Straits Splendour

Photographer / Styling: Sharon Ling
Model: Chelsea Ang
MUA: Han Yue
Venue: Straits Enclave

When it comes to the fashion of the Qing dynasty, we often first think of the iconic long robes and rectangular headpieces popularised by dramas like Huan Zhu Gege and Yanxi Palace. But if you didn’t already know, these styles were donned by Manchu women from the imperial ruling class, not Han Chinese women.

So what did Chinese women wear? While men adhered to Manchu dress codes, Han women continued to don a style of Ming dynasty hanfu, which featured a two-part top-bottom garment set (两截穿衣). This distinction from the Manchu women’s long one-piece robe made it possible to tell the wearer’s ethnic identity from the dress she wore.

However, fashion always evolves with the times and both Manchu and Han Chinese dress started borrowing elements from each other’s styles. For example, the wide robe sleeves distinctive in hanfu found their way into the informal attire of Manchu women.

In the later years of the Qing dynasty, economic hardships prompted many Chinese men to migrate to the Malay Archipelago, forming families and contributing to the emergence of Peranakan culture in the region. Traces of material culture from the Qing era Chinese can therefore still be found in Peranakan spaces today, but this is beautifully intermingled with Malay and Western influences as well.

It’s in this multi-cultural space where East meets West, and old meets new that we’re visually exploring the connections between Qing Han dress and Peranakan traditions.