The Development of Shanghai Style Clothing

The late 1920s to 1940s was the glorious period of Shanghai-style clothing. As the largest city in the Far East at that time, Shanghai-style clothing was mainly oriented to European and American fashion. During this period, fashionable clothes from Paris will not be imported to Shanghai until three or four months later. Coupled with the skillful improvement of Shanghainese, Shanghai's fashionable clothing has formed a Shanghai-style clothing fashion that is synchronized with Paris and has a unique style. As a national clothing center, all parts of the country take Shanghai's fashion trend as a model, with one dress and one button, one shoe and one sock, and the four parties follow suit.

As for the clothes that men usually wear, a few dignitaries, nobles and intellectuals wear suits, Zhongshan suits and student clothes, while people like Lu Xun and Yu Dafu prefer Hanfu. Ordinary people are more robes and coats, or add vests. After the Northern Expedition, many men changed into Chinese tunic suits, which were white in summer, giving people a refreshing and clean feeling, while black was the main color in the other three seasons.

Women's fashion tends to deliberately show women's exquisite curves and wonderful bodies. At that time, there were mainly three kinds of fashionable women's dresses: cheongsam, dress and dress. In the middle and late twenties, more and more fashionable women used western-style clothes, and western-style dresses became the summer fashion of some fashionable women. Western dressing gowns and dancing clothes are also common. Traditional dresses under coats and skirts are decreasing. At the same time, cheongsam became popular, with flat outline and gorgeous and fine decoration style. In 1930s, Shanghai was the most popular place for women's wear.

This is a glorious and prosperous period. As the main popular women's dress, cheongsam has replaced tops and skirts as the most commonly used fashion. Its style changes a lot, and the collar, sleeves and lapels show different appearance styles with the change of cycloid. They attach great importance to the description of details and are exquisite in texture and workmanship. Western-style clothing users are mostly European fashionable women, but this form is not the mainstream of fashion. After the Anti-Japanese War in Songhu, women's fashion tends to be simple. In the 1940s, during the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, most citizens' clothes became simple, and even the wealthy class had no intention of extravagant makeup because of the atmosphere of war. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, women's fashion flourished again. Western-style clothing, especially American fashion, has a certain market among fashionable women, and the number of improved cheongsam wearers who adopt western-style structure is increasing day by day. Since the 1930s, there have been fashionable women wearing men's suits and trousers in Shanghai, and fashionable women wearing men's jackets in the late 1940s. Western-style coats and fur coats have always been popular.

During this period, textiles imported from Europe and America, such as flannel, herringbone, tweed, plaid and American "Citi cloth" (plain cloth), were very popular and played a role in demonstrating and guiding domestic fabrics. The widespread use of textile printing and dyeing machinery, the introduction of new chemical dyes and the influence of western art schools on patterns have made domestic textiles take on a new look: new silk varieties such as antique satin and brocade are often used in popular women's wear; Satin, silk, crepe and velvet are widely used; Calico has a wider spectrum and is widely used in fashion; Monochrome fabrics account for an increasing proportion. For example, Indanthrene cloth (a blue cotton cloth dyed with chemical dyes) was once widely used in cheongsam. Domestic woolen fabric is also a common fabric for fashionable women's wear, and its appearance is almost the same as that imported from Europe. Knitwear began to enter the fashion ranks; At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, cheongsam made of domestic white or wool blue cotton cloth (also known as "patriotic cloth") was once popular among fashionable women in Shanghai. Plaid cloth was particularly popular in the 1930s. Dyeing and weaving patterns tend to be simplified, and besides traditional contents, there are patterns of western artistic styles such as "the art of geographical examination"; Colors are popular, often renovated, and the color matching is elegant and harmonious. The biggest feature of modern Shanghai women's wear is that they generally wear cheongsam. Qipao was originally a robe worn by Manchu women. It is characterized by wide, straight and long feet. The material used is mainly silk, and the robe is embroidered with patterns, which has not changed for 300 years. In the early 1920s, few women in Shanghai wore cheongsam. Since the 1920s, cheongsam has become popular among women in Shanghai and gradually spread to other places. However, the style of cheongsam was not born out of the flag dress in the late Qing Dynasty. By the end of 1920s, influenced by European and American clothing, the style of cheongsam had changed obviously, such as shortening the length and tightening the waist. The change of Shanghai cheongsam reflects the evolution of Shanghai style fashion.

