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STAFF STYLE

WHAT WE’RE WEARING VOL. 6: HIGH STYLE STRAIGHT OUTTA SHANGHAI

Style / 
May 2020

GIFs of Pam Hong's outfits, shot in her home.GIFs of Pam Hong's outfits, shot in her home.

Pam Hong, our Shanghai-based employee, only picks clothes that have a story. Over the years, she’s developed an eye for collectible pieces — the old, unique and obscure. Now, she has one of the coolest closets anywhere. This, in her own words, is what she’s wearing.
Selfie of Pam Hong. She is wearing black eyeglasses with light green top-rims and a white tee.Selfie of Pam Hong. She is wearing black eyeglasses with light green top-rims and a white tee.

I’m not into fast fashion. I like pieces that are really reaching back through history. Clothes that age beautifully, get better with time. Denim does both.

These jeans I’m wearing below, with the patches, are Levi’s® Vintage Clothing. It’s a 1915 501®, my favorite 501® fit. It has the really high waist and straight leg, so it’s comfortable. And in 1915, we didn’t have the Red Tab yet. These jeans look fake! So I enjoy telling people their story.

Photo of Pam Hong in her home. She is wearing all-denim and a beanie white white socks. In her left hand she's holding checkered slip-on Vans.

I layer a lot. It’s fun. I have different creative outfit ideas every day. When I bought this tan vest, I never thought to wear it over the Trucker Jacket. Usually, people will wear it under the Trucker, or over a T-shirt. Then one day, I thought, “Why not try it?”

I wear the 501® a lot, but I have a lot of jeans — at least 50 pairs. Some of them I wear, and some of them I just collect. The stuff I collect, they’re special products — maybe I’ve only worn them one time. The cuffed jeans I’m wearing below are 503Bs. This was a youth fit back in the ’60s, the kids version of the 501®. And this year, Levi’s® Vintage Clothing reproduced this fit for women.

Photo of Pam Hong in her home. She is wearing a denim Western Shirt under a long, tan sleeveless vest and ripped jeans. She is barefoot. In her left hand, she's holding a pair of red Converse.

We have all these limited-edition pieces that we make every year, and the cheapest and easiest way to get them is to buy in-season. If you notice something one or two seasons late and try to buy it on an auction site or secondhand, most of the time it’ll be more expensive. This corduroy Trucker was a limited edition from 2019, I think. Nobody thought it was worth buying until I wore it. Then people were like, “Oh, I missed this!”

My collection doesn’t look as valuable to others as it does to me. I don’t collect things because they’re expensive — I developed my eye by picking things that are valuable to me.

Photo of Pam Hong in her home. She is wearing a color-block button up, a red beanie, cuffed jeans, and bright green socks. In her left hand she's holding a pair of green sneakers.