CHINESE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

In East Asia, physical appearance is heavily emphasised, especially among females. Since the beginning of Chinese culture, there has always been favouritism towards boys and males as they are the main breadwinners and lineage carriers for a family. This way, girls were seen as inferior and therefore had to do a lot more to prove their worth and credibility. Since girls weren't allowed to work, they couldn't achieve this respect from a job, as well as the men were the dictators of society, allowing them to push unrealistic ideals onto women to satisfy their own desires.

Women were put under the pressure to be fair-skinned, small-framed and have tiny feet. These ideals were represented through the QiPao- a figure-hugging silk gown that had a conservative high neck and long skirt, however, still had high slits on either side of the skirt to show some skin. Without a doubt, the QiPao is a beautiful dress, however, the requirements to fit into one have an impact on the way Chinese girls see themselves.

Over time, the QiPao started gaining more recognition from the west and modern society. The QiPao has since been modified to be shinier, shorter and more sexualised. This association of the QiPao with sensuality has also put women in a spot where they are further judged while wearing this traditional dress, contributing to them feeling the need to justify and disassociate themselves from more negative/ untrue connections people have coined in recent decades.

In Women's Studies Quarterly: Inheritance, there is a recount of a story of the writer seeing restuarnt staff in QiPaos. She states that wearing this QiPao is a way for the woman to break the prejudices and assumptions assigned to the QiPao by suggesting the possibility of having economic power and respect, contrasting the 'prescribed, sexualized commercial femininity' of the QiPao. This reclamation of power to change the narrative of QiPaos is another reason why I have decided to add the opening and buttons as I want it to pay homage to the women of my culture.

CREATING THE SLEEVES

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