The Qipao is synonymous with serenity and modesty. A woman dressed in it was likely to have an oval face, her hair in a high, neat bun and wearing the proper accessories: a jade harpin and bracelet. She is the result of generations of cultivations.
The Qipao has been often dubbed the symbol of glamourous old Shanghai of the 1920s-1930s. In the famous ballrooms such as the Baile Gate and Big World, in the foreign offices of Xiafei Road or under the colorful lamp lights of the Huangpu River Road, fashionable women with permed hair were often seen wearing knee-length qipaos with high silts at both sides, accessorized with silk stockings, high-heeled shoes, necklaces and earrings.
An ordinary qipao can easily enhance the warer’s bearing. Female college graduates during the early 20th century wore blue cotton qipaos. White scarvets were draped loosely over a shoulder. An air of refinement, as well as the vigor and warmth of youth were conveyed with simple dress.
The Qipao had another side: simplicity and purity. Girls from ordinary families also wore qipaos, but these were made from sackcloth or yarn. Wearing their qipaos, they bustled in yards of blue tile and white walls, on small bridges over rivers or in narrow strttes paved with flagstone. Although lacking in sophisticated handiwork and exquisite adornment, the qipaos worn by these humble maidens were full of purity and earthiness.
The qipao, interpreted by Chinese women in different times and for occasions, will never lose its charm.