Regina Ye, who makes me think of this girl, is studying fashion design here in Beijing.
Tag: Nanluoguxiang – å—锣鼓巷
Wind: Back in Fashion?
Today the wind was blowing like it was about to go out of style. But, of course, it is one of the permanent things come October. We can debate whether wind creates beauty or disorder, but let us agree that it brings a mystery mixed with vulnerability to some pedestrians as they protect themselves from its gusts. One fact we know is she likes that sweet cheese concoction so popular on Nanluoguxiang. I think her succulent cashmere shawl comes from Woo Scarf, just down the street.
When I got home, my eyes were red and filled with dust, perhaps including some tasty fertilizer runoff particles just blown in from the countryside.
Floral Socks
Shannon is about to open a restaurant/bar on nanluoguxiang, called h.u.n. bar å三姨.
Photo: Weina Zhao
Beida Ogilvy Intern
Majoring in International Relations at mighty Beijing University, third-year Emmie would prefer to be studying something related to media. The main problem, she says, is that international realtions is too politicized a field and one rarely learns anything with real substance. As is the case with so many others who are unhappily wedded to their courses of study, Emmie ended up in International Relations as a result of her Gaokao score. Otherwise, she has no major complaints about life at Beida. She gets along with her three roommates and feels lucky that she doesn’t live with five or even seven.
Her two-month summer internship at the PR company Ogilvy will hopefully set her on a more favorable path, which should allow her to work in foreign companies after graduation. Often, majoring in something like international relations would only lead one to a government job or, at best, work in a state-run company. Emmie points out that foreign companies in China and state-run companies operate in completely different systems. Advancement in the latter depends almost completely on relationships, whereas the situation is somewhat more standardized with the foreigners. Of course, she acknowledges, foreign companies must operate effectively in the guanxi system if they are to succeed in this country and degrees of localization vary a great deal from one company to the next.
The Qinghai Navy
Wearing matching Chinese navy shirts, Spencer (å¼ é“Žæ€€ï¼‰ and Yoyo （程ç›ï¼‰are students of media. Both are from remote and landlocked Qinghai province.
Jeffrey Ying Takes Nanluoguxiang
Jeffrey Ying is a chic cat in Beijing’s pleb jungle…
When I need a job done properly, I rely on the services of young but talented Shanghaiese Jeffrey Ying (应æ·), who is already quite famous in the online sartorialism community.  His base of operations for at least the next month is right here in Beijing, the Northern Capital, to which his eye-catching style and unique pursuits bring a great deal of drama. Jeffrey Ying’s main residences are in Shanghai’s French Concession, San Francisco, and right overlooking the Bosphorus in a city that he still insists on calling Constantinople. Here he wears a 1960s Kipper Tie and spectators from Moreschi that he describes as “bi-curious”.  Jeffrey himself tends to stay mum on such subjects, frequently responding to questions with the answer “you may think as much, but I could not possibly comment”.
Will his activities turn Beijing upside down this summer? But of course…A full profile will follow on these pages. Â I can’t imagine that you won’t be hearing far more about Jeffrey Ying as he stalks the streets of Beijing like an apparition that could not possibly belong.
Big Brands
From Xinjiang, Zhang Yajun does marketing for Red Bull and is wearing a Mcdonald’s scarf.
Chicagoan Linguist
In a sweater from Xidan, tall Chicagoan Einar Engström (洪迈) prefers Beijing to his home town. He enjoys the laidback feel and still feels the rush of newness that greeted him on his first arrival about four years ago. For most of his years in Beijing he was a translator (he also majored in Romance Lanuages and Literature) from Chinese to English, but now he is in marketing at China Visual Arts Center (CVAC). His favorite of the more well-known contemprorary Chinese artists is Xu Bing. Einar enjoys Xu’s famous work Tian Shu (A Book from the Sky).
Einar thinks that the Chinese saying “忘æ©è´Ÿä¹‰çš„两足动物” is the best description for man.
Femme Feline
This catty girl is doing the jungle prints thing quite convincingly.
Are they both cat?
Bespoken Gothwear
Liu Sha would not provide the name of his girlfriend, but he did mention that their clothes were mostly custom-made by a tailor near Dongsi. It was quite a hot day, but they didn’t seem to be sweating even in all that black.
Proportions Emphasized by Plaid
Huang Shengsheng studies Management at Beijing Foreign Language University with the aim of starting a career in art management.
Refined and Rebellious
Sai Le (赛勒) adores Japanese culture and fashion. Often going by the name Asako, she also reads Japanese fashion magazines like Mina and Vivi. A media consultant living in Chaoyang district, Asako spends free time in the old city, usually around Nanluoguxiang or the Lama temple.
The look may not seem exactly revolutionary, but I like the way she achieves such attractive outcome, while harmoniously incorporating so many elements I normally despise: an unconventional piercing, unnaturally colored hair, ripped jeans…the list goes on. The lush green velvet jacket and decadent jungle cat flats paired with ripped jeans achieve the type of “casual with a twist” look that I rarely see done so well here. The boyish hair style and stud are an interesting contrast with this look that is at once refined and rebellious. The orange hair works nicely with the green jacket. Others should take note. Recently, there have been a growing number of young ladies with ginger hair wearing bright red coats. This is insane – and in a tedious way.
Classic Beijing: Rockers in Skinnies
I should start a “classic Beijing” category. It would include young rockers like this and old men in Mao jackets, which is the sort of funny combination that makes this an interesting place to live. Thinking of the city and its denizens, I immediately think of an image like these two. I was going to add “post 2000” but in images and movies of youth in the city from the late 1980s, I’ve noticed some of these types. Is the current breed as tough, as genuine, as their spiritual forebears?
It’s a much more pleasant image than that of a chubby businessmen with alligator loafers holding a pleather murse or a kept woman in pink fur carrying LV, which are what I think of for several other prosperous towns. Beijing is China’s bohemia. You noticed, I’m sure.
The city never feels bereft of boy rockers in their skinny jeans. They have appeared on stylites many times: last year and more recently. Plenty of girls too: Norwegian, Gia, and rather pretty.
Black, White and Gray
Eva is a jewelery designer from Guangdong province, who focuses on designs in silver. She was up in Beijing on business, but she was also enjoying some sightseeing in the old town. Designing for a range of major brands, she recently made the decision to discontinue the website she used to maintain for showing her designs. She explained that too many of her designers were being copied. This experienced designer is obviously no novice when it comes to dressing with a careful, coordinated and personalized style. Others should take note.
From Hubei to the Rive Gauche?
From Hubei, Liu Yiwen (刘伊雯) is a French language major at People’s University of China. She hopes to go into the hotel management business and visit Europe at some point. Interestingly, a designer friend has just mentioned to me that Parisians love wearing black and green.
Her outfit may not seem particularly startling, but is notable in both use of proportion and color. Also, college students hardly ever wear outfits that are simple and attractive. The goal is usually to throw as many odd pieces together as possible.