Here is a piece on me at Yoka.com, China’s leading fashion website.  The picture is a bit regrettable.

Here I am, unedited, and sounding like an intellectual who doesn’t know very much. I was caught on my way out of a show and did not have any time to prepare.  There wasn’t really even that much cat.

Also, at stylelist.com, here are pictures of the 20 strangest looks from China fashion week, without any mention of the designers.  I know the names of some of them though there are sadly quite a few that I did not catch.

Last night, a senior fashion editor based here commented that Stylites rejects all but the the young and the slim.   I always try to find stylish older people, but it is tough.  When they exist, they are usually in restaurants or in cars on the way to dining, but more comments on this later.

The idea that I reject weightier people had not crossed my mind.   It might be true although I might  plead that Beijing lacks a sizable overweight demographic.  Also, note that I display no addiction to conventional Chinese beauties – others have complained that there are not enough beauties on my blog.  Of course, I might just be photographing those I rate as beauties.

Regular updates will begin again.

The US has been fun.

I wrote a little piece assessing the changes in fashion over the last 60 years for the current China Daily, which includes a big supplement celebrating National Day.

That picture is execrable.  I must have overindulged the previous night and not found the light switch in the morning.

I must apologize for the less frequent updates lately.  Over the last three weeks, I have only been in Beijing for about three or four days and today am heading back to the States for about ten days.  With all of this travel, I have not had much time to scout the streets of Beijing.

Above is a girl that was in the Temple of Literature in Hanoi.  With its derelict but grand structures, Hanoi must be Asia’s most charming city and might be more like Paris than any other city outside Europe.  Breakneck economic growth has not yet drained the personality, and it remains free of the high-rise forests that fill Asia’s hundred identical metropolises.  Perhaps, it isn’t the most fashionable place in the region, but there are a lot of local crafts including silks, cottons and local designers.

NileGuide travel blog just did a post on the top five fashion blogs and included Stylites.

Cities:

1. Beijing

2. Hong Kong

3. Shanghai

4. New York

5. London

Countries:

1. China

2. USA

3. Germany

4. Canada

5. UK

DISGRASIAN™  wrote this about Stylites and it also was featured on the Huffington Post.  It captures quite well the value of Stylites, which is far more about people and a period in history than about fashion.

Just as I received the hard copy of Der Spiegel in the mailbox of my courtyard, I also got word that H&M Magazine’s issue that features Stylites on page 18 was available in H&M shops around the world.  H&M Magazine included Stylites in its list of the “World’s 5 Best Street Blogs” along with the Sartorialist and the Facehunter, the two most well-known blogs of this type.  In thanks, I should mention that H&M will be making Beijing perfect, to paraphrase one of their slogans, within a month by opening its first shop at Joy City in Xidan.

H&M says its magazine has a global circulation of three-million.  The top three US dailies are USA Today (2.3 million), The Wall Street (2.1 million), The New York Times (1.1 million), according to Wikipedia.  Der Spiegel is a magazine with a circulation of 1.1 million.

The article includes a picture I took last summer of Edie Bao, who also appeared last week.

Also, I just saw that another blog Double King: Online Magazine for Fashion and Marketing did a post on Stylites.

What is chic in Tokyo or Helsinki? Style conscious people discuss on the internet what is worn on the streets of this world, and they thereby change elite models worldwide.

The man whom Nels Frye spotlighted did not look especially good, but he was worth a second glance. Frye met him on Changan Avenue in Beijing, a type with an unusually long beard [NF Note: I described him as "Jesus-like"], Adidas-like shoes and checkered coat and a cane. In no way a model, but that man had style, an unusual sort of boho, so typical of China in a state of explosion, the birth of a new creative class, said Frye. [NF Note: Collecting bottles definitely demands resourcefulness but I’m not sure about creativity. He addressed the man, asked permission to take a photo and put it on his blog. A little later came the first comments. On Frye’s website a small debate erupted. This photo inspired Nels so much that from then on he travelled all over Beijing with his camera. He photographed girls, ones who have cut their hair like Manga figures, young men with beards, pea jackets, pants with piped jeans and zebra stripes, and he put their photos on the internet.

For him street-style blogging was a hobby

So the American businessman, Nels Frye, 27, on the side, became a street style blogger. Every young person who allowed him to document the style of their city entered his blog which then was sent to the entire world. And in consequence he turned the established world model on its head.

What is important is not trends but style. Street-style bloggers show what real persons in their daily lives wear on the street and convey this to an audience of millions. Instead of showing over stylized mode-lines with skinny models, they show in their internet diaries how real people interpret a couture-circus. Not trendy but determinedly style. Everyone can comment on every picture. English is the universal language. There is no competition: it is a democratic forum for young people who express themselves and make the internet a common medium of style.

