Chinese Fashion

The Visual Presentation of Beauty in Transnational Fashion Magazine Advertisements

“…Male-defined traditional aesthetics in Ancient China stressed the appreciation of vulnerable femininity. Idealized women were slightly ill and looked pale and weak, a so-called pathological beauty (Wu 2009). A woman's bound feet and willowy figure only enhanced her "pathological" beauty (Wu 2009).…”

“…In 1992, the government announced that most newspapers and magazines would have to be privately owned and allowed many foreign media to enter the Chinese market. As a result, foreign fashion magazines found their niche in the Chinese market (Wu 2009). In the reform era, women began to have opportunities to experiment with permed hair, sunglasses, high heels, jewelry, and makeup.…”

“…Women looked much like men with similarly loose-fitting outfits and drab colors. The revolution led people to adapt different styles of dress, markedly different from the pre-cultural revolution era (Wu 2009). In short, the new revolutionary looks were marked by the pursuit of frugality, simplicity, and sobriety in dress.…”

“…The state promoted gender similarity (Chen 2003), neglecting the specificities of women's bodies and their social experiences as daughters and wives (Croll 1995). To be a housewife then was not a glorified role and the notion of fashion did not seem to be appropriate for a revolutionary society (Wu 2009) because overt attention to outward appearance was deemed shameful, sinful, and anti-revolutionary, as were displays of nonconforming individuality.…”

“…This appears to be particularly true with fashion advertising, which truly has a global reach (Wu 2009). Many of the fashion images provided by the advertisers rely on Western ideals of fashion, beauty, and even sexuality (Ger and Belk…”