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Cheong-Sam and Traditional Chinese Costumes

The cheong-sam has its origin in the Manchu female's costumes in the Qing
Dynasty and has been regarded as the model of Chinese traditional habilatory
culture .As for the reason, the cheong-sam not only accords with the characteristic
of harmony within Chinese culture in terms of the style , but also shows rich oriental
idiosyncracy with regard to ornamental techniques. In addition, the cheong-sam
will give more prominence to a lady's slender figure ,  and also help to heighten
the center of gravity of human bodies together with high-heel shoes, so that civility,
elegance and dignity will be fully displayed. Therefore, the cheong-sam developed
its own trend ,  which has been long lasting.

As for the traditional clothes of Chinese men, the long gown and mandarin jacket
are typical. Both of them have round-necks and narrow sleeves. The mandarin
jacket can be seen as a kind of Chinese-style jacket with buttons down the front,
mostly with sleeves like a horse's hoof. However, the front of long gowns, with
buttons on the right, is basically large. There is also a type of garment combining
the long gown and the mandarin jacket ,and they will only have the under-half part,
buttoning in the under lap of the mandarin jacket. The long gown and mandarin
jacket will giver the impression of comfortableness and ease as well as sobriety.

In 2001,the presidents struck a pose on the stage in Chinese style costumes at
the APEC Forum, and thus a trend of wearing Chinese style costumes came into
being. The very reason why clothing with Chinese style has been labeled as
Chinese -style costumes is that the place where overseas Chinese reside in has
been called "Chinese town" and consequently the costumes which the Chinese
wear are called Chinese style costumes. Current Chinese-style costumes were
transformed from the mandarin jacket of the Qing Dynasty, and there are four
major characteristics in terms of design. First, Chinese-style costumes have a
stand-up collar and buttons in very middle of the front of the jacket; second,
there is no seam between sleeves and jacket; third, the costumes are jackets with
buttons down the front or in diagonal way; last, they have right-angled buttons.
In addition, with regard to the outside material, Chinese  costumes are mostly
made with silk.

Moreover, the feature of clothing varies with areas and nationalities. For instance,
the bellyband is the traditional close-fitting costume in Central China and north
of Shanxi. The bellyband is just like the front of vest with a lace tying to the neck
and it an prevent children from catching a cold. The children's wearing of bellyband
will also show their naivety. Most bellybands will be embroidered with the pattern
of a tiger head and the "Five Poisons", which contain a parents' nice expectation
of wishing their children health. To take the costumes of the Yi Nationality as
another example, they are rather distinctive with three types of women's had wears
including decorating brocade round the head and a cap with an embroidered case.
Especially in the area of Honghe, women's head wears are full of beautiful colors
and styles. They prefer silver ornaments to show their riches and beauty. However,
the manteau can be regarded as the distinctive costumes for all people of the Yi
Nationality, which are mostly made of fur ,delaine, hemp and straw and whose colors
are mainly cyan and blue.

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