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Yet another rocker. Red converses are almost the oldest symbol of cool in Beijing. I guess they tired early of black, blue and white. The best part here is the waste-length jacket, actually a vintage piece made in the good old US of A, though the overall effect seems more London than Motown.
Theater students Haini and Coco also like Obama. They comment that Obama is younger and seems to have more of a long-distance vision. Haimi, from Mao’s home province of Hunan, comments that with his fresh views, Obama can bring the US out of its current rut. She points out that even though America is very advanced, its current growth economically and otherwise is slow. A new type of president will bring new energy and all-important “change” like his famous slogan says. Obama is also a “nicer person who seems to love peace,” unlike Bush, and that is the face the US needs to present to the world. The world’s citizens now regard America as “hegemonic” and warlike, Haimi adds. Obama represents something different.
Stylish youngeons abound in the hutongs of Beijing. Older fellows in something other than a baggy suit and faded shirt are rare. That’s why I was surprised to see Prof. Zhang right outside the front door of my courtyard amidst all of the workmen and vagrants. There had to be some kind of foreign connection – and there was. He taught medicine in Houston and Tampa for some years, apparently finding both these provincial towns quite acceptable. Now he is back in Beijing, living in the vicinity of Panjiayuan.
Despite his time in the States, Prof. Zhang did not seem interested in the election. He does prefer Obama, but the reasoning is that Obama is the more well-liked candidate. Mr. Zhang is content to go with the crowd on political matters.
Holding her first album, which she gave me, Mimi, 21, is a Hunanese Folk Indie singer now studying Chinese literature at Beijing Normal University. She reads classical Chinese literature and modern western literature. She wasn’t aware that there was an election going on right now in the US and didn’t know the names of the candidates. Ignoring foreign most foreign news, her main focus is on events relevant for ordinary Chinese people. In her opinion, major problems facing China right now are environmental degredation, the growing wealth gap (she has an ipod nano), and, she says smiling, government. These challenges are similar to those facing other countries and the foremost one at this moment is probably the financial crisis, which she has heard quite a bit about. Her colorful bag was specially made for her by a friend.
Photographer Wang Yimeng, from Liaoning province, did not immediately recognize the Chinese names of the two candidates in the US election. The important thing is which one can bring the economy out of the current economic crisis. In general, however, Wang feels the US election is too far from his life for him to give it too much consideration.
With the US election next week, Beijing residents are sharing their views. NYT columnist Kristoff opened this column on world opinion of the US and Obama with one such view. Stylites will be presenting savvier views of hipper Beijingers. Chrissy, a theater student, would vote for Obama, originally because a favorite rapper (Ludacris?) supported him in a song. Now she has seen convincing proof that Obama is “better than the other one.” The main reason is that he is black and stands out from the boring succession of white men. She wants America to have a black president because it never has in its entire history. Obama will bring improvement in the US economy, now so afflicted and the conservatives were bad because they “always go to war.” Several leading pundants did note recently that opinions of pretty pedestrians in Beijing could tip the balance.
Jean Pierre Braganza is a London designer whose fashion creations are sold throughout the world and soon in Beijing. In Beijing to teach local designers to inject sophistication and cool into their brands, he was strolling down Nanluoguxiang, enjoying the street festival and drinks at Salud.
Jean Pierre describes 27 as the best age. A man finally has some experience but is not yet overburdened with the worries and responsibilities of life. The possibilities can still be endless, but can be explored armed with a bit of wisdom and experience. In the early and mid twenties, a man is a boy, naïve and ignorant in the ways of the world. At 28 and 29, he frets about the impending thirties with the first sappings of physical strength, the restrictions on freedom imposed by society, career and a young family, and growing distance from dreams as well as old friends. In the late twenties, the pressures of a girlfriend to marry or a young wife to produce children become louder and louder. Jean Pierre has succumbed to both of these pressures, but he still enjoys nights out with friends, as long as they don’t involve surprise encounters with Karl Lagerfeld and the inevitable catfights.
Every May and June, fashion columnists pour out statements like “this summer, long, lightweight scarves in silk or linen are a must-haves” followed by a list of justifications like avoiding sun-burns and a roster of Hollywood actresses adopting the style. This summer saw even more New Yorkers pairing scarves with tank tops and tees. New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham has amusing reflections on this trend. The blog Stuff White People Like, recently made into a guidebook, also comments on this seasonless love of scarves, apparently a noted characteristic of the author’s hipster/borgeousie who seem similar to the bobos in Bobos in Paradise.
In Beijing, the summer is too ghastly to justify donning a scarf even for the very most affected fashionistas. Only in Autumn did the scarf paired with summery garments emerge across the city. Over the last couple of weeks, almost every young person has been wearing a scarf, usually without a jacket. In daytime, Autumn temperatures can be hot, while at night the wind blows hard and it is chilly. I comfortably wear a tee shirt in the day and then add a sweater and tweed coat at night.
