Qipao

The modern qipao or cheongsam is seen as the ubiquitous Chinese woman’s dress. Coming into vogue as the new Chinese republic was founded in 1911, the qipao was seen as the woman’s dress of ‘new’ China. Although it retained the basic form of the dress of the ‘Banner people’, the Manchus (who were not ethnic Chinese), changes in details in ornamentation and tailoring marked the ‘overthrowing’ of the feudal past. This dress is an interesting piece of modern technology: the velvet and ‘crepe’ are synthetic fabrics (as opposed to organic textiles such as silk, which these fabrics are traditionally made with), and machine woven (as opposed to loom weaving). There is also a lace detail that is in t

Qipao · Shanghai · ca. 1930. Printed devoré velvet on crepe ground. By Sun Sun Company. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.