Tropicana Magazine Jan-Feb 2018 #116: A Start From The Heart

FASHION FEATURE
THE ALLURE
OF THE
CHEONGSAM
From swinging Shanghai to Suzie Wong, the slit skirt cheongsam
has been thrust into modern, popular fashion consciousness.
WORDS BY JEAN KNILL
WARDROBE BY KHOON HOOI
The current incarnation of the Chinese Cheongsam adorns lovely
women the world over. The name evokes a vision of willowy, modellike
beauties clad in figure-hugging, shiny fabric, buttoned up on the
right, with high mandarin collars and sexy slit skirts.
It hasn’t always been like that. The garment originated in northern
China in the 17th century, the time of the Manchu rulers. The straight up
and down, long dress with sleeves was first worn by women and later also by
men. By the middle of the century, wearing it was the law, with execution
the penalty for not conforming. Its name was different too. They called it a
qipao, a word still used in the north of China, while people in the south call
it by the name recognised in the western world – the cheongsam.
Qipao means banner dress, and the origin of this name is political.
The Manchu were all Banner People who were placed in an administrative
system based on Eight Banners. The banners depict Chinese dragons on
four different coloured backgrounds, with or without borders. Their nature
was hierarchical, with the plain yellow, the bordered yellow and the plain
white banners at the top of the tree, and initially under the direction of the
Emperor. Originally set up to form armies, they later took on administrative
duties and became the basis of a society made up of Manchus, Han Chinese
and Mongols. Hence, their national costume was called a banner dress.
TM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
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