Based largely on nineteenth and twentieth-century representations of Chinese dress as traditional and unchanging; historians have long regarded fashion as something peculiarly Western. But in this surprising; sumptuously illustrated book; Antonia Finnane proves that vibrant fashions were a vital part of Chinese life in the late imperial era; when well-to-do men and women showed a keen awareness of what was up-to-date.Though foreigners who traveled to China in the early decades of the twentieth century came away with the impression that Chinese dress was simple and monotone; the key features of modern fashion were beginning to emerge; especially in Shanghai. Men in blue gowns donned felt caps and leather shoes; girls began to wear fitted jackets and narrow pants; and homespun garments gave way to machine-woven cloth; often made in foreign lands. These innovations marked the start of a far-reaching vestimentary revolution that would transform the clothing culture in urban and much of rural China over the next half century.Through Finnanes meticulous research; we are able to see how the close-fitting jacket and high collar of the 1911 Revolutionary period; the skirt and jacket-blouse of the May Fourth era; and the military style popular in the Cultural Revolution led to the variegated; globalized wardrobe of today. She brilliantly connects Chinas modernization and global visibility with changes in dress; offering a vivid portrait of the complex; subtle; and sometimes contradictory ways the people of China have worn their nation on their backs.
#3193378 in eBooks 2007-06-07 2007-06-07File Name: B008FZ0AES
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