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Cantonese support: Kam Fong-Fong caption edited by Zenka Ang www.elegantstory.com
Chinese qipao, or cheongsam dress,
is considered to be the most representitive dress for Chinese women
Chinese ladies would choose a cheongsam at important occasions
especially during some international activities
to show their devotion for the occasion (Ms. Wong Yi, Curator of Hong Kong Museum of History)
or to manifest their Chinese indentity (Ms. Wong Yi, Curator of Hong Kong Museum of History)
this light blue cheongsam was wore by Ms. KAO WONG-MEI-WAN
when her husband Prof. Charles KAO got awarded the Nobel Prize in 2009
the dress was custom-made in Hong Kong
museum staff got to know about this cheongsam from the newspaper
so they started to contact Ms. KAO right then
before this dress was completed
it had already been listed as one of our exhibits
the dress itself is not that important
the most important thing is that at what occasion was it wore
speaking of classic occasions, the dress wore by Miss Hong Kong when she was crowned
Ms. Chu Ling-Ling is publicly considered to be one of the most representitive Miss Hong Kong
We tried to contact her with hope that we could find that cheongsam she wore more than 33 years ago
the celebrity cheongsam includes the ones from the wife of Harold Lee,
Wah Wai-Na,
female star Lam Dai,
and the ones from Ms. Siao Fong-Fong when she attending several movie festivals
the origin of cheongsam dress is the "chang pao (literally long dress)" wore by Chinese woman during Qing Dynasty (1636~1911)
the widened loose cutting was one of its charactoristics, and it's got many embroideries
after 1911 the downfall of the Qing Dynasty,
the dress length was shortened, but the bell-buttomed sleeves remained
early 1920s was the begining of modern cheongsam, the cutting got even fitter
during 1930s and 1940s, cheongsam reached its peak,
the cheongsam design was influenced a lot by western aesthetic,
slim and long cheongsam was widely welcomed
after 1976 China's cultural revolution, when cheongsam was almost exdinguished in Mainland China
cheongsam became the daily dress of Hong Kong women until the end of 1960s
the cheongsam dresses exhibited are mostly from that era
the Curator said that
to fully exhibit the beauty and elegance of the cheongsams were a great challenge for the museum
the women back then were very skinny,
with a waist mea. of only 20" 21"
it is not an easy task to find mannequins to fit in those small dresses
we have to order special sized mannequins
our suppliers also commented that they've never made mannequins of such sizes
over 270 pieces of cheongsam were exhibited, visitors can have a great time enjoy these exquisite art works
so out of so many exhibits, which one would Ms. Curator considered unmissable?
in case you have very limited time to see just one cheongsam
I would recommand this one, the cheongsam made in 1920s
the most impressive part is that the width of the raw material was not enough to make a entire dress
so the tailor has to joint stitch 2 pieces of cloth. the stitching was at the middle
and owing to the excelled technique of the tailor
she/he did a great job matching the cloths and the patterns together as if it were one as a whole
I really would choose one and try it on
yes, that is what I would do, cheongsam is really a classic
it can beat fashion trends
till now, the design of cheongsam is still evolving
the Institute of Textiles and Clothing of Hong Kong Polytechnic University has designed some cheongsams for the exhibition
the design was absorted many fashion elements, while reserving many traditional aspect of cheongsam, how do you like these new designs?
4 special guests including the head of Hong Kong Home Affairs Bureau Hui Hiu-Fai,
they all dressed in cheongsam to attend the opening ceremony of this exhibition
the exhibition was held at Hong Kong Museum of History, till 13th of Sepetember
Cantonese support: Kam Fong-Fong caption edited by Zenka Ang www.elegantstory.com