High Mandarin Collar 立領旗袍

Qipao / Cheongsam is an elegant type of Chinese dress. This close－fitting dress, is one-piece Chinese dress with a high neck and the slits on the sides, that have been worn since the Manchu ruled China in the 17th century.

When the Manchu ruled China during the Qing Dynasty, certain social strata emerged. Among them were the Banners (qí), mostly Manchu, who as a group were called Banner People (旗人 pinyin: qí rén). Manchu women typically wore a one-piece dress that retrospectively came to be known as the qípáo (旗袍 or banner gown). The generic term for both the male and the female forms of Manchu dress, essentially similar garments, was chángpáo (長袍). The qipao fitted loosely and hung straight down the body, or flared slightly in an A-line. Under the dynastic laws after 1636, all Han Chinese in the banner system were forced to wear a queue and dress in Manchurian qipao instead of traditional Han Chinese clothing (剃发易服), under penalty of death (along with the July 1645 edict (the "haircutting order") that forced all adult Han Chinese men to shave the front of their heads and comb the remaining hair into a queue, on pain of death). Until 1911, the changpao was required clothing for Chinese men of a certain class, but Han Chinese women continued to wear loose jacket and trousers, with an overskirt for formal occasions. The qipao was a new fashion item for Han Chinese women when they started wearing it around 1925.

Qing Dynasty Qipao 清代旗袍

A woman in the traditional loose fitting baggy qipao worn with an over jacketThe original qipao was wide and loose. It covered most of the woman's body, revealing only the head, hands, and the tips of the toes. The baggy nature of the clothing also served to conceal the figure of the wearer regardless of age. With time, though, the qipao were tailored to become more form fitting and revealing. The modern version, which is now recognized popularly in China as the "standard" qipao, was first developed in Shanghai in the 1920s, partly under the influence of Beijing styles. People eagerly sought a more modernized style of dress and transformed the old qipao to suit their tastes. Slender and form fitting with a high cut, it had great differences from the traditional qipao. However, it was high-class courtesans and celebrities in the city that would make these redesigned tight fitting qipao popular at that time.[2] In Shanghai it was first known as zansae or "long dress" (長衫 - Mandarin Chinese: chángshān, Shanghainese: zansae, Cantonese: chèuhngsàam), and it is this name that survives in English as the "cheongsam".

Soong Sisters 宋慶齡 宋美齡

The modernized version is noted for accentuating the figures of women, and as such was popular as a dress for high society. As Western fashions changed, the basic cheongsam design changed too, introducing high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace frothing at the hem of a ball gown. By the 1940s, cheongsam came in a wide variety of fabrics with an equal variety of accessories.

The 1949 Communist Revolution curtailed the popularity of the cheongsam and other fashions in Shanghai, but the Shanghainese emigrants and refugees brought the fashion to Hong Kong where it has remained popular. Recently there has been a revival of the Shanghainese cheongsam in Shanghai and elsewhere in Mainland China; the Shanghainese style functions now mostly as a stylish party dress.

Qipao in the 30s 30年代旗袍

What Does a Qipao Look Like?
The original qipao was wide and baggy. The one-piece dress featured a high neck and straight skirt. It covered all of a woman’s body except for her head, hands, and toes. The qipao was traditionally made of silk and featured intricate embroidery. 
The qipao worn today are modeled after ones made in Shanghai in the 1920s. The modern qipao is a one-piece, formfitting, floor length dress that has a high slit on one or both sides. Modern variations may have bell sleeves or be sleeveless and are made out of a variety of fabrics.

When Is a Qipao Worn?
In the 17th century, the qipao was worn nearly every day. Nowadays, the qipao is worn during formal occasions like weddings, parties, and beauty pageants. The qipao is also used as a uniform at restaurants, hotels, and on airplanes in Asia. 
Who Came Up with the Design of the Qipao?
During Manchu rule, Nurhachi (努爾哈赤, Nǔ'ěrhāchì), a chieftan, established the Banner System, a structure for organizing all Manchu families into administrative divisions. The traditional dress that Manchu women wore became known as the qipao (旗袍, banner gown). 
After 1636, all Han Chinese men in the banner system had to wear the male version of the qipao, chángpáo (長袍). 
In the 1920s in Shanghai, the dress was modernized and became popular among celebrities and the upper class. The dress became less popular when Communist rule began in 1949. The Shanghainese took the dress to Hong Kong where it remained popular in the 1950s with working women who often paired it with a jacket.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsam

旗袍雛形-明立領
 
  旗袍做為民族服飾,它的雛形最早可追溯到明朝中期的明立領中衣褙子,高立領款式到了明朝後期,在中原和江南更加廣泛流行,這是程朱理學思想禁錮在婦女服飾上的體現(婦女脖頸要用立領加以遮掩)。明末高領盤扣式樣已經基本形成了現在旗袍的雛形。滿族入關後,在“男從女不從”的服制規定下,漢族婦女得以沿襲使用明式立領襖和褙子等所謂“漢裝”。(這一問題可以從明朝和清朝流傳下來的皇宮畫像中得到佐證,明朝的皇后已經穿高領系扣的中衣,而清朝皇帝皇后仍然穿類似唐朝男裝中的無領圓口衣。),尤其昆曲青衣花旦戲服更是沿用以前的立領制式。清朝中期,明式立領(方領,二枚金屬扣)進一步演化,方領變成了弧形領,更融入了許多滿族服飾要素(滾邊-大寬邊,蜈蚣盤),在民國時期,中華立領成為中山服和旗袍的構成要素。
 