For Frye it led to this suddenly people from Chicago, Berlin or Helsinki comment on his blog with suggestions that a coat should be lengthened a bit, or that a particular outfit is well thought out. Other blogs, who do the same as Frye in Beijing, link to his site “Stylites” and from day to day the number of hits increases. Publishers of style magazibnes ask if they may use his pictures, and designers invite him to their exhibitions.

Worldwide, there are hundreds of these street-style blogs, etc……….

This piece from Der Spiegel (in German) contains quite a few mentions of Stylites and comments of mine on street style in Beijing.  Germany is now the third largest source of Stylites hits, behind China (#1) and the US (#2).  The city ranking is now: 1. Beijing, 2. New York, 3. Shanghai, 4. Berlin, 5. London.

The print version is in Der Spiegel from the last week in February.

Shengzhou, Zhejiang, produces well over 200 million ties annually – almost all of China’s total production and at least three-quarters of the global total.  Almost every major Western retailer, from H&M and Next to Ted Baker and Sean John, Walmart to Primark, sources almost the entirety of their ties from this city.  Read more in my article from the February issue of China International Business.  Here are some more photos that I was lucky to get during my visits to the factories.

Babei, the largest tie producer in Shengzhou and most likely the world, is also the only factory with an exterior that vaguely suggests the colors of ties.   Over 70% of the 20 million ties Babei makes every year are exported.

Raw silk comes from Sichuan, Jiangsu and other provinces.  It comes in a few basic colors.  Dyeing – the only part of tie production that has a serious negative impact on the environment – usually occurs on the outskirts of Shengzhou.

The largest factories in Shengzhou have spinning machines that rotate at high speed 24 hours a day.

The computer-controlled looms create the fabric that are used to make ties.  Just over a decade ago, there were only about ten of these machines in Shengzhou and now there are over a thousand.  Babei’s factory has over a hundred – more than entire city of Como, Italy’s tie center.  James Kynge, tells the story of Como’s fall and Shengzhou’s rise in his book, China Shakes the World.

Working conditions seemed quite good in the tie factories I saw.  On this Babei’s factory floor, I saw ties from the following brands: Donald Trump, Sean John, Chaps, Austin Reed, Counta Mara, Tasso Elba, C&A, Zara, H&M, Marks and Spencer and Target. There were many other brands that I had not seen before.

This a large order for a children’s hospital in the United States.  Most ties made in Shengzhou use polyester interlinings of the type seen here.  Wool is much more expensive, but is better for the best ties.

Here is a just completed order for China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile phone operator ranked by number of subscribers, with 415 million customers.  With 111,998 staff in China, one can see why this is a good client.

The producers of Shengzhou only want to do volume.  There is little profit to be had from small orders that demand high quality.  Thus, my mission to Shengzhou was not highly successful.  The goal had been to find a factory willing to produce ties for Senli and Frye.  Strangly enough we have chosen to sell ties that are made in the United States, the Hickey Style line.

My apologies for the changes in theme.   The new theme should be stabilized and ready by the evening of February 16.

All content is still accessible in this period as are Senli and Frye, Marzipan and about Nels Frye.

Thank you very much for your patience.

Stylites attempts to profile the most distinctive and/or stylish pedestrians on the streets of Beijing.  Google Analytics (it’s such a blast) shows which cities are most interested in this subject.  The largest source of hits is Beijing.  Next is Shanghai and not too far behind is New York.  After that, there is a big gap before Singapore and San Francisco, which are about equal.

1. Beijing

2. Shanghai

3. New York

4. Singapore

5. San Francisco

Just behind are Hong Kong, Chicago, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, London, Hangzhou, and Sydney.  Despite great interest from New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, no other US cities produce serious traffic.  After China and the United States, the country sending the most viewers is the United Kingdom.

Trouser Press, my men’s style column that appeared for nearly two years in The Beijinger (formerly known as That’s BJ), has migrated to China International Business (CIB).  The column, now a centerpiece of the ”executive living” section of CIB, will focus on the style needs of businessmen who work and live in China.  My column for the January issue covers color matching in formal ensembles.  The February column tells which ties it behooves every businessman to have in his collection. 

Also in the February issue is my overview of the tie industry in Shengzhou, Zhejiang, which I visited last month.  Though few Westerners have heard of it, Shengzhou produces well over 200 million ties annually, at least three-quarters of the global total.  Most of these are for export.  My mission was to find a factory that could produce limited runs of ties for sale at Senli and Frye, here in Beijing.

