Chinese Styles

[galviggo]

ok lets repeat one last time.. these are low budget COSTUMES.. I didn't care much for your 'chinese S&M wear' comment, although that is not a true ancient dress style..

and as for the 'hootchie, thats cecilia cheung.. equivalent of anna nicole smith meets britney spears..

I didn't read all the comments; just scrolled thru the costumes--but I thought someone referred to this set as an inspiration for McQueen so "low-budget" was the last thing in my mind when I posted my reply. I was looking more for pretty faces anyway, since most old-skool Chinese costumes don't get me all excited.

Cecilia Cheung hootchie? Hey, are we talking about the same girl? (I'm asking seriously because a lot of Asian stars' names are very similar.) This is the Cecilia I'm referring to:

(from: brns dot com...)
She's hootch?! (yeah, that's me, shocked!)
(I didn't realize her teeth were so messed up. You can't tell in this picture, but it's visible in others.)

Btw, do you know if CC has Korean blood, because she is listed under hancinema.net, Korea's version of the IMDb.

I hope you're not going to get all PC on me! I'm not PC, but perhaps I didn't care so much for your "just step into any public bathroom in Asia" comment in the Lu Yan thread but I held my tongue then now didn't I......

 

[Pinky*]

why are they irrevelant if they -are- costumes representing the past? of course costumes don't represent china's modern design..

this is OT but in response to what you said, I dont think the time has come for China to lead in fashion yet. They are experiencing what Russia is right now, many nouveau riche. HK, Korea, Japan.. these asian tigers have experienced enough economic freedom and prosperity for fashion to thrive when China still had her closed door policy. the way things are going, I predict she will be a leader soon enough.. she did invent the 'four big inventions' of the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing press (no it was not guttenheim, which is why they say 'modern printing press') so why not fashion.. but now certainly is not the time..

 

[galviggo]

Yes, most of them just look tacky and irrelevant. It's quite sad, but I must admit (I am a Chinese from mainland China) that China doesn't have any original and modern fashion design at this moment. I mean just look at other Asian countries. Lots of them do much better in terms of creative fashion design than us while we are a country with several millenia continuous cultural traditions and 1.3 billion population. Look at Japan, what a tremendous contribution their designers have made and are still making to contemporary fashion! Even Korea and Singapore have names that show up on Paris and New York fashion-week schedules regularly, while we can hardly name anyone that's even remotely worth mentioning. Vivienne Tam (anyway, she's originally from Hongkong, not even mainland) or Shanghai Tang? Thank God, who cares about them except a small number of Sinophiles who love the so-called exotic Oriental beauty?!

I can't believe there's no superb fashion talents in China right now, since we have such a big population and we have names like Chen Kaige and Cai Guoqiang that we could be genuinely proud of in other forms of arts. There must be some serious problems with Chinese fashion industry and its professional circle that make nuturing of original design and creative designers impossible. Anyway I am an outsider in terms of fashion business, I'll leave the elaboration of this issue to the insiders from Chinese fashion industry.

Actually I never thought of it this way. I'm a fashion business outsider as well. Originally I just came here to look at pretty models and nice clothes.

I Anna Sui; doesn't she count? The only recent collection I didn't like was the western one with, I think, Daria Werbowy opening the show (and it's not just because I don't like Daria). I think Anna's a Hong Kong gal although I could be mistaken (and too lazy to double-check).

I do agree with everything in your post, though, with one little exception: I don't care for Japanese fashion if it can be defined/exemplified as/by what the affluent girls in Tokyo wear (not sure if you meant to compliment their designs or just that the fact that they're contributory and influential). Thanks.

 

[Pinky*]

This is so damned ugly and hootchie:

Qi pao should never be short!

well when you posted that photo that was cecilia wearing the qi pao. She's definately not the kind of girl you take home to show your parents.. involves how she got into the business, her dad, and the work shes done (if you want details you can pm me since we're getting very OTflower:

cecilia is 1/4 british, but I think it may be just rumors..

sorry to bust on your dream gal lu yan, I admit it was quite catty but I held my tongue as well when you made some inaccurate generalizations on chinese culture.. since these are personal disagreements, we can resolve them by pm if you feel necessary..

 

[haoshcn]

I Anna Sui; doesn't she count? The only recent collection I didn't like was the western one with, I think, Daria Werbowy opening the show (and it's not just because I don't like Daria). I think Anna's a Hong Kong gal although I could be mistaken (and too lazy to double-check).

I don't know much about Anna Sui, and to be honest don't care much about her either. Her stuff is just totally not my cup of tea.

I won't even categorize her as a Chinese designer since she was born in the US or at least grew up here, which one is true I am not completely sure. It's just like Vera Wang, to me their design are totally irrelevant to Chinese fashion. They and their design are all American.

