Chinese fashion styles
One record per style: the Chinese name, what the term actually refers to, and where it is confused with something else. These are the categories the rest of the site sorts by.
The traditional dress of the Han Chinese, identified by its collar: the two front panels cross and close left over right, fastening under the right arm, so the neckline reads as a "y". The term is 交领右衽 jiāolǐng yòurèn. The Japanese kimono and Korean hanbok cross the same way, which is why the three are confused abroad — that collar form was learned from China. Hanfu is a system rather than a garment, and every collar in it belongs to one of two families, 交襟 crossed or 对襟 parallel.
Read the record →
Traditional Chinese garment structures — stand collars, pankou fastenings, mamianqun panels — cut in contemporary fabrics and relaxed silhouettes so they function as ordinary dress rather than costume. Distinct from guochao, which is a broad consumer movement, and from hanfu, which is a historical-dress revival with its own occasions.
Read the record →
A close-fitting one-piece dress with a standing collar, a front panel that crosses the chest and fastens under the right arm, and slits at the sides. Qipao is the Mandarin name, after the Eight Banners of the Qing; cheongsam comes from Cantonese 長衫, "long shirt", and reached English through Hong Kong and Shanghai. Neither is more correct — they are two languages naming one garment. It took its modern form in 1920s Shanghai; where it came from before that is disputed.
Read the record →
Terms that are named but not yet defined here are in the glossary, which covers the words MEI uses across the site — 腋下包, 国潮, 松弛感 and the rest.