Discover the top 10 fashion types of traditional Chinese dresses and their respective functions. From casual beizi shirt to formal ming style dress, from warm winter aoqun to loose-fitting summer ruqun, from wuxia outfits to elaborate festival outfits, there are plenty of options to enjoy retro Chinese culture.
For a quick look at ancient Chinese fashion, we’ve put together a crash course on the 10 most popular types of traditional Chinese dress you need to know!
10 Most Popular Traditional Chinese Dress in 2022
- Wedding Hanfu
- Classic Ruqun
- Wuxia Style
- Fashion Beizi
- Liling Robe
- Modern Qipao
- Han Element Dress
- Songku Pants
- Winter Aoqun
- Horse Face Skirt
1. Wedding Hanfu
Hanfu wedding dress is of course the best spokesperson for traditional Chinese dresses. Are you a 2021 bride? Bringing a classic hanfu wedding dress to a ceremony will definitely be a great surprise and impress. A traditional-style wedding hanfu is made from long pieces of silk fabric, sewn together by hand, while a complete outfit involves putting on 6 or more separate pieces.
Not just for weddings, there are many opportunities to wear these elegant hanfu dresses are during traditional festivals and holidays, like Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year. Sounds great, right?
2. Classic Ruqun
The history of ruqun may be far-reaching, however, thanks in large part to its simple, minimalistic design – right overlapping collar shirt and wrap skirt. For thousands of years, the ruqun is one of the most popular styles of traditional Chinese dress. And it’s a very flexible piece of clothing that can very seamlessly fit into the modern-day wardrobe.
The ruqun for men is shorter and generally more muted in color and design compared to women’s, which often boast bright colors and floral motifs. The ruqun dress code denotes different colors, patterns and designs based on age and marital status.
3. Wuxia Style
Simply put, the traditional wuxia style dress is the lighter, longer version of the ruqun. If you’re interested in incorporating some Chinese flair into your wardrobe, this is an excellent place to begin.
Martial arts novels and xianxia movies are now a big trend all over the world, so once you go out wearing this traditional Chinese dress, others may think you are a martial arts master or even treat you like a kungfu star, imagine how fun that would be.
4. Fashion Beizi
The Beizi style won the honor of being the most fashionable traditional Chinese dress in last year’s poll. Beizi is actually just a long shirt or jacket, the strings attached to the lapels let you decide if you want to wear them open or closed. Precisely because it does not have a fixed way to wear, beizi is very versatile and has endless possibilities.
Known as the casual summer shirt, beizi are made from light cotton or silk fabric. Back in the day, they were mostly worn around the house, since the light fabric is perfect for the hot, humid weather – like a particularly snazzy sleeping robe.
Beizi for men are a little bit shorter and thicker, while the one for women is very light even see-through (wearing an inside tank top or halter is necessary), and feature a larger variety of colors and patterns. The Beizi very stylish, casual, as well as sexy, in the past few years, it has conquered China’s fashion scene as a trendy hanfu jacket.
5. Liling Robe
A more formal incarnation of the hanfu, Ming-style Liling is a medium-length jacket designed to be worn over the ruqun. In Mid-Ming dynasty was only accessible to those of a higher social class, for example, queens and princesses. like the lolita-style dress was worn in Europe.
Ming liling a standout piece of traditional Chinese wear. As simple or as extravagant as you like, there’s a type of clothing for every occasion and every style. The patterns can be chosen to match the material of the hanfu’s skirt or to provide a sharp contrast. For women, the Ming hanfu is a must-have traditional dress.
6. Moden Qipao
Most people have heard of the qipao dresses, and beautiful though they are, you might not know that qipao are not a classic traditional Chinese dress that people are still wearing today. A modern qipao is actually more similar to a loose shirt, the cheongsam’s more informal and relaxed counterpart. The history of the qipao dress is intertwined with Chinese film culture and Shanghai-style hotels.
The most iconic and easily recognizable of all traditional Chinese wear, the qipao is still a staple piece for many Chinese women and is growing in international appeal too.
Drawing influence from ancient Chinese style clothing, the qipao was worn initially with a long hemline, a long skirt type piece that sometimes featured a slit on both sides. Over time, however, tastes changed and it became far more popular for the qipao to be worn shorter without the hemline.
7. Han Elements Dress
Nowadays, the stylish Han Element clothes you can see on the street have been simplified so that they can be worn very easily, just like a casual daily wear dress. What all these garments have in common are the undeniably Chinese features of considered beauty and innovative design, they don’t require too many special buttons, extra ties, or complicated floral embroidery.
This is exactly what a fashion Han Element dress is, a simple shirt you can wear every day instead of formal traditional Chinese clothing.
8. Songku Pants
Hidden under a hanfu robe is where you’ll find a songku, thin trousers worn to protecting the intimate areas of the body. Typically made from cotton or silk, the hanfu dress and robe are mostly very light and see-through, You can select a tank top, halter on top, and a pair of Song pants underneath. When you wear a traditional Chinese dress, this is a great combination of underwear that will go well together.
Inspired by the horse-riding trousers worn during the Tang dynasty, Over time the place of the songku in Chinese society shifted, it looks a little like long resembles loose-fitting pants. Today women are more likely to wear songku under their beizi and liling on formal and informal occasions, Obviously, it has become the most classic pants in the Chinese traditional dress system.
9. Winter Aoqun
Aoqun is a winter coat and was typically worn by ancient Chinese people during the Chilly season. Wearing an aoqun with a cloak is the most fashionable match at the end of the year.
These jacket-length Heavy coats, two-layer outfit, consisting of out-layer beautiful patterns and inner-layer warm cashmere, was traditionally only worn in the coldest days but has recently become very popular among spring and Autumn as well with its updated thin and lightweight design.
10. Horse Face Skirt
The Mamian Qun (literally meaning ‘horse face skirt’) is the shining jewel of traditional Chinese skirts. Mamianqun are wide pleated skirts worn by women, this traditional Chinese garment used to be part of a Nomadic people’s uniform, which help leg moving when horse riding.
The horse-face dress uses an extremely ancient textile process that requires gold threads to be woven into the fabric so it can have a shimmering visual effect. Typically worn for special occasions before, but today both traditional and modern, the mamianqun has stood the test of time, its flattering and body-hugging silhouette is a timeless representation of China’s great appreciation for carefully considered beauty.
Conclusion
For a long time in history, traditional Chinese dress such as hanfu, qipao used to be the daily dress worn by both men and women. However, due to the modernization influences of modern times, its prominence continued to gradually recede. Just a decade ago, it’s mostly reserved for some special formal occasions, such as wedding ceremonies and the Coming of Age Day.
Fortunately, with the rise of the hanfu movement, more and more people are joining in to do a lot of work to help revive traditional Chinese dress.
Today, when you walk down the streets of China’s major cities, you can see lots of young boys and girls wearing different kinds of traditional costumes that have become a part of the lives of the Millennial generation. For them, it’s not simply about retro culture, but experiencing a fantasy world where they are simultaneously in ancient and modern times.
Aside from that, many fashion designers are creating a mega surprise for all of us, and there will be a constant stream of different art forms and design ideas based on traditional clothing. We believe that the list of the 10 most popular styles of traditional Chinese dress will soon have new contestants.