When Chinese Traditional Clothing Becomes "New" Fashion

In recent years, as the country vigorously promotes and spreads the traditional Chinese culture, more and more young people participate in the inheritance and development of traditional culture with great enthusiasm. Clothing is one of the carriers of cultural identity. From film and television makeup to photo shooting, from daily wear to national style fashion, Chinese traditional clothing elements are everywhere, and the "out of circle" of Han clothing has become a high-profile cultural phenomenon. Behind the "Hanfu craze", young people have a strong sense of identity and cultural confidence in traditional Chinese culture. When Chinese traditional clothing becomes a "new" fashion, traditional culture also radiates new vitality.

Experience traditional festivals with traditional costumes

Cultural confidence boosts the "out of circle" of Chinese clothing

Spring is late, flowers and trees are luxuriant. April 11 coincides with the Shangsi Festival on the third day of the third lunar month. Many young people walk around the streets in Han suits to celebrate this traditional Chinese festival in a special way. In the Memorial Hall of Li Shutong's Former Residence, teachers, students and tourists dressed in hanfu saluted and presented flowers to the master statue at the home of cultural giant Li Shutong, and then carried out activities such as washing ceremony, waterside ceremony, ancient music and dance, and sachets to express their feelings for Shangsi Festival.

According to Shen Yan, deputy curator of Tianjin Museum and curator of Li Shutong's Former Residence Memorial Hall, this event was jointly held by Li Shutong's Former Residence Memorial Hall and Tianjin Fine Arts Middle School Shutong Research Institute, aiming to inherit and carry forward excellent traditional culture through the artistic expression of Han suits and the display of Shangsi Festival customs, "Nowadays, more and more young people love Chinese traditional culture and want to explore the beauty of Chinese culture. Hanfu is a very beautiful Chinese culture. This time, we hold this activity to let young people restore ancient rites, follow traditional customs, and feel the charm of Chinese traditional culture in a place full of ancient sages' thoughts and culture. We also expect more and more people to come to the master's home, enter Mr. Li Shutong's spiritual world, inherit the master's aesthetic education concept, and feel the beauty of Tianjin. "

Nowadays, it has become a very common phenomenon to wear traditional Chinese costumes for cultural promotion activities. Cao Zimu, president of the Jianjia Reading Club of Tianjin Normal University Library and 2021 student of the College of Arts, said that the club would hold various traditional culture promotion activities every year. For example, last spring, we held a Han style garden party with the theme of "Dream of Red Mansions". Participants were required to wear Han style clothes or classical costumes with national characteristics, and go hiking and enjoy flowers together on campus. We have prepared some small activities to experience traditional culture, such as experiencing block printing. You can also collect special seals for the event, and then you can get small prizes related to intangible cultural heritage. Such activities not only enable students to participate in them better, but also give them a new understanding of traditional culture such as classical clothing. In May this year, we will also prepare a large-scale report performance on how the traditional culture has been passed down to the present. The actors need to wear Han suits to perform. We have made great efforts not only to respect the history of clothing matching, but also to learn the etiquette rules of wearing Han suits from teachers. "

As a hanfu lover, Cao Zimu deeply felt that the culture of hanfu was slowly "breaking the circle": "I liked hanfu since childhood, but the circle was relatively small, and I didn't know that hanfu could create more sparks. For example, I only paid attention to the beauty of this dress, but most of the stories behind it. But after I went to college, I learned more about the technology, aesthetics, etiquette and culture behind the costumes of different dynasties by participating in these activities, which gave me a new understanding of Han clothing. The College of Arts also often holds some cultural market activities. We will invite primary and secondary students and foreign students to visit, so that foreign students from other countries can wear our traditional costumes and feel the beauty of our culture. "

Thousands of years of inheritance create the beauty of etiquette clothing

Exporting Chinese inspiration to the international fashion stage

"China has great etiquette, so it is called Xia; the beauty of clothing is called Hua." China has been a country of dress and etiquette since ancient times, and traditional clothing is an important carrier of Chinese culture. Hanfu has a long history, more than 4000 years ago.

So, what is "Han Costume"?

