Style blogs drive the fashion scene

By Wang Yu

What makes fashion so attractive even though most of the glittering magazine ads are for things far beyond our reach?

Some see fashion as a lifestyle, some envy and want to emulate their idols, some are vain and memorize the Prada lineup because they think it shows taste.

But most just want to stand out.

Big brands are never affordable for ordinary people, especially for fashion fans who throw out half their monthly income on the bills. So the rebels rose to make new rules. Inspired by street fashion posted on blogs, they are finding new forms of self-expression.

With the help of new style magazines, bloggers are setting the season’s trends.

Diaries of mix and match

Paul Yang, the marketing manager of an entertainment company, doubles as the rock guitarist of a popular Internet band. But the professionals have inspired more than just his music: Yang and other rockers look to musicians for fashion inspiration.

“Never wear Nike Airforce shoes. They belong to B-boys on the street, not on gentlemen who sing and play guitar,” Yang says.

A month ago, the guitarist began to regularly upload photos of himself to his blog to record his looks. He has been following foreign street fashion and style blogs for a long time, and decided to post his own ideas to find people who share his tastes.

The Strokes, a New York indie rock band, is one of Yang’s favorites. But not just for their music  Yang loves their style of slim cut jeans, small leather jackets and vintage shoes. Their appearance long ago defined Yang’s idea of “well dressed.”

British singer and former front man of The Libertines also guided him to mix traditional gentlemen’s attire with the decadent details of a rock artist.

“It is true that most youg people in the scene dress nice and stand out in a crowd. But style is not the same as fashion, and expensive clothes cannot always make you look good. I want to prove you can look good wearing cheap stuff from Taobao,” he says.

Nancy Zhang, a Berlin illustrator, attaches illustrations of herself to each of her blog posts. The young artist moved to Germany this summer to design cartoon characters. Creating the outfits for the characters is a part of Zhang’s job, and some of those outfits end up on her style blog.

Face Hunter and Garace Dore are her favorite fashion blogs. Since reading Blogspot blogs is difficult in China, she also uploads her photos on douban.com, where she has received a positive response from many of the community’s users.

“At first it was just for fun to draw pictures of myself in different dresses with the photos. I’ve never thought I would sll be doing it. A lot of people with the same interests found my blog, and for an illustrator, seeing people who like your work is the happiest thing,” she says.

Zhang works a lot, but does it dressed like a 1900s woman in cozy countryside attire. Most of her clothes are bought from vintage stores and high-street boutiques.

“I collect beautiful things regardless of the brand. Style is one’s attitude towards life and what I want is tlive a common life far from the city’s noise,” Zhang says.