In the history of Chinese clothing, the top and lower skirt are the most basic form of Chinese clothing, and there are many styles. Among them, the skirt, shirt skirt, and coat skirt are the favorites of women. They are also the ancient suits that best reflect the feminine charm of women. .
The ancient skirts, shirt skirts and coat skirts are colorful and have different styles. They not only change the unavoidable singleness of the matching of deep clothes, but also can correct the body shape and show the elegant posture and unique charm of women. They are A clothing combination that has been universally loved by women throughout the dynasties.
01 The graceful style of undershirts, shirts and coatsAs tops, jackets, shirts and jackets are slightly different. Generally speaking, jackets are single-layered and jackets are multi-layered or sandwiched. The jacket can be single-layer or multi-layered, but it is usually divided around the waist and divided into layers. There is a "waist gusset" next to it. This small idea makes the woman's waist line more prominent, making it look delicate and restrained, giving it a unique charm.
Early undershirts were generally short, only reaching the waist, so they were called "waist undershirts" or "small undershirts". The mid-length undershirt is similar to a shirt, but the shirt is looser and the undershirt is tighter.
In terms of wearing style, jackets and shirts can be worn as underwear or outerwear. The long undershirt is worn outside the skirt, which is elegant and chic; the short undershirt is worn outside the skirt, which is delicate and capable; the short undershirt is worn inside the skirt, which is handsome and elegant. Because the coat is thicker, it is usually worn outside the skirt. There are often slits on both sides of the hem, and there are also slits in the back. It is thick and stable.
skirtIt evolved from Shang. The styles and ways of wearing ancient skirts can be said to be ever-changing, creating countless beautiful images of beauty, and also interpreting many touching historical stories and legends. The Liuxian skirt in the Han Dynasty, the pleated skirt and the second-color skirt in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the pomegranate skirt, bird skirt, halo pleated skirt, and bell skirt in the Tang Dynasty, the pleated skirt, swirl skirt, and cover skirt in the Song Dynasty, and the moonlight skirt in the Ming Dynasty Skirts and phoenix-tail skirts have all left a stunning, elegant, charming, gentle and romantic mark in history.
Waist-length skirts, high-waist skirts, and chest-length skirts show different charms. Floor-length skirts, floor-length skirts, and below-the-knee skirts show diverse styles. Pleated skirts, thousand-pleat skirts, and horse-face skirts outline What a graceful grace.
The changes in the shape of skirts fully reflect the characteristics of fashion trends in various historical periods and their evolving trajectory, and are a barometer of the changes in ancient people's dressing concepts.
Historically, undershirts, blouses, coats and skirts were worn together, forming the ancient classic suits - undershirts, shirt skirts and coat skirts.
1. Ru skirt in the pre-Qin period
The underskirt was born in the pre-Qin period and is an ancient suit. More than ten small jade figures unearthed from the tomb of King Zhongshan in Pingshan County, Hebei Province (belonging to the Warring States Period). The upper body is wearing a tight-fitting short jacket with narrow sleeves and a long skirt with a checkered geometric pattern. They are the earliest ones discovered so far in my country that have been verified by physical evidence. Skirt. This shows that by the Warring States Period at the latest, the skirt had become a form of clothing commonly worn by women in ancient my country.
The little jade figure wearing a skirt during the Warring States Period unearthed from the tomb of King Zhongshan and its restoration
2. Ru skirt and shirt skirt of the Han Dynasty
In the Han Dynasty, due to the widespread popularity of deep clothing, the number of women wearing skirts gradually decreased. However, working women in the Han Dynasty did not abandon this convenient and beautiful clothing. In the Han Dynasty Yuefu poem "Mo Shang Mulang", the mulberry picking girl Qin Luofu "Xianqi is the lower skirt and purple qi is the upper skirt", "Peacock Flies Southeast" "Liu Lanzhi's "embroidered skirts were worn in the early dynasty, and single blouses were made in the late period", which all show that the skirt and skirt were the common clothing for women in the Han Dynasty.
In the style of underskirts and blouses of this period, the underskirts and blouses on the upper body are very short, usually only reaching the waist, and mostly have cross-collars, while the lower skirts are extremely long and hang to the floor. In the early days, the sleeves were narrow, but later they gradually widened and lengthened, adding to the decoration.
A picture book of the actual reproduction of the skirt found in the Mozuizi Han Tomb in Wuwei, Gansu
Qin Luofu, a mulberry-picking girl
3. Ru skirt and shirt skirt in the Wei and Jin Dynasties
Women's clothing in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was dominated by underskirts and skirts. The styles of women's skirts were novel and attractive. The top is an undershirt, with a short and thin body that fits closely to the body; in addition to cross-collars, double-breasted straight collars are also commonly used to expose more of the neck and chest; the sleeves are either tight and narrow, or wide, pursuing an exaggerated effect. The cuffs are usually decorated with sleeve patches of different colors; an apron-like "waist hug" is also worn around the waist, and a ribbon is tied around the outside. The bottom is an elegant long skirt that touches the floor for five feet.Fluttering and full of fairy spirit.
Striped and inter-color long skirts are the most popular ones, which are very popular. The women in the tomb murals of Dingjiazha in Jiuquan, Gansu Province during the Sixteen Kingdoms period wear this kind of skirt.
Mural portraits of ancient tombs from the Sixteen Kingdoms Period in Dingjiazha
4. Ru skirts and silks of the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties
If "fairy" is the biggest feature of women's clothing in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, then "beautiful" is undoubtedly the highlight of women's clothing in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. In particular, women's clothing in the Tang Dynasty has a strong, distinctive personality and openness, leaving the most wonderful and moving mark in the history of Chinese clothing.
