V. Conclusion

models used are beautiful and slim. Often wearing sleeveless crop tops and mini skirts,

these young women show their bodies with pale and smooth skin, which are

considered ideal beauty in China. Although it often promotes itself as a subculture in

the item descriptions, and customers often comment “this is alternative enough” as a

compliment, Y2K’s core as a consumable trend makes it comply with mainstream

beauty standards for women, and creates an image of a highly feminized “hot girl.

Studying the goth scene, Dunja Brill notices the difference between styles of

female and male - androgyny is highly valued for male goths, whereas ideal female

goths usually dress in a excessively feminine way. 129 The research shows that for

such a subculture where genderlessness is the strong theme, however, the ideal beauty

for goth girls are highly feminine, and “sexiness and salability” despite its dark and

theatrical style are still the core for female goths. 130 In comparison, female goth style

is easier to commercialize. Maybe it is the same for the 2000s style in China, or Smart

specifically. For Smart members, both male and female have bold standing big hair,

and some of their hairstyles are very similar. The hairstyle is even used by men to

attract women. 131 On the contrary, Y2K is almost exclusive to only females, or “girls” ,

and the hyperfemininity shown in the style becomes the girls’ way to be attractive.

This difference shows further how Y2K is made to be a commodity - a commodity

with the coat of subculture but complies with mainstream beauty standards for female.

129 Brill, Dunja.

“Gender, status and subcultural capital in the goth scene. ” In Hodkinson, Paul and Deicke, Wolfgang (eds.) Youth Cultures: Scenes, Subcultures and Tribes: 111-128. London: Taylor & Francis Group 2007. 130 Brill, Dunja. “Gender, status and subcultural capital in the goth scene. ” : 119. 131 Li, Yifan. “We Were Smart. ”

Conclusion

Visual comparisons show how Smart as a subcultural style has come into a

new fashion trend consumed online. Similar elements suggest that Smart is referenced

when youths now in the 2020s try to recreate a retro 2000s style in China, and show

an underlying sense of rebellion communicated by the two styles, and both Smart and

Y2K show how fashion can be used as tactics to actively articulate one’s identity.

Furthermore, the role that media play is crucial in shaping identities of both

communities.

However, this thesis argues that Y2K transforms the Smart style into a fashion

trend while disregarding Smart’s original cultural meanings. As discussed in Chapter

II, Smart is a subculture style made by immigrant workers in China. They imitated

various cultures and created a style of their own, existing in the factories somewhere

between rural areas and developed cities. To Smart, styling is their way of expressing

and protecting themselves, but it also strengthens the barrier between them and the

mainstream society, since it is a style that only exists in neither urban nor rural areas,

but somewhere in between.

Y2K, on the contrary, although promoted and seen as a subcultural style worn

by youths, is a style meant to be consumed. It is more of a fashion trend than a

stylistic bond of a social group, as opposed to style signaling one as a part of the

“family” seen at the core of Smart. When borrowing fashion elements from Smart,

however, the original cultural background is dismissed, and moreover, the style