SHANGHAI STYLE FILE

Sunday was a glorious afternoon in Shanghai with plenty of great fashion waltzing about in the sunshine. What took center stage? Long, flowy skirts. They flounced through intersections, flitted around corners and floated down the sidewalks. I wonder if Chinese girls prefer how the skirts act as shields to protect their legs from tanning in the sun. But I’m sure that function is merely the cherry on top of this lovely, feminine look.

I really love the way this last picture came out. See how she walks along the line of the shadow?

What do they say? “Business in the front, party in the back!”?

I appreciate a good, solid mullet from afar, despite that my southern breeding taught me to associate the ‘do with trailer trash hicks. But in Shanghai I’m not so cruel and look at the mullet as rather…hmm, innovative.

I have spotted this detail quite a bit around the ankles of Shanghai: a contrasting pattern exposed on the pant cuff. After many sans camera sightings of the trend I finally captured it this weekend, but only after chasing this dapper man into a luxury department store and cornering him into submission. Don’t make me chase down strangers for nothing, what do you think?

Garance has been reporting on the latest craze at the wayy other end of the Silk Road: khaki, beige and nude tones dominate the color palettes of wardrobes in Paris and Milan– most often spotted in the form of a camel coat with a faded worn-in pair of jeans. Clearly, I recognize that this woman doesn’t look much like Garance’s fashion darlings in the style capitals of the world; in fact, much more buttoned-up in both the literal and figurative sense. But her poise attracted the attention of my lens.

I wish I had more nude tones in my wardrobe. The colors are truly timeless, and match just about anything that black would too. Why not brighten up?