Besides Maiko-san, I have also tried the Tang dynasty Chinese make over 🙂 I must say, although I could breath better in these outfits, my neck got all the pressure. See my crazy vein sticking out? Yup, it’s the weight.
Head piece: 2 kg
Wig: 1 to 2 kg
My hair was quite short (& curly) and they managed to make straight smooth buns and rolls… plus a sea cucumber hair do. This was a true make over haha.
Acting the ancient lady was quite serious. Not allowed to show ANY teeth in any pose. So, no smiling, no sultry and no cuteness preferred. Camera man said, ‘Pose elegantly and timidly is the best.’ What am I supposed to do exactly?
‘Long neck please,’ said the camera man… I thought the total weight on my head was close to 4kg at some stage. How to do elongated neck pose with this thing? I also managed to embarrass myself by getting my hair piece entangled in the beaded curtain. 3 girls came to my rescue.
After a long day of sore neck and no smile, I had it. Screw you photographer! I paid for this shoot. When I smile, you shoot, understood? So I smiled with my teeth and all. In his opinion, I butchered his work.
Crazy thing was that their make-up artists continuously try to sell me this sticker that would alter the shape of my eye lids. Why would I want to put double sided sticky tape on my eyes? Ouch, no thanks. They also had a bad habit of over photoshop – e.g. face shape change + 5 shades lighter + boob enhancement. None of my photos had PS by the way. I took the raw pictures. The PS set was so crazy that I didn’t even recognised me.
Let’s be fair now. I look better with my smile on, right? 😉
How to get here & do this?
Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou – major cities of China
The big cities have a large variety of these studios. The locals do this as a ‘pamper’ / girls’ trip. So this isn’t considered a once off tourist thing for them. The studios are also very proactive. As soon as a new TV series come out, the studios will copy the identical looks and offer to their customers.
Example of a larger studio: http://www.panzi.cc
NEGOTIATE!! They quote the most random, and sometimes outrageous, prices. From person to person from the same firm can quote 50% more than their colleague. This tends to be the normal practice for these type of services in China. So be savvy and negotiate.
Please be a sweetheart & follow one of my social media xox
Bloglovin’ / Google+ / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Pinterest