It's National Day y'all!

Yup, it's that time of year again!... The day that the great People's Republic of China was founded.

So I thought I'd celebrate by posting some festive pictures of the times. You see, it was recently also the Mid-Autumn Festival (fondly known as "Mooncake Festival" by some of my rounder American counterparts who enjoy a delicious array of whatever-filling mooncake that are widely available/gifted throughout the country the week prior to the actual date), which was a definite turning point in what people were wearing out and about the streets of Shanghai (due mainly to the weather).

So the lunar and national calendars declared September 22nd, 2010 as "Mid-Autumn Day", and it was definitely Autumn (the day before, it was still full-blown summer). The weather coincidentally(?) dropped more than 10 degrees Celsius, and I felt the first nips of the fall/winter season approaching Shanghai.

So luckily, because of the weather, all the shirts of the pot-bellied Chinese men have all been rolled down before my new camera could snap some shots, so you'll have to wait until next summer to witness this ghastly habit (additionally, I think that the Expo's "harmonization" of the city really has changed people and their habits in Shanghai, but I'll be a better judge in retrospect). But yay!, coats and puffy pajamas have started to re-make their appearance (the pajama-wearing outside thang is another habit that the Expo is trying to eradicate), as this holiday season is all about chillaxin' and beating the cold.


I like her, even though I can't see her face... She's got on an appropriately nationalistic ensemble (what could be more Chinese than wearing your puffy, red pajamas on the street?) while still beating the cold.



The two above examples might not be as color-appropriate as the first (actually, the colors are a bit nauseating to be honest), but at least they be comfy. I mean, that's what this great week is all about, right?! (oh ya, did I forget to mention that EVERYONE in the country has a FULL WEEK off from work?)

So sit back, relax, and, out of solidarity with our brethren, get in your pajamas like them Chinese be doin' this October 1-8:


Don't worry, you can still go buy a fish in your pajamas.


You can still have a ciggy on your scooter in your pajamas.


You can still go to the convenience store in your pajamas.


And you can still watch your country's rapid modernization in your pajamas.

But don't you be fooled... even though these people may look comfy and are technically on vacation right now, they still be workin' (meaning, their still trying to portray their "wealth" with their clothing).

In China, pajamas worn outside of the home very clearly communicate to everyone that the pajama-wearing subject lives nearby (and, if it's a ritzy neighborhood, it declares to others that the subject is "wealthy")... And we know Chinese people like to be very literal and clear-cut with their clothing and how it portrays their "wealth", but I actually prefer this method to mindlessly consuming another LV bag.

So as you consider this National Holiday and general Chinese culture you see here, please consider how our own culture (and clothing culture) is interacting and affecting the Chinese people and their culture. I think that now is a better time than ever to make people aware of the mechanisms of cultural imperialism (in fashion, specifically) so that they can be stopped.

Witness Exhibit A:


Brainwashing Exibit B:


Creating, in the future, something like the creature that is Exhibit C
(awkward gait and all):


So..., cultural imperialism = BAD, nationalism (sometimes) = GOOD

Oh ya...and this final pic is a shout out to all of my Chinese brethren embracing AMURICA:

OBAMANATION

OK, so perhaps the general Mainland population isn't as enthusiastic as I am to have a 黑人 as the US President, but a related and important question to this issue is: Is there a felt presence of ethnic minorities in China (and obviously, how does it relate to fashion and fashion's development in China)?

It's a new year and a new era of American international relations, the world is arguably more globalized and connected than ever, and the World Expo is fast approaching Shanghai which will reportedly bring 70 million international visitors. But even with all this international mixing and melding and mushing around, what of the 50 ethnic minorities contained within the domestic population of China (and their clothes!)?

Well, perhaps you've heard of the Han Chinese. If you haven't heard of the Han Chinese, then you probably haven't heard of any other kinds of Chinese ethnic groups... If you have heard of the Han Chinese, you still probably haven't heard of any other Chinese ethnic minority groups.

I would dare to say that a contributing factor to this is because the idea of an ethnic minority is somewhat stigmatized in China, and similarly is anything that is strongly associated with one of these less "respectable" (for lack of a better term) populations. What I guess my point is is that the clothing of ethnic minorities in China is certainly underappreciated, underutilized, and underinterpreted... They would serve as great sources for inspiration, as would traditional Chinese dress.

I have yet to find Chinese designers that do great reinterpretations of the clothing culture of Chinese ethnic minorities, but I've seen some people in real life with styles obviously derived from some not-Han Chinese sartorial inspiration. And I've certainly needed something to stimulate my eyes after surveying a sea of homogeneity for so long. A previous reprieve to this predicament came on January 3rd, 2010... Do you remember "Installment 2"?

Well on another, more recent date, I spotted this beautiful, ethnic? robe made even more fantastic and dramatic by the wind:


Even though his little boy is wearing a hat that is obviously (fake) Puma, at least his dad is daring to be different... even more daring than donning a long, sweeping robe in public is the fact that the garment probably has some sort of ethnic connotation to most onlookers, which makes it all the more conspicuous and defiantly different.

The above instance was unfortunately confined to a single person, but one one day I was lucky enough to stumble upon a whole ethnic neighborhood way out in the boonies of Shanghai... look carefully!:








Gypsies, dandies, and religious zealots, oh my!! But regardless of what we could label these people, I propose that we just call them courageous defenders of diversity.

But if these pictures can't satiate your thirst for ethnic minority sartorial practices, take a gander at this little boy:

Now, My Dear Comrades, why wouldn't we want our world to be this diverse?