2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, gold leaf, glitter, PVA adhesive
42 x 29.7 cm

In the 1910s, Qipao was still considered the Machu court dress and modern women had not yet adopted the style. Women still favoured jacket and trousers or skirts developed from the loosely-fitted style worn by Han women during the Ching Dynasty but now the fit became slimmer, the length of skirts shorter, and the materials used simpler with less embroidery. Also Western hairstyles, shoes, accessories and trimmings were adopted due to the view of younger Chinese women that the West was sophisticated and modern.

一零年代，旗袍仍然被看作是滿族宮廷服裝，現代女性尚未流行這種衣著風格。當時婦女偏愛的服裝仍是清朝時代漢族婦女的寬身上衣、長褲或裙子演變而來的服裝，但摩登的式樣已改良得修身，裙子長度亦較短，刺繡亦較少，布料更簡潔。因中國年輕女性受到當時西方的先進和現代化感染，西式髮型、鞋子及飾物隨之而開始流行起來。

2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, gold leaf, silver leaf, copper leaf, glitter, PVA adhesive on paper
42 x 29.7 cm

The 1920s was a significant turning point for women’s traditional status in Chinese society. Women university students started adopting men’s scholarly robes as a symbol of feminism and this became almost the prototype of the slimmer-fitting modern Qipao. It was not until the mid-1920s that Qipao finally reinvented itself with a silhouette heavily influenced by fashion from the Western world.

二十年代，婦女在中國社會的傳統地位遇上重大轉折。女大學生穿著男式學者長袍，以此作為女權主義的象徵；這成了現代修身旗袍的樣辦。直到二十年代中期，旗袍才在西方輪廓剪裁的影響下進一步演變。

2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, gold leaf, polyester, glitter, PVA adhesive on paper
42 x 29.7 cm

Shanghai continued to be an affluent and decadent city even during the Great Depression. Chinese fashion continued to flourish under the influence of Paris haute couture and Hollywood movie stars who favoured an Art Deco style with its streamlined designs.
The 1930s were the heyday of pre-revolutionary Chinese cinema. Film stars were the fashion icons of the day and under their influence a softer more slender silhouette was introduced. It was all about modernity and the ‘body perfect’ mentality encouraged women to exercise. The silhouette and the fluidity of the material choices illustrated women’s modern lifestyles. 
One of Art Deco’s influences came from geometric designs in traditional Chinese art. At the same time, modern Chinese art and design was heavily influenced by Western Art Deco. Bold Art Deco styled printed materials were the most popular choice of materials for Qipao and contrasting piping on the high collar and hem emphasised the bold design of the look.

上海在大蕭條時期仍是最歌舞昇平和燈紅酒綠的大都會。受巴黎Haute Cuture，以及荷里活影星穿著的流線型設計的Art Deco服飾影響，中國時裝繼續蓬勃發展。

三十年代是中國電影事業變革前最鼎盛的時代。電影明星是當時時尚的楷模，在她們的影響下，更柔軟和纖秀的剪裁開始流行。當時的潮流非常注重現代感和展現「完美體態」，鼓勵女性保持苗條身材。選用布料的輪廓和流動性充分反映當時女性的現代生活方式。

Art Deco的其中一個影響是源自傳統中國藝術的幾何圖案設計。與此同時，現代中國藝術和設計在很大程度上亦受到Art Deco影響。強烈對比的Art Deco式樣印花織物是最流行的旗袍素材；高領和下擺的對比滾邊，進一步強調了整個造型的大膽設計。

2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, gold leaf, Swarovski crystals, glitter, PVA adhesive on paper
42 x 29.7 cm

Fashion continued to evolve even during the hardship of the war. Women’s fashion became militarised and very much influenced by masculine styles. A more structured silhouette was introduced and shoulder pads and heavier materials were required to create a more masculine influenced look. Chinese fashion was no exception. Lower collars became fashionable and shoulder pads were added to give a more ‘upside down triangle’ shape for the Qipao.

即使在戰時的艱苦歲月裡，時裝仍繼續發展。婦女服裝漸漸帶有軍事色彩，並深受男裝款式影響。服裝引入較鮮明(建築感)的輪廓，肩墊和較重的布料成為打造男性化造型的必備品。中國時裝也不例外。低衣領變成時髦起來，再加上肩墊，旗袍有了 “倒三角形” 的新輪廓。

2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, white gold, gold, copper leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm

When the Communist government took over mainland China in 1949 a more practical clothing style was introduced to the people. Qipao was seen as a symbol of the old China’s bourgeois decadence. It continued to evolve though in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Because of Western influences, the silhouette of Qipao changed again and this time, ironically, it became ultra-feminine. Curvy and voluptuous with a tiny waist, a contrast to the earlier feminist incarnation as a feminist adoption of the men’s robe. This was the beginning of the Western stereotype of the Chinese woman. In 1960, the Hollywood film ‘The World of Suzy Wong’ instilled in the Western audience a visual stereotype of the Qipao. Even today, in Western eyes, the silhouette of this reading of the Qipao is ‘traditionally’ and ‘typically’ Chinese even though Qipao had evolved dramatically in each decades of the last century and most Chinese women have not worn it as an everyday dress for four decades.

