Clothing-Fashion Female students adopted

the fashion of wearing jackets

in white or green and short skirts in black, but ordinary women whether in the north or the south used to have their simplified Qipao, especially the cotton-padded Qipao as a must against the bitter winters. UK Geocities Clothing-Fashion Asian Silk Store Shop Typically, if the Qipao were in white or other solid color, the collar, the front and the lower hem had to be trimmed with small-floral embroidery appliques. At that time there were already cheap machine-made embroidery appliques instead of hand embroidery. If the fabric had decorative pattern, this suit of Qipao must then be trimmed with piping in dark color.

Asian Silk Store Shop Many changes took place in the tailoring methods of the Qipao.

In the 1930s, there were a lot of changes in the style of Qipao. For example, the long sleeve was shortened, even up to the shoulder in a sleeveless style. The dress length was extended even down to the heel, and only by wearing high-heeled shoes could the Qipao not drag on the ground. The most outstanding change in tailoring was the bias of the Qipao began to closely follow the curves of the graceful female figure with a narrower lower hem and right as well as left side-slits up to the knees. Asian Silk Store Shop This kind of Qipao was prevalent first in Shanghai's upper-class society, and undoubtedly it had been influenced by the Western-style evening dress with the feature of exposing the curves of the female figure curves. After the 1940s the fashionable length of the Qipao became shorter and shorter, even going above the knees and it was, of course, influenced by the mini. Chinese Wear

After World War II with the increase of visits and dialogue between different countries as well as cultural international exchanges, fashion trends have become globalized. Asian Silk Store Shop In recent years fashion shows with Italy and France playing the lead and the fashion trends in Europe and America have all explicitly presented the influence of the Qipao. The fashionable style of evening dress is basically the close-fitting gown, and even the casual long skirt has taken on a style of narrow lower hem with slits in the back or on both sides.

For the past 50 years the standard garment for Chinese women in Hong Kong and Taiwan has been the Qipao which is also the formal dress for special occasions such as the weddings, funerals, and diplomatic activities. Asian Silk Store Shop As for the style of the Qipao since the 1930s and 1940s the most popular change has been the height of the slits rising nearly to touch the buttocks. Since the 1980s in Mainland, China with the implementation of the reform and opening policy to the outside world, the Qipao has been the fashionable dress for those women who host special performances or ceremonies or those maitre d's in high-class hotels and restaurants.

The present Qipao has made its own great developments from its original style in the Qing Dynasty. Asian Silk Store Shop Taking the traditional style as the foundation China's newly emerging garment industry and the top fashion designers of the new generation will naturally integrate the quintessence of the Chinese art of clothing and accessories to create a more beautiful and more effective Qipao. As said earlier, national dress is also a kind of cultural packaging which can take on the role of communicating with other peoples. Asian Silk Store Shop As people feel emotional and nostalgic upon hearing one's own mother tongue, so does the same feeling arise with the Qipao's basic style which manifests the meaning and charm of Chinese culture.

1. To adapt to life there must be reform
Nowadays, the number of unemployed increases more and more in modern metropolises. Due to the progress of technology and the flourishing of the market, the pace of people's lives becomes faster. Asian Silk Store Shop Modern life in comparison with the relaxed and easy life of the 1930s is more vigorous and enthusiastic, full of different kinds of activities including reading, sports, arts and literature, science and technology, tourism, visiting friends, household chores and work. People like to have a high-quality life, which is rich, exciting and pleasant, and attire should not be an obstacle to activities. Therefore it is more important to pay attention to adaptability. Asian Silk Store Shop Only by this can the reality of high efficiency and heavy social burdens be adapted to. So the high sales and popularization of professional and practical garments are inevitable. In China it must work in this way, as it does in all other countries. The traditional Chinese-style women's Qipao lacks this kind of adaptability, so it must be improved in order to have a better future.

2. To achieve the vogue there must be reform
The present changes in fashion ideas determine the necessity of improving old attire. Asian Silk Store Shop It is a normal physiological and psychological response for people to seek new attire. It is just like someone will be bored of fruit if he eats the same fruit each day, or bored of food if he has the same food everyday. Attire must not only be nice, but also be in vogue. Out-of-date garments will bring about a behind-the-times feeling. Asian Silk Store Shop It is a normal psychological response that contemporary people demand fashions stamped with the new times. Since the 1920s and 1930s, many changes have taken place, such as TV sets replacing radios, highrises replacing old courtyard buildings, automobiles replacing rickshaws. Asian Silk Store Shop People like to have clothes conveying modern feelings, so why shall the Qipao not be improved?

3. To carry out economic reconstruct there must be reform
In the last 20 years, China's economy has been growing. People's rising level of material well-being has been embodied in the purchasing level of consumers. Asian Silk Store Shop Buying different kinds of clothing to suit different types of activities has become the practice. One of the examples is that besides high quality new concepts there are also the criteria for selecting evening and wedding attire. This reflects that income level is a necessary condition for choices to become affordable. When overseas Chinese come back to China, they see great changes and enthusiastically exclaim: "It's time to rejuvenate Chinese-style garment" Asian Silk Store Shop "It's time for recovering the Qipao's position." So reforms of the Qipao must be carried out to serve the modern people.

