Ancient China Clothing

The shenyi came into force under the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It is a kind of a combination of a tunic and skirt where the upper and lower halves were cut separately but sewn into one piece. Another additional modification was that left end of the dress was reshaped into a kind of border which could be fastened in front on the chest. This modified dress was quickly adapted.

In the ancient Chinese clothing most of the traditional designs were unisex uncomplicatedly cut. However, as the dynasties changed, gender specificity came into the shenyi. The men typically wore pants and women, skirts. Each dynasty had their own styles of Hanfu as they evolved.

During the winter months in the ancient China, to keep them warm, people wore padded jackets over the tunics. Though it is considered very common in China, yet silk, as a fabric was restricted to the rich. The poor wore hemp or ramie.

Filed under: Styles and Fabric on September 12th, 2008