旗袍是滿族的傳統服飾,二十世紀上半葉由民國服飾設計師參考滿族女性傳統旗服和西洋文化基礎上設計的一種時裝,是一種東西方文化糅合具象。在現時部分西方人的眼中,旗袍具有中國女性服飾文化的象徵意義。在濃厚的封建禮教氛圍中,想要婦女如現在一般外露曲線是不可能的。傳統旗袍的裁制一直採用直線,胸、肩、腰、臀完全平直,使女性身體的曲線毫不外露。儘管旗袍改于滿族婦女的袍子,或稱旗裝、旗服,但旗袍並不是旗裝。旗袍是帶有中國特色、體現西式審美、並採用西式剪裁的時裝。旗裝是滿族婦女的民族服飾。旗裝大多採用平直的線條,衣身寬鬆,兩邊開叉,胸腰圍度與衣裙的尺寸比例較為接近;在袖口領口有大量盤滾裝飾。黃色是皇家獨尊之色,民眾是忌用。旗裝色彩鮮豔複雜,用料等花色品種就多樣,喜用對比度高的色彩搭配。在領口、袖頭和掖襟上加上了幾道鮮豔花邊或彩色牙子盤滾設計。由於旗裝是一種平面服飾,盤滾成為旗裝除面料外的唯一設計空間,因而以多盤滾為美。清末曾時興過“十八鑲”(即鑲十八道花邊)。清代旗袍紋樣多以寫生手法為主,龍獅腆麟百獸、鳳凰仙鶴百鳥、梅蘭竹菊百花,以及八寶、八仙、福祿壽喜等都是常用題材。

滿族之袍
 
  旗袍是民國時期的婦女時裝。由於滿族稱為“旗人”,故將其稱之為“旗袍”。。 從字義解,旗袍泛指旗人(無論男女)所穿的長袍,不過只有八旗婦女日常所穿的長袍才與後世的旗袍有著血緣關係,用作禮服的朝袍、蟒袍等習慣上己不歸為“旗袍”的範疇。在清代,婦女服飾可謂是漢滿並存。清初,滿族婦女以長袍為主,而漢人婦女仍以上衣下裙為時尚;清中期,漢滿各有仿效;到了清代後期,滿族效仿漢族的風氣日盛,甚至出現了“大半旗裝改漢裝,宮袍截作短衣裳”的情況,而漢族仿效滿族服飾的風氣,也于此時在一些達官貴婦中流行起來。
 
流行於少數民族地區或遊牧民族的袍服,一般都較為緊窄合體,以利於騎射或其他激烈活動,這種服式多採用左衽、窄袖,袍身比較適體。歷史上,漢族人民也曾多次採納這種窄身合體的袍服樣式,趙武靈王所推行的胡服騎射就是比較典型的事例。唐代的胡服也風行一時,胡服在唐開元、天寶年間與胡妝、胡騎、胡樂同為時人趨奉,可算異域文化一次大面積的流行範例,屬於長安街頭當年的“舶來品”。在遼、金、元及清朝等少數民族政權統治時期,合身的袍服都曾一度扮演著服飾的主角,雖然又都經歷或表現出變得寬博的過程或趨勢。清代由於歷時最長,故袍服可視為典型服飾。
 

順治元年(西元1644年),清軍入關,與漢族軍閥豪強結合到一起,定都北京,繼而統一全國。隨著政權的初步穩固,開始強制實行剃髮易服,掀起了一場聲勢浩大的血腥殺戮,律令之嚴性命攸關,有“留頭不留發,留發不留頭”之說,漢族百姓與之鬥爭,努力保存漢服,遭到滿清統治者的鎮壓屠殺。最重要的問題是,滿清建立後為什麼要強迫漢人剃髮垂辮易服?按常理,穿什麼服飾,留什麼髮型和統治並無多大關系,但滿洲人入關並建立清後賦予了它們新的內涵。漢人不能接受異族統治是因漢人鄙視野蠻,接受野蠻的統治對漢人來講是種侮辱。漢族有幾千年的文明史,有燦爛的文化,相比異族,漢人有一種強烈的文化優越感,相比之下,滿洲人文化實在膚淺,實在自愧不如。這種民族自卑感一方面促使滿洲貴族拼命學習漢文化,另一方面又使滿洲貴族深恐漢人看不起他們,因此要想統治漢人最好的辦法就是使漢人習異族風俗,以人格侮辱的方式使漢族精神萎縮,使漢人喪失自尊、自信。

 
清朝後期,旗女所穿的長袍,衣身較為寬博,造型線條平直硬朗,衣長至腳踝。“元寶領”用得十分普遍,領高蓋住腮碰到耳,袍身上多繡以各色花紋,領、袖、襟、據都有多重寬闊的滾邊。至咸豐、同治年間,鑲滾達到高峰時期,有的甚至整件衣服全用花邊鑲滾,以至幾乎難以辨識本來的衣料。旗女袍服的裝飾之繁瑣,幾至登峰造極的境界,此時的清王朝正為挽救危亡,清廷洋務派提出“中學為體,西學為用”的救國方略,派遣大批留學生到國外學習。在中國學生最先出現了西式學生的操衣、操帽,洋裝的輸入,提供了評判美的另一種參照系,直接影響社會服飾觀念的變更。日後旗袍演化為融貫中西的新式款型,其受西方影響的改變可說即是由此開始。

Beauty of South Yanzi River (江南之美）