What's in your makeup bag? (Creative Commons photo by Flickr user Nikita Kashner)

I didn’t realize how easy it was to distinguish between real Chinese girls and ABC girls [American-born Chinese] until I came here—they don’t even have to speak a word, just from the appearance. ABC girls, most of them wear make-up like American girls do, and they dress differently from Chinese girls.

I heard American girls start doing make-up since high school, some as early as middle school; however, a lot of Chinese girls do not care about make-up until they realize they somehow have to, like to cover aging signs around 25.

Typical Chinese girls’ clothing: Hoodies, jeans, sneakers. Typical ABC/American girls’ clothing: Leather jackets, skirts, leggings, flip-flops/UGG boots. One interesting thing that I notice is that American girls can wear UGGs during summer weather and flip-flops under freezing temperature, as long as the shoes they choose fit the overall outlook. They look fantastic, but don’t they feel cold?

Well, Chinese girls’ take on fashion is changing, and I can see a lot of Chinese girls wearing more and more Americanized clothing – me included. But still, the line between Chinese girls and ABC/American girls is still distinctive. One thing I am sure about is that for Chinese girls, the utility of clothing hasn’t lost its meaning, yet.