Not currently on display at the V&A

Qipao

1969 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Hong Kong (made)

This sleeveless dress was made in Hong Kong by a Shanghai tailor from Italian or French fabric. This style of formal dress is known in Chinese as a cheongsam or qipao. It was worn by the donor at her marriage banquet in 1969.


Object details

Categories
Lace
Fashion
Marriage
Textiles
Womenswear
SCRAN
Object type
Qipao
Materials and techniques
Lace with gilt threads, and lined with silk
Silk (Textile)
Lace Making
Brief description
Women's dress (qipao) of lace, Hong Kong, 1969
Physical description
Woman's dress (known as a qipao in Mandarin or cheongsam in Cantonese) of an open-work fabric of gold lace (knit ground with additional metal thread), lined throughout with a white cream silk twill.. It is a full length sleeveless garment with a high stand up collar and high slits at side. The dress is fastened with hidden press studs at the upper seam on the right shoulder and a hidden white plastic zip at the side seam. There is golden-yellow satin silk piping at the edges.
Dimensions
  • Length: 115cm
  • Side slits length: 50cm
Credit line
Given by Mrs Victoria Dicks
Object history
This lace qipao was made in 1969 for the wedding of the donor, Mrs Victoria Dicks, in Hong Kong. She wore it at the dinner banquet in the evening. It was made by a Shanghai tailor in Nathan Road in Hong Kong.
Production
Lace perhaps imported from Italy, France or Switzerland.
Summary
This sleeveless dress was made in Hong Kong by a Shanghai tailor from Italian or French fabric. This style of formal dress is known in Chinese as a cheongsam or qipao. It was worn by the donor at her marriage banquet in 1969.
Associated object
FE.45-1997
Collection
East Asia Collection
Accession number
FE.114-1996

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Record createdJanuary 13, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72901/qipao-unknown/
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