TITLE OF WORK: East meets the west: Influence of the Chinese culture on western fashion and design.
2009 WORDS
East meets the west: Influence of the Chinese culture on western fashion and design.
The exhibition seeks to explore how two cultures, Eastern and Western cultures separated miles apart have merged to influence and acted as an inspiration of modern contemporary design. Each culture had its own unique way of style and dressing each serving a purpose of displaying or expressing a meaning depending on the different times, season and or stage of a revolution of a revolution. Fashion and design was also heavily influenced by the social status of individuals or a group of persons. For example in the old Chinese cultures, a particular way of dressing spoke widely about a social status, affiliation to a particular or the type of work, trade or service a particular person engaged in.
To be taken to example on how social status influenced the fashion of the individual is cases where in the old Chinese society, regular men wore regular black cotton shoes whereas their counterpart wore tough black leather shoes when attending to formal occasion. The elite class (super rich) stunned in silk shoes that had leather coating inside. Servants of the public, military and civil stunned in clothing that indicated their level of rank in the service.
It is not secret that exotic designs have worked to inspire and influence western designs. Eastern and exotic designs are evident in the clothing and fashion arena and shows throughout the podiums in the western capitals. Exotic designs have worked to influence inspire and determine the course of the next big designs with notable and respected fashion giants to the likes of Vivienne Tam (A Chinese born New York resident).
The purpose of selecting the Chinese culture to the exhibition is the basic fact that it is the culture that can be seen as to have the highest level of influence to the western and contemporary cultures. Chinese influence is evident in almost all the western design and not a design that can be ranked or categorized as unique does not draw its inspiration from the Chinese.
The turn of the thirteenth century to the first half of the fourteenth century that saw Chinese influence and culture start to proliferate the western continent (Radclyffe-Thomas 2015). In the recorded history, thousands of westerners are lived and explored the Chinese land in their mission to spread their civilization and culture and religion (Christianity). It is at these periods that the western parts of the world started interacting directly with the Chinese culture and nation thereby exchanging influences.
Chinese were established in both social and cultural lines and their designs inspired by beliefs and events captured the western interests. With established institutions and craft industries, the Chinese were able to make and design that aroused and captivated the hearts and minds of the western worlds.
This essay makes use of archival method of research to reveal the different meanings of the artifacts heavily borrowed from different Chinese civilizations.
The exhibition takes the layout of three periods of time; from the late 19th
century to the middle of the 20th century (1880-1960). This period makes the first gallery. The following period of time is from the periods starting from 1997 to current period making the second gallery. The third gallery takes the period from
This gallery explores the influence of the culture(s) chosen on contemporary designs (1997 to today).
Gallery one: Decency fused with style.
Silk was the preferred material in the making of dresses. The design heavily in cooperated nice and complex patterns. The dress design also included buttons that tucked from the neck way down to the navel level. It is also to be noted that the design had no collar. The other aspect of design was such that the dresses were long and left little room for displaying the leg. The sleeves involved a long design that stretched to the wrist part of the hand. This fashion design seems to be heavily influenced by the government system of the day. For reference it is to be learnt that to conform to the communist government standards, the dresses were seen to be long. Western styles, such as jeans and high heels were strongly condemned and attracted attention from the high levels of governance. The dress design with no collar goes to prove the heavy influences of the communism governance system on fashion. Complex designs incorporated in the dresses were a show of prowess in design and advancement in embroidery. Silk, regarded expensive was mostly preferred in that it showed that a person was advanced in his or her economic status. The theme of this dress is that of mix of ideology. The design of the dress is from a time when there were ideological differences on the systems of governments between the eastern part of the world and the western part. The design was a show of core human values such as embracing each other and tolerance.
The second picture on the gallery shows the model holding a fanning object. The fanning object was a symbol of style and sophistication. It is an object that is used for the purpose of cooling (by fanning) in the event of hot weather. It was also used in places with dust in the surroundings in order to wade off dust. It was also as a show and style of sophistication and it was carried on by distinguished persons of companions of persons of status in the community. It has a unique design in that in is pressed to open (roll up) and do the fanning.
