What is the origin of cheongsam?

At the beginning of the twentieth century, it was popular to wear short jackets with flared sleeves and sleeveless vests, and the jackets swung back and forth on the ground. Since then, some changes have been made to the hem, sleeves, lapels and collars of the cheongsam, with the addition of decoration, and the changes are complicated. However, it still maintains the straight and wide style of the old cheongsam vest, and adopts the traditional straight cutting method to show the graceful figure of women.

In the late 1920s and 1930s, cheongsam changed repeatedly in length, width, split height, short sleeves and low collar. 1929, influenced by short skirts in Europe and America, the cheongsam with a moderate length began to shorten, the hem shrank to the knees, and the cuffs became shorter and smaller. Later, there was a school uniform cheongsam, the hem was shrunk above the knee 1 inch, and the sleeves were western. This change has been criticized. 193 1 year later, the cheongsam began to lengthen and the hem drooped. It reached its peak in the mid-1930s, and the bottom of the robe hung down to cover your feet, which was called "sweeping cheongsam". The sleeves of cheongsam, which used to cover the wrists, were shortened to the elbows. After that, the sleeve length became shorter and shorter, shrinking to two inches below the shoulder, and there was almost no sleeve after 1936.

In Qing dynasty, the cheongsam didn't open the slit, and when the sleeves were shortened, the left slit was quietly opened. Later, the seam opened higher and higher, and gradually reached the knee to the thigh. Due to opposition, the robe once returned below the knee. However, as soon as the pressure of public opinion was reduced, the robe slit rose rapidly, and after 1933, the wide slit cheongsam became popular.

Traditional cheongsam is straight up and down, plus a high collar. In the early thirties, with the passage of time, the waist of the robe began to shrink. After 1934, the curve of the female figure was finally fully revealed. Ear-high collars gradually became shorter, and later some became collarless cheongsam.