Tag: Nanluoguxiang – 南锣鼓巷

No, it’s still not here. The flavor just doesn’t have much appeal beyond the limited number of Americans. Still, the label must have some appeal for this visiting graphic designer from Taiwan.

Yet another little girl wielding a huge camera on Nanluoguxiang…Not long ago, any type of digital camera was a status symbol, but I fear that soon, not taking photos will be elitist thing to do, though of course we have to pass through the lomography phase first. She wears a vintage leather jacket and works in Edelman, a PR firm founded in Chicago and one of the few that is not part of the massive WPP Group. Former PR account executives appearing on Stylites all worked in subsidiaries of that group. We’ve had a young punk from Weber-Shandwick, funky Sabrina (here again) of Ogilvy, a fellow in a long cardigan from tobacco-protecting Hill and Knowlton, cute Michelle from Burson Marsteller and crafty Yuanyuan, also at one time a BM employee.

Last October while walking out of Uniqlo on Broadway I happened to run into Wynn, grandson of BM founder Harold Burson. An aspiring fashion designer in NYC, he was wearing a jacket with shoulders that stretched about a foot beyond his natural ones in both directions. A year and a half earlier, I had the honor of hosting this young man on my couch here in Beijing.

The international firms in Beijing attract fashionable and worldly young people, women mostly. Excellent written and spoken English is a must for communicating effectively with the mostly foreign clients as is an ability to function effectively in the corporate world. A fine-tuned mastery of the corporate jargon is essential. The leveraging and picking of low-hanging fruit never ends in these offices. If you want to learn more about PR in Beijing, I suggest checking out Imagethief.

This pretty student is well-dressed but not as eye-grabbing as most on this site. She was one of hundreds of young cuties being pursued by a young boy with a huge camera on that afternoon. I photographed her mostly because she illustrates a key characteristic of one of my favorite streets for photographing, Nanluoguxiang. Many of my friends often comment on the number of young people to be found hauling dramatically sized Canons and Nikons down this trendy alley, which should be a pedestrian-only street. Recent sociological research has shown that taking photos with these monstrous gadgets in hutongs is a key courting ritual for youngsters.

This was striking for the blending of subtle details with a striking simplicity, at least compared to the usual visual cacophony of the streets. The cut of the coat, by an independent designer based in Beijing, and the silver shoes are perfect.

This Danish pair initially may not look similar either physically or in terms of style. Still, they both seem interested in less conventional takes on proportions and the high-contrast but neutral color plate that seems generally favored by Scandinavians. One thing for certain is that smokers flock together, for better and worse.

Beijing’s bone freezing temperatures convince many residents to invest in unsightly puffer coats and other unattractive but warm options. Many conclude that a wool coat does not warm enough, partially because most men do not wear heavy suits or blazers under their overcoats. But this Shanghaier poses a new question: Why not just put one stylish coat on top of another one? Cardigan over sweater, blazer over hoody, tee-shirt over sweater – these choices that might have once been considered overly casual have all been done stylishly. Now is the time for some coat on coat action.

This is pretty great. I am going to make hair a bigger factor in selecting people to photograph. This awesome hairdo will probably not fail in attracting a lot of looks. A rock aficionado and bar owner, this Gulou area entrepreneur’s main assets may be is attitude and his hair stylist.

This attractive pair unites a Midwesterner with a Californian. Western couples are slightly more likely to look similar in dress, while differing in ethnicity. This could reflect greater economic equality of the sexes, greater superficiality mixed with a less practical outlook or just that there is more concern for how the man dresses. In any case, these Americans could definitely pass for hip Continentals or Brits.

A film producer, Teddy recently took up smoking a pipe. He bought this one on Gulou Dongdajie. He pulls the pipe off well, which is no easy feat. The scarf is also nice, but do I detect a growing market for for velvet smoking jackets?