Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 602 Fashion
After the three entered the restaurant, everyone officially began eating and drinking.

After a few drinks, I still managed to eat two bowls of rice.

Once they were about 70-80% full, everyone slowed down, lit a cigarette, and chatted while they ate.

Zhang Wenliang looked at Chen Fan and asked, "Old Chen, you just said that the best tailors in the country are in Shanghai, and that you've never seen the clothes they make. Is there something to that?"

Chen Fan slowly pinched a wad of tobacco and buried it in his pipe. When he looked up, he saw Accountant Liu spreading a piece of paper on the table and slowly rolling a wad of tobacco. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Accountant Liu, you roll your own cigarettes?"

Accountant Liu held up a cigarette he had rolled, the two ends of which were of different thicknesses, and chuckled, "When we were struggling financially, I bought a lot of tobacco. I couldn't let all that tobacco go to waste, so I rolled it myself for my own consumption."

He lit a cigarette from Captain Yang and exhaled a puff of smoke that emitted blue smoke... The blue smoke was from burning paper, which was quite unique.

He then laughed and said, "Anyway, we're not strangers today, so I'm not afraid of embarrassing Lujiawan. I'll just smoke this."

Xiao Liewen chimed in, “What’s so shameful about this? If anyone dares to laugh at you, it means they’ve lost the spirit and style of hard work and frugality, and they should be punished for their past suffering.”

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly came to his senses and turned to look at Chen Fan. "Hey, at the brigade headquarters just now, didn't they say they were going to make you eat a 'bitter meal'?"

Chen Fan quickly shook his head, "No, no, it means that Brother Sanhu should lead the militia company to eat a meal to remember the hardships of the past."

Xiao Liewen was a little tipsy from the alcohol. He looked up at the still relatively bright sky and asked, "Really?"

Chen Fan let out a barely perceptible sigh and looked up at Zhang Wenliang. “That’s a good question. Why did I take Liu Lu to Shanghai to study, and why do I say that the best tailors in the country are in Shanghai? I’ve never even seen their work myself. There’s a story behind all of that.”

These words immediately drew the attention of everyone, including Xiao Liewen. They stared at him intently, waiting for him to continue.

Taking a puff of his pipe, Chen Fan asked seriously, "Tell me, do you know which place was the most prosperous during the Republic of China era?"

Without hesitation, Zhang Wenliang replied, "Shanghai."

The Paris of the Far East, Asia's largest city, the fashion capital of the Far East...

Even he, a member of the "younger generation," had heard the older generation mention these Shanghai titles.

Back then, Master Lu was able to live a peaceful life, and the elders in his family respected him, so the children of Team 5 loved to go to Master Lu and listen to his stories about the outside world.

I learned a lot of things from Master Lu.

Chen Fan nodded. "Indeed. Since Shanghai is the most bustling city, it's natural that wealthy people love to flock there. And wealthy people are particular about their craft, so Shanghai's tailors are more skilled than those in other cities."

Among them, the "Red Gang Tailors" are the most famous. Their skills are not only hailed as the best in Asia by customers worldwide, but some even believe, without prejudice, that their sewing techniques are in no way inferior to those of the tailors used by European royalty, making them truly world-class.

"A Hong Gang tailor?"

Xiao Liewen frowned, squinting thoughtfully. "I've only heard of the Hong Gang. Is this Hong Gang tailor related to the Hongmen?"

Chen Fan shook his head repeatedly, "No, no, those are completely different things, they are unrelated."

He put down his pipe, took a sip of tea, and then slowly explained, "This 'red' doesn't mean 'flood,' but rather 'red.' Because in Shanghainese, 'feng' and 'hong' are homophones, people from other places mistakenly referred to it as 'Hongbang tailors.' Over time, the character 'hong' became the orthodox one, and the character 'feng' was rarely mentioned."

These words made Xiao Liewen put aside his other thoughts, and he nodded in realization, picking up his wine glass for a small sip.

"Let me explain the key points first," Chen Fan continued, "The Hongbang tailors, also known as the Fengbang tailors, refer to a group of tailors from the Ningbo area who made a living in Shanghai. They had two distinguishing features: one was that they only made Western suits and cheongsams and no other clothes; the other was that they 'tailored to fit the body.'"

"Tailor-made?"

Zhang Wenliang stared at him intently, then asked in surprise, "Isn't tailoring a basic skill for tailors? How come it's a characteristic of the Red Gang tailors?"

Chen Fan smiled and shook his head, "No."