These photos of pedestrians around the city celebrate the warm part of Autumn, which just passed.
1. If temperatures do drop dramatically, keeping the neck warm is essential. Presumably, no one ever got a cold from exposing their arms.
2. This fairly heavy scarf could be pulled tight at night when gales blow. This fellow looks to lack a single pretentious bone in his body, so the scarf cannot be to show-off.
3. Perhaps scarves make somewhat more sense with a vest.
4. A low-neck sweater, wool scarf and shorts? English schoolboys exposed their legs in the depths of winter. However, this fellow has clearly become too Westernized, because in China legs and feet are considered to be the most important areas to keep warm.
5. Though more attractive, this look is just as oblivious to the dictates of Chinese traditional medicine. Her mother would find wearing a scarf and a short skirt with no stockings to be an entirely nonsensical style.
6. This voluminous one could easily cover the shoulders and perhaps even head if things got especially chilly.
7. This thinner scarf makes a bit more sense as a mainly decorative item.
8. Drape a bit of cat around the neck to keep toasty while dancing at Mix. It matches perfectly with her hair.
9. But the most common type of scarf has been plaid and made of thin acryllic. Every second girl under the age of thirty has been sporting a variety of lengths of this type of scarf.
10. It’s not hard to see where they come from: bunches like this hang at every corner.
11. This is probably the most common look.
12. And other shapes abound as well. Now I am anxious to see what the scarf styles will be for the seasons in which one really does need the warmth.
A single, very well-designed beast is replacing the cartoony creatures that used to adorn tee shirts. Animals will no doubt appreciate the increase in respect shown through more accurate depictions using better fabrics. No one deserves it more than the panda.
Girls unafraid to look boyish are not new – girls avoided looking anything but boyish until the eighties. In the sixties and seventies, women wore little to no make-up and avoided form-fitting clothes. Androgyny was the norm, though not for reasons of fashion. When looking at women in their fifties and sixties, that past is quite evident. Aside from the most affluent and Westernized ladies, most tend to abjure the feminine touches that women of their age in the West grew up with. When middle-aged mainland women do attempt to look more feminine, it sometimes comes off as a bit forced. This is despite our perception that Chinese women are more feminine.
Visitors to China often find the younger generations to be overly girly in their dress and comportment. The lace, frilly things and references to stuffed animals abound. For foreign women, this can be grounds for complaining. However, with Li Yuchun, the Super Girl contest winner famed for her baggy jeans and noncomformist boyishness, it became fashionable for young girls to escape the confines of their sex and its cutesiness. Immediately, young girls throughout the county began immitating Li. Here it is nice to see a sex-neutral look on a girl that is a bit more stylish than mullets and shapeless clothes.
This hairdresser failed to fire a visual bazooka at us unlike most of his tacky colleagues. Might not seem like much, but this young Northeasterner is showing us proportions that menswear might increasingly opt for in the future. Many designers and consumers are tired of tight clothes and formalwear could also begin to go more toward fuller cut trousers.
To make up for those times when there were so many men appearing on the blog, I have been focusing on the girls lately. Julia or Fan Fan is especially attractive. Beijing has droves of pretty and even beautiful girls like her, but very few attractive ones. Being attractive has more to do with spirit and taste than chromosomes.
Ethnic looks are usually irksome but this works, because of the pretty wearer, that it is head-to-toe and not just one random element, and the lack of overwhelming colors or patterns. Fashion editor of Audio Vision Magazine Fan Fan, from Tianjin, is a connoisseur of China’s ethnic minority cultures, including music and handicrafts. This outfit was custom-made for her by a Dong women with a shop at Panjiayuan.
A few weeks after meeting me on the street, Fan Fan interviewed me regarding Stylites. I will try to put a link to the article soon.
In this adorable pair, only lovely Lu Lu, in the black trousers, spoke. From Anhui, she hosts a fashion show on TV. Over-sized tee-shirts tend to be irritating but here the braces and wide leg trousers are a good frame. With a touch of loucheness, this droopy outfit looks comfy. The trousers, what initially drew me to take a picture, are actually from Zara, which seems surprising.
They’ve been growing in number. In Beijing, skating and the styles that are such an important aspect of it were more the province of men, but recently a number of girls are doing the look well.
BTV8 was doing a documentary on Stylites at the time, so there was no time to ask for names, hobbies and favorite colors. A Shanghai girl, she works for Converse, a brand that can do no wrong in the eyes of hipsters globally and particularly in China. Camo prints are not favorites but on the right girl with the right attitude…