The Dictator: on style, she rules

Waist-training is the sculpting trend of the moment, adopted by celebrities such as Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian. You can buy waist-training corsets online, but I’m dubious about their quality (a good one should have steel busks and bones). Is there a store in Hong Kong that sells highquality waist-training corsets?
Such a Cinch, Sai Ying Pun

The Dictator rules: I’d be dubious about the whole idea, not just the contraptions. What next? Foot binding? They might have created cinched waists, but corsets of the past also restricted respiration, altered the ribcage, possibly shifted organs and caused muscle atrophy. Does that make you look better naked? Not exactly. After being bound for centuries, women finally freed themselves from corsets almost 100 years ago. And yet despite such progress some women continue to abuse their bodies to get a fashionable silhouette. Still keen? If that’s a yes, you can order one from the world’s foremost corset-maker, Mr Pearl, born Mark Pullin, whose work adorns the likes of burlesque queen Dita von Teese. That route may be unrealistic, however, as he only takes on private commissions at his Paris atelier, is barely reachable (try emailing [email protected]) and reportedly charges €10,000 (HK$98,000)! If you’re still gungho, visit established sites such as orchardcorset.com (HK$769 to HK$1,934). When you come to your senses, hire a trainer who will likely tell you to do a mixture of cardio, core and ab exercises for some true waist-shaping.

I discovered the street-style photography of Bill Cunningham in fashion blog The Sartorialist and have become a huge fan. One of his subjects was necklaces with padlocks, but I didn’t catch any brand names. Could you direct me to designers making pretty padlocks?
Locking Up, The Peak

The Dictator: You’re only 40 years late, considering Bill Cunningham began taking photographs for The New York Times in the early 1970s. But why quibble? The great Mr Cunningham did indeed identify a trend continuing from springsummer into autumn-winter this year. Chanel has a series of metal chain necklaces with padlock pendants in its costume jewellery collection. While created in small and large styles, Hong Kong boutiques currently only carry the smaller ones in gold or silver tone (HK$20,900) as well as metal necklaces with tweedcovered padlocks in a variety of colours (HK$19,100). The other much-photographed padlock jewellery collection is by Rodarte. It’s difficult to source its gold logo padlock, with nickel hoops and a chain necklace, but you can still find a few at online retailers such as paire.us (HK$2,679). Givenchy, too, makes a statement with a choker-length gold lock version on a thick gold-link chain (HK$19,296). Just be sure whatever you choose isn’t too heavy. We wouldn’t want your neck to collapse under the weight of locks, as the romantic Pont des Arts did in Paris.

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