Ornament is the leading magazine celebrating wearable art. Explore jewelry, fashion, beads; contemporary, ancient and ethnographic.
Issue link: http://ornamentmagazine.epubxp.com/i/77981
Wanrong was educated in an American missionary school in Tientsin. During her formative years, she was exposed to modernity and fashions inspired by Western styles. During their seven years living in Tientsin, Wanrong and Puyi lived in relative peace and enjoyed an active public and social life. This was also the time when Wanrong dressed in her own qipao style and became increasingly elegant. In 1926, the long vest and the top became one and gave birth to the first generation of the qipao. An illustration of this was drawn by the famed Shanghai artist Cheng Shifa depicting a female student in a men's long scholar's gown circa 1921. For women to wear male clothing in the early 1920s was a political act. However, whether it reflected a turning point in the evolution of the ultra-feminine qipao is still debatable amongst scholars today. While the qipao evolved over time, its changing fashions were set primarily in Shanghai. The Paris of the East was home to residents exposed to international films, calendar posters, magazines, and the latest fashion of the day. As in the Western fashion of this period, the silhouette of the qipao became more form-fitting with the side slits of the qipao becoming higher to expose the legs. A woman would wear the qipao with stockings and high-heeled shoes. This was seen as a message that women were now liberated from the traditional practice of bound chests and bound feet. For once, women were not ashamed to showcase their feminine beauty. The poster painted by Zhi Yin presents four 'taxi dancers' or wunu (dancing girl in Chinese) clothed and coiffed in the latest styles as they glide on the dance floor waiting for their patrons. The appearance of such beautiful oriental women helped to promote the image of the qipao as a sophisticated fashion statement that was both modern and elegantly Chinese. The ever-changing fabric designs and embroidery patterns ranged from traditional Chinese motifs to modern Art Deco designs or Japanese prints. This range allowed Wanrong to pick the designs and colors of her choice which was seen in itself as an exciting and liberating experience for a woman during that time. It has been nearly eighty years since Wanrong's death. With the communist take-over, the qipao experienced a vacuum in fashion. There was now the advocation of leading a simple and thrifty life which formed a new standard of spartan style such as wearing work pantaloons and work jackets. Encouraged by the leftists, men and women wearing the green army uniform became a unique fashion during the Cultural Revolution. MARY MAN-LI LIU AND WEN-TAO LIU, Chinese minister to Germany, circa 1931 - 1935. She is wearing an informal qipao with a floral pattern for this portrait taken in Berlin, an example of Chinese dress in almost mid-twentieth century. Courtesy of Liu Family Archive. EMPRESS WANRONG AND EMPEROR PUYI, with her wearing a qipao decorated in Japanese prints; unidentified Western guests. The ability to pick the designs and colors of her choice was seen as an exciting and liberating experience for a Chinese woman at that time. Courtesy of Prof. Wang, JSSI. 62 ORNAMENT 35.5.2012