After pausing for two seconds, he thought for a moment and continued, "To put it this way, take the cheongsam as an example. Before the Hongbang tailors improved the cheongsam, it was similar to the early long gown, with two pieces of cloth sewn together and a straight tube."

Looking at Chen Fan's hand gestures, Zhang Wenliang seemed to understand somewhat, "Straight-cut clothes, use up more fabric?"

Chen Fan opened his mouth and blinked, wanting to say that this wasn't the case, but he also felt that he might not have said anything wrong.
After a couple of seconds of contemplation, he nodded. "That's pretty much the idea."

Then he continued to explain, "In the earliest days, the Western-style suits that were introduced to my country were directly copied from Westerners' designs, characterized by their large and loose fit."

Asians are not as tall and robust as Europeans, especially during the Republic of China era. Even wealthy young men rarely grew fat and strong, so when they wore Western suits, they looked somewhat like monkeys wearing crowns.

At that time, someone ordered a suit from a clothing store in Ningbo, but after receiving the clothes, he was very dissatisfied with them and asked for a refund. The tailor did not argue much, but simply asked the customer to give him a few more days to make some alterations.

He then remeasured the customer's height and used a close-fitting tailoring technique to make a tailored suit. The customer was extremely satisfied when he picked it up, and from then on, the Hongbang tailors became famous in Shanghai.

Chen Fan took a sip of tea and began to tell them about the interesting stories of the Red Gang tailors back in the day.

For example, the first Zhongshan suit was designed by a Hongbang tailor based on Mr. Sun's requirements, using the sergeant's uniform in a small notebook as a prototype.

The first fitted cheongsam was made by Hu Die, a famous star in Shanghai. She finally managed to buy a piece of lace fabric and searched all the well-known tailors in Shanghai, but no one dared to take it on. In the end, a tailor from the Red Gang took over and used the close-fitting tailoring method of making suits to make the first modified cheongsam. This is how the graceful figure of the cheongsam came to be in later generations.

There was also the first suit shop, the first suit, and the first book on suit theory...

After rambling on for a while, Chen Fan conveyed one point: to become a top-notch tailor, one must go to Shanghai and learn from an old master tailor from the Red Gang.

Of course, that was in the past. After the reform and opening up, especially after the 90s, all kinds of clothing training schools sprang up, and all kinds of new cutting methods could be learned in schools, so there was no need for such trouble.

After listening to Chen Fan's story, Zhang Wenliang was still a little curious, "You've never even seen clothes made by the Red Gang tailors?"

All things considered, Chen Fan had traveled from Lujiawan to the prefectural committee, the provincial capital, Shanghai, Beijing, and Northeast China. Moreover, most of the people he interacted with were people of status and position. Surely none of these people had ever worn clothes made by the Red Gang tailors?

Chen Fan pursed his lips, thinking to himself, of course he had seen it before.

Yeah, I saw it on TV. In the drama "Blossoms in Shanghai," CEO Bao wore a suit specially tailored by a Hongbang tailor. In real life, well, I've never seen it.

Of course, he wouldn't say any of that. He first took a puff of his pipe, then looked at him with a half-smile and said, "When I was shopping in Shanghai, I happened to run into a woman picking up her pants at a sewing shop."

When the woman bought the fabric to have the pants custom-made, she specifically requested a fitted style, not too loose. However, when she picked up the pants, the salesperson gave her a pair of loose-fitting pants that are commonplace everywhere. Can you guess why?

He didn't directly state the result, but Zhang Wenliang clicked his tongue, understood what he meant, and remained silent.

Secretary Yang sat down next to Chen Fan and couldn't help but shake his head. "These young people just like to look good, without caring about the impact. Those pants are too tight, their buttocks are stretched out, it's not a good look for others."

Chen Fan silently smoked his cigarette, paused for two seconds, and then said softly, "Uncle Yang, do you know what the most fashionable clothes are right now in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou?"

Secretary Yang picked up a peanut, popped it into his mouth, turned his head, and glanced at him sideways. "What?"

Chen Fan gestured with one hand, "Floral shirt, flared jeans, and sunglasses—that's what men wear. Women wear something similar: floral shirt and flared jeans, but women's sunglasses are hard to find."

Although he gestured, Secretary Yang and the others still didn't know what it was and looked at him blankly.

Chen Fan turned his head and glanced at them, chuckling, "Anyway, if those clothes were put in front of you, you probably wouldn't even want to look at them, let alone wear them. You'd just throw them in the river and discard them."

Everyone looked at each other.

Two seconds later, the custodian, Huang, suddenly said quietly, "There's no need to throw it away. Just cut it up; it can still be used as a patch."

