The History of Chinese Cheongsam and Kwan Kwa

Cheongsam, meaning “long gown”, is a Chinese style of dress worn by men and women. During the Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), the everyday wear for men was a set featuring a long gown (changpao), a short jacket and a pair of trousers. The gown was ankle-length, topped with a short jacket called magua (literally “riding jacket”), so together they were called “changpao magua”, or “long gown and riding jacket”. The design was to facilitate everyday activities and riding as befitting the equestrian lifestyle of the Manchus. By the turn of the 20th century, menswear styles gradually changed, and many preferred to wear the long gown without the magua jacket. In Hong Kong, this was, and still is, known as cheongsam, and the design has remained unchanged except for the length of the hem. In 1910, there was a short article in The Chinese Mail that discussed the appropriateness of a “shorter cheongsam” that was in the mode at the time. The author was of the opinion that if a cheongsam became too short, it would be likened to the jacket of a Western suit, and was therefore inappropriate. Such a penchant in opinion was widely endorsed, it seemed, as articles in the Hong Kong newspapers such as The Chinese Mail and the Universal Circulating Herald would describe men wearing the traditional cheongsam as “debonair” and “exuding confidence and flair”. It goes to show that cheongsam as menswear had been elevated as a status symbol, suggesting that the wearer was wide read, well informed, accomplished and tasteful. Today, members of the village clans in the New Territories would wear cheongsams when conducting Spring and Autumn Ancestral Worship, rituals for the Jiao Festival, etc., to highlight their identity in the clans. The cheongsam, therefore, has taken on more symbolic meanings than as a mere way of dress.

The women’s version of cheongsam is also known as qipao, a style of wear believed to have come down from the Qing dynasty. By the 1920s, women’s clothing styles in China had continued to evolve alongside the changes in government policies and cultural and social trends, from the so-called “new civilised outfit” (or “students’ wear”), which featured a blouse and a skirt, to the loose-fitting qipao with bell-shaped sleeves not unlike the Qing dynasty version. The latter became the height of fashion in the 1930s in Shanghai. But with the influence of Western culture, the shape and style were soon to change: the upper part of the qipao became more body-hugging, while the hem and the sleeves went up and down to suit the latest trend. Hong Kong soon picked up this fashion trend, and this kind of dress was given a localised name of “cheongsam”. It was worn as everyday wear by film stars, office ladies and students alike. Towards the end of the 1940s, there was a huge influx of tailors from Shanghai and Guangdong to Hong Kong. They started their business in Hong Kong and taught apprentices their technical know-how. So the cheongsam making technique was given a new lease of life in Hong Kong. The cut of women’s cheongsam in the 1950s incorporated Western sewing techniques which accentuated the bust and waist lines, but later from the 1960s and 1970s on, the body-hugging form became more relaxed.

“Kwan kwa” refers to the Chinese traditional wedding costume worn by the bride on her wedding day. It is made up of a top (kwa) and a skirt (kwan). Both are decorated with embroidered designs of dragons and phoenixes using gold or silver threads, or other auspicious motifs such as peonies, bats (which puns with “blessings” in Chinese), butterflies etc. using beads, sequins and crystals. In Hong Kong, it was popular for brides to wear a kwan kwa set with “a black top and a red skirt” as wedding costume before the 1950s. The top was rather loose-fitting and long, and the embroidery tended to be rather simple. But later, the clothing styles began to change. Brides preferred “a red top and a red skirt”; the kwa top was shorter and more close-fitting, and the sleeves were also shorter. Today, the popular styles are differentiated by the density of the gold and silver thread embroidery on the surface of the fabric, the densest being named “the king of kwan kwa”, followed in descending order by “the queen of kwan kwa”, “ng fook” (five blessings) and “siu ng fook” (petite five blessings – a reduced version of “ng fook”). There are other styles using combinations of pearls and crystals, silver and gold threads with crystals, or the more subtle flower designs done with embroidery threads. The traditional embroidery shops used to offer made-to-order or rental services for kwan kwa, but nowadays, many of these shops only have kwan kwa for rental and no longer made-to-order service.