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Conformity the norm for Chinese fashions

By Phyllis Zhu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-30 10:34

Known for her love of Alexander McQueen's 10-inch killer clunkers, her bizarre costumes and her self-proclaimed bisexuality, Lady Gaga has become an international icon for both high fashion and eccentricity. Gaga, whether you love or hate her, is undeniably a walking fashion statement. But still I was surprised to learn, then, that the term "Gagaism" - meaning fascination with the outrageous diva - is known in Beijing.

Before coming to China, my mother warned me to dress conservatively. Shorts are three inches longer over there, no spaghetti straps, and don't wear anything that would scare your grandmother, she said.

I was expecting the worst, (Mao suit, anyone?), so as I was transferring between subway lines, I was surprised to see that the women were actually very fashionable. Many carried Louis Vuitton bags and donned over-sized tops paired with skin-tight cigarette jeans. Almost all clacked along in heels. Even some older women in their sixties showed their fashion consciousness, strolling along coolly with Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses and lacy umbrellas.

Besides a plethora of designer (albeit fake) handbags and attire, I found that casual dress seemed to be T-shirts printed with English - or "Engrish" - phrases that made little sense grammatically. (One student's shirt read: "In emergency, please use the backdoor.") Others had prints of cartoon puppies and flowers, but my favorite was the his-and-her style, where couples wear identical zebra-striped shorts or matching hoodies to declare their togetherness, as if holding hands wasn't indication enough.

Overall, though, the styles I encountered were elegant, professional and cute. I have to admit it was an aesthetic improvement from the sweatpants and tank top combo found on my American university campus.

I was even more delighted when I was introduced last week to the Silk Street Market, where rows and rows of beautiful dresses smiled at me. Oh, sweet sartorial splendor.

After walking around, however, I found that the Chloe top I bought on the first floor was also on the secondand the third. The vendors were selling the same beautiful clothes.

What was missing among the dazzle was the weird and the fantastic. There were no Harajuku girls in petticoats or angsty goths decked in all black. There were no dreadlocks or mohawks, no lip rings or pink hair, no scraggly beards, and no dragon tattoos peeking out of sleeves. To my disappointment, there were no Gagas; only a group of clean-cut men and dainty women who looked more or less the same.

If fashion, like art, is an expression of one's personality, preferences, and beliefs, then what I saw around me was lacking in its statement. The class of misunderstood and displaced youth in punk and goth fashion who, although considered eyesores back home, are also the ones with a statement in their style. They are the generation of rebels who lurk in the corners but remain defiant and outspoken in their atypical fashion trends.

Maybe young Chinese people can't afford the same luxury of rebellion as young people in other cultures. With their endless hours of school and the pressures of the impending gaokao (national college entrance examination), there's little time for worrying about appearances, let alone being singled out or criticized for dressing differently. One thing's for sure, there's no shortage of luxury brands here.

As I was herded along in the subway transfer tunnel, fixated on the pair of heels in front of me, I couldn't help but think of my mother's warning before I left for Beijing: See what other people are wearing and dress like them - the last thing you want to do is attract attention to yourself. Back home I would wince or roll my eyes when I saw someone who was trying too hard to dress a certain way, but here, there was no one to stare at.

Gaga may have entered the Chinese lingo, but her avant-garde style is not quite here yet.