{"id":173,"date":"2010-12-15T00:00:56","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T16:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=173"},"modified":"2022-11-21T16:12:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T08:12:02","slug":"gorgeous-gentlemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2010\/12\/gorgeous-gentlemen\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong Men Embrace Beauty and Fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reporter: Crystal Chui Tsz-ying<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a weekday evening at a Hong Kong coffee shop. Men in suits and young office ladies turn their heads towards the entrance as a young man strides in. The young man\u2019s outfit is not what we usually see men wear: a short camouflage-patterned jumpsuit with a pair of flats. He has shoulder-length wavy hair, a neat goatee and chiselled features. He is also completely unperturbed by the other customers who are blatantly staring at him.<\/p>\n

The Guy Who Dresses Up<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joey Ma Chung-hon says he is used to attracting attention whenever he goes out. \u201cLet it be. It doesn\u2019t matter to me,\u201d Ma says while chewing a mouthful of apple crumble.<\/p>\n

His craze for fashion began seven years ago, when he was a 20-year-old student in Los Angeles. Ma says the people there wear all sorts of clothes, their various styles along with punk and EMO styles inspired him to love fashion.<\/p>\n

Ma\u2019s closet is anything but conventional. There are heels, skirts, dresses, an extensive collection of colourful socks and all sorts of eccentric garments and accessories. \u201cThere are some things, which if you don\u2019t do them when you\u2019re still young, you will regret it. You just can\u2019t ask me to wear clothes like this when I am 30 or 40,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Right now, he has around 300 items of clothing and 100 pairs of shoes in his wardrobe. He usually buys clothes online and spends an hour surfing fashion websites each day. Ma spends an average of $10,000 and a maximum of $50,000 on clothes each month. His parents sometimes complain about the expenditure.<\/p>\n

Since March this year, Ma has uploaded photos of his outfits on his blog titled \u201cIndividuality\u201d. He posts up photos of himself in different outfits and from different angles. Each picture is accompanied by information about each item of clothing. The site now has posts on more than 160 outfits. In mid-September, he started posting photos on LOOKBOOK.nu, a fashion website where people from all over the world share their own street-fashion photographs.<\/p>\n

This blogging experience took Ma\u2019s interest in fashion to a higher level. After developing the habit of taking photos of his outfits, he now pays even more attention to what he wears.<\/p>\n

But not everyone appreciates his efforts.<\/p>\n

He meets friends of friends who are surprised to see his crazy outfits, and people post his photos on online forums. The posts criticise his tastes in fashion. But Ma says none of this is going to make him change his style. \u201cSomebody even said, \u2018I would beat him up if I saw him on the street.\u2019 What they are doing is too extreme. I was sad for a while but afterwards I was completely fine,\u201d Ma giggles as he explains. He may look proud and unapproachable in his photos, but in real life, Ma is a softly-spoken and shy person.<\/p>\n

Ma thinks whether someone is hurt by put-downs depends on whether that person can accept himself and the outfit he is wearing. If the answer is \u201cyes\u201d, then he should not care about what others think of him. He adds, \u201cMany people in Hong Kong do not have the guts to be themselves. Perhaps some men want to be well-groomed as well, but they are too shy to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Ma knows there is a time and a place for him to express his individuality. He works for his family\u2019s fruit product trading business and adopts a more sober look for his work attire. He dresses in suits for work to project an impression of reliability for his clients. He thinks this is the reason why most Hong Kong working guys stick to wearing suits and most of them rarely spend much time on grooming. Now he is a member of the working population, Ma keeps the stylish clothing and \u201dcrazy\u201d outfits for holidays and gatherings.<\/p>\n


\nThe Guy Who Wears Make-up<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThe quest to look good is not limited to fashion. Hamlet Chan\u2019s passion is for skincare and make-up.<\/p>\n

Chan is a part-time make-up artist. The 18-year-old estimates that he has tried more than 100 skin care and make-up products. The obsession began when he entered puberty and pimples started breaking out on his face. \u201cMen put on make-up to cover their imperfections like blemish marks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

From an initial desire to cover up his spots, Chan\u2019s daily skincare routine is now made up of five to six steps including the application of anti-wrinkle and whitening products. He also uses beauty masks twice a week. Apart from that, Chan goes to beauty salons for deep cleansing treatments every month.<\/p>\n