Most women in the Tang Dynasty wore jackets, jackets, and blouses on their upper bodies, either narrow or loose, with collars and sleeves of various shapes; their lower bodies were tied with skirts, and the skirts were often lifted above the chest, and the skirts often had six or seven skirts. , eight paintings, or even twelve paintings; the colors are gorgeous, the fiery red pomegranate skirt, the bright yellow skirt, and the pleasing green skirt are all favorite skirt colors of women in the Tang Dynasty. "When I sit, my belt lingers in the grass, and when I walk, my skirt sweeps away plum blossoms." "The sleeves of a Yueluo shirt welcome the spring breeze, and the belt of a unicorn carved on jade is red." There are many literati and poets praising the skirts of the Tang Dynasty. The half-arm worn outside the jacket and the shawl draped over the shoulders and wrapped around the arms more vividly demonstrate the poetic beauty and rhythmic beauty of women's clothing in the Tang Dynasty.
Sui Dynasty Ru skirt and silk veil
Tang Dynasty chest-length underskirt and silk veil
Tang Dynasty breast-flattering skirt
Tang Dynasty half-arm skirt
Women of the Tang Dynasty wearing underskirts (mural murals from the tomb of Princess Yongtai of the Tang Dynasty in Qianxian County, Shaanxi Province)
Women of the Southern Tang Dynasty wearing underskirts and silk fabrics (part of Gu Hongzhong's "Han Xizai's Night Banquet")
5. Song Dynasty Ruqun shirt skirt
Women's clothing in the Song Dynasty can be described as "elegant". The overall style of aristocratic women's clothing tends to be conservative and restrained, and the colors tend to be elegant and quiet.
The long-sleeved shirts and long skirts left over from the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties were still popular in the Song Dynasty. They were mostly worn by aristocratic women as a kind of formal dress.
Women in the Song Dynasty wore narrow-sleeved short clothes on the upper body, that is, jackets, coats, shirts, half-arms, etc., and long skirts on the lower body. They usually wore a jacket outside the top. Possibly influenced by the Khitan, Jurchen and other ethnic minorities, clothes in the Song Dynasty could be worn with right or left lapels. The skirts are mostly tied below the chest, with six, eight, or twelve pieces, and many pleats. The more popular ones are "thousand-pleated skirts" and "hundred-fold skirts" with rich patterns. There is often a jade ring ornament - "jade ring ribbon" hanging on the ribbon in the middle of the skirt, which is used to hold down the skirt so that the skirt will not flutter in the wind and lose its elegance and solemnity when the body moves.
A woman from the Song Dynasty wearing a skirt and a silk veil
Statue of a Song Dynasty maid in Jinci Temple, Taiyuan, Shanxi
Low-cut skirts also had a market in the Song Dynasty. Some Song Dynasty genre paintings show that women at the bottom of society wore underskirts quite boldly and not as cautiously as we imagined. For example, the market woman carrying a tea bottle in "Ming Yuan Gambling Market" by Liu Songnian of the Southern Song Dynasty, the woman collecting water in "The Story of the Eight Eminent Monks" by Liang Kai of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the silkworm raising and weaving silk in Liang Kai's "Silkworm Weaving Picture Scroll" Women also wear low-cut tops that reveal their underwear.
6. Underskirts and coats of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Ming Dynasty women's underskirts were neither as flamboyant as those in the Tang Dynasty, nor as restrained as those in the Song Dynasty. They just quietly and dignifiedly wore narrow-sleeved or wide-sleeved undershirts and moderately fat and thin long skirts with woven patterns. , there is often a belt tied into a bow around the waist, and the two ends of the belt hang down to the knees. Generally, a string of ribbons hangs from the right side of the belt, and is tied into an eight-treasure knot or bow in the middle. Jade pendants are worn between the knots, and some people wear silk shawls. Overall, they look elegant but not luxurious.
When young women such as maids and maids in the Ming Dynasty wore underskirts, they often added a short skirt.The small waist skirt is probably used to prevent the long skirt from getting dirty when working or doing activities. Some even add half arms, which not only adds several layers to the clothes, but also adds a bit of playfulness to the swaying movement, making it appear lively. beautiful.
The coat skirt is a major feature of women's clothing in the Ming Dynasty. The jacket and skirt are an enduring and typical combination of women's clothing in the Ming Dynasty. The shape of the coat is mostly slit on both sides and long sleeves; worn outside the skirt, with the knee as the boundary, it is divided into long and short styles; the collar types include cross collar, round collar, vertical collar, square collar, etc. ; The sleeves are mostly Pipa sleeves with closed cuffs, and there are also wide sleeves, and the cuffs can have edges. There are many styles of lower skirts, such as Phoenix tail skirt, pleated skirt, fish scale skirt, etc.
After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, Han men shaved their hair to change clothes, but there were no restrictions on women. This is commonly known as "men are obedient and women are not."" Therefore, Han women's clothing still follows the previous generation, mainly coats and skirts.
7. Coats and skirts during the Republic of China
The coat skirt was still very popular during the Republic of China. Influenced by the separate design of women's tops and bottoms in Western countries, the coat skirt became shorter and more elegant. The lower edge of the coat came directly from the knees to the crotch, becoming a simple top; but the shape is still similar to traditional clothing that buttons on the right side.
During the Republic of China, some young female students liked to wear narrow and slender turtleneck shirts and long black skirts without embroidery or hairpins, bracelets, earrings, rings and other accessories, which was called "civilized new clothes."
Although women's clothing has changed a lot in Chinese history, the top-skirt suit has always existed and occupied the top spot in women's clothing in most dynasties. The top is short and the skirt is long and touches the floor. The slender and beautiful golden proportions make the female figure appear slender and graceful. The skirt is graceful, and the national temperament of oriental women can be fully demonstrated in the casual movements of hands and feet.
