Photo: A friend models her Beijing purchases – squid on a stick and a Mickey Mouse hoodie.
Walking home today I saw an older foreign guy wearing a T-shirt which read 'I [heart] my Chinese girlfriend', but 'girlfriend' had been crossed out and 'wife' written in with permanent marker. I smiled as I read it!
What does your T-shirt say about you? I remember when I was at uni, and lived in a uniform of jeans and a T-shirt, that choosing the best T-shirt for the right occasion was a tricky task. I guess it's the same anywhere, the only difference is what you deem to be 'cool'!
I get the impression that it's 'cool' to wear a T-shirt with English on it in Beijing. No matter what it says. I saw a middle aged Chinese lady wearing a T-shirt which read 'I am Mr Right Now'. I wonder if she had any idea what it meant?
Some of the English on T-shirts here looks like the test page you get out of a printer to check the ink is working properly, i.e. complete gobbledegook. That's pretty bad. But I think the worst ones are where someone has tried to say something in English and got the grammar totally wrong. "I charming".
Another 'cool' trend is Mickey Mouse. This in particular terrifies me. A group of guys were walking towards me this afternoon and of course, one of them was wearing a Mickey Mouse T-shirt. How did Mickey Mouse become cool in China? I mean, I understand that Mickey Mouse can be cool for a 4 year old, but for a 24 year old? Even my 6 year old nephew would not be seen dead wearing Mickey Mouse – It's Thomas the Tank Engine all the way.
I asked my students to invent a product for various target markets and the group with students came up with his and hers matching laptops. I suggested (as a joke) that maybe they should add Mickey Mouse to make the laptops more attractive. They nodded attentively, and lo and behold, the final ad had matching lap tops (blue and baby pink) complete with a subtle black Mickey Mouse ear design. Oh dear...
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