Year of the Water Dragon

Happy Chinese New Year! It’s the Year of the Water Dragon, a symbol of power from heaven. Also known as the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, Melbourne is celebrating it until February 5, with street stalls, firecrackers, lion dances and dragon parades, and lots more traditional and contemporary Chinese cultural activities. (Check out the website for more details.)

I’m celebrating it today with this lovely vintage poster advertising Club Cosmetics. Isn’t she just gorgeous? The model carries a feather fan, on the handle of which is the Chinese symbol of longevity. I purchased this, and one other poster, in Hong Kong’s Cat Street Markets five years ago. I was delighted to find them, for I had always admired these Oriental posters of the 50s and 60s. 

Still on my shopping list, a vintage cheongsam – to replace the embroidered oyster satin one I stupidly donated to charity years ago (I plead a temporary fit of closet-clearing).