Teddy Pendant at Uniqlo – 小熊吊坠在优衣库

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I ran into Jesse Chen, an IT salesman, at the first Beijing Uniqlo on its first day of business. He and his friends made several purchases and felt quite positive about this new shop at Xidan. Likening Uniqlo to Ikea, he commented that the quality seemed better than Zara, while the prices are significantly lower. As for domestic competitors, Baleno and some others might qualify, but he felt that no Chinese apparel retailer possesses the same ability to create a “culture” around its brand.

我在北京优衣库开业的第一天碰到了Jesse陈，一个做IT销售工作的男孩。他和朋友们在这个商店买了一些东西，感觉比较满意。他觉得优衣库的生意模式像宜家。他还说优衣库的衣服比Zara有“质感”，但是价格更低一些。谈到国内的竞争对手，班尼路等品牌也许能算是，但是他觉得中国的服装零售连锁品牌还没有一个像优衣库这样能够创造一种“文化”的。

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His cute teddy bear pendant reveals that even as a grown man he retains a small child’s spirit.

他可爱的小熊吊坠泄露了一个成熟男人的小秘密，那就是可能他仍然保留着做为小孩子的年轻心态。

Purple and Orange – 紫色和橘色

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Katrina is a nice girl here in Beijing to visit friends. She is from Wuhan originally, if I remember correctly, and she is now living in Shanghai. Her comments on Beijing were quite positive, particularly regarding the area around Houhai and Nanluoguxiang – the trendy sections of the old city.

Katrina是个很善良的女孩子，从上海到北京来看朋友。如果我没记错，她的老家在武汉。她觉得北京很好，尤其是后海和南锣鼓巷附近 – 老城是最时髦的地区。

Yunnanese with Splashes of Colors – 色彩缤纷的云南人

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Mr. Zhao said he comes from a small town in Yunnan. He just arrived in Beijing and plans to live here for a while. I asked him if his style is influenced by minority peoples. He said that it probably wasn’t. He is mainly going for the Bohemian look, adding that the important thing is to understand yourself and find an appropriate style. People shouldn’t imitate others or what they see in the magazines. I agree with this.

赵先生说他来自云南的一个小城市．他刚到了北京，打算在这里长期住。我问过他：“你的风格是不是带点少数民族的特色？”他说“不一定。主要的是波西米娅的。”他还加了：“最重要的是了解自己，找一个适合自己的风格。不要模仿别人或者杂志里的模特。”我很赞成他这个看法。

Aspiring Fashion Designer – 励志成为服装设计师得学生

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A fashion design student at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, she intends to design womenswear of the “mix and match” style – currently a popular focus. I was disappointed that she doesn’t make clothing or wear her own designs, so far relying on shops in Xidan and the Zoo.

这个在北京服装学院学时装设计的学生想设计“混搭”风格的女装-现在时尚界的一个主流趋势。我有点失望因为她还没穿自己做的或者设计的衣服。到目前为止，她还是在大家去的西单和动物园买她穿的衣服。

Dior Homme Rocker

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A real man of the “backstreet” getting a start on summer styles with a little ventilation around the waist, Chen Dong, originally from Xinjiang, is the singer for the band DEFY. He describes his style as rockability and enjoys all fashion items that evoke the ‘60s London. His blazer is Dior Homme and he bought on Taobao, China’s leading online consumer site. His jeans and shoes are also Dior Homme from Taobao. Mr. Chen admits that all of these items are counterfeit, but says he does not have nearly enough money to buy the real thing. He would be willing to purchase second-hand jeans and leather products, including boots, since items used to be higher quality.

一个真正的从“后街”来的男人已经提早开始为夏日风格做准备—给腰部通通风。陈栋的老家在新疆，是乐队的歌手。他用rockability来形容自己的风格，喜欢所有60年代的伦敦时尚风格。他穿的Dior Homme西服是在淘宝上买的。淘宝是中国最大的个人网上交易社区。他的牛仔裤和鞋子也是的，同样是从淘宝上买的。他承认这些东西都是盗版的，但他没钱买正版的。他愿意买二手的牛仔裤和皮具，包括牛仔裤，因为以前生产的东西质量更好

Mysterious Girl from Chiba – 神秘的千葉県女孩子

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I’ve always had a thing for girls in masks. Maybe it is because I am half Middle Eastern. Masks just make girls look so mysterious. From Chiba, a suburb of Tokyo, Tomumi lives in the hutongs of Beijing and studying at the Central Drama Academy, which she chose because she knew there would be few foreign students thus enabling her to learn Chinese more easily. She much prefers Beijing to Shanghai because Beijing has so much history. She describes Shanghai as a modern city just like Tokyo, but without the great shopping. Returning home in a few months, she will see her Chinese boyfriend, now studying in Tokyo.

我一直喜欢戴口罩的女孩子。可能是因为我是半个中东人。口罩就是让女孩子看起来很神秘！从千葉県，东京的一个教区，Tomumi[忘了问她日语名字的汉字怎么写]住北京胡同，在中央戏剧学院学习，选了这个大学因为她知道外国人少所以她能好好学习中文。跟上海比她更喜欢北京因为北京有怎么丰富的历史。她说上海是个很现代的城市，跟东京没什么太大的区别，就是在东京逛街更好。她等几个月回家，能见到她的现在东京留学的中国男朋友。

In The Details – 细节最重要

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Former Beijing party animal, Brett Model was up for the weekend from Macao where he’s a manager at Wynn.

