Image is everything in modern China and in a drab-looking office in the
capital, a steady stream of housewives, single women and even men file through
its door daily to seek a complete makeover.
Among them, seated in front of a mirror, 29-year-old housewife Fanny watches
attentively as consultant Li Lei places dozens of fabrics in different shades of
red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple one at a time on her chest.
"I hate shopping. I find it very difficult because I don't know how to choose
the type of clothes that suit me, but I have to attend a lot of business and
social functions with my husband and I don't want to make any fashion mistakes,"
explains the housewife.
Dressed in a bright green silk top and gray flared out skirt with her hair
tied up in a bun, she declines to give her last name to avoid having friends
find out she is here, but says she came to the Ximan Colour Image Centre after
seeing an advertisement on TV.
She is one of many as Chinese embrace the idea of image consultants as they
attempt to adapt to a fast-changing economic and social order.
For 2,600 yuan (325 dollars) -- at least three months' salary to most blue
collar workers in Beijing -- the image center advises clients on what colors and
style of clothes look good on them, how to apply makeup and what hair style
suits their face.
Style savants can also sort out well-matched outfits from a client's closet
or accompany him or her on a shopping trip to get a whole new wardrobe if they
buy the full package of services costing 10,000 yuan.
Clients can also be advised on posture, body language, speech and mannerism.
Money and increasing exposure to the outside world after decades of isolation
are spurring the trend and has created a new profession of image consultants.
"Everyone is paying more attention to appearance," says Yan Xiuzhen,
chairwoman of the China Hairdressing and Beauty Association.
"With economic development, people are involved in more social activities,
business activities. In the past women and male business executives paid little
attention to their image, now they do," she says, adding, "People's image also
reflects a country's image."
Up until the early 1980s, Mao suits consisting of a simple buttoned down
jacket usually in dark colors and a pair of shapeless cotton pants were the
standard attire for most Chinese.
Jeans and T-shirts, blouses and skirts became popular with the economic
opening up in the 1980s.
Now with more money, the influx of foreign brands and homemade copycat
designs, as well as the rise in appearance-demanding jobs with multinational
firms, people are aspiring to higher standards.
"The biggest problem in China is people don't know how to make themselves
look pretty, unlike in Japan where ideas about beauty are already very
sophisticated," says Tina Qin, a self-employed consultant.
"Chinese people buy expensive clothes to emulate what they see on TV, but
when they put it on themselves, they realize it doesn't look good on them."
A common problem is people don't know what suits their body and how to match
clothes properly, consultants say.
Fashion faux pas abound.
Glaring examples apparent in Chinese cities include women wear stockings with
open-toe sandals and men wearing white socks with dark suits.
"I often see women going to work riding a motorbike wearing long spaghetti
strap black silk dresses, highheels, heavy makeup, tacky earrings, legs astride
the bike," Qin says.
Going outdoors in the daytime in pajamas to chat with neighbors or shop at
the vegetable market is also common.
There are no statistics on how many image consulting firms exist because many
are categorized as hair salons or beauty parlors, but consultants say the number
is growing.
Ximan, which opened in 1998, says it was China's first.
It had few clients initially, but in recent years, hundreds of such firms
followed, Yan says. Business and prospects are so good that Ximan plans to open
20 stores in major Chinese cities in the next three years.
The company has trained more than 4,800 consultants in Beijing alone, many of
them opening their own firms.
Most clients seeking image advice are in their '30s to 40s, a generation that
grew up at a time when everyone in China wore the same things and had no fashion
magazines or pop culture to influence them.
"In the past, all you had to do was work hard. If you dressed up, people
thought you were not hardworking, that you spent all your time dolling yourself
up," says Yan.
As late as the early 1990s, many department stores offered only limited
styles and selections, but an explosion of boutiques selling designer clothes
are encouraging many to experiment.
Competition for jobs, business deals and even boyfriends is stiff, making
people all the more image conscious.
"Now employees at any enterprise first of all have to do well, but secondly
they must look good," Yan says.
China's nouveau riche -- often people who made a quick fortune from the
country's property boom or who work for large state-owned enterprises -- are
among the biggest clients.
At Ximan, the housewife smiles when colors of orange and fuschia she had
never imagined wearing were put in front of her.
"Warm colors and light colors suit you better," consultant Li tells her.
"Pink is a very feminine color, but if you wear it, you have to see what type of
setting you'll be in," she advises.
"For social functions at night, you need bright colors, so you won't be
dimmed out by the lights."