1949年，共產黨政府在中國大陸執政，人民的衣著風格愈趨實用。旗袍被視為是舊中國資本主義衰落的象徵。儘管如此，旗袍仍在海外華人社會繼續發展。受西方影響，旗袍的輪廓再次改變。諷刺的是，這一次旗袍變得極端女性化，曲線玲瓏，蜂腰嫵媚，與先前作為女權主義化身的改良男裝長袍形成鮮明對比。這是西方對中國婦女模式化印象的開端。 1960年，荷里活電影《蘇絲黃的世界》向西方觀眾灌輸了旗袍的視覺模式化印象。儘管旗袍在上世紀不斷地經歷大幅演變，旗袍亦失去華人女性日常便服的地位已有四十年之久，但在今天的西方人眼裡，五十年代款式的旗袍仍被解讀為“傳統”“典型”的中國服裝輪廓。

2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, palladium leaf, PVA adhesive on paper
42 x 29.7 cm

Although the Qipao of the early1960s, body consciously fitted with a small waist and a high collar, had not changed much since the Fifties, a more androgynous look was becoming fashionable. As in the West, youth culture became increasingly influential in Hong Kong in the second half of the Sixties. Young people no longer aspired to look like their parents in order to seem respectable. Fashion became youthful and more rebellious. Unconventional materials were used such as PVC and paper. Qipao began to lose its appeal and as young women yearned for Western clothing, fewer and fewer women wanted to wear Qipao. It was the beginning of the end of Qipao as an everyday form of dress as women went for an easier option of more practical Western styled fashion.

六十年代，緊貼細腰的高領旗袍還是延續五十年代的風格，但較年輕中性化的造型開始逐漸流行。 六十年代後期，如西方一般，青年文化在香港越來越有影響力。年輕人不再仿傚長輩一般打扮來贏得尊重。時裝變得青春而叛逆，亦採用了非傳統材料，例如PVC和紙張。西方服裝較受年輕女性歡迎，旗袍開始失去原有的魅力，越來越少婦女選擇穿著旗袍。作為日常服裝的旗袍從而逐漸沒落，實用和輕鬆的西式時裝瞬間成為婦女們的新竉兒。

2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, white gold, gold, and copper leaf, PVA adhesive on paper
42 x 29.7 cm

In the 1970s, women pretty much stopped wearing Qipao on a daily basis and when it did appear, a Western silhouette would be adapted. It was kept alive as formal wear at weddings, banquets and other ceremonial occasions, as a costume in the finale of the annual Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, as well as school uniforms in several girls’ schools and work wear for restaurant hostesses.

七十年代，大多數婦女不再以旗袍為日常便服；而每當再有旗袍的亮相，也會是西式流行的輪廓。旗袍獲保留為婚禮、宴會和其他隆重場合的禮服，也是每年香港小姐選美的決賽服裝、及為數間女子學校的校服和部份酒樓接待員的制服。

2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, gold leaf, silver leaf, copper leaf on paper
42 x 29.7 cm

Although many society women as well as film stars of the previous era continued to wear Qipao for ceremonial occasions and the Miss Hong Kong pageant still had its Qipao rounds, in the 1980s the majority of women pretty much entirely abandoned Qipao. It made a very brief comeback in the mid-Eighties but as a sort of novelty fashion item. It was almost treated as a foreign costume, especially when it was worn by performers as part of a themed outfit.

八十年代，儘管社交名媛和上一輩的影星仍繼續穿著旗袍出席隆重場合，香港小姐選美也保留旗袍環節，但在一般婦女的圈子裡，旗袍已幾乎被完全遺忘了。 八十年代中期旗袍短暫復出，但只是作為某種新穎的時裝單品。旗袍幾乎被視為外來服裝，尤其藝人常把旗袍當做主題服裝來穿著。

2012
Ballpoint pen, acrylic, gold leaf, glitter, swarovski crystals, synthetic pearls, PVA adhesive on paper
42 x 29.7 cm

The fashion industry often takes inspiration from underground youth subcultures and fashionable young people also take inspiration from the fashion industry and recreate styles they’re inspired by and personalise them. It’s an intricate relationship. In the early 1990s, Qipao made its way to the West where fashion forward urban young people would find second-hand Qipao in thrift stores or cheaply made ones in Chinese souvenir shops. This was simply a fashion statement, a way of being different, the cultural aspects had little to do with it. At the same time, the Chinese interpreted the trend rather differently as having a somewhat superficial sentimental resonance arising from women’s memories of photographs of their mothers or even grandmothers in the Qipao dress. To modern young women of that generation, Qipao was merely a novelty fashion statement.

時裝界往往從地下青年次文化取得靈感，而時髦的年輕人也從時裝界找尋他們打扮的靈感，塑造自己的個人風格。兩者互相影響，相輔相成。 九十年代初，旗袍來到西方，走在時尚尖端的都市年輕人在舊貨市場購得二手旗袍，或在唐人紀念品商店買入廉價旗袍。但這不過是一種時尚的表態，讓自己與別不同的方式，與中國文化方面的關係不大。與此同時，中國人卻以一種完全不同的方式演繹這趨勢，舊照片裡母親，甚至祖母穿著旗袍的回憶，只是喚起了一些很表面的感性共鳴。在這一代的年輕女性眼中，旗袍只不過是新奇的時尚語言的玩意兒而已。