What's In a Look: The Bumbys Judge Beijing Style

Recently, I received the style assessment of all style assessments when The Bumbys, a performance duo from New York City, stopped in Beijing for Vogue Fashion's Night Out at Lane Crawford. The Bumbys have been gaining momentum in celebrity and fashion circles for giving a "fair and honest appraisal of your appearance" at parties, which, despite how intimidating it may sound, is actually meant to be a positive and endearing experience.

Gill and Jill Bumby sit in disguise behind typewriters, give the lucky guy or gal a once-over, and write down their first impressions on an official-looking notecard like this:

The Bumbys' quirky appraisals have generated conversation on the subjectivity of style and appearance as well as American society's hunger for the approval of others, motivating some thoughtful evaluations of their performance from the likes of The New Yorker and The Cut. While the Bumbys' initial focus landed in US circles, with appraisals of not only people, but everything from Alexander Wang's latest collection to the hit made-for-Netflix show Orange Is the New Black, this was their first time setting sights on Beijing.

Because they tend to be good with the keyboard (the Bumbys refrain from speaking during their performances), I chose to email them to ask how they fared in a city in the early stages of a fashion industry expansion.

TBJ: What’s your fair and honest appraisal of Beijing so far?

JILL: Gill, here, I think you should share your iPhone pic of the dude with the crazy ferocious t-shirt – the guy that Viranda referred to as "Chinese Kanye West." Also maybe mention (if you haven't already) the punker kids you saw on your walk – all the dudes seem to have this same great Flock of Seagulls hairstyles. Almost every girl at FNO had a sick handbag and the best manicures this side of Tokyo. 

TBJ: This is your first time in China. Did you think you would get the same sense of anxiety from people about being judged by their appearance?

GILL: It seems like wherever we go in the world people's curiosity outweighs their fear. We love when culture is different! We get bored by the same old thing.

PHOTOS: Is Peng Liyuan More Stylish Than Michelle Obama?

TBJ: There’s been a lot of praise of First Lady Peng Liyuan’s fashion choices lately. Do you have an appraisal for this?

JILL: A First Lady is under a lot of pressure to be all things to all people – fashionable and pretty, well-spoken and brilliant, warm and maternal, gracious. It must be extremely difficult to achieve a look that communicates all of those things while also expressing a hint of her own creativity as well.

Of course, she looks beautifully put-together and classic (I think Vanity Fair put her on their Best Dressed List this year), but for me, the creative touch that sets her apart are her shoes. This woman can rock a five-inch platform heel like no other world leader I've seen. She always appears strong and confident which is more than I can say for some of our shorter male leaders. Maybe they should try a heel!  

TBJ: Who has been the most interesting person for you to Bumby so far (or recently)?

PRODUCER VIRANDA: Gill & Jill recently simultaneously Bumby'ed Tom Hanks (who's apparently a big fan of typewriters and collects them) ... Gill told him that he's secretly a street artist named "Hanksy," and Jill congratulated him for all the Oscars but asked him when  the Splash sequel was coming out.

TBJ: Why do you choose not to talk when you give your appraisals?

JILL: Honestly, no one would be able to hear us.

GILL: In fact, I can't even hear myself right now.

PRODUCER VIRANDA: We regularly go deaf at the events we perform at, DJs love to play their music super loud...

TBJ: You’ve said before that aesthetics are important in life and that this is something you notice when doing your appraisals. In a budding fashion industry, not all Chinese people have the same sets of aesthetic expectations as those in the US. Did you have any reservations about doing fashion appraisals because of this?

JILL: From our perspective, there's a difference between fashion and style. Fashion can always be cultivated and copied, but style can't. In China, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on brands and labels, which can be exciting on the right person (it's not everyday that you see head-to-toe Chanel on a person, even in NYC, seriously), but sometimes, the most interesting looks are put together by people who don't have any money, or are in fact wearing a uniform.

What's exciting to us is the essence of a person, the way they put themselves together, the sense of humor in their clothes, color or lack of color, what's going on behind the eyes. Sometimes what's interesting or arresting about a person is their beauty, but sometimes it's something else, and one is not necessarily better than the other.

PRODUCER VIRANDA: Further to what Jill said above, reference Brother Sharp, the homeless Chinese man...

RELATED: Lost in Translation: Have You Seen English Tattoos in Beijing?

TBJ: Do you do this act all around the world now? What has been trending this summer?

JILL: We've been lucky enough to do this in London, Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, and several other awesome places, but there are lots of places we've yet to go, and we love Asia for sure.

One thing Gill noticed this trip was a trend of Chinese hipsters who have gotten English words tattooed on their bodies (a nice twist on the massive appropriation in the West of words in Chinese characters that simply do not translate). And I've noticed that the men here might have the best personal style in the world.

Photos: Jessica Rapp

Email: j.rapp@thebeijinger.com
Instagram: @jrapppp

More stories by this author here