Yao Bin, the dean of the School of Fine Arts and Design of Tianjin Normal University, gave a detailed answer: "Hanfu is the general term of 'traditional costumes of the Han nationality'. The ritual music of the Western Zhou Dynasty came into being, and 'hanging the clothes and governing the world' became the starting point of the development of Hanfu. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, etiquette collapsed and music broke down. Qin followed the throne of the Emperor of the Warring States Period to learn etiquette, and suburban sacrificial clothes were all mysterious. After Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty, the coronal costume system of the Zhou Dynasty was restored, forming the inheritance of the Chinese Han costume from generation to generation. The economic prosperity of the Tang Dynasty promoted its clothing to play a connecting role in the history of Han clothing, and the clothing of later generations are based on this. The rise of the Song Dynasty Agency School, on the basis of following the old system of the Tang Dynasty, the Song people began to advocate simple and rigorous clothing style. In the Ming Dynasty, the costumes of the Han Dynasty were taken from the Zhou Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, while those of the Tang and Song Dynasty were taken from the lower, which corrected the chaotic costume system of the Yuan Dynasty. Influenced by many factors since the qing dynasty, the development of hanfu gradually stopped. The styles of Han style clothes have been deduced, including dresses, casual clothes, underwear and coats. Although the styles are diverse, there are still obvious style features, among which the right lapel with collar, hidden buckle and tie, and loose clothes with broad sleeves are the most typical Han style clothes. "

The Han culture has influenced China for thousands of years, so the Han clothing of each dynasty has different characteristics. The Han clothing of the Tang Dynasty is elegant, the Han clothing of the Song Dynasty is calm and restrained, and the Han clothing of the Ming Dynasty is dignified and elegant. The style and characteristics of clothing also reflect the social customs and aesthetic concepts of different historical periods. The horse face skirt (also known as "horse face pleated skirt"), which is very popular recently, is one of the main skirts for women in ancient China. "The 'horse face' is not the face of a horse, but originally refers to an ancient tower like building. There are four skirt doors in front of and behind the horse face skirt, two of which overlap, the side is pleated, and the middle skirt door is overlapped to form a smooth surface like a pier protruding from the ancient city wall. People call it 'horse face'. Its history can be traced back to the Song Dynasty. It was most popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In ancient times, women used to ride horses, donkeys, sedans, and bicycles as the main means of travel. They wore two skirts, and it was convenient to open and close in the middle. " Yaobin explained.

In recent years, China's excellent traditional costume culture has always been an important source of design on the fashion stage at home and abroad. With the growing influence of Chinese fashion on the international fashion stage, many internationally renowned costume designers or high-end fashion brands have excellent Chinese style fashion works. For example, Louis Vuitton combines oriental elements with fashion, and Chinese elements such as cheongsam, Chinese knot, tassel, folding fan, and coiffed hair show gorgeous fashion beauty on the show.

The "out of the circle" of Chinese fashion elements and Chinese style clothing brands has also attracted the world's attention to the beauty of traditional Chinese clothing. In this regard, Ji Jing, deputy director of the Department of Fashion Dyeing and Weaving Design of Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, expressed her views: "I'm afraid that the most impressive thing is Dior's fiery horse face skirt. The structure and shape of a half skirt of Dior brand in 2022 is very similar to the traditional Chinese horse face skirt. Let's not discuss the beauty of clothing for the moment, but only from the popularity of the topic and the content of the discussion, we can find that China's cultural confidence has been significantly improved. Of course, with the actors Xu Jiao, Yang Mi, Yang Zi, Chen Turin and others frequently wearing horse face skirts, the influence of this category began to ferment from the original Han clothing circle. This phenomenon proves that the Chinese market has shifted from manufacturing to creation, and the Chinese fashion industry has developed local stories based on the image of passive fashion importers in the past, and has gradually mastered a certain discourse power. More and more luxury brands are starting to have an equal dialogue with the Chinese market and develop local products that can increasingly resonate with local consumers. For example, by means of the artistic expression of the Chinese zodiac, or focusing on the most common feelings of reunion during the Spring Festival, or focusing on traditional intangible cultural heritage handicrafts, starting from the inherent characteristics of Chinese culture and brand personality, create creative works that meet the aesthetic needs of local consumers. For example, luxury brand Luo Yiwei launched handbags, pendants and jewelry inspired by 'jade' on the occasion of the Spring Festival to pay tribute to the exquisite craftsmanship and texture and color of Chinese jade carving. This series is closely linked to China's cultural heritage and has received a strong response on China's social media. It can be seen from the popularity of horse face skirts and new Chinese styles that the attitude of Chinese consumers towards traditional culture has gradually entered the dissemination stage from the initial protection. "

　　 "But on the basis of in-depth excavation of excellent traditional clothing elements, we also need to add new era cultural concepts, artistic trends and social fashions to the traditional clothing culture, and use the vision and techniques of modern design to endow decorative elements with more sense of the times and innovation, so that they can play their due value in the contemporary society and return the ancient clothing art to modern design To live with the public, radiate more vigorous vitality and compose a more dynamic future. " Ji Jing said.

