The Oral Legacies Series II: The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong
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Hong Kong Kwan Kwa Wedding Costume Making Technique

In making a traditional Chinese wedding costume of kwan kwa, the master tailor must first take the body measurements and consult the client what embroidery designs she prefers. A set of kwan kwa consists of nine panels: two at the front, one at the back, two sleeves of the top, and then four for the front, back, left and right of the skirt. Before starting the embroidery process, the design pattern must be transferred onto the red fabric. To do this, a pattern with the motifs is first drawn on tracing paper, then perforated with an embroidery needle. The paper with tiny holes is then placed on the red fabric, and brushed with white ink to transfer the images in dotted lines. Then the fabric is ready for embroidering. Depending on how complicated the design is and the material used, normally it takes two to three months to complete the process, and the embroidery must be completed by one tailor throughout to ensure a consistency in craftsmanship. The finished pieces are called “embroidered panels”, which would then be handed over to a master tailor to sew together before the whole production process is completed.

Photos


  • Kwan kwa wedding costume with dragon and phoenix designs

  • Embroidered panels

  • Embroidery on the kwan kwa

  • Embroidered parts of the kwan kwa wedding costume