Shanghai Night or Shanghaied?

The Cheongsam. Photo by Doris Lim

The dare? A themed ball: Shanghai Night. Shanghai the Paris of the East.

The dress? Cheongsam: a figure hugging one piece Chinese dress for women. In Mandarin, it is known as qípáo. Often stylish and tight fitting, it was created in 1920s in Shanghai, made fashionable by socialites and upper class women.

How wonderfully giddy.

So there we were; six of us packed in a deluxe room at the Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur. Our beautiful Cheongsams were hanging in the closet. Mayhem and laughter abounded in our room with shrieks, greeting each other with hugs and air kisses.

We had planned our trip. We planned detox diets. We grew our hair out, dye it. Tie it. Bun it. Sweep and fix it with hair spray. We glue moth wing eye lashes on our mono lids. Arch our eyebrows with pencilled in brown.

Our fingers and toes perfectly manicured and pedicured. Scarlet. Added extra gloss to our lips and smacked kisses in the air.

My best in the world girlfriends and I had this wonderful camaraderie getting dolled up in our cheongsams.

Eldest was so happy, she said this was way way more fun than she had when she welcomed her daughter-in-law during her only son’s wedding. Her dress was elegant, it skimmed over her tummy and hips and flared at the bottom giving an illusion of that much desired hour glass figure. She was thrilled with the results. There was a little hat, long black gloves and a lacy fan to go with the outfit.

We all tried the over-the-elbow evening gloves and fan, batting our eyes for effect. Where are those oh-so-elegant long cigarette holders when you needed one! We practised walking the room in our stilettos heels, the tips making small indentation on the carpet. Oops. Much laughter.

Second sister showed us her gown, placed it against mine and it was a good 6 inches narrower at the waist. “How can this be?” I moaned.

Second sister grinned and with both her hands grabbed the material gave it a pull in the opposite direction. It stretched effortlessly. Amazing and we would never have thought of that!

Fits expandable waistlines. Wow!

Geok’s cheongsam was hot fuchsia with spider web peekaboo at her cleavage. Beautiful. Her dress was short just skimming her knees, exposing her long legs. There are two sexy beauty spots just a little, almost inside the back of her left knee. She paired that dress with killer gladiator heels and took sexy to a new level.

Ming waltzed in complaining loudly, “I had to walk across the Mall in my grab. Do you know how many people stared? I was afraid they’ll think I’m a waitress or something”

We smiled, Ming’s long limbed, limber and with that languid grace of one totally unaware of her natural beauty.

“If I had known you were all going to dress up together, I would have bought my dress to the hotel room.” She plopped herself on the bed and eyed us as we paraded around.

This girl went on a diet that worked. Finally after a week of bee hoon soup, forsaking all dinner dates and cakes. She did it; she was zipped up without a struggle. The granite blue lace fell nicely to her ankles. The lace bodice was flattering. She smiled looking at her reflection. Turned to her side and widened her eyes. The side slits had reached above mid-thigh. She shifted foot to foot and tugged awkwardly.

“I’ll never be able to sit down and worst still not able to eat!” she screamed.

The other girls laughed. Ying consoled her, “It’s flattering.” Fine one to say that, Ying was smart enough to wear tailored trousers and an embroidered silk Samfoo top with a draconian collar. She could prance around the room like a panther on the prowl. Effortlessly. And she could eat!

I was so envious.

We made up, took photos and tried on each other’s costume jewellery for size. Perfectly timed.

We headed to the ballroom and were taken back in time to Shanghai.

As for food (what’s that again?) Let’s just say all the awkwardness and self-conscious tugging was soon forgotten. We had a ball of a time dancing the entire night.

As for the Cheongsam, let's also say it improved our postures, poise and some even say performance.

Doris Lim is a popular freelance writer who blogs as Little Fish on travel and food stories here. Be sure to check out her other inspiring stories and follow her Instagram @SmartDoryID & Facebook to check out more places to eat delicious street foods or dine in the best restaurants!