Well well…here are my results on my custom-made clothes I picked up on the morning of the day I left to go back to the states! You probably already saw them from my travel blog.
Speaking of fashion, I came across an article on CNN speaking about fashion in China. I’m curious to hear your view as someone who is from China as the article says that the Chinese copy the styles from the Western world and fear to utilize their own creativity because they’re afraid that the style of clothing they choose to make would not be able to market well. I remember in one of our conversations, you mentioned that creativity is an issue in China as the Chinese put greater emphasis on science and maths rather than the arts and literature where creativity is heavily involved, right?
I don’t want to put into a lot of details about my thoughts as I don’t want my opinions to be based on one article that is from the American media, but I do want to make a few points. When I was in China, I did notice that most Chinese were wearing clothing styles from the Western world, and they were certainly very stylish.
However, I want to mainly point out that I saw many men in China wearing business suits, which is considered a “global standard” dress code for many workplaces, and that made me to realize that suits are not really “standard” suits but rather “the clothing of the Western culture” as they were actually adapted from the Western culture. I remember reading a book called The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria and the author points out that the Eastern world follows the styles of the Western world because its style of clothings signified modernity. Here is an excerpt from the book about this particular subject:
“For men, Western clothing is ubiquitous. Ever since armies began dressing in Western-style uniforms, men around the world have adapted Western-style work clothes. The business suit, a descendant of a European army officer’s outfit, is now standard for men from Japan to South Africa to Peru – with the laggard (or rebel once again being the Arab world. The Japanese, for all their cultural distinctiveness, go once step further and on special occasions (such as the swearing in of their government) wear morning coats and striped pants, the style for Edwardian diplomats in England a hundred years ago. In India, wearing traditional clothes was long associated with patriotism; Gandhi insisted on it, as a revolt against British tariffs and British textiles. Now the Western business suit has become the standard attire for Indian businessmen and even many young government officials, which speaks of a new post-colonial phase in India. In the United States, of course, many businessmen in new industries dispense with formal dress altogether, adopting a casual jeans-and-T-shirt style. This, too has caught on in some other countries, especially with younger people in technology-based industries. The pattern remains the same. Western styles have become the standard mode of work dress for men, signifying modernity.”
On the other hand, there were a few select Chinese clothing styles that I truly did love and feel that it should be made available in the Western world. Qipao is one. The other is these adorable flats I purchased in Shanghai made of ropes like hay straws weaving into each other along with beautiful embroidery flowers. I can bet you anything in the world that if the design of this shoe were in the States, it’d be popular because many girls and women love flats and designs that appear to be flowery!
