Qipao Dress In China

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After the Qing Dynasty, the governments continued “sporadic efforts” in dress regulation (Finnane 2008, 16). Next was the Republic of China period, which lasted from 1912 to 1949. The qipao dress, or as it is sometimes known, the cheongsam, which is “now regarded as the typical Chinese dress style” gained popularity in the 1920s (Mei 2010, 8). This dress, although not as popular in very recent years, became “standard wear for urban women” by 1932 (Finnane 2008, 5). It is a one-piece dress with a high collar, and contains elements of Manchurian, Han, and 20th century dresses (Mei 2010, 8). It was very different from more traditional styles of clothing, which did not emphasize the body shape and were rather loose fitting (Mei, 146-147). This dress in combining various styles can represent China itself in this time period.…show more content…
However, men would still combine Chinese and western elements in their outfits. If they wore an entire suit during this time period, it was “considered to be a very bold action” (Mei 2010, 142). High class women wore qipaos as well as western style clothing, while lower class women wore jackets made in a Chinese style out of patterned cloth (Mei 2010, 141). In rural areas and more inland places in China, people would still wear traditional clothing styles (Mei 2010, 147). There was a lot of mixing of classically Chinese styles with foreign styles for both men and women, but never solely western styles. Qipaos changed rapidly during this period in sleeve, collar, and dress length (Mei 2010, 146). Many different styles were popular, and there seemed to be a short period of individualism in
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