Revival of classical makeup and clothing should not only stay on the surface

Need to find the point where modern aesthetics and cultural connotation coincide

In April, the mild spring breeze blew the crabapple flowers on the Fifth Avenue, and many tourists came here to enjoy the flowers during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday. On the street side of the Fifth Avenue, young people wearing Han suits can be seen everywhere taking photos and punching cards. Wang Xi from Beijing is a hanfu enthusiast. She came here to take photos this time: "I had planned to come to Tianjin for a long time. The buildings on Tianjin's Fifth Avenue are beautiful, and the artistic conception when the crabapple flowers blow off is suitable for taking photos in hanfu."

Xihe Haitang Hanfu Cheongsam Hall is a traditional clothing experience hall located in Minyuan Square on the Fifth Avenue, where you can not only choose your favorite Hanfu for makeup, but also professional photographers to provide photography services. Wearing traditional Chinese clothes, you can immerse yourself in the beauty of Tianjin and become a "new national trend" favored by tourists, especially young people. "We officially opened at the end of September last year. We selected more than 400 sets of different series of clothing from different dynasties, including the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and also selected some brands that are particularly popular among Han clothing enthusiasts," said Xi and Haitang. In the spring of this year, Xi and Begonia entered a busy period. In order to provide better service, the store adopts an appointment system, and some customers even make an appointment a month in advance.

Cui Pengshuai, the makeup maker in the shop, has been working for nearly 4 years and has undertaken the classical makeup work of many large-scale cultural activities. He said that the number of people coming to make up Han costumes has increased significantly compared with the previous years, There are also obvious differences in the choice of makeup: "Most of the people who made Han costume makeup before were people who liked Han costume culture, and they would choose to restore the ancient makeup as much as possible, but now people still prefer to make up with a partial sense of the net. People will come to me with online pictures, and the choice of clothing and accessories is also based on preference. Most people do not know much about the matching of Han costumes in different dynasties."

Now, under the catalysis of social platforms and the boost of e-commerce platforms, Hanfu has become a social phenomenon level craze. With the rapid development of new media, Hanfu, which originally existed only in small circles, is moving towards daily life and gaining more and more consumers' favor. Yao Bin believes that there are several reasons why Hanfu has such strong vitality and can still be popular over thousands of years: "First, Hanfu has become a popular fashion, which is closely related to the social environment, the background of the times and national strategies. Over the years, the country has attached great importance to cultural undertakings, especially in the inheritance and innovation of traditional culture. All these endow contemporary young people with a stronger sense of national pride and cultural self-confidence. On many video platforms, we can see that young people are pushing Han suits to the world stage to show the beauty of oriental costumes, which is the embodiment of cultural self-confidence. Secondly, it is herd mentality. Everyone has a herd mentality. When you see the public figures you like or the people around you are wearing Han suits, you will naturally want to try. For example, most people may not understand the meaning of the horse face skirt, but because its skirt shape is very consistent with modern aesthetics, it naturally becomes popular. Moreover, with the prosperity of the cultural and tourism industry and the attention of the country, the application of Chinese traditional clothing in specific situations has promoted its use in daily life. For example, clocking places, online red spots and famous tourist attractions all promote the popularity of Hanfu. Perhaps from the perspective of clothing, it is not very convenient to wear it in daily life, but it seems logical to wear it on specific occasions. "

However, in Yaobin's view, the revival of Hanfu should not only stay on the surface, but also see the cultural connotation behind it: "The promotion and popularization of Hanfu is naturally the first step to take in the spread of traditional culture, but at the same time of experiencing and feeling, we should also respect Hanfu and the excellent traditional Chinese culture. If you wear it, you must know the etiquette of the Han suit, otherwise it will lose its historical and cultural value and sense of holiness. From the perspective of clothing practitioners, traditional clothing can be innovated, but first of all, we must understand its historical and cultural background, understand the meaning of materials and styles, and carry out effective innovation on this basis, so that such clothing culture can enter people's daily life. Guochao should not only look at profits, but also pursue delicacy, so that it can go a long way. "

(Source: Tianjin Daily)