14 DAY TRIAL // Photos with Chinese teens wearing ridiculous hairdos, make-up and dressed in bizarre outfits have been spreading around social media sites for a while now, but the actual purpose or the origins of the pictures were quite unclear.
Last month, a blogger posted some photos with a young man with spiky hair and weird make-up writing “caught a live shamate on the street today,” giving the weird collection of photos a name to go with.
These unique individuals adopting a bizarre style, and calling themselves shamate, are rumored to be the “young migrants lost in China's great urbanization push, a subculture whose numbers are unknown, but surely growing,” notes Tea Leaf Nation.
The word “shamate” is the Chinese transliteration of “smart” and it is used as the label for the new subculture described by kids dressed in exaggerated costumes, with bizarre hairdos and horror-like make-up. The combination of goth, anime, visual kei and glam taken to some new levels has made itself known as China's most hated subculture, according to Buzzfeed.
Most of the trend's followers are outcasts or school drop-outs seeking refuge in big cities, coming together in some sort of virtual family. It is hard not to recognize a shamate as their distinguishing features include incredible hairdos with gigantic blow-outs and spiky styles combined with an abuse of color and wax and vampire-like make-up.
Their particular fashion style is both fascinating and disgusting, painful to the eye and with a guaranteed wow-reaction. The trend has grown considerably in the last months, and it formed something similar to a secret society, hidden and highly organized, with members calling each other family.
The shamate phenomenon has spread across the country, rumored to have almost two million members that communicate through their own chat room. One curious writer tried to infiltrate the community going undercover as a follower and writing a diary about his activities. Anyone attempting to enter the family must be interviewed as they don't accept non-shamate people.
After joining the private chat room, the undercover fraud was shocked by the number of members the bizarre subculture has and by some of the famous idols the family praised. One particular individual was as creepy as it gets, looking like a vampire-ghost combination and known as a famous top family member.
It is amazing to see the extent to which this subculture goes to express their uniqueness. The members of the shamate community are known as the opposite of the educated, high-society kids that hold on to fine tastes, luxurious travel activities and privileged education.