The Republic of China was a turbulent era, and it was also an era of special significance. At that time, China had not lost its classical temperament that had lasted for thousands of years, and modern styles were being performed in Shili Foreign Market. Everything was exquisite and full of fresh flavor.
All kinds of legendary figures also took turns to appear during the Republic of China. During these troubled years, they performed an immortal legendary story with unparalleled splendor, twists and turns. In this era, a magazine that interprets classical and modern aesthetics for nearly a hundred years entered the lives of Chinese people on February 15, 1926. This magazine was called "Liangyou". It was published in Shanghai, a very famous city. Under the cultural thrust of the charming coastal city, wherever there are Chinese people at home and abroad, they are all delighted to see "Good Friends".
The huge influence of "Good Friends"
"Good Friends" was born in the cold spring of the 1920s. The cover of the magazine's first issue that year was Hu Die, known as the Queen of Movies. She was the most attractive woman in Shanghai at that time. From the birth of this pictorial in February 1926 until its suspension in October 1945, she was like a woman born in the new ideological trend in Shanghai, accompanying the turbulent Republic of China for nearly 20 years. According to data, "Liangyou" published a total of 174 issues, with each issue selling more than 40,000 copies. This made "Liangyou" one of the most influential magazines in modern Shanghai and even the entire Republic of China.
At that time, someone described the bestseller of the "Liangyou" pictorial this way: "Everyone does not read "Liangyou": housewives, modern women, workers, policemen, old men, shopkeepers, theater customers, people in the teahouse Tea drinkers, students, primary school students; "Good Friends" is everywhere: on the coffee table, in the kitchen, on the dressing table, next to the radio, on the travel record player, in the park
In this illustrated magazine, people can see By the 1920s and 1930s, what changes had taken place in the lives of Chinese women; people can also see what kind of social scene, culture and art China has in modern times. It is like an old photo album of China, recording that precarious period. era, the colorful urban life, the daily needs of ordinary people, and the changes in women's clothing, culture, and ideas.
"Good Friends" did not only show the social changes of the modern Republic of China to the Chinese people at that time. At that time, there was a comment widely circulated around the world: With a copy of "Good Friends" in hand, scholars and experts will not find it shallow. "Liangyou", born in Shanghai, has been sold to five continents in the world with its rich content in an encyclopedia-style pictorial.
It is said that wherever overseas Chinese lived, "Good Friends" could always be seen; some foreign libraries also collected "Good Friends" as a window to understand China. How does "Good Friends" interpret female charm? Since its inception, the cover of "Good Friends" has always featured portraits of young ladies or famous actresses, movie stars, female athletes, etc. ?
Since "Liangyou" can win a reputation all over the world, what kind of charm does this magazine have that is unknown to modern people while it is popular in Shanghai? When this pictorial was founded, Shanghai was already filled with the atmosphere of modern elements. People regarded modern life as a social fashion. Coupled with the success of the May Fourth Movement, the women's movement in Shanghai further developed.
When "Liangyou" was founded, women's social status had been improved. Especially in Shanghai, an area that was extremely susceptible to foreign cultural influence, the women's liberation movement was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. "Good Friends", which appeared under this social background, chose a unique female photography perspective to perfectly and accurately interpret the female charm of the Republic of China era in front of the world.
One of the few male covers of "Liangyou"
In the past 20 years of this illustrated magazine, except for a few weeks of pictorial covers related to the Anti-Japanese War, " "Good Friends" has a total of 174 pictorial covers, including 161 covers, with photos of female movie stars, socialites, female students, and cabaret performers at that time as the cover girls of the pictorial.
In the 1920s and 1930s, although the trend of female ideological emancipation had ushered in, in the traditional concept of the public, women were still not allowed to appear in public, otherwise such women would be classified as "immoral" women. among the ranks.
The appearance of the cover girl of "Good Friends" dealt a heavy blow to this traditional and restrictive thinking. Because the girls who appear in these pictorials can be celebrities with both political integrity and talent, energetic female students, or even celebrities who have received a good education and are active in various social situations.
From this time on, women no longer have to be socialites who are raised in a boudoir and are not known to anyone. They do not have to abide by the etiquette of the feudal society and never leave the second door.
Under the influence of the pin-up girls, many young women no longer regard it as a shame to appear in public and dress up in various social situations. Their bigger dream is to one day be like Hu Die and Chen Yun Like Chang, a popular actress, she has become a member of the new era of women.
It can be said that the appearance of "Good Friends" made women in the Republic of China realize that the image of modern women should not be those who live in traditional boudoirs and only know how to care for their husbands and raise children; the new image of modern women should wear Proper, well-groomed, with a job you like, and your own private office space. In this way, this pictorial magazine helped Shanghai women break the original closed state of women and began to establish a new image of urban women under the standards of modern society.
