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.

Several of my posts and articles rail against the shapeless puffy coats that too many women resort to during Beijing’s winters, which are really neither cold nor long these years.  Though they may not provide as much warmth, my preference is always for wool coats.  This is not to say that a puffy coat cannot look good, as this young lady proves.

You may not believe it after seeing this chic fellow, but various schools of thought assert that no two of these colors work together.  This fellow is looking quite good with all three.  Some believe black trousers cannot be worn with brown shoes and others say black can never be combined with navy except for navy trousers with black shoes.  The contrast between these neutral colors is seen as too minimal.  This finance student, back in Beijing from attending university in Australia, makes it work very well though.  Perhaps those rules only apply to more formal attire.  The navy trench coat is real Burberry and the suede monkstraps are apparently made in Italy.  Most of his items are purchased abroad, where the price of quality is lower.

People everywhere tend to dress in ways  similar to their peers.  In downtown Chicago, suburban soccer moms having a night out all wear high-waist baggy jeans and manly black leather jackets.  Williamsburg hipsters
all wear tight but low-riding jeans and Converses (their counterparts in Beijing wear that too).  In first-tier cities, white collar girls all have brand name handbags and an air of sophistication. Chengdu girls on internships
in Beijing go for colorful puffer vests, blues and greens, and plastic bows.  All the bright colors and they still look quite harmonious.

Jean Pierre Braganza is a London designer whose fashion creations are sold throughout the world and soon in Beijing. In Beijing to teach local designers to inject sophistication and cool into their brands, he was strolling down Nanluoguxiang, enjoying the street festival and drinks at Salud.

Jean Pierre describes 27 as the best age.  A man finally has some experience but is not yet overburdened with the worries and responsibilities of life.  The possibilities can still be endless, but can be explored armed with a bit of wisdom and experience.  In the early and mid twenties, a man is a boy, naïve and ignorant in the ways of the world.  At 28 and 29, he frets about the impending thirties with the first sappings of physical strength, the restrictions on freedom imposed by society, career and a young family, and growing distance from dreams as well as old friends.  In the late twenties, the pressures of a girlfriend to marry or a young wife to produce children become louder and louder.  Jean Pierre has succumbed to both of these pressures, but he still enjoys nights out with friends, as long as they don’t involve surprise encounters with Karl Lagerfeld and the inevitable catfights.

The Beijingers appearing on Stylites usually hail from the self-described “creative elite” or the white collar world of foreign multinationals, but it was clear from Daphne’s rough accent and manner that she claims neither of these two backgrounds. Unlike most girls from the provinces or others without foreign exposure, she has some natural grace. Maybe she also knows that adding a tincture of raspiness to a sweet appearance can have a special appeal. All items are from the zoo market. The flats are a kind of plastic webbing material perfect for rainy days – they seem a good alternative to crocs, though I guess rain isn’t the only justifications for crocs.

From Anqing, she has been in Beijing for two years, working in events organizing. Anhui is quite the trendy place these days since it is offers a great location, in the Yangzi River Delta, but without the high costs of Shanghai, Jiangsu, or Zhejiang. Suddenly, it seems like everyone is from Anhui – whether it is young tailors, cleaning ladies, owners of refrigerator factories or Hu Jintao. According to some, Anhuiers are still willing to work up from the bottom rung, whereas young people from more affluent provinces have a new sense of entitlement and expect to start out as managers or owners. All this is to say that Daphne can definitely make it in Beijing.  And let’s face it, all Anhui girls like this can probably make it anywhere.