Does anyone know how the chinese cheongsam dress was born

[soccerman9384]

Hi there, I am interested in learning about the chinese cheongsam dress and how and where was it created. Most of the cheongsams today have side slits that goes up to the upper thighs. Did the cheongsam from the 1920s had very high slits like today's version ? How different is today's cheongsam versus the cheongsam from the 1920s ?

[Angelina]

Prostitutes in Shanghai? I guess it had high slits in the 1920s too.

[Jenny-L]

Of course it's not the same. Besides it was not designed for prostitutes.

[xiaokaka]

This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsam page covers the history and has a lot of pictures.

[Angelina]

Interesting.

For example, in 1963, when then president Liu Shaoqi was visiting four neighboring countries in South Asia, the then first lady Wang Guangmei wore a set of Cheongsam. Wang was later declared as guilty in the Cultural Revolution due to her dressing of Cheongsam.

Since 1980s, with the trend of reevaluation of Chinese traditional culture, people in mainland China started to pay attention to Cheongsam again. Cheongsam is also getting more and more popularity in films, beauty pageants, and fashion shows in both China and other countries all over the world. In 1984, Cheongsam was specified as the formal attire of female diplomatic agents by the People’s Republic of China.

Hanfu

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanfu

[Hofmann]

There are more pictures and illustrations in the Chinese version. It seems slits weren't as high in the early 20th century.