These workers are at Babei, the largest tie producer in Shengzhou and probably the world.   Working conditions seemed pretty good in all of the factories I visited.   Later this month, I will post the article with additional analysis and pictures.

CIB is available in Beijing at Chaterhouse Booktraders at the Place, the Bookworm and Cuckoo Bookshop in the China World Trade Center and in Shanghai at Chaterhouse Booktraders in Super Brand Mall, Shanghai Centre, and Shanghai Times Square.

“About Nels Frye (费志远)” tells about me and shows how I look.  There are some new updates.

Recognize these guys?  They probably didn’t expect to be on posters all over Harvard.  This photo along with around fifty others from Stylites are part of an exhibition called “Pop! Contemporary Street Fashion in Asia” opening this Friday, November 21.  The opening will be from 7 to 10pm in the Piper Auditorium at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and will include wine, beer and images and garments representing street fashion from major cities of Asia, including Bangkok, Beijing, Hanoi, Manila, Seoul and Tokyo.  If you are in the Northeast, please charter a jet to go up to Cambridge.  If you need accomodations in one of my homes in the Boston area or directions, please email nels@stylites.net.

The August issue of The Beijinger is out.  For this Olympics issue, my Trouser Press column makes recommendations for attire to be worn while attending events and parties.  Since you can see the final version of Trouser Press in the magazine, I decided to put the first version I wrote here on Stylites.  This earlier version contains several, admittedly puerile, political comments that were deemed unfit to appear in print at this time.  So to see the finished version, please read The Beijinger.

Looking Good as a Spectator

The games are about competition, patriotism and respecting local culture. One cannot be overcautious in dressing, as every message will be scrutinized. Key times are games, parties, and brawls, sometimes all happening concurrently. The “to-die-for” piece is a lightweight chain mail vest, ostensibly celebrating the five rings, but really shielding those from countries that best the host in any event.

Main goals at all times remain safety and health. Toward these ends, clothing choices should offer protection from the heat and other spectators. For outdoor events, thin fabrics promote ventilation, while long sleeves stop sunburn. Denim is far too dense, while wearers of dark colors tend to bake in the sun. Though the air will be pristine, pure white should still be avoided as it is liable to be a victim of a neighbor’s Tsingtao. Sweat and catapulting saliva from other cheering enthusiasts are perennial perils for chic clothes at proletarian sporting events. Still, resist the temptation to wear tracksuits and team jerseys; you didn’t make the cut the first time.

Current indications are that much of the rabble will be exiled along with stray cats and lunatics, so it might be a cleaner affair than expected and a chance to dress-up. The average spectator won’t increase his medal count but he can trump other nationalities in elegance. Sartorial superiority is a refuge for those from countries with poor results; it won’t be hard to look better than citizens of the first, second or third ranking countries in the overall medal count.

Outfits geared toward parties make sense. For most sports fans, it will be night after night, raising glasses to celebrate or commiserate after hearing results. This is the time to wear a Stetson, straw hat, or a Panama. Spectators or suede bucks are perfect and linen, seersucker or even madras trousers will exhibit flare. An ascot is never wrong at a sporting event.

In the competitive climate of the bar or the stands, many might choose national dress or a look symbolizing support for their county’s team. A quirky approach is a patriotic tie. For example, citizens of the big stripy nation can opt for a star spangled banner tie from Vineyard Vines, available on their website (USD 75). Ties can also perform as nooses when things go badly for the homeland. Possibly more subtle approaches would be choosing national brands that design effective stylish sporty wear. This means Brits in Burberry, French in Lacoste, Americans in Ralph Lauren, Canadians in Dsquared, Japanese in Y3, and Italians in Dolce and Gabbana. Germans and Austrians can wear Lederhosen.

Dressing by color, it might be difficult to distinguish Americans, French, Russians, Brits, and others who could all safety go for blue trousers, a white shirt, and red shoes or hat. This would make them look marginally better than locals, struggling with red and yellow. Copying the style of a head of state is another way to back the national team. In this case, Moroccans and Afghans will be the dandies, North Koreans and Libyans the romancers, and Iranians will suffocate in the heat with their always-fastened collar button.

This is your chance to exchange, sell, or give away clothing and accessories, media related objects (no pirated goods, but if you have any DVDs from Sanlitun you can bring them), white goods, black goods, bicycles, and any other objects. You can bring your stuff, your friend’s stuff, or your ayi’s stuff – just remember to take whatever you brought that doesn’t get claimed – aside from booze. Please RSVP (nels@stylites.net or 13910092410 – texts please), so we know how many people to warn our neighbors.  Also, alcohol is always a welcome article of exchange.