To Chan, taking care of his skin care is more than just a habit, it is a responsibility. He maintains his complexion every day and has a beauty blog where he posts beauty-related articles.<\/p>\n

Most of the posts are product reviews and articles teaching people how to put on make-up. Apart from the text, Chan posts photos of himself to show the effects of beauty products and demonstrate different looks using make-up. Recently, beauty brands started giving him free samples to try. \u201cIt\u2019s a kind of recognition. It means people have confidence in me. I noticed there aren\u2019t many men doing the same thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In one of his blog posts, Chan posted photos of himself wearing a pair of dramatic fake eyelashes with sequins. Some female bloggers mistook him for a girl. That post attracted a total of 205 comments including Chan\u2019s replies. Most of the bloggers were impressed by his courage and make-up techniques.<\/p>\n

Chan is now a skincare and make- up guru among his friends and fellow bloggers. Both men and women seek his advice by posting questions regarding their skin care routine on his blog. Some male bloggers have even asked him to go out with them to choose skincare products. Chan declined.<\/p>\n

When asked whether his love of make-up and skincare was influenced by his mother or elder sister, Chan laughs, \u201cOn the contrary,, I am the one influencing my family.\u201d At first, his parents did not support this hobby, but when his mother started to try out his products, skincare became a common interest among the family members. Chan\u2019s mother now follows a more complicated skin care routine than before and even uses Chan\u2019s skincare products .<\/p>\n

Still, make-up and skincare alone are not enough to satisfy Chan\u2019s hunger for beauty. He is planning to have Botox injections for face-slimming. \u201cWhen it comes to cosmetic surgery, I think I am open to it,\u201d he says, \u201cI want to have a nose job. My nose isn\u2019t straight at all.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe Scholars Say\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The lifestyles of Ma, the fashionista, and Chan, the beauty guru, may seem unconventional and eccentric to many people, but they are among a growing number of men who are redefining traditional ideas of masculinity.<\/p>\n

Since the mid-1990s, the term \u201cmetrosexual\u201d has been used to describe often heterosexual urban men who spend money on grooming and fashion. Pursuits that were once seen as being effeminate are now being embraced by straight men, according to Wu Keping, an associate professor from the Anthropology Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. \u201cLooks and sexuality are not related,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Wu says that beauty in men is usually associated with traditional notions of masculinity. But, in fact, when we look into history, there have always been men in China who paid attention to how they look. In old Chinese novels like Dream of the Red Chamber, there are passages describing men\u2019s accessories and jewellery.<\/p>\n

In the past, the yearning for beauty was more than just a leisure activity, it was also a symbol of social status. \u201cClass is a very important issue. Being pretty rarely applies to working-class men, they simply do not have the time or money to take care of their looks,\u201d says Wu. But, with advances in technology and the media, men now have a wider selection of cultures to consume and more platforms to share their beauty tips.<\/p>\n

The media has been instrumental in changing perceptions of men\u2019s beauty. In recent years, feminine-looking male models, with slender frames and pale skin started to appear in the media.<\/p>\n

In the contemporary context, Wu thinks one of the reasons men take such pains with their looks is to appeal to the opposite sex. \u201cIn the past, we would look to see whether the man was successful, protective and had money. Now we may also look to see whether they are good-looking,\u201d Wu says.<\/p>\n

Outr\u00e9 fashions and make-up may indeed draw people\u2019s attention to Joey Ma and Hamlet Chan but their dedication to their looks may be driven by a desire to please themselves rather than anyone else. \u201cBeing pretty is a way to show you love yourself. Dressing up is a happy thing to do, really happy,\u201d says Ma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reporter: Crystal Chui Tsz-ying It is a weekday evening at a Hong Kong coffee shop. Men in suits and young office ladies turn their heads towards the entrance as a young man strides in. The young man\u2019s outfit is not what we usually see men wear: a short camouflage-patterned jumpsuit with a pair of flats. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2008,836,1],"tags":[43,42],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-118","category-lifestyle","category-uncategorized","tag-fashion","tag-men"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions\/216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}