Cheongsam, a close-fitting woman’s dress with high neck and slit skirt originated from the Manchu nationality in , is one of the most typical, traditional costumes for Chinese women. Speaking of tradition, some people always think of the conservatism and closeness of feudalism, as well as the restrictions on women imposed by feudal rulers. For several thousand years, Chinese woman’s dress was serious. Even at present, serious and regular dress for professional women still occupies an important place in fashion market. Thus, those people look at the dress from that angle because of Chinese woman’s particular romanticism rather than the feudal color.
The dress empresses of past dynasties wore and the way they dressed was regarded as highest standards of Chinese women for several thousand years. What can best explain all this is the desire for “display”.
The only medium to display the elegance of a human body is an elegant costume. Whatever costume a woman wears, in additional magnificence and nobility, she must have a thirst for elegance or beauty.
Perhaps that’s the reason why Cheongsam was born.
It has been five thousand years since the birth of human civilization, and female costumes have also changed with the civilized history. Compared with great changes brought about by sciences and technology, a human figure basically remains unaltered, which may be said to be no wonder but makes the development of fashion history possible.
Costumes can not exist without human bodies. The same is true of Cheongsams.
The head, neck, shoulder, arms, waist, hips, legs, hands and feet of a woman make up a complete, perfect unity. In terms of the features of a human figure, looking at Cheongsam aesthetically could not be thought of as no clever idea.
Cheongsam stems from a kind of long robe worm by both man and woman of the north minority nationalities in . To keep warm, the collar of the costume was made high and tight fitting. Cheongsam has incorporated this feature, not just for presenting coldness but for beauty.
The collar of Cheongsam generally takes the shape of a semicircle, its right and left sides being symmetrical, flattering the soft and slender neck of woman. Also, against the woman’s lips and chin, it brings out her sex appeal.
The collar of Cheongsam needs making meticulously, specially the buttonhole loop on the collar, which serves as the finishing touch.
The collar of Cheongsam is really the key part. One of its most important features different from other costumes is the original design connected with the collar. The neckline, where a few curved lines intersect, shows softness and romanticism and solemnity and individuality.
The closed form of its collar gives people of artistic tastes some space for an association of ideas. For example, patterned designs give people a fantastic feeling of the beauty of maturity. The aesthetic association is subjective, so the neckline of Cheongsam is a limitless space in which an imaginative person can fly freely.
The front of Cheongsam is rather ordinary, both loose and tight. To be more exact, its bust girth is appropriate.
The breast is one of the most important parts of a female figure. How to display this part has been a key subject faced by all fashion designers. The design of the front of Cheongsam is simple and flowing without any decoration. It seems that designers don’t pay much attention to the front, but it is not the case.
To display the protruding breast of a woman, the designers make the waist girth appear as thin as possible to represent the high breast indirectly; by means of the flat back of Cheongsam they highlight the wavy shape of the breast.
Women dressed in Cheongsam act lightly with the protrusive breast but no part of it exposed, displaying both solemnity and elegance. So we can’t help but admire the designers’ artistic originality. The design of front of Cheongsam depicts the maturity of woman properly, reminding people of the line of a Chinese poem “A garden full of the beauty of spring can not be prevented from being enjoyed.”
Cheongsams may have a variety of sleeves. Its designers usually don’t pay much attention to the front of Cheongsam, they do spend a lot of efforts on the sleeves. Consider Cheongsam without sleeves first. Quite contrary to the traditional Cheongsam with a protrusive front and tiny waist, sleeves of Cheongsam exposes a woman’s slender arms, making her feel comfortably cool, on the other hand, showing the ingenuity of the designer.
As for Cheongsam with sleeves, their sleeves vary in shape and length. For example, there are long-length sleeves, elbow-length sleeves, corner sleeves, double sleeves, etc. in ancient or modern Chinese art and literature, a woman’s hands have often been depicted as her delicate hands or fingers. Cheongsam can have different kinds of sleeves for only one purpose – to express the charm of woman’s hands in an exaggerated way. “Round and sooth”, “small and exquisite” and “delicate” have always been the commonly-used words to portray women’s hands. Of course, there was a period of time when “big strong hands”, “callused hands” and “forceful hands” were also used in a good sense to describe women’s hands.
The cuffs of Cheongsam are so varied that they are too numerous to mention one by one. They give sentiment to women’s hands, making their hands appear pretty and exquisite or small and delicate. In a word, the cuffs of different kinds set off women’s hands and wrists, to reveal the delicacy of their hands and their feminine beauty expressive of rich sentiment. Perhaps because of the charm of women’s hands, there has been something mysterious and cultural with the cuffs of women’s costumes since ancient times, which seem able to transcend the capability of covering arms.
Cheongsam generally has two big openings at either side of the hem for convenient movement and display of the slender legs of women.
Unlike a short-length skirt, the openings of Cheongsam expose a woman’s legs indistinctly when she wails, as if there was a blurred emotional appeal of “enjoying flowers in mist”. We look at the openings and lower parts of Cheongsam with guessing eyes, and imagine reasonably the appearance and structure of her legs. This aesthetic process of appreciation is just what the designers managed to achieve. Another fact, which can’t be ignored, is the connection between Cheongsam and the feet of a woman and her shoes.
It is important to select proper shoes to match Cheongsam so that they can form a harmonious unity. It is well-known that female feet and shoes were regarded as important parts of fashion culture in ancient . For example, the phrase “three-cun shoes” was often used to describe a woman’s beautiful small feet and shoes. And <<Xiang Lian Pin Zao>> written by Fang Xuan is one of the ancient books about the aesthetic study of female feet and shoes. In order to avoid the illusion in aesthetics and appreciation of the female sex, we should insist that Cheongsam match socks and shoes in perfect harmony. As a result, such aesthetic perception can bring us clearness, peacefulness, serenity and comfort. In short, Cheongsam can express the elegance of a woman’s legs vividly and involve the most complicated and active aesthetic imagination.
The ancient Chinese preferred the woman to have small feet so that they came up with the idea of foot-binding. Though modern Chinese women have given up the foot-binding, they still expect to have small and agile feet. Particularly when a woman wears a Cheongsam, its long lower hew usually covers all the upper of her shoes except the pointed tips, making her appear beautiful small, which conforms to the traditional habit of appreciation as well as the principle of aesthetics for wearing Cheongsam.
Pointed, high-heed leather shoes and high-heel shoes generally make a part of feet appear smaller. Sneakers or shoes with squared tips may produce opposite effect. Thus former match Cheongsam and the latter may not. Some people might think that it is pleasing to the eyes to have seemingly big shoes on when wearing Cheongsam, such as different kinds of sneakers. If it was true, we would not be against it.
In the above, we have completely commented the Cheongsam and aesthetic feeling which the wearer bring us. Even though we adore the Cheongsam – the traditional dress for Chinese women, its beauty is beyond description.
Cheongsam can display Chinese women’s modesty, softness and beauty. Like Chinese women’s temperament, Cheongsam are elegant and gentle. In a word, the Cheongsam looks as if it is the most beautiful dress in our imagination and covered with miscellaneous meaning.
The form of the Cheongsam makes people associate with the past poems and rhymed prose in which women’s softness, beauty and refinement were vividly described. The Cheongsam is a contribution to the Chinese nation has made to the world wardrobe. Whenever people see a Cheongsam, they will think of Chinese nation and ancient full of boundless mystery. The Cheongsam seems to have a charm, which is symbol for Chinese women with black eyes and hairs and yellow skin. The Cheongsam goes with its tradition and new trend, displaying the wearer’s spirit.
