Image is everything in modern China and in a drab-looking office in the capital, a steady stream of housewives, single women and even men file through its door daily to seek a complete makeover.

Among them, seated in front of a mirror, 29-year-old housewife Fanny watches attentively as consultant Li Lei places dozens of fabrics in different shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple one at a time on her chest.

"I hate shopping. I find it very difficult because I don't know how to choose the type of clothes that suit me, but I have to attend a lot of business and social functions with my husband and I don't want to make any fashion mistakes," explains the housewife.

Dressed in a bright green silk top and gray flared out skirt with her hair tied up in a bun, she declines to give her last name to avoid having friends find out she is here, but says she came to the Ximan Colour Image Centre after seeing an advertisement on TV.

She is one of many as Chinese embrace the idea of image consultants as they attempt to adapt to a fast-changing economic and social order.

For 2,600 yuan (325 dollars) -- at least three months' salary to most blue collar workers in Beijing -- the image center advises clients on what colors and style of clothes look good on them, how to apply makeup and what hair style suits their face.

Style savants can also sort out well-matched outfits from a client's closet or accompany him or her on a shopping trip to get a whole new wardrobe if they buy the full package of services costing 10,000 yuan.

Clients can also be advised on posture, body language, speech and mannerism.

Money and increasing exposure to the outside world after decades of isolation are spurring the trend and has created a new profession of image consultants.

"Everyone is paying more attention to appearance," says Yan Xiuzhen, chairwoman of the China Hairdressing and Beauty Association.

"With economic development, people are involved in more social activities, business activities. In the past women and male business executives paid little attention to their image, now they do," she says, adding, "People's image also reflects a country's image."

Up until the early 1980s, Mao suits consisting of a simple buttoned down jacket usually in dark colors and a pair of shapeless cotton pants were the standard attire for most Chinese.

Jeans and T-shirts, blouses and skirts became popular with the economic opening up in the 1980s.

Now with more money, the influx of foreign brands and homemade copycat designs, as well as the rise in appearance-demanding jobs with multinational firms, people are aspiring to higher standards.

"The biggest problem in China is people don't know how to make themselves look pretty, unlike in Japan where ideas about beauty are already very sophisticated," says Tina Qin, a self-employed consultant.

"Chinese people buy expensive clothes to emulate what they see on TV, but when they put it on themselves, they realize it doesn't look good on them."

A common problem is people don't know what suits their body and how to match clothes properly, consultants say.

Fashion faux pas abound.

Glaring examples apparent in Chinese cities include women wear stockings with open-toe sandals and men wearing white socks with dark suits.

"I often see women going to work riding a motorbike wearing long spaghetti strap black silk dresses, highheels, heavy makeup, tacky earrings, legs astride the bike," Qin says.

Going outdoors in the daytime in pajamas to chat with neighbors or shop at the vegetable market is also common.

There are no statistics on how many image consulting firms exist because many are categorized as hair salons or beauty parlors, but consultants say the number is growing.

Ximan, which opened in 1998, says it was China's first.

It had few clients initially, but in recent years, hundreds of such firms followed, Yan says. Business and prospects are so good that Ximan plans to open 20 stores in major Chinese cities in the next three years.

The company has trained more than 4,800 consultants in Beijing alone, many of them opening their own firms.

Most clients seeking image advice are in their '30s to 40s, a generation that grew up at a time when everyone in China wore the same things and had no fashion magazines or pop culture to influence them.

"In the past, all you had to do was work hard. If you dressed up, people thought you were not hardworking, that you spent all your time dolling yourself up," says Yan.

As late as the early 1990s, many department stores offered only limited styles and selections, but an explosion of boutiques selling designer clothes are encouraging many to experiment.

Competition for jobs, business deals and even boyfriends is stiff, making people all the more image conscious.

"Now employees at any enterprise first of all have to do well, but secondly they must look good," Yan says.

China's nouveau riche -- often people who made a quick fortune from the country's property boom or who work for large state-owned enterprises -- are among the biggest clients.

At Ximan, the housewife smiles when colors of orange and fuschia she had never imagined wearing were put in front of her.

"Warm colors and light colors suit you better," consultant Li tells her. "Pink is a very feminine color, but if you wear it, you have to see what type of setting you'll be in," she advises.

"For social functions at night, you need bright colors, so you won't be dimmed out by the lights."