Woman's dress (known as a cheongsam in Cantonese or a qipao in Mandarin) made from lightweight, plain weave silk with a small all-over printed pattern in blue, grey and white. It closes to the side, has a stand-up collar, and is full-length. The long sleeves are cut all in one with the main body of the dress and there is no seam across the top of the shoulders. There is a vertical seam down the centre back and front. No pieces have been added to lengthen the sleeves, as there is sufficient width of material to reach the cuff end of each sleeve.
The neckband is stiffened and there is a very narrow self edging at the base of the collar. The neck fastens at the front with two knot and loop closures, one above the other, and the dress itself fastens all the way down one side, leaving long side slits (46.5 cm). The very small fastenings are made from matching silk and comprise a knotted button and a triple spiral with a loop for fixing the button.
All the edges are turned under and neatly sewn down. On the non-opening side, the slit has been reinforced at the top with white stitching. The inside front section, beneath the overlap, is a short continuation of the sleeve plus a narrow length of silk seamed to this and running the length of the dress.