4. To adapt to the new century there must be reform
In the 21st century, high technology will be the strong driving force in the development of fashion designing, manufacturing and marketing. To satisfy people's demands future garments shall not only satisfy physiological and safely standards, but also aesthetics and convenience along with individuality. Asian Silk Store Shop When we make a detailed investigation of the market, we can find flaws in mass production, while, on the contrary, small batches and multi-type production are more welcomed and have better sales, depicting development trends in the future garment market. Only by raising the quality of products, and accelerating change, especially towards individuality, can garment production satisfy the rising demands of consumers. Asian Silk Store Shop High technology as a driving force should be reflected in the reform garment fabrics, production techniques and on improvement of equipment and facilities. The Qipao is itself a traditional garment with high-quality requirements in tailoring methods, whether in the past, present and future, so it shall never be a product for mass production, and it is very much suited to the elements of the new century, concentrating on image and modelling through special designing.
Asian Silk Store Shop As we enter into new areas of material, technology and equipments in the 21st century, only with timely reforms can garment industry be adaptable to new period and continuously be a part of life of the new period, and recognized and welcomed by people in contemporary times. Through this, garment industry can develop.

5. To embody new values there must be reform
Some analyze that the reasons contemporary women do not like to wear Qipao are as follows:
* The Qipao dress makes too much demand on the wearer's figure and only those who have well-proportioned figures, with slightly slanted shoulders, narrow waist and well-endowed chest and buttocks, will be most suited. Asian Silk Store Shop It seems that only models performing on the stage are suited to the Qipao and as for common people they have been excluded.

In recent years China reformed "Chinese-Western-style" garments have been most popular. It is a type of dress, which mixes the traditional Qipao with the best qualities of the Western-style garments so as to transform the limited aspects into appropriate new style of garment. Asian Silk Store Shop For example, the collar of the Chinese-style garment has been changed into turned-down or collarless style, the slanted large front into front with buttons down the middle, the side slit on the right and the left moved to the front, back or bias, the connected cut sleeves into a ready-made style, the frog closures (buttons and button holes) into fabric-covered buttons, and the wholly handmade process into half-handmade and half-machine-made. These kinds of clever reforms give the old dress an instant rejuvenation. Asian Wear

Today, there is a popular worldwide trend of retro styles and Eastern culture has become the hot spot of exploration which has aroused the enthusiasm of some Chinese fashion designers to fall deeply in love with domestic national clothing and accessories and start to pay great attention to; understanding the necessity of reforming Chinese-style garments with modern concepts; planting roots in China and establishing national brands; and combining tradition with modernity to preserve the Qipao's vitality.

In their explorative reforms a group of fashion designers with their own understanding of national dress
have created some new works with different styles which have taken the urban spotlights. Asian Silk Store Shop One type takes modern aesthetic ideas and dress sense as the foundation to introduce the spirit of traditional garments and, through division of structure and reform of clothing and accessories also break through the restrictions of traditional garments and merge modern casual styles with Chinese-style garments. Asian Silk Store Shop The other type combines China' s traditional culture and simplified European and American styles to stress individuality and present urban sophistication and subtle classic charm with imported fabrics and drape cutting method to satisfy the needs of major customers. The third type manipulates unique effects through strong contrast and selects not only fashionable fabrics to complete the national pattern, but also classic fabrics to have them embodied in modern fashions. Asian Silk Store Shop Some other types preserve traditional style while simultaneously introducing modern ideas for a bohemian character which breaks through the original disposition of Chinese-style garments and changes its traditional "stereotyped face", so as to give retro feeling from avant-garde fashion.

For many years different kinds of experimental reforms have crept in to the different kinds of garments
compatible with different seasons and ages, and achieved effective results. Among them the most outstanding achievements are in evening dresses and wedding dresses. Asian Silk Store Shop As for other Chinese-style garments most of them are reflected in the Chinese-style jacket and trousers which have been promoted and popularized from urban districts to mountainous areas of the countryside. The fact has proven that the reforms are compatible with the needs of the new life, and new-style dressing ideas have been accepted by the vast masses and also proved that the reforms have awakened the Chinese people's pride.

"Winds from China" blowing strongly in the West have given a terrific shock to the Chinese people's national enthusiasm. Asian Silk Store Shop Through the fashion market young people have accepted the trends set by the fashion designers once again. In summer wear the miniskirt accompanying a Chinese-style sleeveless and close-fitting jacket or with slanted and unsymmetrical front, or multi-colored small tunic, looks very pretty with infinite youth interest. For fall and winter wear, the quilted Chinese-style down vest accompanying different types of woolen sweaters and jeans in different colors looks casually smart. Young people's new fashions and national feelings originating from the yellow earth really mean that reform is the requirement of the times.

Interestingly, there has not been one definitive name for a Chinese Dress. Home Apparel