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The Transition Period of Hong Kong Cheongsam: The 1930s and 1940s
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- Ruan Lingyu and cheongsam
Fashionable women liked to wear a slip with lace borders underneath their cheongsams where the exquisite borders would be visible through the slits. Taken in Hong Kong, 1930s.
- Western-style jacket over cheongsam
Under the influence of fashion trends from the West, it was a popular style to pair cheongsams with Western-style jackets in the 1930s.
- Wearing cheongsams without boundaries
This family portrait shows how cheongsam became the popular daily attire for women of all ages and walks of life during the 1930s and 1940s.
- Wearing cheongsam for gathering at Eucliffe
Merchant Eu Tong Sen (second from left), his wife and friends at the Eucliffe at Hong Kong Repulse Bay, circa 1938.
- Wife of Ma Ying Piu and cheongsam
Wife of Ma Ying Piu, founder of The Sincere Company of Hong Kong, 1930s to 1940s.
- Wearing cheongsam for horse racing event
Horse owners with their winning horse in Hong Kong, 1944.
- Lined camel-coloured mid-sleeved silk cheongsam with horizontal stripes
Lined camel-coloured mid-sleeved silk cheongsam with horizontal stripes
1930s
Hong Kong Museum of History collection
This cheongsam is made of very soft and lightweight silk woven with fine black horizontal stripes irregularly punctuated with black dots. It is furnished with 14 pairs of frog closures and double bindings in a style that the tailors called a 'tramway'.
- Blue mid-sleeved silk cheongsam with vertical stripes
Blue mid-sleeved silk cheongsam with vertical stripes
1930s
Hong Kong Museum of History collection
The shell fabric of this cheongsam is woven with vertical stripes in three shades of blue. The sewing displays a fine execution. The dress is furnished with 12 pairs of bright blue frog closures, while the edges are adorned with bindings almost one inch wide alongside piping of a similar width.
- Mid-sleeved cheongsam with stripes on grey ground
Mid-sleeved cheongsam with stripes on grey ground
1930s
Hong Kong Museum of History collection
This cheongsam features blue and white knot-shaped buttons that produce a sharp contrast while echoing the colours of the collar, cuffs, front-flap, binding and piping and the pattern found on the shell fabric.
- Camel-coloured mid-sleeved lace cheongsam
Camel-coloured mid-sleeved lace cheongsam
1930s
Hong Kong Museum of History collection
The rhombus-shaped flower buttons on the collar perfectly complement the pattern of the shell fabric. The collar uses a V-shaped button and loop, as opposed to the usual knot-shaped buttons that form a straight line.