Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Sniped Shanghai Street Shots: Top 9 of '09

I've had three obstacles thus far in putting together a Top 9 of '09 list like this (I kind of did it):

1 - I've only been in China for 12 weeks and thus don't have that many great pictures to choose from.
2 - I've literally been sniping shots (stealing you could say perhaps) of people on the streets because no one will ever pose when I ask them... they are highly suspicious of us foreign folk, which has made it difficult to get perfectly posed pictures.
3 - I'm usually trying to take pictures as inconspicuously as possible while walking on the street, riding the bus, in a cab, or on my roommate's scooter. So please, if the pictures are off-centered or blurry, don't judge me... the pictures are ranked by considering both the subject's style/stance and the quality of the photo.

...So I've finally edited it down to the Top 9, but this post might spoil some later posts because the pictures are released before they are really contextualized. But it's the New Year soon, so there are many, many new pictures to be sniped of otherwise unwilling subjects, but just to forewarn, you will see some of these pictures again.

Honorable Mention - She would have made it into the Top 9, but I spotted a Burberry scarf in her outfit unfortunately. But I know that it's at least real because it's not conspicuously the central piece of her look. Rather, it's blended as a part of a beautiful composition, and I have to give her props for making the world's single most offensive piece of clothing almost bearable:

Number 9 - This guy really isn't Number 9... I just thought I should start off the list with a strong and interesting look to entice you to read further, and this guy has style to the max. His layers are great, the colors are beautiful, and the composition is perfectly and quirkily accented by the silly shape and color of the hat:



Number 8 - Jean jackets are back! Or rather, they never cycled out of the Chinese fashion system. We are still a couple of decades behind here, so I could understand one or two jean jackets here or there. But there are MANY, and they are EVERYWHERE (as I'll blog about later). What's worse is that jean jackets are inevitably paired with, how creative!, jeans. But he looks like a working boy, as he's obviously a bit tired, so his jean suit is probably uber functional:


Number 7 - Here's a construction worker with a loosely tailored and semi-disheveled look that I thought was super cool. If you were working as a construction worker, wouldn't you want to still achieve some amount of individuality from the billions and billions of other construction workers in China?? I've never seen an anyone in such a profession in China so interestingly dressed, but the proportions, colors, cuts, and styling are all there. Appropriate, but still exceptional:

Number 6 - I love the conspicuousness of this woman's PJ set... I never knew a pink to pop like that, and what makes this particular ensemble even more special are the heeled boots and cell phone she's sporting around with her stroller:

Number 5 - So poised, yet not posed... this young gentleman has interesting layers and proportions, as well as nicely composed colors.

Number 4 - I always find people on the street wearing super interesting uniforms... an interesting factoid when you consider the country's recent sartorial history. Anyway, this maiden clad in all white gets the Number 4 spot for her cute haircut and incredulous stare:

Number 3 - This little girl is ColorBlocking my brains out! She deserves Number 3 all to herself for how cool she looks (and the pose I got was great!), but I'm adding another little girl's picture right below just for some contrast... I bet the ColorBlocker didn't dress herself that way, but at least someone in her family had the decency to not dress the little girl in a fake Burberry coat at the tender age of 5:


Number 2 - This old guy has the most endearing smile, and I somehow managed to capture it... and this close up to him too! The iPhone has revolutionized picture/video-taking, because I would never have been able to have gotten this close to someone and sniped this kind of a shot with a regular camera. Anyway, I love his sweater pattern and color combination on top, and he's dressed appropriately for his age. His personality though definitely is what makes the picture Number 2:

Number 1 - She's the coolest f'in lady I've seen in China. I ran across the street and almost died to get this photo, but it was well worth it. She's super unique and quirky by Chinese standards definitely, but she's just chillin' and doing her own thing with that bright blue bow tie. I think she was as intrigued by me as I was by her, which allowed me to snipe this great shot and expression:

Imagine the Funniest/Coolest/Best Thing You Could Possibly Wish to See in China...

and then watch it in this video. This occurred at 9 a.m.:



I absolutely LOVE this video for a number of reasons:

1 - You NEVER see people breakdancing in China in public, especially not old people. Thus when context is considered, he's super unique and not afraid to be different... stylish, I dare say (which I don't say often).
2 - His trench, hat, shoes, gloves, and sunglasses are phenomenal, but when he takes off his trench at the end he reveals an even more beautiful brown suit and a burnt orange sweater underneath.
3 - The video demonstrates an interesting point that Lu Kun once told me. He said "People stare in China because we learn through our eyes. We watch, and we learn"... there's one guy at about :35 attempting a similar mode of dance as our main man, but it's a little confused (but nevertheless endearing... he's trying to learn!).

