History of China women's wear

When we think of China fashion, the first idea comes out in our mind is Cheungsam. Cheungsam in Mandrin word Qipao that is a classic Chinese garment for women. The Qipao which means Manchu banner robe , it's originates from Manchu dress of the Qing dynasty.

Image taken from : http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/evrev/cheungsam.htm

The Cheungsam which can be made from fabric , with two pieces of cloth either long or short sleeves , the cut follow the form of woman's body which shows out the slim and slenderness.

Women with Cheungsam that could qualify the beautifulness of the shape of body and movement of walk. As the image above, woman wearing Cheungsam could shows out the grace and elegance and a little sexiness on the legs at the split end of the cloth.

Resources: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/evrev/cheungsam.htm

However, the political, economic and social will affect how women fashion is the era.

I found a article about the evolution of Chinese women's dress and appearance. Inside the article has noted "clothing and appearance not only can reflect the identity of gender, but also can reflect a given economic, culture, political and social system".

Therefore, in the previous time 1950s in China destiny, women has no right to stand up and talk but they are under control by their father and hushband. Around that time, no matter the age or sex, women dressed the "Mao green" that all people dressed up the same color and work as equal as the men.

Image taken from : http://www.chinahush.com/2010/10/04/from-1900-to-2010-variation-of-chinese-woman-fashion/

Annie Lee noted that the love and beauty always supplement each other. When love disappears in people’s life, beauty turns evil. In that time, judging on appearance is forbidden, everyone doesn't care of their looking but they do care about whether they can work. Perhaps, war in that time has diminished the beautiful image of women. 

Fortunately, in the later period of 1980s-1990s, women fashion became better. Women has the freedoms of what to wear ,they can dress up smartly as copies of Hong Kong, Japan and Korea . As Xiaolan Wang noted the Chinese women depend on media very much in choosing their dress style and clothes. From that, media or commercial advertising has affect every women's minds of the ideal of dressing and stylish. However, women fashion in China becoming more modern and more toward to Western style.

Resources : http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07142005-093123/unrestricted/Wang_thesis.pdf

Resources & Further reading : http://www.chinahush.com/2010/10/04/from-1900-to-2010-variation-of-chinese-woman-fashion/

References :

Lee, A. (2010) From 1900 to 2010, variation of Chinese woman fashion | ChinaHush. [Online] Available at: http://www.chinahush.com/2010/10/04/from-1900-to-2010-variation-of-chinese-woman-fashion/ [Accessed: 2 Jun 2013].

I found the image from here to show how the women present when wearing the "Mao green" and the reason why women in the pass wore like that.

Powerhousemuseum.com. (n.d.) Evolution and revolution: Chinese dress 1700s-1990s - Cheungsam. [Online] Available at: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/evrev/cheungsam.htm [Accessed: 2 Jun 2013].

The articles that talks about the history of how women wears in the past time in China.

Powerhousemuseum.com. (n.d.) Evolution and revolution: Chinese dress 1700s-1990s - Cheungsam. [Image online] Available at: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/evrev/cheungsam.htm [Accessed: 2 Jun 2013].

The same articles that talks about the history of how women wears in the past time in China but I'm using the image inside.

Wang, X. (2005) Changing face: The Evolution of Chinese Women's dress and appearance. [Online] Available at: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-07142005-093123/unrestricted/Wang_thesis.pdf [Accessed: 2 Jun 2013].

I found the points of China wearing is mostly copy from Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.