Chinese Fashion

Chinese clothing is ancient and modern. It is varied by region and time and is recorded by the artifacts and arts of Chinese culture.

Ancient time:

Traditional Chinese clothing is broadly referred to as hanfu with many variations such as traditional Chinese academic dress. Depending on one's status in society, each social class had a different sense of fashion. Most Chinese men wore Chinese black cotton shoes, but wealthy higher class people would wear tough black leather shoes for formal occasions. Very rich and wealthy men would wear very bright, beautiful silk shoes with leather on the inside. Women would wear silk shoes. Male shoes were mostly less elaborate than women's.

Qing dynasty:

Manchu clothing styles were required to be worn by all noblemen and officials. The Qing first implemented queuel( a hairstyle for men, a long braided tail with half of their head shaved bold ) laws that required the populace to adopt Manchu hairstyles and clothing. If not, they will face execution. But eventually, this style became widespread among the commoners. A new style of dress, called 'tangzhuang' included the 'Changshan' worn by men and the the traditional clothing we all know today- 'qipao' worn by women. 

Republican era:

The Han population cut off their queue as they were forced to grow in submission to the overthrown Qing Dynasty. Sun yet-sen popularised a new style of men- jacket and trousers instead of the robes worn previously. This style known as Zhongshan suit. For women, they wear a slender and form fitting dress with a high cut, which is a contemporary image of a cheongsam but contrasting sharply with the traditional 'qipao'. There is no much difference in Mao zedong's period.

Modern days:

China's fashion sense has grown and changed dramatically in the last decade, there has been many influences on Chinese fashion. There are many different types of trend. Two of the more obvious ones are the plain colored type which majority are white in colour. There are more lady like. The otherone is the dark colored clothings which are majority black or grey in colour. There are no rules in fashion, unlike during Qing dynasty. 

But there are some some hatred trends and here are some examples:

-Fur: a big dislike for trends in China. Unlike Western fashion which is "flashy" and over the top, Chinese like to keep it simple and do not like things too out of the "norm." 

-Crop Tops: Only underweight teens could pull this trend off successfully. Many find this trend insulting because of the over exposure of skin and is not considered ladylike. 

Past and now:

From what I have read, apparently, in the past, the more you wear, like robes and silk to cover yourself, the better you are and it a,so symbolize ones family background. Sometimes, a strict rule is implemented to the fashion trends and if disobeyed, serious consequences will awaits them. But now, people can wear whatever they like, whatever hairstyle they like but just don't go overboard and it will be accepted by everyone. People can dress freely and try to keep up with fashions, just like any other countries nowadays.