Tag: Xidan 西单

I meet so many female acting students, it was nice to finally encounter a male one. He has a sort of rugged urban style with a very modern jacket that seems even faintly athletic.

Pink in a decidedly Japanese way, Fang Yuan also does hair at Xidan. She didn’t have a chance to speak before I was swarmed with male stylists criticizing my haircut.

Xidan strives to be Shibuya, the amazing epicenter of Japanese street style, but often achieves a rugged flavor of its own, more suited to Beijing. Before their encasement in drab Western business attire – China’s selection in formal clothing is quite boring and generally of low quality – Beijing young people get the chance to experiment with quirky looks from Japan and Korea. This rare style reservoir, where nearly every pedestrian makes some kind of effort to stand out, presents the challenge of sifting through overwhelming crowds and persuading those with the most tasteful or unique outfits to pose. In Xidan, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of people. It is not really like this in the rest of Beijing, which is spread-out and does not feel as crowded as Manhattan or Hong Kong.

Unlike in more Eastern parts of the city, shoppers at Xidan often have no concept of what Stylites in Beijing could possibly be and I was accused more than once of being a wretch up to some foul tricks.

I’m not entirely sure if those are the best boots for this outfit, but I find the scarf and collar arrangement to be intriguing.

He was in a hurry, so I didn’t get to ask if he had made it himself.

Yet another theater student, Ms. Wang studies at a Language University in Tongzhou. The nearby male hair stylists, hawking their business, applauded me for photographing her, describing her as a “true beauty”. When I asked questions regarding her views of fashion she smiled shyly and her friends told me to make something up that sounded nice. I’m trying to think of that should be.

Vice President of a digital technology company, Mr. Zhao stood out in the up-to-the-moment fashion world of Xidan, exuding a sort of 1920s Shanghai, a luxuriant world of glamour and vice. His coat is made out some kind of dreadful polyester velveteen, but I must say that it looks pretty good here.

With all the synthetics, loud colors, plaids and garish youngsters at Xidan, it was refreshing to find Tian Yue, who says that natural fabrics and the idea of authenticity are essential to her style. She only buys cotton, wool, and linen.

This color of overcoat is not common in Beijing, but I have spotted several people wearing them. Many young Chinese feel that any color remotely resembling yellow (beige, brown, even green) does not look good with Asian skin tones. However, some of my friends in the industry have told me that colors from nature will in fact become more popular in China over the coming year. This is something to watch.

Sunny is a model who said that fashion is about expressing personality and “counter-culture is the mainstream in Chinese youth fashion today, with punk and free-style being other major strains.” He describes his own style as “upbeat” and “energetic” and he stresses that he does not dress to impress others.

Here is yet another man in boots. This gray is a big color for outerwear this season and it matches Beijing all too well. The boots and cut of the coat showed that military style is alive and well in Beijing, though the bag gave the look a decadent touch.

Plenty of young Beijingers do the hip hop thing but fail to individualize it. Here, Mr. Shen has given this imported fashion his own smart flair. Beijing has countless, very scrawny, young rich kids who wear baggy jeans below their hips and walk around with huge headphones. These hip hop enthusiasts tend to be so swathed in loads of fabric that one cannot really notice their face or anything else – talk about the clothes wearing the man. This is clearly not the case with Mr. Shen. Describing his style, Mr. Shen shrugged and said “hip hop” and he also said that I probably wouldn’t have heard of the groups he likes. Stylites will be featuring much more on local hip hop culture and style in the very near future – this will include the best stores and analysis of what it means for a Chinese person to live the hip hop lifestyle.

In China, hip hop ranks as an aspirational lifestyle, rather than as a response to some grim reality.

The river of long black puffer coats was forded with this high-waisted yellow wool number, charming with the little tie and lace that maximizes the cuteness of the wearer. With so much horrible lace in Beijing, it’s nice to see an example that is appealing. She said she looks bad in photos, and didn’t want to look into the camera. I think she looks quite alright though.

Ma Jing shops at whatever stores are on the way between her home and the Alliance Francaise where she takes classes every day in preparation for study in Paris next year. She has loved France for many years and is excited to finally be going. The most important element of style, according to Ms. Ma, is finding clothing that is appropriate for the wearer – clothing that brings out their best.

Drowsily pimping with fur and chains, Mr. Tian asked permission not to disclose his profession. Possessing a certain louche appeal, he had a manner and a delicate voice. Oddly, he joined several other Xidan pedestrians in describing the USA as the most stylish country. They didn’t know that I am American when answering the question – no one ever guesses it anyway.

I’m flattered and some parts of Manhattan support the claim. Still, this perspective can only be attributed to the availability of American movies through fake DVDs. Generally, the older or more educated a person seems, the less likely they are to call America the most stylish country, tending to make the more predictable choice, France. Among younger stylish people, other frequent choices are Korea and Japan. In fact, I would have to say that at this moment in time US pop culture is competing neck to neck with Korean pop culture, perhaps even more than Japanese.

With her boots, elegant hat, and sweet expression, Ms. Zhao successfully blends grit, glamour, and girlyness – perhaps requisites for an aspiring actress studying at the Beijing International Artistic Institute of Youth and Beauty, in Changping District.

Studying at Beijing Geely University, in Changping, Mr. Chen cultivates a “mature” style focused on the color black and dark gray. He shops right in Xidan.

He was smoking in a corner, away from the crowds. There is something both innocent and wicked about him. My photos from Xidan are in the January issue of That’s Beijing. Some of the cropping seems a bit off, but please have a look anyway.

Ms. Chen must seem fairly “normal” compared to most of the people I find. She caught my eye mainly because she was the most simply dressed person in a huge field of bubble-gum pink, leopard boots, and sequins at Xidan. In that cacophony of fluorescent, overblown make-up and synthetics, someone can really stand out through not trying too hard and being gentle on the eye. She said she doesn’t care much about fashion.