Fashion in China--no this is not a joke

While I'm not connoisseur of fashion--I like jeans and t-shirts--I do have eyes. And what my eyes see is basically one style in China. You've got your basic dark colors, leather accessories and stitched logos. That's about it. Variations include more expensive logos (real and fake), dark brown instead of black leather (also real and fake). Men, women, anyone past school-uniform age.

This may sound simple but think about the source of fashion in the west--DIVERSITY. What is the one thing that everyone can agree on that China is missing? Yup, diversity.

Fashion here is name brads. Poor people and rich people basically dress all the same--some just spend more than others. Don't believe me? Just go shopping and try to find some colorful or unique adult size clothes. Or better yet, go to Hong Kong or Taiwan or Singapore--Chinese countries with diversity, or at least exposure, as see the options that sub cultures create.

In China, there is no fashion for, say, various music sub cultures. There are no cultural variations like urban culture or cowboy culture or Goth culture in the West. Please don't tell me "China has 52 ethnic minorities" either. Women 18 to 60 all dress the same. Men at the bank, driving a truck or at a basketball game all dress the same too.

A lack of an ability to color coordinate may have something to do with it too. Chinese doesn't have as many color lexicon as does English. So, that means that there are many more various of "red" in Chinese than in English. My wife chooses to color coordinate when we visit HK or the US, but just doesn't do it when we're at home here--"no one cares" she says. What am I? Chopped liver?

Certainly a history (and 1/2 the current population) of poverty also plays into the daily drab.

My theory is that colors just didn't matter, and could even be politically dangerous, until about 30 years ago. So for all these years, "fashion" has meant name brands. If you can afford Prada, LV, Polo, etc. then you had fashion. That's why it's still "fashionable" to wear your horizontal stripped socks, faux fur skirt, vertical stripped blouse, and different colored purse, shoes, belt and jacket if all of them are brand named items! Just like color coordination, name brand coordination is just as valid an option for public display.

The current generation that has had some money and exposure are either still in school or just becoming part of the workforce and so are fitting in, rather than sticking out. Things will change soon. Sub cultures are developing--for example just about every girl under 20 in Shenzhen and Hong Kong has a version of '80's rocker hair. Boys under twenty are copying 90's urban culture with a vengeance too.