Enjoy this video as a special holiday gift from my blog to you... And look for another special post on New Year's Eve! For those of you stateside, it will be posted December 30th at 11 a.m. EST.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Rain and Cold as Catalysts for Color?!

It's officially winter in Shanghai, but who would have guessed that the city would become punctuated with such saturated hues during these cold months??

Outerwear and other forms of protective gear have given Shanghai's normally dreary and dull sartorial landscape a much needed relief... every color of every composition is usually so muted (unless someone is going for a bling-bling style... more on that in the future for sure) that the onlooker is overwhelmed by just how boring monotony can be.

However, intense colors can definitely change the atmosphere, and here are a few folks that have brightened up my otherwise dreary days. Enjoy the colors!:










Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Bund18's 5th Year Anniversary Fashion Show

Wow, I just realized how far behind I am in life... this post should have happened a long time ago, as this fashion show was held November 18th in order to commemorate Bund18's 5th Year Anniversary. However, I still think this fashion show was interesting because it showcased 6 of the best Chinese designers I can think of (there are obviously a few other legit designers that didn't show at this fashion show, but not many...)

The first two pictures come from a very new Chinese American designer, Angela Gao (www.angelagao.com). Her collection is pretty timeless, and it is now selling in YOUNIK on a made-to-order basis. All of the other designers also sell at Bund18's boutique YOUNIK and are based strictly in China, as well as some other notable designers like Mary Ching and Qiong Er. Enjoy the pictures!

Angela Gao:


Zhang Hao (aka Stephane Cheung):

Pari Chen:

Coko Wan:

Jane Zhu:

and of course, Vunderkind Uma Wang:

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Homogenizing Forms 1: Burberry Burberry Everywhere!

I'm ignoring the winter solstice and declaring that today, it is officially winter in Shanghai (it's a brisk high of 59, and low of 52 today).

My fellow Shanghai-ers seem to agree that winter has arrived, as people all around have broken out their winter gear. Unfortunately for me and anyone else who has a general appreciation for aesthetics, the most popular winter product in Shanghai is anything with Burberry's trademark plaid unabashedly slapped on favorite basics. Behold here: the Burberry scarf, the bane of my existence and China's most homogenizing form:

There were many many pictures of Burberry scarves I COULD have posted, but the above picture was less offensive than a full-frontal shot.

But in case if you're looking for a full-frontal shot for proof of this terrible trend, here you go:

It is pretty obvious that I took all of these shots without people knowing/noticing (creepy, I know, but no one would ever let me stop them on the street, make them pose, and sketchily take a picture of him/her on my iPhone... that's just awkward), but I think this guy noticed. Regardless of if he did or didn't, the above is one of my finest shots to date. Enjoy this scandalous display of an obviously fake Burberry scarf.

And unfortunately, the products on which the Burberry plaid is printed in China just keep getting bigger. This girl's skirt would actually be kind of cute if it wasn't so ugly and offensive:

And last but definitely not least is this GINORMOUS coat... I don't even know what to say about this:

Barf

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Perhaps the Lamest Thing I've Ever Seen

But before we get into the post: it's a new month, so I'm making an early resolution to post more... I guarantee at least 5 this month, so check back!

Anyway, I was on my way into Plaza 66 a few weeks ago with my friend from high school who was visiting me for the weekend (Plaza 66 is definitely a must-see for tourists) when I saw something so ridiculous I had to have a picture as my witness:



I've never seen anyone in China get in a line to do anything before, but here they are! They really are Chinese people, and they really are forming quite an orderly line outside of Louis Vuitton to buy the same bag everyone else already has.

But I guess it's all about hype, and Louis Vuitton has that down pat... And neighboring store Chanel soon (as one would expect) copied:



Although Chanel didn't have any people in line, I'm sure they did within a few minutes... but I had to jet because I snapped this picture on my way out (I got some baddddd looks from the bouncer... that's why the picture is so blurry).

But how long can these two brands really fool people into thinking that they are exclusive? Right now these brands are somewhat exclusive I guess because of economic constraints on most individuals, but once China increases it's GDP/capita to the level of the US or Japan, what will consumption look like? Can the process of shifting the society away from fashion consumption to style consumption be expedited in any way?
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