Chinese tradition would have it that the bride change to a red qipao (“cheongsam” in Cantonese) for the dinner banquet of her wedding. Red is the Chinese celebration and luck color, and most wedding qipaos have gold accents or designs (sometimes sequins and embroidery) for prosperity. When the traditional fabric is used, the dress has no give whatsoever, so it has to be custom-made to fit. Just about every Chinese girl I know who got married has a red qipao sitting in her closet. It’s not exactly something you can pass on or share because of its precision-fit feature (hence the creation of many many many red qipaos), and it’s not exactly a versatile piece of clothing to wear over and over again because if you wear it to someone else’s wedding you’d look like you’re trying to steal the bride’s show, if you wear it out people think you just got married an hour earlier, and you sure can’t go to the gym or do much in it but look pretty. So what is a girl to do with her expensive custom-tailored bright red qipao after her wedding?

I’m tossing around the idea of throwing a semi-formal qipao-wearing party, perhaps coinciding wth Chinese New Year so red is the “it” color by tradition, and we can all wear our wedding dresses again. Of course people can wear any color qipao they’d like, and girls who don’t own a qipao can go out and buy one off the rack or get one made. And the theme/food will be Asian chic, not Asian fob. Orchids and lit lanterns, candles and lotus flowers floating in a pool, red envelopes at each place setting for fun, decorative chopsticks for the girls’ updo.

Am I crazy?