In 1930s, the style of cheongsam widely absorbed the characteristics of western suits on the basis of tradition, making it a combination of Chinese and western clothing, and constantly innovating and changing. This change is dominated by the clothing industry in Shanghai. The changes of cheongsam mainly focus on the collar, sleeves and length. First of all, the high collar is popular, and the higher the collar, the more fashionable it is. Even in midsummer, a cheongsam as thin as a cicada's wing must be accompanied by a stiff collar as high as the ear. Conversely, low collars are popular. The lower the collar, the more modern it is. When it is too low, simply wear a collarless cheongsam. The same is true of the change of sleeves, sometimes long sleeves are more popular and longer than wrists; Sometimes short sleeves are very popular, as short as bare elbows or even sleeveless. As for the length of cheongsam, there are many changes. It used to be popular for long clothes, and you walked beside the clothes and swept the floor. Later, it was changed into a short one, so short that it reached the knees and even the thighs were exposed. The modeling structure of cheongsam is more and more influenced by western clothing, and more attention is paid to decoration.

The 1930s and 40s of this century were the most glorious period of modern women's wear in China, and the 1930s can be said to be the brilliant peak of this period. In other words, at this time, the cheongsam has established an irreplaceable position on the stage of women's wear and has become a typical representative of women's wear in China. Cheongsam, known as China costume, Shanghai style cheongsam and western style, quickly spread from Shanghai to all parts of the country.

In 1930s, the aristocratic ladies of Shanghai upper class followed the fashion and lived a luxurious life, which was unprecedented in the history of China. They advocate a westernized life: swimming, riding, dancing and playing golf, all of which require clothes to be more beautiful and fit. In addition, in the 1930s, it was popular in Europe and America to close the waist and show the beauty of women, which was bound to make the cheongsam more slender, tight-fitting and high-forked, thus conforming to the ideal image of exquisiteness, exquisiteness, openness and liveliness in the 1930s. In the 1930s, the style of cheongsam was characterized by "combining Chinese and western styles and changing". At that time, women who loved beauty wore cheongsam in various ways, some westernized, and some wore western-style coats outside cheongsam. Partial westernization refers to the practice of adopting western-style clothing for collars and sleeves. Such as western lapels, lotus leaf sleeves, split sleeves, and ruffled hem or asymmetrical lace, but these are only the social dresses of some stars and celebrities, and most people still like to wear cheongsam with western-style clothes. For example, wear a suit jacket, fur coat, sweater, vest, etc. Wearing a scarf around your neck or a pearl necklace outside a cheongsam looks elegant and chic.

In the forties, the popularity of cheongsam tended to be simple. In the early forties, influenced by War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, cheongsam was simple and practical, and the fabric was not particular. In the late 1940 s, the shape of cheongsam emphasized the curve of human body, which made it more exposed. The cycloid of cheongsam moves from the upper leg to the knee and becomes shorter.

At that time, the slender waist-closed cheongsam with perm, transparent stockings, high heels, necklaces, earrings, watches and purses were the most fashionable dresses, and the role of women was fully emphasized. Later, an improved cheongsam appeared, that is, many western-style cutting methods were added to the cutting to make the cheongsam more fit and practical. Cheongsam has become a unique national costume of the Chinese nation.

In addition to clothing, jewelry used by women in modern Shanghai is also very distinctive. Some fashionable women have necklaces around their necks, and pendants are made into heart-shaped boxes containing jade photos; Stud earrings hang in the ear. Because there was no piercing at that time, earrings were mostly movable clips; Most of them wear rings on their fingers; A bracelet or watch on your wrist; There is a pin on the chest. When I go out, I usually take a small and exquisite handbag and a beautifully made silk umbrella.

Comparing the cheongsam popular in Shanghai with the western fashion in the same period, we can see many interesting phenomena. The overall style change of cheongsam is almost identical with the fashion of western women's clothing, but it still maintains the traditional shape of China, which is the product of the combination of Chinese and western clothing under the influence of western civilization.

It can be said that without the opening of modern Shanghai and the spread of western learning to the east, there would be no westernization of cheongsam and no Shanghai-style cheongsam. 1949, the liberation of guns broke the abnormal prosperity of Shanghai. In the new era when people are masters of their own affairs, Shanghainese have composed an idealistic new song of Shanghai style costumes.

In the 1950s, Shanghai's clothing still had rich and colorful styles, but the dominant fashion had turned to civilians. Democracy, hard work, collectivism and other times spirits are embodied in clothing, which is a simple and practical fashion. From 1950s to 1970s, Shanghai was the national textile base and clothing center, and Shanghai's clothing represented the highest level in China.

Shanghai's textile printing and dyeing industry is one of the most successful industries under the planned economy system, which has laid a solid foundation for Shanghai's clothing industry to lead the country. Shanghai's textile printing and dyeing industry has the strongest strength, the most advanced technical force and production equipment, the best product quality and the most fancy varieties, and has developed many new fabrics and patterns, providing the best and most complete fabrics for the national clothing industry.