Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History, Nation

In this sumptuously illustrated book, Antonia Finnane proves that vibrant fashions were a vital part of Chinese life in the late imperial era, when well-to-do men and women showed a keen awareness of what was up-to-date. Though foreigners who travelled to China in the early decades of the twentieth century came away with the impression that Chinese dress was simple and monotone, the key features of modern fashion were beginning to emerge, especially in Shanghai. Men in blue gowns donned felt caps and leather shoes, girls began to wear fitted jackets and narrow pants, and homespun garments gave way to machine-woven cloth, often made in foreign lands. These innovations marked the start of a far-reaching vestimentary revolution that would transform the clothing culture in urban and much of rural China over the next half century. Through Finnane’s meticulous research, we are able to see how the close-fitting jacket and high collar of the 1911 Revolutionary period, the skirt and jacket-blouse of the May Fourth era, and the military style popular in the Cultural Revolution led to the variegated, globalised wardrobe of today. She brilliantly connects China’s modernisation and global visibility with changes in dress, offering a vivid portrait of the complex, subtle, and sometimes contradictory ways the people of China have worn their nation on their backs. ‘The achievement of Finnane’s overwhelming scholarship (which she wears casually) is to restore fashion – transient display for sexual and/or social status – to contemporary Chinese history, which also means understanding even terrible aspects of that history as fashions.’ — The Guardian ‘This attractive and approachable book presents an overview of Chinese dress, both male and female, from the late imperial period to the present…It is a significant addition to the literature and…I know of no immediate competitors with which this can be compared. Its publication is to be welcomed as a contribution to the debates about culture, modernity and gender in twentieth-century China, and, more widely, to the growing body of work on clothing and identity’. – Verity Wilson, formerly Curator of Costume, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

About the Author :
Antonia Finnane is a historian of China and honorary professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne. She is currently writing a new book, How to Make a Mao Suit.

Review :
'It is clear from these pages how frequently the world of fashion has turned to China for inspiration.' '[A] beautifully illustrated book... with delightful analysis of how gender, class,and nationalism have influenced Chinese fashions through the ages.' 'Finnane has produced an impressive history of modern Chinese fashion and much more. It will be a vital cores text for students of Chinese cultural history for decades to come.' -- 'Changing Clothes in China is beautifully produced, offering readers a splendid visual presentation of its rich content.' 'This book makes important contributions to scholarship in the areas of both history and fashion.' 'This attractive and approachable book presents an overview of Chinese dress, both male and female, from the late imperial period to the present. ... It is a significant addition to the literature and ... I know of no immediate competitors with which this can be compared.Its publication is to be welcomed as a contribution to the debates about culture, modernity and gender in twentieth-century China, and, more widely, to the growing body of work on clothing and identity. ' 'This is the long-awaited, authoritative and definitive study of fashion in modern China, a topic if not a nascent field that has attracted recent scholarly and media attention. The author, a pioneer in this area, has accomplished an incredible feat-producing a vigorously-argued book that would advance intellectual debates while remaining accessible to the general reader. This book has a great many strengths. Previous Anglophone monographs on Chinese dress-by Vollmer, Garrett and Wilson for example-were works of collectors and museum curators. They focus on the material construction of dress and their regional or social variations at the expense of systemic cultural and economic analyses. As a result, the meaning of "fashion" as a cultural-economic phenomenon in China remains dimly understood. This is the first book-length work that situates "fashion" in historical contexts, from the world trading system and urban development to revolutionary movements in modern China. ... The book will launch fashion study as a serious intellectual endeavor in the field of Chinese studies while appealing to scholars in comparative fields (fashion studies, socio-economic history, cultural history, and post-colonial studies) and the general reader alike. It would make an appropriate textbook in an advanced undergraduate class on modern Chinese history or comparative history of fashion.' -