Curious about Chinese costumes and amused by the qipao, erect
collars and cloth buttons that can be curled into the shape of
flowers?
The
Ningbo Costume Museum might be the ideal place to trace the
history of Chinese fashion trends.
Surrounded freshly spray-painted brick walls, the renovated museum,
the first of its kind in the country, stands on the northern bank
of Moon Lake embraced by lush trees and water.
Down a stone bridge across the Pingqiao River leading to the north
gate of the museum, you will see a horizontal board inscribed with
four Chinese characters "To Clothe and Shelter the Masses (yibei
cangsheng)" and a fair-sized mural painting in which people are
dressed in dazzling, colorful clothes of different dynasties.
At
the entrance to the exhibition halls are pictures displaying
costumes of different dynasties since the pre-Qin Dynasty period
(before 221-206 BC).
The People of Hemudu,
then a highly developed matriarchal community settling in present
Zhejiang Province about 4,000-5,000 years ago, are seen spinning
and weaving by balustraded buildings.
In
the display windows are various items of clothing, including the
erect collar; duijin (a kind of Chinese garment with buttons down
both halves of the front); pankou (cloth buttons that can be curled
into the shape of flowers); embroidery; parts of a helmet; a dragon
robe; bufu (a ceremonial costume of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
officials); and an embroidered quilted jacket.
These items embody the essence of stunning fashion characteristics
of the period from the Qing Dynasty through the early 20th century,
and the exhaustive display windows reveal costumes in vogue
throughout the period, museum staff said.
Silk is widely known as an important and long-used costume material
dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).
The museum features a display of silkworm rearing columns, reeled
silk, a spinning machine, cylinder stove, silk slips and silkworm
cocoons - items used to make silk garments during the Qing Dynasty
and early 20th century.
Visitors may experience a strong sense of nostalgia, feeling
themselves transported back to the remote past after roaming from
one hall to another to examine a variety of costumes. The qipao is
a snugly fitting woman's dress with a high neck and slit skirt,
displayed in different styles, with long or short sleeves, high or
low collars, and made of various materials such as machine-made
cloth, soft silk fabrics or velvet, and with various linings made
from camel hair or gambiered Guangdong gauze.
The qipao finds its origin in the gown worn by Manchu ethnic
females. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, this full-length gown was
loose-fitting and straight-bottomed, researchers at the museum
said.
In
the early 1920s, the qipao became popular among both Manchu and Han
women.
Influenced by Western designs in the late 20th century, the qipao
became shorter in length and its waistline was redesigned to be
more figure-hugging. The dress perfectly captures the elegance and
serenity of Oriental beauty.
The Hongbang (red band) Tailors, an outstanding branch of Western
suit design in the history of Chinese garments, demonstrate their
works in the museum.
The Hongbang Tailors have enjoyed fame for initiating "Five Firsts"
in the development of modern Chinese garments - the first Western
suit shop, first homemade Western suit, first Chinese tunic suit,
first theoretical concepts for a Western suit and the first school
of Western suit design.
The museum also displays other costume-related items, including the
monthly publication of the Shanghai General Trade Union issued in
1921 and the dual-purpose iron and gauze that local dwellers bought
from the market near the Fenghua River in Ningbo a century ago.
These items are ample evidence confirming that the shore land along
Fenghua River is the very birthplace of the two-century-old
Hongbang Tailors, experts said.
In
a photo taken in 1923 on Shanghai's Bund, six eye-catching Western
suit boutiques on Nanjing Road highlight the glorious past, a time
when Hongbang Tailors rose to fame in the metropolis and lorded
themselves over their less fashionable peers on bustling Nanjing
Road.
In
the renovated Dr Sun Yat-sen residence in Shanghai, the superb
craftsmanship of the Hongbang Tailors is demonstrated in the statue
of the famous leader dressed in a Chinese tunic suit tailored by
Hongbang.
The advent of the Chinese tunic - a creative blending of fashion
elements from the East and West, and a milestone in the history of
Chinese garment design - was hailed as the "State Suit."
In
the North Hall, visitors will find themselves on an old Shanghai
street transformed from a long and narrow yard.
Lined up along either side of the flagstone lane are boutiques and
shops selling shoes, buttons and foreign goods, with colorful shop
signs swinging in the breeze.
The last hall records a time when the Hongbang Tailors moved to
Beijing after the founding of New China in 1949.
The seemingly ordinary notebook on display turns out to be a record
of the clothing sizes of more than 30 state leaders.
There are two large courtyards to the east of the museum, and with
the use of modern scientific equipment, the courtyard mirrors the
current development of the Ningbo garment industry.
It
also displays 15 famous garment brands in Ningbo such as
"Shanshan," "Youngor" and "Romand."
The last courtyard is designed as an exhibition hall for Korean
costumes, where over 20 Korean costume designers are featured.
Since it reopened to the public last October, the museum has
received about 10,000 visits by costume designers and tourists from
home and abroad -- and as word spreads about the many historical
fashion treasures displayed at the museum, many more are
expected.
(China
Daily February 6, 2002)