem to get through the day without getting something on my white jeans. I would like to put the blame on my kids, but it’s usually something I’ve done. I saw you wrote about anti-staining white shirts a while ago. Could someone do the same for my trousers?

Stain Magnate, Mid-Levels

The Dictator rules: Isn’t it obvious? Stop wearing white. We never cease to be bewildered by the Yummy Mummy’s proclivity for white denim in the face of grubby little hands and, sorry, lingering baby weight. We’re surprised it took this long for the denim industry to come up with stain-resistant white jeans for an audience literally held captive by little ones with perpetually dirty paws. Almost as surprising as the brand that did it. Humble little Old Navy, that’s who! Its mid-rise Rockstar skinny jeans are made from Stay White denim, a “technology” developed to repel stain-making substances. They are now on sale for HK$310 at oldnavy.com. Joe’s Jeans does them, too, as part of its Play Dirty, Stay Spotless collection. Its Asymmetric Skinny jeans features a wash treatment that resists spills (on sale, HK$714; joesjeans.com). However, the stain-fighting finish loses its superpowers after 20 delicate washes. Or, if you want to look like a Mum, Lands’ End has the stain-resistant, high-rise, straight-leg jeans for you, which promise to be stain-repellent against water-based oopsy daisies, such as ketchup, coffee and fizzy drinks (HK$576; landsend.com).

When choosing a wig, look for something that matches your natural hair colour. Picture: Reuters

I’d like to buy a realistic wig for a friend who is about to start chemotherapy. Any ideas where I can find one relatively quickly? I’m sure you’ve seen some tragic ones in your day!

Big C, Tsim Sha Tsui

The Dictator: Oh no, you don’t! You cannot tempt me to be flippant about this. Instead, let me begin by sending your friend our best wishes for a speedy recovery. Many, many people have beaten cancer, and we sought advice from some of them. Lily Wigs (lilywigs.com) comes highly recommended, but it’s not cheap, with real-hair wigs running to HK$10,000 and up. There is great support to be had from cancer groups via social media, websites or a charity. CancerLink at the Hong Kong Cancer Fund lends out wigs, and will send you a comprehensive list of wigmakers (HK$300 and up; cancer-fund.org). The Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation (hkbcf.org) also gives some wig sources, and has a free wig programme. Wigs can be expensive and even those who can afford them have told us they preferred wearing silk scarves instead for the look as much as for the comfort. Justify treating yourself to an Hermès foulard (HK$3,600 and up), or don’t. Multibrand stores, such as Lane Crawford, have wide assortments by recognisable fashion names and lesser-known artisans (HK$1,900 and up). Breastcancer.org offers great advice such as: order your wig prior to chemotherapy so the makers can see your natural hair colour. Looking good is clearly not the priority when so much is out of your control, but it helps to feel good.

Post