The Chinese internet is once again up in arms over the behaviour of the nation’s youth. Catching their ire this time is the new trend for female adolescents to try on children’s clothes in fast-fashion stores, just to obtain a selfie exposing a little flesh.
And it is here in Nanjing that the new fashion has come to light. In particular, it appears fast-fashion outlet, Uniqlo, is now the destination of choice for today’s hipsters to try on the smallest of clothes with no intent of making a purchase. Instead it’s all about that selfie which shows off how thin they are.
According to an investigative report published by The Paper, bloggers have taken to visiting a Uniqlo store in Nanjing’s Xinjiekou to show off their bodies by trying on dress sizes meant for preschoolers.
Of course, it’s no secret that Chinese men, by and large, prefer their women skinny. This now commonplace knowledge is set out among other standards for beauty throughout the ages in the magazine, “Chinese Beauty Standards”, by Emma Pompeii, Victoria Yuen and Sarah Fresard (2016).
According to the authors, “Throughout history, Chinese women have been expected to be very small, slim, and petite. [Today], pressures to be thin and small in China are more aggressive than in nearly any other country. In average Chinese clothing stores, the biggest size easily found, is a US size 4”.
In consideration of that what’s been going on at Uniqlo, any sane person is going to wonder how on earth these girls fit into what are essentially toddler’s clothes.
Chinese Beauty Standards also published a survey, in which 32.4 percent and 28.6 percent of respondents, respectively, said they could fit or can sometimes fit into clothing of US size 4.
According to local reports, Uniqlo responded by saying they do not forbid adults from trying on children’s clothes, rather they just instruct them not to get makeup on the collars.
And that kind of a reaction has got China’s netizen’ even more riled. Many have called on the store to demand that the bloggers pay for the clothing that they try on. “Big people should be responsible for their own behaviour”, said one.
