Transcript China Chic: East Meets West

CHINA CHIC: EAST MEETS WEST
Valerie Steele and John S. Major
EASTERN INFLUENCE
Nowadays China has a great influence on modern European fashion with
examples including high street brands such as Topshop and Zara, and
High-end designers such as Mary Katrantzou, Hermes and Prada.
However it wasn’t always so, there was a time when China was
heavily influenced by Western and Persian imports.
Tang Dynasty (618-907AD)
Cosmopolitan City: Chang’an
“Tang women sought foreign clothes as a means of expressing
creativity and freedom within the social restrictions of their time
and place.” – Suzanne E. Cahill (p.103)
Although there were strict dress codes for Chinese men and women
due to the Confucian values which highlight “filial piety” (primary duty
of respect, obedience and care for ones family members) and loyalty
to the state, so woman had to obey there husbands (loyalty) and
produce sons for the state, their social class was defined by their
fathers, husbands or sons women were reliant on men to make a life
for them. Clothing reflected her marital status, wealth and class, the
people of the Tang Dynasty found ways to bypass these “Rites”
through foreign, imported clothing as evidenced in Tang dynasty art
women wore male Western clothing as well as female in perhaps an
attempt to evade the social restrictions of Confucian rules.
“…they (women) may have seen cross-dressing as an escape from limitations of their
gender role.” – Suzanne E. Cahill (p.114)
Therefore, everyone could experience the exotic styles discovered through the Silk Route as
they were openly welcomed and incorporated into Tang culture by the emperors of the
time, in fact one Tang Prince preferred the Turkish language to Chinese! The diversity in
fashion and culture provided by the Silk Route meant that everyone, (rich and poor) could
experience new styles as they were widely available. Cheaper things as well as expensive
but as they were foreign they were unique and helped the people to avoid the strict
regulations placed on traditional Chinese dress.
THE CIRCLE OF FASHION
Some of the key features we associate with Chinese
fashion actually derived from Persian textiles, for
example the Simurgh motif-mythical birds captured in
medallion shapes; Filigree hairpins actually influenced
by Persian crafting techniques (metal work).
The short-fitted jackets and long pleated skirts actually
derived from the Western culture of the time (AngloSaxons) along with crossed, asymmetrical collars which
are certainly associated with traditional Chinese style
nowadays.
Simurgh Motif;
Medieval European
dress;
Section of the
Bayeux Tapestry;
Tang Dynasty dress.
In turn China exported its fashions to the West and this is
where we see a change in Medieval European clothing: the
long, gaping sleeves.
Pleated skirts making a comeback in the Ming Dynasty
about 400 years later!
Necklines of the 15th Century English clothing mocking the
then current styles of the Ming Dynasty.
Fashion going back and forth between the East and the
West like a yo-yo!
10th Century French noble dress;
Pleated skirt of Ming Dynasty;
Early English 15th Century style.
BACK TO EUROPE
Chinese style in Tang Dynasty era involved tight
belts which emphasized the waistlines of women
instead of drowning out their figures in long flowing
clothing.
This bounced back to England in the form of corsets
in the Elizabethan and Victorian Eras.
Fashion came full circle as evidenced in William
McGregor Paxton’s paintings (long sleeves, oriental
prints). He painted in the comfort of his own studio
in America!
THE EMPEROR
-Taken from pg. 76 of the book “Fantastic Fashion” by
Cox, Jones and Stafford
Qing Dynasty- 3 factories, hundreds of workers in each
working full time just to produce the clothes for the royal
family!
Emperors garments made out of silks, pearls, gemstones,
threads made from the feathers of kingfishers, peacocks,
black fox fur, and adorned with fragrant wood!
His robe decorated with 9 dragons
Red silks popular for weddings – Yehe Nara Jingen and
the Emperor Guanxu, her dress took three years to
embroider!
The Last Emperor Pu Yi used acres of red silk as furnishings
for the bridal chamber.
This lavish display of wealth and luxury is a complete
contrast to the styles and ideologies of the Cultural
Revolution of the People’s Republic of China…
THE MAOIST UNIFORM
“We lived simply and modestly… cut our hair short and
combed it smooth… our intellectual life was rich and
pure.”- Dai Qing (1941) p.171 China Chic.
The clothing of this revolutionary time reflected the strict
mindsets of the people (yes they were forced to dress in
such a way but many believed in the purity of the clothing),
the clothing was pure and plain in order to reflect the
purity of their intellectual, enlightened lives. The
revolutionaries wanted to wear plain clothing as it stood
for what they stood for, much like Confucious’s regulations
on clothing meant that colour and style reflected class and
wealth, plain clothing reflected the fight against the elitist,
the determination to be different from the selfishly
luxurious people of the past.
Chinese women
dressed in Maoist
Uniform;
Chairman Mao
inspects the cotton
harvest. Poster
from Nianhua
xuanji (1975)
RELATIONSHIP TO MY
FINAL MAJOR
For my final major project in Textiles I intend to produce a
series of headscarves not only playing with traditional,
primitive techniques but also exploring ideas on traidition
and the comebacks of fashion throughout the eras in the
sense that my childhood drawings and toys will make a
comeback in my newest/current drawing styles . I feel that
my toys have influenced my style (Bratz dolls!) so would like
to portray this through my final surface pattern and print
designs.
I feel that nostalgia is extremely important in the artistic world, particularly in
textiles, whether it be a traditional printing technique founded in India 100’s
of years ago or the Persian motifs re-applied to suit Chinese Tang Dynasty
pattern or even an old naïve sketch from the age of four, they all have
meaning and have set the artistic styles/fashions of the future, just think of
how many times the East and the West swapped and adapted elements of
their style, and how we are still swapping and changing old pattern designs
to create new exciting garments.