THE MALE OF THE SPECIES ON FULL SHOW

Achieving a look that is positive and appealing is obviously a matter of individual taste, and for Tang Guoliang, a businessman who runs a wine import and export company, there are three big musts in personal presentation: one must be well groomed, sophisticated and cosmopolitan.

Tang, 35, might well have scoffed at being called a metrosexual five years ago, but now, it seems, the term does not just denote the intelligent juxtaposition of bright, well tailored colors that may occupy the closet of a fashion-friendly guy who happens to be straight.

For him, most of the time that is not too hard. Strict business formality is easy, he says: a charcoal gray or navy blue suit and plain black shoes. When he wants an earnest, enthusiastic look, his attire turns more business casual, drawing on pithy design ideas.

Tang is the chairman and chief operating officer of a young company in Beijing, and he often attends meetings and conferences in various parts of the world, where he is keen to stand out among those wearing plaid shirts and jackets.

"I don't really follow trends that much, but being a fashion-savvy male does not make you a 'delicate boy', and having an acute sense of what to wear properly and decently gives me confidence."

His wife and female friends are also sometimes amazed at his aesthetic clothing choices.

Tang is among millions of Chinese working men in cities giving increasing attention to their professional image, thus forming a bloc that has gained considerable spending power.

"The influence of economic development and consumer culture have made men in general more accepting than their fathers of the idea of spending money and dressing themselves," says Guo Xin, a marketing professor at Beijing Technology and Business University.

According to a consumer report published by Boston Consulting Group and Alibaba, the rise of the Chinese male consumer group stems from the accumulation of social wealth. Social progress has led to an increasingly diverse individual identity, and a richer social life has pushed consumer demand by men to record levels, making it the driving force behind the rapid rise of male consumption in China.

The professional business intelligence services provider QuestMobile says there were 590 million male mobile internet users in China in 2018 and that there were more single men than single women. The QuestMobile survey showed that spending by males in all kinds of categories rose in 2018, and men spent 10,025 yuan over the year on online shopping, more than women.

To get a very good handle on the male consumption you can do no better than observe computer programmers, whose working environment is relatively simple and who spend a lot of time in front of computers.

They have been called the last holdouts among zhinan'ai, or male chauvinists, wedded to outdated and even bigoted values and aesthetics. They look with suspicious on anything that casts doubt on what for them are true masculine values and the rightful, inferior, place of women in the world.

Liang Liang, 28, a programmer in Beijing, says he was so used to donning bulky pants and sandals in summer, and plaid shirt and blue jeans in cooler weather that two years ago he resolved to change his ways because he could not bear his girlfriend poking fun at him, even if was all just in jest.

"Programmers are not indifferent to grooming," Liang says."The intense work schedule and an abysmal imbalance in the number of male and female employees in technology companies limits our social circles. Guys who are single tend to be more footloose regarding personal appearance. But when a female colleague talks of how well dressed we are we're quite happy. The problem is that knowing how to dress up－rather than just to dress－requires years of experience, and many people are afraid of stepping out of their comfort zone."

It is one of the most difficult problems that besets his male colleagues when they go on a date, he says. Many of his colleagues freely admit that often their first date with someone turns out to be the last, which is also the time the text messages stop arriving, because they turned up for the date in garb that screamed country bumpkin rather than urban sophisticate.

"Programmers used to make a lot of money, so people said their appearance was irrelevant," Liang says. "These days women make a lot of money too, and in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai the exorbitant cost of housing has produced subtle changes in the rules for relationships and marriage.

"Both the man and woman need to have the wherewithal to buy something or get a loan, so gender equality has resulted in young women having a greater say. And there is no doubt that in choosing a lifelong partner women have much tougher criteria."

The Boston Consulting Group report says that in first-tier cities the average time a male aged 20 to 35 spends on grooming each day is about 24 minutes, and they pay attention to their health and often go to fitness clubs. Eighty-eight percent of them say they pay attention to online beauty and fashion information, and 83 percent say they consider the use of skin care products a necessity.

Social media has pushed men to attend more to their appearance and dressing than before. The likes of Lin Qingze cater to such men by uploading videos of professional clothing advice on social media platforms including Bilibili, where Lin has more than 100,000 followers.

One of the interesting facts about the change is highlighted in the degree of men's concern about their face. It used to be that men could easily get through several days without looking at themselves in a mirror, but now all kinds of apps require avatars, and the circle of friends section of WeChat almost demands at least a few selfies. For some it is like gaining a second face.

"Making fashion content aimed at straight men is different to that for women," Lin says.

"I focus more on the functional aspect of a particular brand of clothes or shoes. My earliest videos are essentially to tell them what types of basic shirts, pants, coats and down jackets are proper for guys, and how to choose and how to match them. This kind of content is very popular. Guys buy them more for their practical use."

Most of his followers do not care much whether what he suggests is stylish or trendy, he says.

"They want me to show real and reasonable outfit combos from easy-to-get brands such as H&M and Uniqlo."

His most watched video clip is about how to get started with a business suit with a customized shirt.

"Wearing a shirt is basic business etiquette. In addition, women prefer a man to be clean cut, and a fit shirt adds a sexy touch and neatness. Often guys who have a short neck and a bit of belly fat avoid wearing shirts and wear T-shirts. But a tailored shirt can do magic and highlight how professional someone is."

According to QuestMobile, items closely related to personal image, clothing, shoes and personal care products are the kinds of things men buy very frequently, which shows that men's self-awareness has increased, and that dressing up is no longer something that girlfriends or wives organize.

The field in men's online shopping is also becoming more and more extensive. Men also buy more of some products that used to be regarded as a preserve of women, such as skincare products and perfumes.