The Influence of Chinese traditional clothing on American Fashion Industry

1. Chinese fashion
Influence in Western

2. China has an ancient history of 5000 years as a
civilization .The special allure and charm of Chinese
clothing has fascinated Western fashion designers
and consumers. It all began in 114 BC when The Silk
Route connected important paths of West and East by
merchants, soldiers, monks from China, India, Persia
and the Mediterranean countries . Afterwards the trade
had escalated demand in Europe and later in America.
After China became no more isolated , the end of
1970s, China started to trade with the whole world.
Many world famous brands like Lacroix, Christian Dior,
Versace, and Ralph Laurent use Chinese traditional
women's dress elements in their designs. The specific
aims of this project are to identify the influence of the
Hanfu, Qipao, and Mao suit along with other Chinese
dress characteristics, including accessories, hair
styles, and makeup, on Western women's dress.

3. The first one is
Hanfu, which is
divided into
informal, formal
and court dress.
Generally, all
three types have
in common wide
and voluminous
sleeves and a
very loose fit.
Because of the
relatively plain
design,
ornaments were
used at the
collars and
sleeves to
decorate the
garments
Darker colors were much more
favored than lighter ones in
traditional Chinese clothing so
the main color of ceremonial
clothing tended to be dark while
bright, elaborate tapestry
designs accented. Lighter
colored clothing was worn more
frequently by the common
people for everyday use.
There are 3 main kinds of Traditional Chinese clothes
Hanfu
Mao
Suit
.
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4. Hanfu has a really rich history. In 3
millenniums it has endured a lot of
developments. It takes its roots from
Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC).
During the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256
BC) it has became looser, with the
Hanfu of Zhou Dynasty
(1046-256 BC)
Hanfu of Tang Dynasty
(618-907 AD)
Hanfu is the traditional historical
clothing of the Han people in
China. It was worn by ancient
Chinese dynasties for millennia
from 1600 year BC until XVII
century. The other title of it is
the Silk Robe. This name is
justified by the main feature of
the garment – a huge loose robe
that wrap around the whole body.

5. Ruqun is the traditional
Chinese attire for
women. It consists of a
blouse (Ru) and a wrap-
around skirt (Qun)
The first type is Informal Hanfu, which can be both
male and female. It had many variants, as it was
developed during the time. At the pictures is depicted
Shenui (Ming Dynasty 1368-1644) - a kind of full-length,
one-piece robe, which links the upper garment and lower
skirt together to envelop the body. Here the two parts
are cut separately but sewn together at the waist in a
kind of a belt. They are called Yi (shirt) and Shang
(skirt).

6. .
Wedding
Costume
Yuanlingshan - a
round collared robe
used for official or
academicals dress.
Only those who
passed the civil
examinations are
entitled to wear them.
(Ming Dynasty
1368-1644)
The next type is Formal
Hanfu. Formal Hanfu was
worn only at certain special
occasions like important
sacrifices and religious
activities or by special people
who are entitled to wear
them such as officials and
emperors.
Daopao/Fusha is the
traditional Chinese
attire for men. It is a
form of formal wear in
the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644)
. It is a full-length robe
with side slits
beginning below the
waist
Wedding
Costume

7. The Chinese associate certain colors with specific
seasons. Green represents spring, red symbolizes
summer, white represents autumn, and black
symbolizes winter. The Chinese are said to have a
fully developed system of matching, coordinating,
and contrasting colors and shades of light and dark in
apparel.
Red is favorite for most Chinese people since
Red symbolizes good luck. Chinese people prefer
to wear red when they are celebrating some
important festivals or events in their life, such as
wedding ceremony.

8. Mianfu - the emperors‟
ceremonial enthronement dress.
(Han Dynasty 206 B.C.-220 A.D.)
The Court dress is now
obsolete in the modern
age, but it still could be
an inspiration for
fashion designers.
Tang
Dynasty
Court dress
The third type is Court dress, which is a
ceremonial dress of officials or nobles. Court
dress has additional adornment and elaborate
headwear. The entire court dress type can
consist of many complex layers and look very
elaborate, and they are often brightly colored.

9. Hanfu Influences
Because of the China’s essential economical and political
influence throughout the Asian countries, its culture was also
spread to another Asian regions. It concerns the national costumes
as well.
Some countries such as Vietnam have traditional garments that are
similar to Hanfu. Other Asian countries' traditional costumes, such
as the Korean Hanbok and Japanese Kimono, do have some
differences from Hanfu. Compared with the Japanese Kimono,
Korean traditional dress is much more similar to Hanfu. Hanbok,
have been heavily influenced by the Chinese due to the extensive
cultural exchanges between the neighbouring countries. In contrast
to China, traditional Japanese and Korean dress have not been
affected by similar changes like in China and thus have retained
many core elements of the original Hanfu.
Today for the Chinese Han the Hanfu is of great importance.
It is not only a part of wardrobe, but a significant part of history, that
represents an ancient legacy.

10. Qing Dynasty
national clothing –
Qipao
Manchu
national
dress
The Qipao
The next kind of Chinese traditional
clothing is Qipao. It is now
considered to be the national
woman Chinese dress, which
consists of one part (modern qipao),
but historically it was a traditional
costume for Manchu women.
Manchu Dynasty invaded China in
1640 and was spreading new culture
around the country. Han women
were wearing Hanfu, which consisted
of two parts, but during the time they
also preferred Qipao, because it was
more practical and more beautiful.