What is the impact of "Good Friends" on clothing culture? More than 90% of the covers of "Good Friends" are photos of urban fashionable girls, ladies or female movie stars. Which one occupies a prominent position after the cover? Later, the political reporting objects of "Liangyou" expanded or even changed, but it was still determined by a sense of fashion? After political reporting, it became more fashionable, such as world customs realism, travel notes, Chinese and foreign sports, and Chinese and foreign movies. , celebrity wedding banquets, celebrity whereabouts and even urban daily life guides, etc. These contents, together with political reports, actually constitute the unique fashion reporting system of "Good Friends". ?
"Good Friends" not only changed the spiritual world of women during the Republic of China, it also had an important impact on modern women's lives. First of all, it shows the changes in the clothing worn by Shanghai women now. China's feudal society was deeply constrained by the ideas of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, especially the so-called "preserving natural principles and destroying human desires" in Neo-Confucianism, which restricted women's dressing within an extremely binding framework. Under the influence of traditional concepts, Chinese women should abide by etiquette. Their collars must be tightly buttoned and long skirts must be floor-length. Once a woman exposes her skin, it means that this person is not tolerated by society and has been lost? People who are women, in China in the 1920s and 1930s, even after experiencing the trend of ideological liberation, women still had many wearers from the old era.
"Liangyou" was the first to break this restriction. In this pictorial magazine, women put on light and close-fitting cheongsam, paired with a long vest and short shirt, which is a modern Chinese cheongsam. Thus the cheongsam was born.
In the early days of the release of "Liangyou", the length of the cheongsam was still ankle-length; however, by the early 1930s, the length of the cheongsam had allowed women to expose their entire calves; by the mid-1930s, the previous loose, linear cheongsam , the cutting method was changed to a waisted cheongsam that can show off the curves of a woman's body, and the slits on both sides of the starting line are also opened higher and higher, which makes women's looming thighs more attractive. From the history of the development of pictorial cheongsam, we can see that modern women in Shanghai gradually got rid of the traditional dressing pattern of the feudal period, which is closely related to the change in their ideological concepts.
In addition to cheongsam, this illustrated magazine often publishes some foreign Western dresses, as well as women's sportswear such as swimming and horse riding that break through traditional concepts. In order to keep Chinese women in line with world fashion, "Good Friends" will also occasionally publish some fashion conferences in New York, Paris, and London, which are known as the world's fashion centers.
Popular elements and fashion trends of European and American clothing have quietly been introduced to China. Chinese women have also begun to try black top hats, which are simple and beautiful summer fashions that highlight their figures.
"Good Friends" changed women's material lives. Secondly, the influence of "Good Friends" on Shanghai women was also reflected in the prosperity of Shanghai's beauty and skin care products during this period. Women in the old days lived a life without leaving home, but women in the 1920s and 1930s already had opportunities to work and socialize in all walks of life. When a person integrates into the social circle, she will inevitably pay more attention to her appearance. Especially for women who have loved beauty since ancient times, dressing up and changing their appearance is also a psychological process. Satisfaction. Under such psychological appeal, advertisements teaching women how to create their own hair, eyes, lips, and nails began to appear in illustrated magazines.
Of course, some businessmen who focus on beauty and skin care products have also begun to place advertisements in "Liangyou". According to statistics, advertisements about beauty and skin care products account for a large proportion in this pictorial. All kinds of new beauty and skin care products have appeared one after another. Pond's White Jade Cream and Sanhua brand fragrances have become must-have skin care products for women in Shanghai, and long lines of women are eager to buy them.
The company with the largest amount of beauty advertising was undoubtedly Dean Company in 1931. This company used its own beauty products as the theme and launched 10 series of products in the "Liangyou" pictorial, ranging from beauty products used by women to Water, face powder, rouge, eyebrow pencil, and hand cream are all involved. It can be seen from these advertisements that women's beauty products have been greatly developed in this era, and women have also paid more attention to their appearance. floors. The changes "Good Friends" brought to women's spiritual lives
Wu Liande, founder of "Good Friends" pictorial, will finally talk about the changes "Good Friends" brought to the spiritual lives of women in Shanghai at that time. Since the opening of Shanghai to the outside world, the city has become a huge import port for Western imported products and Western culture. The prosperity of the commercial economy has introduced the unique lifestyle of Western society to Shanghai.
The rise of "Good Friends" coincided with the prosperity of Shanghai's film industry, so the important content in this pictorial was related to news about famous domestic and foreign movie stars at that time.
Due to the large amount of news related to movies, watching movies has gradually become a form of entertainment for modern women. In addition, "Liangyou" also cooperated with many photo studios in Shanghai to publish some fashionable and realistic photos. Therefore, in that era, if any woman had a photo taken in a photo studio in Shanghai, it was the most Something worth flaunting and showing off. "Liangyou", an old magazine, quietly changed the lives of Shanghai women, liberated their minds, and became a recorder and presenter of modern women's lives during the Republic of China.