\ ,,.. ADAPTATION OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE DESIGN DETAILS TO MODERN WESTERN ,WORLD APPAREL A THESIS SUBHITTED IN PARTil\L FULFILL~'!ENT OF THE REQUIRE!v1ENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CLOTHING AND TEXTILES IN THE ·GRADUATE SCH.OOL OF- 'rHE TEXAS WOHAN'S UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF NUTRITION, TEXTILES, AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT BY SOPHIA CHING-HSIN CHANG, B.A. DENTON, TEXJ.\.S MAY, 1982 @ All Rights Reserved Copyright, 1982 Sophia Ching-Hsin Chang The author wishes to extend her sincere appreciation to those whol, made this study possible: To Dr. Clarice Garrett, chairman of her committee, for her patience, guidance and assistance throughout the devel­ opment and completion of this study; To Dr. Charles Riggs and Mrs. Winifred Williams for serving on the committee; To her parents for their love, support and encourage- ment. ',, iii TABLE OF CO~TENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. ~ . iii LIST OF FIGURES. v LIST OF PLATES • . viii Chapter INTRODUCTION . .i 1 Historical background Purpose Review of literature Limitation Definition of terms used II. PLAN OF PROCEDURE ... •. 14 III. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESUL'rS 16 Historical background Portfolio of selected Chinese designs Illustration of original design Garment construction ; Photograph of finished garment IV. SUr1 ..\1l.P.Y AND RECOHI1ENDATIONS. 108 1\.. PP:CNDIX A . • . 111 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 113 iv :I LIST OF FIGURES 1. u Shen .... yi" was Worn in Chou . Dynasty.· ~- • · . • 25 2. ''Pao n and Hood vJere Worn in Han Dynasty · · • 26 3. The Dancing Dress of T 'ang Dynasty. • • • 27 4. Ladies dress in T • ang Dynasty.,. .. • 28 5. Ladies' Dress and Cape During the T'ang Dynasty . 29 6. Short Jacket and Pleated Skirt During the T'ang . 30 7. "Pei-tzu" or Windbreaker \<las Worn during Sung . 31 8. Surcoat and Skirt of the Ch'ing Dynasty ..•. • 32 9. Ladies' dress of the Ch'ing Dynasty . 33 10. "Shen-yi" of Chou Dynasty Depicting Garment Cut . 34 11. "Pao" of Han Dynasty Depicting Garment Cut. ~ 35 12. Lower Class Work Garments and Trousers of Han Dynasty Depicting the Garment Cut. 36 13. The Dragon Robe and the Twelve Symbol Robe of Ch'ing Dynasty Depicting the Silhouettes ... 37 14. Jl.ien's ",Chi-fu" and Surcoat. • . • • . 38 15. Men's formal "Chao-fu" of Ch'ing Dynasty. 39 16. Three Hen's "Chao-fu" or Court Robe of Ch'ing Dynasty . • • 4 0 17. Women's "Chao-fu" and Sleeveless embroidered Coat of Ch'ing Dynasty •. 41 18. Women '.s Embroidered Silk Coat of Ch' ing Dynasty . 42 v 19. (a) "Chi-pao 11 (b) Surcoat and Skirt' of Ch' ing Dyna'sty • . 4'3 20. Women's Informal Robe and Waistcoat of Ch ~ ing . 44 21. Two theatrical warrior's Robe . 45 22. Men's '~leeveless Coats of Ch'ing Dinasty. 46 23. Women's Sleeveless Coats· of Ch •'.fng 'Dynasty. 4 7 24. Women's Paired' Sat1n Apron. 48 25. "Wei-tou" or Apron. ~ . 49 26. Various Chinese Collars and Necklines • . 50 27. Various Flared Collar . • • ~ .. • t • . 51 28. Two Flared Collars .. 52 29. Four Waist Treatments . 53 30. The "Lung" or Dragon Motif •. 54 31. The "Feng-h\vang" or Phoenix Motif . 55 32. The "Chi-ling" or Unicone Motif . 56 33. The "Shih ~t·zu 11 or lion Motif. 57 34. The "Yuan-yang" or mandarin Duck. 58 35. The "Pa-kua" or eight mystic trigrams • • 59 36. The Four Accomplishments •......• • 60 37. ·,The "Pa-pao" or Eight Precious Things . 61 38. The Eight Ordinary Symbols •. • • • 6 2 39. The Buddhist Symbols ... 63 40. The Twelve Ornaments. 64 41. Decorative Motifs . • 65 vi 42. The "Ssu Chun-tzu" or Four Gentlemen Motifs •.• 66 43. Four Symboli~ Motifs. 67 44. Four Patterned Motifs . • • • 6 8 45. Four Blessing Word Motifs • . 69 46. Various Types of "Hsi" or Happiness Motifs. 70 47. Various Types of "Shou" or, Longevity Motifs •.. 71 48. Face Motifs, Adapted from Chinese Opera Painted Face. • 72 vii LIST OF PLATES 1. Evening Wrapper. 77 2. Eveningwear:. ~ . 78 3. Evening Suit . 79 4. Evening Tunic Suit 80 5. Eveningwear. 81 6. Evening Dress. 82 7. Eveningwear·. 83 8. Evening Dress .. 84 9. Daytime Suit . 85 10. Tunic Suit • 86 11. Daytime Suit . 87 12. Daytime Citywear . 88 13. Daytime Dress .. 89 14. Daytime Dress .. .. 90 15. Asymmetrical Dress . ' . 91 16. Quilted Silk Jacket .. 92 17 . Sportswear . 93 18. Junior Sportswear. 94 19. Daytime Dress. 95 20. Loungewear . 96 21. Loungewear . 97 22. Loungewear . • . 98 viii 23. Loungewear 99 24. Pajamas. 