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.
Month: October 2008
Camos and Converse
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…
Tehran Takes Beijing
They lack the over-sized suit coat, but they are buttoning the top button. It’s not just these two either. All over Beijing and the world, men are becoming comfortable with this look that was formerly considered too daft or too nerdy. New England mothers used to clip off the top buttons of shirts to make sure their little boys wouldn’t look nerdy, but with a little bit of help from Prada runway shows and certain highly influential subcultures (somebody is bound to bring them up), the buttoned collar now seems linked to a stylish firmness and a confident rejection of needless ornamentation.
Well-known social and literary critic Thomas Meaney has a fun piece on Saddam Hussein’s rejection of the necktie at his trial. It is seen as a symbol of both the cross and, more rationally, westernization. In fact, the top buttoned look is more commonly associated with Iran than Iraq. Iranians sometimes refer to the shah’s rule as “the regime of the Crown and Necktie” and when I was there I noticed countless religious types with styles similar to the young fellows in the photos. Iran is still at the point where leaving three buttons undone shows one’s rebelliousness. The fact that China has made it to the point where buttoning the button is seen as free-thinking is notable indeed.
Saddam did have a square, so clearly couldn’t resist a little ornamentation even at this dire time.
Isn’t this the truth? This young man spins records and lives in the hutong next to mine and knows why China is big. We can never forget that all of China’s most brilliant moments have come under a strong and unified central government. It is critical that the masses rally behind it.
The Colors of Sunflower
People who like to pose are lovely. They are like interviewees who enjoy telling their own story. The dress may not be a perfect fit or material, but the slouchiness and that of the hat give this young student a perfect vibe for summer. As you’ve probably noticed, the truth is that I haven’t been in Beijing since it was basically still that season. This is all going to change in a week.
Men in Hats
Too many guys wearing hats recently! Hat-wearing rate has spiked massively over the last six months. Girls are even getting on the action. Personally, I have lost several rather pricey pieces of headgear over this same period. I had a particularly nice hat from Sicily, made of velvet, that seems to have been purloined by the hair dresser. His logic is sound. Without the hat to cover my scruffy rug, there is no choice but to invest more funds in its appearance. The sneaky hair cutting man stands to benefit from reducing my wardrobe’s hat population.
For some reason I guessed that the fellow in the pic was a Korean, but he is from Beijing. He does the hat and shorts thing admirably. In fact, his example convinced me to invest in shorts (or rather to invest in scissors to convert some of my more flarish trousers into shorts) right as the summer was drawing to a final close. Now that it is cold, try to get a glimpse of me doing the English schoolboy thing with a blazer. I’m debating about whether to do a suit with shorts for next summer. Sadly, my shaggy and thick legs really don’t warrant all of this.
Red, White and Blue Braces
Converses – international symbol of free-thinking and youth – have always been best when red, at least in Beijing. I have read articles that praise a range of rockstars being the first to don the red Converses. This summer there were even more. It must have been the patriotic fervor surrounding the Olympics. Skinny jeans also became black, and girls studying finance adopted the Brit-rocker style of many of the young blokes, complete with the narrow, red, white and blue braces.
This type of braces have been around for a while, but I have been noticing this red, white, and blue stripe theme showing up everywhere. It is a signature detail for Thom Browne’s suits and coats, as in the following:
Pretty neat. Thom Browne’s quirky designs reference American classics and sports popular in Fairfield County. This leads one to believe that this highlight on the coat is not-quite-concealed patriotism. Still, the order of the colors is the same as the tricolour, of France. Chinese youngsters are most partial to referencing England, its rock and punk culture and its flag, in their attire. Let us try hard to interpret of these colors together as a sign of support for all three Western members of the security council. It is no surprise that US, France, and England have a strong grip on young people’s worldview.
Hatted Photographers
This perfect pair would fit in on any trendy street in Asia. They capture the current fascination with hats on boys. This kind of hat actually looks better on Asia guys, so I think this style will remain. These two photographers have a certain louche aura, but the one on the right is a practicing Muslim from the Hui community. This is not to accuse Muslims of not being louche enough; Hui are simply less common than others. There are a mere 10 million of them, one-tenth the number of Chinese with the surname Li.
WSJ Notes the Waistcoat Crisis in Beijing
WSJ’s very informative and useful China Journal mentioned Stylites’ waistcoat post in their blogs of the day post.
Reaching Stylites
Just a reminder that until October 13 I am not in Beijing and cannot return phone calls in a timely fashion. Regarding Senli and Frye, tailoring, please send emails to tailoring@stylites.net. Other questions related to Stylites can be sent to nels@stylites.net. Thanks a lot.
Tedious Trend Three: Skulls
Calling this trend “tedious” is far too glib, considering the long history of the skull in art, jewelery and fashion. As this fun Esquire piece contends, the current omnipresence of skulls matches our global society’s unabashed embrace of wealth and materialism with its ephemeralness. The skull is probably even more fitting for this moment in China’s history and quite an appropriate symbol to mention on a website that celebrates a new blossoming of individualism and vanity. The skull has, often, represented the meaninglessness of these eternal human pursuits. There is not enough time to consider whether the skull might have any relation to this day, on which the Chinese people celebrate standing up for fifty-nine years, ever since the Great Helmsman declared the birth of the People’s Republic. I did want to wish everyone a happy October first.
Anyway, here are just a few pics, of hundreds I could have chosen, to show that skulls in all forms are just as common in China.
This one is a little bit pirate-like. This was right next to the bird’s nest.
Here we have a creative skull that seems to have an almost Central American influence. The wearer works in the new Mac store.
Here is a skull on the leg of a skater.
And a skull with paper clips.
This one looks as if illnesses have haunted it well into the grave.
This post reveals my ignorance more than anything else. More research clearly needs to be done on the subject of skulls in Chinese culture. When young people in China wear shirts with skulls is it rebellious (like it was previously in the West) or is more fashionable (like it is now)? Clearly it has to be associated with death. Some might respond that they are just wearing shirts that they find amusing, but it cannot be that simple. There have been decorative skulls made from jade dug up at sites in China, suggesting ritual importance for the symbol.