On Set with eBay LookBook Winner Chi Hiu Yim

By Bee-Shyuan Chang
February 24, 2011

At long last our eBay Fashion LookBook winner has been selected! Kansas City resident Chi Hiu Yim took home the grand prize (which includes $5,000 to spend on eBay to her heart's content, natch) and we're happy to report that she's the perfect mix of global style maven and online shopping enthusiast. "I was completely surprised when I found out because I thought I joined the contest kind of late," Yim said at Lucky magazine's Time Square offices, where she was prepping for her eBay Fashion LookBook winner's photo shoot with the publication's street style photographer Michael Waring. "I reread the letter about ten times before it really sunk in!"

It was her mix of funky and femme fashion trends that caught voters' eye. "I like to be feminine but maybe not over-the-top sexy," she shared.

Chi Hiu Yim's entry for the eBay Fashion Lookbook

"The outfit I wore for the contest was meant to be playful and a bit eclectic too. It's more about representing my personality than showing skin." Not that she hasn't drawn quite the attention in Kansas City where the Hong Kong native currently works as a graphic designer. "I do get a lot of looks on the street for my outfits sometimes," she said with a laugh. "Being a graphic designer, I'm really drawn to patterns. I've loved stripes forever, but florals are fun, too, and even better if you mix patterns together."

Lucky photoshoot

The Lucky photoshoot; images by Michael Waring

Having grown up in Asia, there's a global element to her mix and match personal style. Though Yim is also quick to point out, "Fashion is all very international these days. I do stand out a bit in Kansas City—there's a lot of Abercrombie there—but strangers will stop me on the street and be really positive about it. Everybody can go online and see the trends going on now and people are more open to things."

Online is also where Yim finds many of her trendy clothes and accessories. For spring fashion trends, she'll be hunting for denim short-alls she spied on her last trip to Hong Kong, a lingerie slip to layer with chunky knits and some vintage pieces, perhaps in her favorite stripes. "eBay is great because you can find something very specific," she raved. "It's all about hunting down your own unique little treasures."

Speaking of fashion trendy treasure troves, watching Yim going through the goldmine that is Lucky's fashion closet makes it clear she has the passion for fashion. For the winner's photo shoot, she brought along pieces (to pair with items from Lucky's closet) based on themes: girly, eclectic and boyish were recurring ideas. On a tour of the magazine's offices with editor-at-large Elise Loehnen, who styled her for the shoot, she pondered a more permanent, professional go at the industry. "I would love to do something with layout or art direction," she mused. "Or maybe textile design. I do love my patterns."

eBay Selections Inspired by Chi Hiu Yim's Eclectic Personal Style

Striped T-Shirt