 

[galviggo]

well when you posted that photo that was cecilia wearing the qi pao. She's definately not the kind of girl you take home to show your parents.. involves how she got into the business, her dad, and the work shes done (if you want details you can pm me since we're getting very OTflower:

cecilia is 1/4 british, but I think it may be just rumors..

sorry to bust on your dream gal lu yan, I admit it was quite catty but I held my tongue as well when you made some inaccurate generalizations on chinese culture.. since these are personal disagreements, we can resolve them by pm if you feel necessary..

No need; I'm not upset. I only thought that the Lu Yan comment could be taken a similar way as some of my folk dress comments so I thought it odd you would call me on them.

I didn't even recognize CC in the qipao!

 

[Pinky*]

anna sui was actually born in detroit but her parents were immigrants..
many of these asian talents are not native to the mainland or even hk..

otherwise, we could include derek lam, very wang, mary ping..
actually vivienne tam was born in guangzhou but raised in hk, so she counts

 

[Pinky*]

sorry galviggo, I guess I took it the wrong way.. you know how text can be.

anyways, shall we call a truce?

I didn't recognize cc in the photo as well until you reposted! your face was so powdery there..

we need to get back on topic before we cause trouble for the mods.. maybe we should create an asian fashion thread?

 

[shoexgal]

Gorgeous pictures!

 

[EDISON27]

I found a lot of westerners misunderstood the real culture of china...The customs in page 1 of this threads are from the second-rate even thrid-rate TV series of china,thats not the real cheong-sam and ancient costumes in our culture,nor modern.

 

[Pinky*]

I don't think anyone is gonna dispute you ed..
but have you found pics you want to share?

 

[EDISON27]

I don't think anyone is gonna dispute you ed..
but have you found pics you want to share?

I will try to...
I love the Maggie Cheung and Cici's photos,but he rest of these really are really weedy

 

[nolek]

Here are some modern Chinese styles from styleasian.com

 

[Pinky*]

..no offense but the jackets remind me of what a vampire will wear.. the dress is kinda massage girl..

I think chinese ancient dress doesnt translate well into modern attire like western/cowboy looks.. or maybe no competent designers have yet to tackle this problem successfully..

 

[seasecrets]

..no offense but the jackets remind me of what a vampire will wear.. the dress is kinda massage girl..

I think chinese ancient dress doesnt translate well into modern attire like western/cowboy looks.. or maybe no competent designers have yet to tackle this problem successfully..

i agree. it ends up looking rather cheesy.
i wish we could see more chinese designers here on tfs though.

 

[nolek]

Here is the Shanghai Tang press event in NYC from KeithWidyloar.com:

 

[EDISON27]

i agree. it ends up looking rather cheesy.
i wish we could see more chinese designers here on tfs though.

Vivian Tam is the only designer who can made her clothes have very east touch but also very stylish,she is the only one to me.

Anna Sui and Vera Wang are also awesome,but their designing are not that oriental right?

 

[jennifer716]

Traditional oriental design is passe and irrelevant in today's culture. You don't walk around Shanghai or HK and see girls dressed up in cheongsams... I think someone mentioned something about who cares about Shanghai Tang?

Well actually, Shanghai Tang is expanding rapidly. Selfridges stocks Shanghai Tang and if its sold in Selfridges in London, it must be mainstream enough for people to care.

 

[Pinky*]

yes yes they are marketing shanghai tang very well even if their designs are more novelty than stylish at times.

vera wang is a new yorker anna sui is from michigan so indeed their clothes don't have as much oriental flavour.. but their parents were also immigrants so there must be a little.. imo, vera wang's wedding dresses have a little 'east asian' touch sometimes..

and sadly, as great as derek lam can be he's not too subtle about being 'inspired by' other collections..

china has 1.4 billion people.. what designer can suitably be the first 'summarize' chinese style satisfactorily? I think none.. so we will just have to be happy for whatever representation there is..

similar to how many people seem to be upset with the small asian presence in the modelling industry because they aren't 'representative' enough of what asian culture finds beautiful.. however its better to look back and see asians were there than non existent at all

 

[susie_bubble]

Not sure if the mods could merge this but I posted a thread dedicated to the British born Chinese designer Elizabeth Lau (who happens to be my cousin...shameless plug..I kno!). Ok ok...so she's not native mainland but we're not the completely westernised kind of Chinese either since we as a family shuttle back and forth between HK and UK. Oriental influences DEFINITELY figure into her designs (can testify to this since I own a lot of it!) She designed for Shanghai Tang for a few years and now she has a her own collection.

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f60/elizabeth-lau-probably-one-few-british-born-chinese-designers-around-34906.html