Shanghai's Fashion During Republic Period

The goal of this research is to describe and analyze Shanghai’s fashion during Republic Period. Shanghai’s fashion during Republic Period plays a special role in fashion history of China and Shanghai history. In the paper, three aspects including the fashion centre of China as well as Far East, men’s fashion and women’s fashion in Shanghai are discussed. The style, textiles, color, decoration and combination of clothing are described. Many costumes from the Clothing Museum at Donghua University and private collections as well as some historical writings, photographs and publications are elucidated and corroborated to give a more detailed description about Shanghai’s fashion during that period.Here are some tentative conclusions. Firstly, Shanghai had always been the fashion center in China even Far East during Republic Period. Modeng was the main reflection of Shanghai fashion. Secondly, the traditional clothing exerted less influence and was less widely used, some kinds and combinations were out of fashion gradually. The fashion was described to be highly stylized, exquisite and concise. Thirdly, the influence of Western Style was further greater. The fashion in Shanghai was almost synchronous with fashion of Paris. Some western clothing was directly used in daily life and the elements of Western Style had an increasingly wide utilization. Fourthly, the New Chinese Style whose representatives were Qipao and Zhongshan Zhuang appeared and popularized in Shanghai. The fashion of Qipao changed frequently. Finally, the fashion in Shanghai called Shanghai Style could be summarized fashionable, exquisite, rapidly changeable, which is harmonious of both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign.