Fashion around West Lake

Here we have a classic summer look. It's hot, so wear shorts and roll up your t-shirt for maximum air flow. You need to look stylish though, so wear your black dress shoes with white socks.

This white poodle had a fluorescent orange tail and ears. Poor little guy doesn't even know he looks like a traffic cone.

During the summer, many dogs are shaved like lions (to keep cool, I suppose.) They leave the head furry so that it looks like a lion's mane!

Pajamas on Nanjing Lu

Summer in Shanghai is the place to wear your jammies, no matter how busy the street or time of day.

Fashion - part 3

I think the word "clash" doesn't exist in Chinese. More huge purses... where are the guys to carry them?? Very typical. The old-fashioned dress with shoes that don't match at all. It's hard to see the moccasins, but they are true leather moccasins, complete with fringe. Maybe it's only in the west that fishnets mean "hooker." Bows everywhere too. A friend once asked me why Americans don't wear bows; she observed that even on the TV shows Americans never wear cute clothes with bows. She said that even on Desperate Housewives the clothes are boring and not cute. America certainly doesn't have the Asian "cute culture." Check out Japan's new ambassadors of cute!

People watching at People's Square - part 2

It does make sense for the guy to carry a purse that big... Jon packs a smaller suitcase than that for trips to Beijing! Tour groups often wear bright, long-billed matching caps. Couples wear matching outfits. First there were the ankle-high stockings, now we also have the knee high stockings. (In the west, we'd wear these under a long skirt with heels, instead of wearing pantyhose. Never showing the top and never with sneakers.) More shorts with black nylons. Stayed tuned for part 3 tomorrow! If you can't get enough of Shanghai fashion, check out Fashion Friday at I Love China, and Shoe Tuesday at ISpyShanghai.

Fashion at People's Square - Part 1

The other day, Jon, Shane and I decided to sit outside and have a Corona (when it's warm out I have a strong desire to sit in the sun and drink Corona) at a little cafe on Nanjing Lu. The spot is just perfect for people watching! I'm going to have a 3-part series on some of the fashions we observed. This style is pretty common in Shanghai. To me, it seems a bit too frilly and old-fashioned, like either something a child or a grandma should wear. Notice the man carrying the purse. Everyone wears black shorts and often colorful or black tights. I don't get the colored tights, since they don't match anything. Also, I'm used to shorts being worn by themselves. If it's not hot enough to wear just shorts, why wear shorts then? Red pants, green shirt and an orange, permed mullet. I have nothing more to say. This girl dressed as a maid walked by 3 times. We were pretty curious as to why she was dressed like that. I thought maybe she was promoting one of those Japanese maid cafes? The girl in the pink had nice coordination going on with the pink umbrella, pink shirt and skirt with gray and pink plaid. Not sure why teal tights and baby blue sneakers needed to be added! Parts 2 and 3 will be published the next 2 days. If you can't get enough of Shanghai fashion, check out Fashion Friday at I Love China, and Shoe Tuesday at ISpyShanghai.

Fashionable Dog

Blinged out fridges

Want some bling with your fridge?

Random shirt - American common sense

I spotted this shirt in Tesco. Can someone explain what it means? Is it actually supposed to be anti-American or is it just a poor translation or maybe someone just put some words together?

Fashion Friday from a fellow blogger

This is probably the best post on fashion I've seen. Don't miss it!!

People watching

It was much more interesting watching the people at the aquarium than trying to see the fish!

Here we have a nice large man-bag, murse, or whatever you'd like to call it.

Red and orange - anything goes in Shanghai!

Most ladies here wear ankle-high nylons with their sandals or shoes. Another common thing is to wear shoes that aren't even close in color to the rest of the outfit. (yellow shoes, pink shirt)

Most Shanghai girls wear their shorts short. The almost-mullet crimped hairstyle is popular too.

Signs of a non-laborer

In China, it is desirable to show that you don't have to do physical labor for a living. For example, pale skin is very important - some girls have even said that it's the most important thing when determining how beautiful a girl is.

Another one of these signs is long nails. Many times taxi drivers will have a very long nail on their pinky finger. Jon S. sat next to a guy on a train with very long nails, and when he fell asleep Jon took a photo! I have no idea how people can keep nails this long - mine break off as soon as they are getting a little length.

Shanghai guys

As we were leaving Era, I noticed that Dan was carrying Wendy's purse. You'll notice many guys in Shanghai carrying cute little purses - mostly belonging to their girlfriends. I promptly complained about how Jon never carried my pink purse.... so he very grudgingly obliged and glared at Dan.

The moment was too good to miss. I don't think Jon will ever volunteer to carry my purse. He thinks pink isn't his color.

Glasses Market

I'd read about the glasses market a while ago and wanted to go, but we'd never made it there yet. Hanna had bought 2 pairs of glasses in Beijing and decided she wanted to look at some more, so we made our way there one afternoon. It is in the Railway Station Metro stop, exit 3 or 4. Glasses are about 150 RMB, or more if you want the expensive lenses.

There were thousands of choices from probably hundreds of vendors. You can either bring your prescription or have their person test you. They also have sunglasses and contacts, though Jon is quite dubious about the quality. (Remember the tainted and recalled contact solution in the US that was manufactured in China?) Hanna was quite happy with her glasses and the price was about 1/5th of what we'd expect in the West.

Picking up clothes

Wednesday after work we went back to the fabric market to pick up our clothes.

You need to try everything on so they can make adjustments if needed, and check if the buttons are all there, etc.

Hanna and Henrik both got suits made. Hanna's is a copy of one of mine (which I also had made there.)

I got a couple short-sleeve button down shirts. My boss called just as I was trying them on. Custom made clothing really makes you feel good about wearing it, since it fits perfectly!

(These are all photos Hanna took.)