白瑞以前是北京的Party Animal, 现在在永利澳门酒店当经理。上个月他回北京度周末。

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Keeping the overall style simple, Brett Model goes for neat details that express his personality. One leg says “everything is in chaos” while the other is “all is prosperous”. Underneath all of his suit collars are former ties instead of the usual felt.

他的个人风格比较简单，但他喜欢用一些独特的细节体现自己的个性。他的一条裤腿上绣的是“天下大乱”，另一条裤腿上绣的是“形势大好”。他所有的西服领子后面用的都是旧领带，而不是一般裁缝会用的毛毡。

Theater Academy Student – 戏剧学院的学生

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This cute young Qingdao girls studies set design at the Beijing Drama Academy. Her home in Beijing is on Beijing’s Chaodou hutong – like me， she lives in a old-style, one-story home. She thinks her school is the most fashionable one in the city. She describes her style as “luanda” or random mixing of different styles.

这个可爱的女孩子是青岛人，在中央戏剧学院学习舞台美术。她在北京的家在炒豆胡同-跟我一样住在平房里。她觉得自己的学校是北京最时尚的大学。她喜欢的穿衣风格是“乱搭”。

My Photos on Taobao.com – 我的照片在淘宝网

Some things are inevitable. Recently, I saw some photos from Stylites on Taobao.com’s “Men’s Channel”, but my consent was not given first, and no attribution was made. The title of the post is “Trendy Beijing Guys in the Eyes of a Foreigner [using mildly pejorative term]”. Also, many of these pics have appeared on www.thebeijinger.com and That’s Beijing, a local magazine for which I formally do freelance work. I can understand that Taobao’s Men’s Channel might be interested in my pictures. However, I would hope that they would at least mention the origin of the photos. I gave the editor an email discussing this issue, but, after several days, he has still not responded.

有的事情是不可避免的。最近我在淘宝网男人频道上看到我在Stylites上发表过的一些照片，但是这些转载既没有事先征求过我的许可，也没有注明照片的出处。资讯标题是“老外眼中的北京潮男”。还有，这些照片曾经在与我有正式合作关系的杂志That’s Beijing及其网站www.thebeijinger.com刊载过。淘宝网男人频道关注我的照片，这我个能理解。但是希望他们在这样做的时候，至少能够提到照片的出处。我给了他们的编辑发过email谈这个问题，但是已经好几天了，他们都没有给我任何回复。

Silver Beijing – 银色在流行

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Metallic continues to be hot in 2008, but silver is succeeding gold. Misha is right on that trend with his puffer jacket choice. And he is also getting the casual slim tie look to a tee. Perhaps that immense belt also works well with the outfit.

2008年，金属的颜色继续在流行，但银色代替了金色的主流位置. Misha选择的羽绒服正好体现了这个趋势。 他戴的休闲窄领带也是现在的潮流。有可能那个超大的腰带也配他的衣服。

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Pair of Lovebirds – 恋爱中的一对儿

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This pair of lovebirds view fashion as a way to express one’s own personality, and not as a representation of status. They say there are many good domestic fashion brands catering to women, but not so many for men. I asked them whether or not they were willing to wear second-hand clothing. The young lady said that she has not worn second hand clothing, but she has started to sell her own old clothes on Taobao. She explained: “Girls already have too much clothing. They tend to wear each piece only a few times.” Her boyfriend said that he would consider wearing second hand clothing.

这恋爱中的漂亮的一对儿觉得时尚是一种表达自己个性的方式，而不一定代表地位。关于自己喜欢的外国或者国内的牌子，他们说现在国内有很多好的女装品牌，男装基本上还没有好的牌子。我问他们愿不愿意穿二手的衣服。女孩子说她还没有买过二手的东西，但是她开始在淘宝上卖她自己已经穿过的衣服。她解释说：“女孩子的衣服已经太多了，穿了几次就不会再穿了。他的男朋友说他以后会考虑穿二手的衣服。

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They are students at the University of International Business and Economics. The young lady studies finance, while the young man does media. I think this 1.9 meter dude is quite handsome, but some of my Chinese readers might disagree with this perspective, because of that old cliche: “Chinese and Western standards of beauty are completely different.” As for the girl, she’s also attractive. She always wears this particular expression. I think it is a bit cute, very much like a glamorous Paris woman.

他们是外经贸大学的学生。女孩子学的是金融，男孩子他学的是传媒。我觉得这位身高190公分的男孩子长得很帅，但是我的一些中国读者可能会不同意我的观点 ，因为这种陈词滥调的看法 ——中国人和西方人的审美观不一样。 这个女孩子呢，也漂亮。她总喜欢这个表情，我觉得有点可爱，很像个有魅力的巴黎女士。

Hair and Pea Coat – 发型和水手穿的厚呢短大衣

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Many men part their hair, but few with such a sense of drama. This fellow makes no apologies for his appearance or ideas, presumably. There was no time to talk to him, but I think his views are probably not overly one-sided.

很多男人会偏分他们的头发，但大部分人不会像他做得这样富有戏剧性。这个小伙子大概不觉得他的造型或者想法有什么不妥或是异样。我觉得他肯定不是个看问题朝一边倒的人，但是他当时没有时间聊天。