China Women's Dress Styles Differ by City Says Survey

City Styles: The women of China's major cities have distinctive dressing tastes, says e-commerce platform Taobao.

 

The dressing tastes of China’s women are dictated to a surprising extent by where they live, according to a Taobao.com survey conducted on May 14 of women in 33 major cities that also analyzed data from 36.5 million clothing shoppers from 362 cities.

Beijing women favor long dresses with V-necks while those in Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region like ethnic-style long skirts with floral prints.

“Women in Shanghai have personalities typical of the southern part of the country — delicate and moderate,” said the survey. “So they prefer chiffon skirts, flowing in the air, making them lovely. And they pay a lot of attention to accessories.”

Chongqing women like colorful skirts that are tight-fitting and — much like the spicy food for which the city is famous. Taipei women have a fondness for one-shoulder bouffant skirts that give them tempestuous look. The women of Lanzhou in Northwest China’s Gansu province like simple but elegant hand-embroidered dresses.

About 800 people from Beijing bought the same style long dress online last summer and 815 women in Shanghai got a particular floral button dress last year, according to Zhang Yue, the manager of a Hangzhou-based online shop on Taobao.

Zhang noted that style preferences are more distinctive among coastal cities and inland regions.

”It’s probably their personalities,” he said. “Judging by the sales at our shops, girls in eastern cities may be more willing to wear clothes to highlight their figure.”

“Girls in Hangzhou (capital of prosperous coastal Zhejiang province) go out in miniskirts and tank tops, and they enjoy people appreciating their beauty,” said Zhang. “In some western areas of China, clothes that expose large parts of the body and elaborate styles are not well received.”

But the survey results aren’t backed up by some women.

“I’ve seen lots of women wearing chiffon dresses since May, but it’s not everywhere,” said Zhang Hui, a 25-year-old Shanghai resident who loves to shop for clothes online. “Sometimes, friends feel embarrassed to wear similar clothes. As for me, I like loose T-shirts and tights, casual and comfortable.”

“[Long dresses] don’t fit with my personality,” said Beijing civil servant Zhang Runzhi. “I think styles of dressing go with individuals. How could a city of millions of people have one favorite style of clothing? That’s not possible.”

“Well-designed clothes that have good quality do well,” said an online fashion consultant Dong Junyuan who does not see obvious fashion trends in different cities, though he acknowledges that his business is concentrated in Shanghai, Guangzhou and other big cities. “Fashion trends like long dresses and harem pants are popular in the whole country.”

During the past six months since November women from Shanghai and Beijing outspent those of other cities, spending an average of over 800 yuan ($126) to buy more than seven items online.

“Women from these areas always face severe competition at work, so many of them like shopping and change their clothes frequently as a way to relieve pressure,” said the survey.