TALENT

The Right Fit

Being Neighbourly x Amanda Wong, Amanda Leigh Style

Author/ Being Neighbourly
29 October 2024

I’m meeting Personal stylist Amanda Wong for the second time and this time I can’t resist asking her what she’s wearing: “A black pinstripe coat/vest/dress from Cue with an organic cotton T-shirt from Parallel 51 underneath, a Ginger & Smart belt and black Charles & Keith high heels”, she reels off, adding with a triumphant glint in her eye that the heels are “padded”.

Most of her outfit, she says, is Australian: like her. She shares that she used to return to Australia every six months to see family and that she’d hit the shops while there, because the sizing was so much more suitable, “and this removes the stress out of this aspect of shopping in Hong Kong. Everything fits and is well made,” she adds.

Finding the right fit has been a hallmark of her journey — from the unflatteringly school uniformed-clad girl she once was in Sydney to the ‘A-ha moment’ some years later, courtesy of a shot taffeta Indian sari material, which she had fashioned into a custom-made dress.

By this time, Wong had moved with her family to Hong Kong. The dress made her feel “amazing”, and completely won her over to the transformative possibilities of clothing. She discloses, in an apparent throwback to that magical moment, that she has a stash of beautiful evening wear, seldom worn but, nevertheless, much treasured for its embodiment of magic. One gets the feeling that Wong’s decision to study fashion and her career goals since launching Amanda Leigh Style has been to re-create her ‘shot taffeta’ moment for herself and her clients — to lift them up and empower them in the same way that she has been. She recalls one client with whom she touched base six months after they had worked together. This woman had been promoted twice, which she felt sure was down to the adjustments she had made to her work attire. There have been many clients over the 15 years since Wong’s business launched.

While reluctant to reduce women to stereotypes, Wong does admit to one: ‘The Active-wearing Mum’. She says that her clients are often gifted tokens, which commences their fashion journey. The process varies but Wong always starts with a discovery session to explore what the client wants and pin down “collaborative goals”. They may then hit the shops or do a wardrobe edit at the client’s home.

Wong says that many clients that approach her have come to an important crossroads, where they are finally prioritising themselves rather than living what she calls the “‘Empty teapot syndrome’, pouring themselves empty, while serving others”. But other than this, clients literally come in all shapes, sizes — and budgets vary greatly as well.

She says that with a fresh graduate, the recipient of a Amanda Leigh Style gift token, she took her to Green Ladies, a second-hand clothing shop, where they managed to find her an entire outfit for an upcoming work interview at a bank — all for the princely sum of 500HKD, “including the shoes!” she cries.

While fashion may be superficial to some, to Wong it is a profundity; something to be understood and played with as a means of showing or camouflaging oneself. It’s a tributary for history that contains multiple meanings. “It’s a reflector of society and what is happening in the world”.

I’ve read that Wong’s wardrobe reads like a travel journal of the places she’s lived (the US, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Sydney) and travelled, but she shares that, as for many in Hong Kong, her wardrobe is not the expanse it might be, if she were living elsewhere. “I know I have a certain amount of coat hangers, and if something’s coming in, something else needs to go out,” she says pragmatically. She continues, “I really ask myself what an item is going to add, before I purchase it.”

She points to the gold echoes in her outfit, from the detailing on her Louis Vuitton bag, to her earrings and then southwards to the buckle of the belt encircling her waist, and shares that accessories can be transformative too and that they are much more space-savvy for the limited square footages of Hong Kong flats.

What’s the best work advice you have received?

“It not just one piece of advice but many. The ones that stand out are: “You’re either GREEN and GROWING or Ripe and ROTTEN!” and “Say YES, and then figure out how”.

‘Green and growing’ has been a mantra of mine over the years. Just when I think I’ve seen/heard it all, it reminds me that I’m never done learning!

My role as a Personal Stylist is to be a bridge between what my client needs/wants and what fashion has supplied in that season. I use my knowledge to empower clients. But the fashion industry is so big that I can never know everything. For this reason, I have built a network of contacts.

Saying ‘Yes’, and then figuring out how has helped me get out of my own way many a-time. It has stopped me from overthinking and motivated me to find my calling – helping people. Without this reminder, I may not have had the opportunities to build and connect with the people that I have.”