100 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Historical Background Traditionally, many facets of the lives of ·western people have been influenced by Chinese culture for thou~ sands of years. However, when the Communists came to power in China in 1949, Chinese society was changed as a whole (39) • All relations with other countries ceased and no information was allowed to be sent out of China. Thus, the western world had no knowledge of the conditions and activi­ ties within the People's Republic of China nor did the Chinese people have knowledge of happenings outside.their country. In 1972, Mainland China opened her door which had been closed for 23 years. In 1975, the enormously popular tour­ ing exhibition of Chinese Art was presented by the People's Republic of China. This exhibition delighted viewers in the western hemisphere with Chinese objects rarely seen outside of China (37). After a lapse of 30 years and ex­ change visits by high ranking officers of the United States, diplomatic relations between the two countries were estab­ lished on January 1, 1980 (56). China is again the focus of the design world. Chinese motifs, clothing and art have 1 2 entered the market place through a new influx of Chinese goods and their resulting inspiration to western designers ( 37) • Through the years a number of famous designers have incorporated Chinese design details in their collections. Traces of Chinese influence have been observed in fashions of the following designers: Yves Saint Laurent, Bill Blass, Giorgio Armanis, Charlotte Ford, Donald Brooks, Valentino, Chanel, Osca De La Renta, Piere Cardin, David Chow and Phyllis Sues (57), Numerous examples indicate how Chinese culture has ~· been the source of inspiration for western design and how traditional Chinese design details have been utilized in the fashion field for a long period of time~ A review of literature revealed that little research has been conducted relative to the incorporation of ancient Chinese costume details in contemporary western apparel. Also,.histories including descriptive and illustrative information of the design details of Chinese dress are not easily available. The utilization of only a few Chinese design details such as the mandarin collar, frog closure, quilted jacket and asyrnetrical lapel by those designers who have incor- porated Chinese ideas in their apparel designs was due no doubt to limited availability of historical records and reported research relative to Chinese costume. However, 3 with China's 5,000 year old culture, civilization and successive dynasties, thousands of costume styles and ideas are available for utilization in contemporary ~ppa~el design. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to in­ vestigate and demonstrate the adaptation of additional Chinese design details to contemporary fashion apparel. Information gained from this study would be beneficial to apparel manufactures, designers and persons involved in academic pursuits by revealing an expanded source of inspi­ ration gained from the endless number of Chinese details available for adaptation to current fashion, Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate typical Chinese design ideas, motifs, embroidery techniques and their adaptation to contemporary apparel designsp The specific objectives were: 1. To conduct a historical survey of ancient Chinese motifs, embroidery techniques, styles, special design details and style changes according to successive Chines dynasties. 2. To design and illustrate contemporary western apparel utilizing Chinese design detail through fashion sketches. 4 3. To select and translate into actual garments six of the ap_parel designs illustrating the adaptation of Chinese design details to contemporary western apparel. Review of Literature Literature that was related to different cultures, countries, textile design adaptation and apparel inspira­ tion was reviewed. Harris (18) studied the art expressions of a number of countries in order to incorporate their historical tradi~ tions into creative textile designs. After a historical review of eight visual traditions in art, symbols and motifs were selected for adaptation into textile designs. Eight different processes for applying designs to fabric~ were utilized in creating original textiles. After study­ ing the various art expressions of a number of countries and creating and producing original textile designs, Harris concluded that the desire for artistic expression exists among all peoples of the world. Clark (10) utilized early historical Hawaiian costumes, fabrics, island flora and fauna ideas as inspiration sources to create modern fabrics and modern apparel designs for women. The geographical location, historical background and sociological conditions, which prevailed in early Hawaii 5 were studied in order to understand and appreciate the Hawaiian people. Sources of inspiration gained from the costumes, fabrics, artifacts flora and fauna of Hawaii were investigated also. Twelve representative sources were chosen as inspira­ tional materials~ Six of them were used as inspiration for fabric designs and six for apparel designs. Six original fabric designs were created and achieved by using stencil­ ing, block printing, batik printing and silk screen print­ ing processes. Clark also created and sketched six origi­ nal designs for modern women's dresses based on inspiration from source materials. Two of the illustrated dress designs incorporated two of the created fabric designs, thus demon­ strating the utilization of Hawaiian artifacts and garments as inspirational sources for modern day dress. Haden (17) investigated the ancient Peruvian textile designs, motifs and colors in order to adapt them to speci­ fic purposes of modern fabric designs.