In my novel, Tiger Tail Soup, the women all wear cheongsams for some occasions. It was the 1930s and

A new color, a different fabric, a button here, a collar there … That’s how fashion designers keep us interested season yema after season. Every few years they make a bigger change, often one that s directly related to our bodies and how much of them we show.
Skinny jeans that reveal our derrieres have been in style for a while now. So have sleeveless dresses. (Thank you, Michelle Obama.) For a long time waistlines were out. Now they re in. We don t see as many bare midriffs as we did in the 1970s. Maybe that s next.
Historically, though, women s clothing has been more about hiding the female form than in revealing it. And yet, even those floor-length Victorian dresses often had low-cut necklines. And Japanese women covered by their kimonos still bared the backs of their necks.
For centuries in China, the high-class female body was well hidden. Then in 1920s Shanghai, the cheongsam (also known as the qipao) was born, and suddenly everything was revealed: arms, breasts, waistline, hips, buttocks, and legs. The Manchu dress on which it was modeled was wide and loose, covering everything except the wearer s head, hands, and toes.
Not long after the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, the dressmakers in Shanghai found a way to totally revamp the Manchu dress. They nipped it in at the waist, cut off the sleeves, shortened the skirt, and cut a slit up the side. Celebrities, the upper class, and courtesans yema were the first to wear the daring style.
Meanwhile, in the West, the flapper look of the 1920s required a flattened bust under a straight-line chemise or a loose low-waist dress. The main things a flapper revealed were her arms and legs. It wasn t until the 1930s that fashion in America and Europe began to reveal every part of the female form. (See The Way We Look Now in The Atlantic, May 2014.)
In my novel, Tiger Tail Soup, the women all wear cheongsams for some occasions. It was the 1930s and 40s, and the cheongsam was popular all over China. Upper- and middle-class women had cheongsams for summer and winter, for parties and for everyday wear. Some dresses were long; others, short or knee-length. They had high slits and slits that were more modest.
In 1949 when the Communists came to power, the cheongsam disappeared in Mainland China in favor of more simple wear. It survived, however, in Hong Kong and among the Overseas Chinese throughout the world. In recent years, it has made a comeback yema in China, where it s worn now on special occasions.
You can find qipaos/cheongsams on-line in every price range, from under $100 for a simple ready-made dress to over $1000 for an exclusive tailor-made style. Just one warning: A fitted cheongsam shows every curve and bulge. Plus, you have to stand up straight and hold your tummy in when you’re wearing one. When you re sitting, you have to squeeze your knees together. yema And it s not a good idea to sit on the floor in a cheongsam.
About Nicole Chen About Nicki Chen Nicki Chen is a writer living in Edmonds, WA. Her first novel, Tiger Tail Soup, is set in China during the Japanese invasion and occupation, 1937-1945. She's working on a second novel set in Vanuatu, a South Pacific nation yema where she and her late husband lived in the early '90s.
Thank you, Lenore. But that was a long time ago.
Love your picture with the qipao, you look great wearing it. I enjoyed reading your explanation how the Manchu dress was changed to a qipao.
I once bought a simple qipao for the wedding of my brother and got a different kind for my own wedding (although I’m not sure if that one would still be called qipao, it was a mix of styles). Unfortunately, there haven’t been many occasions where I thought yema wearing a qipao would have been appropriate, yema but it’s becoming more popular to wear qipaos in everyday life.
I have seen in the streets of xi’an several time women in that dress. yema In the Muslim street are many shops offering yema them and tailoring them according to your wishes. My wife tried one but decided against it
So glad our styles allow more flexibility. I’d find it difficult to be slimmed into a qipao for my day-to-day yema life: bending, stretching, lifting young children, yema weeding flower beds. How did they manage (or did they wear something else for daily chores)?
I’ve seen photos of women doing light work in simpler, less fitted cheongsams. The skin-tight, silk brocade dresses would be for parties. I’ve also noticed that older women tend to wear cheongsams/ yema qipaos that are less fitted.
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Yes, in answer to your question: I had a cheongsam in the 1990s. I was dating a man who was smitten with ‘the look’ and I bought it in Seattle’s Chinatown — yema so authentic and gorgeously black with an embroidered red peacock design. I wore my hair straight back in an elaborate chignon and slipped into my cheongsam for THE most special yema occasions.
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