The Cheongsam, A Sexy Modern Chinese Dress With A Long History.
The cheongsam is a traditional chinese dress that has a long history since its early beginnings. Cheongsam as they are known today means 'long dress', but they were initially known as 'QiPao'. The QiPao dresses first appeared during 17th century China during the Qing Dynasty. In its most basic style it is a one-piece dress that covers the woman from neck to foot and were long-sleeved. There are some variations to the style such as a two-piece dress set, that consists of a pair of trousers with long overdress.
Over the years the qipao dress had evolved from a single long wide fitting dress to its body hugging fit today. In its original form, the qipao was more of a functional piece of clothing and did protect the modesty of the wearer. Depending on the social class of the individual, they were often decorated with beautiful embroidery. This type of chinese dress is typical of 17th Century and 18th Century China.
Over the years, as the qipao evolved, it became more stylized and in the 1920s it was modernized to become more fitted to the wearer. With the more flattering and sexier look, the qipao was increasingly worn by high-class courtesans and celebrities, this popularized this style of oriental dress. As the style of the dress evolved, it started to become known more as cheongsam (or long dress).
During the Communist Revolution many of the popular styles of qipao or cheongsam were banned. However, many of the Shanghainese emigrants and refugees from the Revolution brought the fashion with them to Hong Kong. Here, the cheongsam was embraced and became more popular and has eventually evolved into the modern body fitting form that you see today.
The cheongsam chinese dresses are very much associated with the far east and oriental community. They are various styles available but essentially they are one piece long dresses that are usually short-sleeved or sleeveless. Another characteristic of the cheongsam chinese dress is that they often feature a side-silt along the leg. The length of this varies depending upon style of dress.
Cheongsam are not often worn nowadays during daily wear as they can seem a bit took 'sexy' and dressed up. Some companies and businesses do employ them in their workforce. This would include chinese restaurants and some airlines have variations of the cheongsam.
The modern cheongsam is a piece of chinese clothing that is considered quite sexy and extremely feminine. As such they are ideally worn at certain social functions where the lady wants to stand out from the crowd and wear something a little different. There are so many styles today that some could be worn day to day but more often than not, these chinese dresses are saved for very special occasions. Most cheongsam dresses are bought online from Internet retailers and are usually made in China but shipped worldwide. A cheongsam chinese dress made anywhere but China just wouldn't be the same!
About the Author
Chinese dresses are the leading online retailer for traditional oriental wear. Visit their website for more information, http://www.chinesedresses.co.uk
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here