Chen Fan was speechless for a moment. After several seconds, he gave Huang, the custodian, a thumbs up to show his respect.

He then turned to look at Secretary Yang and said seriously, "Everyone has a love for beauty. In the past, we required clothes to be 'fitting,' but that so-called fit was actually meant to conceal the curves of the human body."

You're a seasoned veteran, experienced and knowledgeable. Do you really think that a villain would abandon their despicable intentions just because they can't see the curve?

Secretary Yang frowned slightly, smoking and lost in thought, without saying a word.

Chen Fan took a puff of his cigarette and continued, "In other words, floral shirts, bell-bottoms, and jeans all originated from the south. Production was low, and many young people couldn't buy them even if they wanted to, so there aren't many people wearing these kinds of clothes on the surface."

If production can keep up, and the price is right, I can't guarantee it will be more than half of young people buying these clothes, at least one set, to wear when meeting up with friends. That's fashion.

By this time, the tobacco in the pipe had burned out. He tapped the ash off his pipe, took a sip of tea, and then, too lazy to pinch any more tobacco, put the pipe on the table, took out a filter cigarette from his pocket, gave one to each of them, and then lit another one in his mouth.

After pausing for two seconds, he turned around and continued, "Yesterday I went to the prefectural committee and went to see Director Jiang of the cotton mill to discuss the down jackets with him."

Upon hearing this, everyone's attention became even more focused, and they all turned their gazes to him.

Chen Fan looked around and said seriously, "At my urging, Factory Director Jiang decided to personally go to the provincial capital to apply for approval from the leaders to build a down jacket fabric production line."

Chen Fan had discussed this matter with Secretary Yang and the others beforehand, and upon hearing that the fabric production line was promising, they couldn't help but show excitement.

Zhang Wenliang slapped his thigh and grinned, "Great! Let me tell you, the cooked food workshops are accumulating a lot of chicken, duck, and goose down every day. Although you can sell these things for a little money after cleaning them, the value is far less than what we make ourselves."

Chen Fan smiled and continued, "If there are no unforeseen circumstances, their production line will be operational by the end of this year. Our garment factory, on the other hand, should be completed even earlier, because equipment procurement, debugging, and worker training all take time."

He suddenly turned to look at Secretary Yang and asked softly, "Uncle Yang, once our garment factory is built, in addition to down jackets, we can also produce other styles of clothing."

Now I'll give you two choices, one is the kind sold at the commune's supply and marketing cooperative..."

He gestured as he spoke, “It’s the kind of ordinary clothes you often wear, costing a few dollars a piece. The other kind is the kind of floral shirts and bell-bottoms that cost tens of dollars a piece, which you have to pull strings to buy in big cities.”

Which type of clothing would you prefer the garment factory to produce?

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang was immediately conflicted.

Should we choose the first option?
They are simple and honest, but their income is even more so.

Should we choose the second option?

I feel a little uneasy about making this money!

Seeing that he didn't speak, Chen Fan looked at the others.

Well, Captain Xiao, Captain Zhang, and Captain Ye all frowned and pondered.

This problem, which later generations would never have even considered, became the first "difficult problem" they faced since Lujiawan began developing its sideline businesses!
Zhang Wenliang craned his neck, wanting to say something, but when he turned his gaze to Chen Fan, he saw Chen Fan gently shake his head.

He paused for a moment, then could only swallow the words he wanted to say.

Chen Fan posed a "difficult question," then ignored it, picked up his wine glass and drank with Captain Yang, before asking, "How are those educated youth doing now?"

Captain Yang put down his wine glass, took a puff of his cigarette, looked at the filter with satisfaction, and said, "The province just issued a notice yesterday that this year's college entrance examination will be held from July 20th to 22nd, only three weeks. They are all studying like crazy now."

After he finished speaking, he thought for a moment, looked up at Chen Fan, and said softly, "Xiao Chen, if you have time, see if you can tutor them again. These students are very different from the educated youth of the past."

You know what those educated youth were like without me having to tell you. If they were like that, I wouldn't have said a word to you.

But these children are truly dedicated. They work just like the other villagers, starting and finishing work at the same time, and dedicate their free time to studying. During the off-season, they even help teach at the primary school.

Putting everything else aside, just put yourself in their shoes; seeing them working day and night, I feel a pang of sympathy for them.

Chen Fan pursed his lips, pondered for two seconds, and nodded slightly, "Okay."

Whether they are sincere or just putting on a show, they have gone to this extent, which shows their good intentions. Since Captain Yang has already made the offer, why not lend a hand?

(End of this chapter)