11. Therefore, the long
sleeves covered the
hands, for warmth
and for propriety,
as showing the
hands was
considered impolite
during that time.
Original Qipao presented a dress with
a round neck and a panel crossing
from left to right, fastening at the side
with five buttons and loops. Two side
slits allowed freedom for walking and
horseback riding. The Manchu Qipao
was worn with trousers; the
Nevertheless, both garments
influenced each other. So Qipao
inherited the collar from the Han’s
women’s jacket which became higher.
All the women concealed their figures
and wore Qipao regardless of age.
It should be noted, that it was
inappropriate at that time to show any
part of woman’s body, except for the
face.

12. The material of the Manchu Qipao was
heavy satin, silk or jacquard fabric with
complicated decorations. The Qipao was
usually embroidered with flower patterns,
or trimmed with Western lace. The gowns
were generally ankle-length, except for the
time when young women were about to get
married and noble women in royal palaces,
who wore heels as high as three inches,
requiring longer gowns.
At first Qipao was no so popular among the Han Women. The reason
lays in the historical demand for women: girls from six years were
forced to have their feet bound with long strips of cloth, that were
slowing down the growth of their legs. Manchu people (Qing
Dynasty, 1644-1911) were fighting at first with this cruel method, but
then paid little attention to it. That’s why Han women were ashamed
to wear Qipao, because they were unable to imitate those of the Man
nationality, who wore shoes with high soles and looked erect and
elegant in qipao. Thus, for three hundred years the qipao belonged
literally to the Qi girls and women.

13. Changes
With the freeing of Chinese girls from this evil social
custom in the 20s of the last century, qipao gradually
came into vogue. Girl students and female
correspondents put on this type of dress and came to
be looked upon as representatives of "the modern
female sex". Audacious girls reformed this dress in the
30s and 40s of the 20th century. They shortened the
sleeves and widened the slits in the lower part of the
dress. They did away with the long trousers which
females of the Man nationality had been obliged to
wear. Thus their naked arms and legs were exposed to
the eyes of males, who looked at them with wonder
and admiration.
So The Qipao underwent numerous changes in style after its
first appearance. The cut of the Qipao changed constantly, as
Chinese women's dress became much more subject to
fashion than it ever had been before. The changing Qipao
from the traditional Manchu loose garment to the modern
Qipao is shown at the pictures above. But in spite of all
changes, one characteristic remained the same – a mandarin
collar, which symbolized even in the 1990s Chinese clothes.

14. Mao Suit
•At the beginning of the XX century Chinese men gradually abandoned the
former tangzhuang jackets and loose long gowns that had been worn for
thousands of years in China, and put on the neat, close-fitting Western business
suit or Mao suit (known in China as Zhongshan suit, named after Dr. Sun Yat-
Sen). Mao suit became little short of the national dress for Chinese males after the
founding of the Republic of China （1912, and the typical image of a Chinese
student or politician then was in a Mao suit. Business suit was soon widely seen
worn by businesspeople in such big metropolises as Shanghai and Hong Kong.

15. Another part of Chinese national
garments which greatly contribute to
the whole style of costumes is different
accessories. The Chinese accessories
which appealed attention in the whole
world such as style hats, parasols,
earrings, bracelets, pendants, and fans
can beautify any dress.

16. Chinese hats have several
different shapes. The most
famous of them - a coolie hat, is
a conical shaped hat with a chin
strap. It is often used to protect
the wearer from the sun and
rain. The materials of a coolie
hat could be straw, silk or other
materials.
The hat with a round crown and upturned brim with a flaring
edge originally comes from the Qing Dynasty. Her elements
were used my modern designers such as Saint Laurent. He
adopted a little round brimless scull hat to add to the Chinese
effect of his design. - ????

17. The Chinese parasol (oil paper umbrella) is a type of a
paper umbrella that originated from China. They are usually
made from
paper or silk with bamboo ribs. It was later adopted by Japan
and Korea and also introduced to Western countries via the Silk
Road. It subsequently spread across Asia, to Japan, Korea,
Vietnam, Malaysia, and Laos.
Earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and pendants
are another examples of Chinese
accessories. They are usually made from
jade, wood, lacquer, and cloisonné. Designs
such as dragon, bat, and crane, appear
frequently to symbolize power, blessing and
peace.
The Chinese style umbrella or parasol appeared in American Vogue 47
times.
The use of parasols were seen in photographs of live models showing John
Galiano's Chinese look for Dior in July 1997. The small parasol is decorated
with Chinese style motifs, which adds a strong eastern effect to the
ensemble.

18. Fabrics used include silk, cotton,
hemp, chiffon, satin and other
natural fibers. Many of these
fabrics are patterned with
Chinese motifs, such as birds,
fine floral scrolls, asymmetrical
designs.. Chinese fabrics have
influenced Western fabric over an
extended period of time.

19. The accessories such as jewelry, hats, fans, umbrellas, hair styles have a great effect on dress
appearance.
There were multiple peaks, with the highest point in 1979. It gained such popularity that they were no
longer
considered exotic items. Some Chinese influenced jewelry appeared in advertisements.

20. The fan became an essential accessory to women's dress.
The fan took place from China and later appeared in Japan
and other far eastern countries. The fan was adopted in
Europe in the sixteenth century. It was not only a
fashionable feminine ornament , but but also became a
personal statement .Karl Lagerfeld, a Famous fashion
designer,who always wears sunglasses and carries a
folding fan when he appears in fashion shows.
Fans often worn by Western women add some exotic mood
to the design .