As the graduation season for graduate students approaches, photography studios are full of bookings. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily discovered that horse-faced skirts are becoming one of the most popular clothing for graduation season shootings. On Xiaohongshu, the topic of Horse Face Skirt has been viewed 1.28 billion times, and the number of related topics and short videos on Douyin has exceeded 19.8 billion. In fact, horse-faced skirts are not only popular as dresses, but also many people choose them as daily wear. Many interviewees told Beiqing Daily reporters that in addition to the doctoral uniforms with yellow collars and red robes, many students also met to take graduation photos in traditional horse-faced skirts and Hanfu.
Horse-faced skirt becomes popular at graduation ceremony
It is currently the graduation season for graduate students in major universities. Mr. Wang, the person in charge of a photography studio, said that photographers are full of reservations for shooting, and many students choose to buy or rent Hanfu such as horse-faced skirts to take graduation photos. Xiao Yu, a graduate student from Northwestern Polytechnical University, told the Beiqing Daily reporter that in addition to the doctoral uniforms with yellow collars and red robes, many students also met to take graduation photos in very cool horse-faced skirts and Hanfu. Some students also paired them with cloud shoulders and Hairpin academic cap.
Overseas student Xue also specially chose a horse-faced skirt to attend the graduation ceremony. "I had already returned to China and made a special trip back to London to attend the graduation ceremony. I felt that I was a graduate from China, so I wanted to wear my own ethnic clothes, so I chose a horse-faced skirt. At that time, the school's notice for the graduation ceremony said something like , you can wear the clothes of your own nation or the clothes that are important in your personal national culture, so I hope that this inherently meaningful thing will be more memorable." Xue told a reporter from Beiqing Daily, "My major is educational philosophy, and she I choose to wear a horse-faced skirt because I want to use it as a medium for cultural communication to showcase this traditional culture."
Mapping the potential of national fashion trends
Relevant data shows that the scale of China's Hanfu market, led by horse-faced skirts, continues to rise and expand, reaching 14.47 billion in 2023. On the social media platform Xiaohongshu, the topic of horse-faced skirt has been viewed 1.28 billion times. When searching for horse-faced skirt on Douyin, the number of related topics and short videos has exceeded 19.8 billion.
During last year’s Double Eleven, the horse-faced skirt was sold on Taobao ClothingWith over 730,000 items, it ranked first in the clothing category and was named the top ten items on Taobao in 2023. According to the "2024 Douyin Women's Consumption Trend Data Report" just released by Douyin e-commerce, women's orders for new Chinese-style clothing increased by 195% year-on-year, among which horse-faced skirts increased by 841% year-on-year.
These data confirm consumers' continued enthusiasm for traditional culture and reflect the development potential of national fashion.
Horse-faced skirt and national fashion
Horse-faced skirt, also known as "horse-faced pleated skirt", has pleats on both sides and a smooth section in the middle. It is named after the shape of the "horse-faced" tower-like building protruding next to the ancient city wall.
In fact, horse-faced skirts have become popular in the industry a long time ago. Ms. Yun, a senior enthusiast of horse-faced skirts, told a reporter from Beiqing Daily that merchants were selling horse-faced skirts six or seven years ago. However, due to immature craftsmanship at that time, the fabrics fell apart as soon as they were washed and there were hundreds of them. Not many people bought it. Nowadays, due to mature craftsmanship, you can buy a high-quality and low-priced woven gold or imitation flower horse face skirt for 100 to 200.
Xiangcai (pseudonym) is also a senior horse-face skirt enthusiast. She has been "getting into" horse-face skirts since 2018, and now has dozens of horse-face skirts.
Ms. Yun also said that she started buying Hanfu seven years ago, but she only bought her first horse-faced skirt last year, and now she has bought more than a dozen. According to her, today's horse-faced skirts are more affordable than the ancient Baidu skirts, and the solid-color ones can be used as substitutes for Baidu skirts. They have various styles and are much more affordable.
Ms. Yun also introduced the key technologies for making horse-faced skirts to reporters from Beiqing Daily. She pointed out that the key to making horse-faced skirts lies in the pleating process. Neat pleats are an important criterion for judging the quality of horse-faced skirts. In addition, it is polyester fiber fabric. The development of this fabric allows modern people to restore the priceless golden glittering effect of ancient people at a very low price. Its luxurious appearance is also the reason why horse-faced skirts are popular. Finally, there is the development of new patterns. Many horse-faced skirts use modern patterns, which keep pace with the times and conform to modern aesthetics.
The horse-faced skirt is not only sought after by enthusiasts for its traditional charm and modern innovation, but also popularized due to its optimization of quality and price. From senior enthusiasts to new consumers, horse-faced skirts meet the needs of different groups of people through continuously improved technology, reasonable prices, and diversified designs, promoting its widespread popularity in national fashion.
Be wary of counterfeit clothing
Xiangcai (pseudonym) told the Beiqing Daily reporter that because the horse-faced skirt has a relatively fixed pattern, judging whether it is genuine or fake is generally based on patterns. Some patterns are original by the store. Original store patterns are usually woven on cloth, such as woven fabrics. Gold, imitation makeup flowers, etc. The so-called woven gold refers to the gold that is woven into the pattern when weaving the cloth, and the color is to imitate makeup flowers. Counterfeit shops often copy original patterns and then choose printing in order to reduce costs. The fabrics are mostly cheap and textureless. The back is white, light and transparent, and the front pattern can be seen. The pleats are not pressed tightly and tend to fall apart.
A female consumer once encountered a situation where the goods were not in the right version. The quality and drape of the clothes she received did not match the store's description. She believes that it is necessary to support genuine products and oppose copycat ones. After all, original designs need to be respected, and the quality of original Hanfu is more guaranteed.
In 2022, a skirt priced at 29,000 from an internationally renowned brand quickly attracted attention because it was similar to a traditional Chinese horse-faced skirt. This incident not only made the horse-faced skirt once again become a hot topic, but also triggered questions about the protection and inheritance of Chinese traditional culture. think deeply. Among many voices, there is such a view: "The best way to protect is to wear it out."
A reporter from Beiqing Daily interviewed some horse-faced skirt enthusiasts. Regarding the popularity of horse-faced skirts, Xiangcai (pseudonym) believes that it is good for more people to understand Hanfu and traditional culture, but we are not limited to understanding horse-faced skirts. , you can also learn about other styles of Hanfu such as the Pipa-sleeved jacket or Baidu skirt made in the Ming Dynasty.
Ms. Yun said that wearing a horse-faced skirt is not only a display of traditional clothing, but also a reflection of cultural confidence and an expression of a life attitude and cultural stance.
