Qipao 

​

The traditional qipao style has gradually evolved after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 and the rising threat from Japan, Western powers [2, 6]. The Chinese Revolution in 1911 overthrew the declining Qing imperial rules and subsequent social movements especially the May Fourth Movement in 1919 arose from Chinese public dissatisfaction towards the terms from the Versailles Peace Treaty together with the government’s failure to defend the national interest have provided China with the building blocks to develop into a modern society and to open to experience different cultures [7,3].

Besides, in the late 19th century, Qing sovereignty began to be undermined and deteriorated by a gradual expansion of foreign powers in China [7]. After the first Opium War, the West imposed and expanded its powers on China political and economic spectrum [7,8]. Shanghai was appointed as a treaty port by Britain which has gathered a mix of cultures and values [5]. Chinese people were exposed to international culture together with diverse fashion-oriented apparels from various countries, people started becoming more fashion-conscious and were keen on wearing different types of clothing. This has caused the traditional qipao style to evolve and change under western influence. Affected by western influence, the qipao in Shanghai and the latter qipao design advocated protruding the body line of the wearers and simple design [3]. While, the traditional qipao style was in common with Manchu women banner robe as well as the typical Han men one-piece robe called changpao which the dress was made in a straight, tubular shape [3, 5, 9]. The silhouette of the early qipao style did not emphasis the shape of the body and was considerably loosely fitted [3,5].

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Qipao was a prevailing costume among Manchu women, yet the majority of women from the Han ethnic group worn the two-piece outfits that encompassed an upper garment called yi and a lower garment, either skirt or trousers called shang until the qipao has become a prevalent modern fashion among women in the 1920s [3,5]. In 1929, qipao was appointed as the official ceremonial dress under the “Attire Regulations” promulgated by the Republican government [10]. With the establishment of public school in the 1920s, education was not confined to daughters from wealthy, open-minded families and mass education was no longer simply available for men. Qipao was stipulated as one of the school uniform styles for girls by the Ministry of Education [10]. This dress was chosen by numerous young women as their uniform and after-school outfits as a way to challenge the Confucian philosophical system by abandoning the traditional Han separate tops and skirts, rejecting foreign products and styles and embraced the Chinese invented one-piece robe that was originated for Han men [3,5]. The rise of the Republican women’s qipao mirrored the reformation of women’s right by new intellectual females, moving away from their stereotypical roles as a mother and wife after marriage and began to pursue gender equality through dressing similar to Han men [5].  According to [5], ever since that qipao has become an everyday garment for Chinese women during the Republican period.

Keeping pace with Western fashion trends, the qipao style from the 1920s influenced by western attributes yet maintaining the elements of traditional Chinese costume in details [5,11]. Changes in qipao style reflected the developments of twentieth-century Chinese modernity [5,12]. The flapper look was trending in the 1920s, featuring slim boyish figures, flat chest, narrow hips and wearing short hair and shirts [5,13]. This western women fashion trend coincided with Chinese traditional aesthetics criteria for beauty  [5]. China beauty standards traditionally favoured flat over busty and the prevalence of flat chest continued for hundreds of years except few dynasties in particularly the Tang dynasty. Chinese women had traditionally bound their chest with tight undergarment vest to flatten their breasts as much as possible [5, 14, 15]. The qipao silhouette at that time period remained long and lean fitted where the qipao design did not consist of any darts to emphasis the female physical features. The qipao style was somewhat similar to the western flapper trend and hinted that the qipao style in the 1920s was aligned with the western fashion trend, shaping the modern look of new women in China [5]. In the 1920s, the qipao design was inspired by western garments. The length of qipao has shortened to just below the knee and the new qipao look was matched with a pair of European leather shoes either with point toes, ankle straps or high heels rather than traditional cloth shoes. Western fashion design elements, for instance, vibrant fabrics, geometric and floral patterns, western-style puff and flared sleeves were incorporated into the creation of qipao rather than adopting the traditional Chinese embroidery as the main design component to embellish the qipao. In addition, Western fashion in the 1920s was influenced by the Russian style of fur-decorated edges and collars and fur was also adopted to embellish the hemlines and cuffs on qipao, creating novel qipao design for winter [5].