The use of gloves in western styles and dressings seems to have been a practice borrowed from the Chinese. Gloves complement a dress and they can take the form of many colors (Liu,Wang & Liu 2014.) White seems to be the most preferred color for the gloves. However color factor of the glove is not to be restricted (but white is the most preferred). White gloves match perfectly with any color of the garment worn. Gloves take the meaning of nobility and high regard in the society. It is to be observed that gloves were worn by wives of rulers and influential persons and they were worn on occasions such as when receiving visitors or when visiting public places and functions. It was also a sign of being an important person in the society and any wearer of the glove was held in high regard and treated with honor wherever she visited.
Gallery two: sleekness and sophistication state of the modern woman
This gallery has dresses ranging from period 1997 to the current contemporary period.
The design of this dress shifts its influence from a much politically influenced theme to a theme that displays sophistication and sleekness. The design material borrows heavily from the Chinese complex artwork. The dress takes a rather fitting design and it reveals the curve of the body. Many colors are added to the material of the design. The purpose of the many colors and shades to the design is to show sophistication and complexity in the designs. The design shifts rapidly from the other designs in aspects such as the collar and sleeves. Other previous designs had the dress fitting to the collar whereas this design reveals more parts of the body. The sleeves are short to the elbows and the design lacks a collar.
The Chinese are well known for their skills in painting and embroidery. These skills are eloquently shown on the dresses as seen. The dipper theme of this dress design is to display the nature of the modern and contemporary woman. The modern woman can be seen as being freed from his basic roles as a house wife to a more sophisticated woman.
The shoes accompanying the dress take the traditional for of shoe design for women from china. Women donned in shoes that were not complex in design and took the form of a boat. As their male counterparts wore complex shoe design (refer earlier in the text), women are known to prefer shoes that were simple and provided flexibility.
The photo theme, color and design also take the form to depict an aquatic creature such as a fish. Aquatic animals were of deep meaning to the Chinese and their symbolism accompanied a certain meaning. For this design and theme, fish, the commonest aquatic animal symbolized fertility, luck (good luck and prosperity, or triumph over a certain circumstance or life in general. In other contexts, fish described a sense of being free from a kind bondage. Extensive use and reference to aquatic life carries the listed meaning.
Gallery three: fusion of style and sophistication
This fashon and style is also from the period 1997 to the current period.
Of note is the extensive use of red color in the design. Red is a color with a deep meaning. The color red in Chinese is a symbol of good luck. Red color was extensively used in Chinese artifacts as a show for good signs to befall someone. To the western world, the color red was the symbol of love.
In this exhibition there is extensive use of complex embroidery in the designs. The Chinese are famed being the world leaders in developing complex designs either with machines or handmade.
This exhibition also makes use of the Chinese dragon. The dragon takes the form of a fish as seen in the last image exhibited. The Chinese are rich in mythological belief and they take great and deep meaning in this mythology. Traditionally the dragons are depicted as creatures taking the form of a water animal and in this case a fish. The dragon fish in the curving has a meaning in that it symbolizes supernatural powers against phenomena such as storms, extreme natural conditions such as floods. In eastern Asian cultures the fish dragon was a symbol of great strength and power. It is a symbol of achievement in the things of life and it is common to have references to dragons in Chinese idioms or proverbs. This artifact when used will have a meaning on achieving success over life undertaking.
As always is the case with Chinese inspired designs, it is not complete without the use of complex art designs on the material of the clothing. These complex designs can also have the meaning of perfect mastery in making the design. It takes the meaning of perfection in the art of work. It is a preserve for a few and it can be a symbol for ability to indulge into the deep levels of imagination and come up with amazing designs.
The design of the dress is long and covers up to the feet except for only one design exhibited. In the case of many cultures, long dresses that covered to the length of the feet were a display for decency. As is with the culture for the Chinese, it is a reserved culture and much emphasis is placed on family values and decency.
The design also fuses western style and to show that is the use of the fitting trousers in the design. The design trousers are a show of sophistication amongst the western woman. It is also a show to display the rising improvement in the recognition of the right of women.
The design also makes use of short collar design. As mentioned earlier, short collar was a symbol of rebellion and uniqueness in the periods during the cold war that pitted nations against each other in reference to the system of governance they adopted.
As is the case of many Chinese styles, the clothes are made of silk. As indicated earlier, silk, an expensive material is a show of status in terms of endowment in material wealth for an individual. Wealth is prestige and earns any individual status.
Conclusion
Heavy influences emanating from Chinese cultures and civilizations continue to influence western fashion and style and it is not a doubt that they have found a permanent place and gained recognition over time. The two worlds eastern and western worlds can share so much in terms of culture as each culture seem to be deep in history and meaning.
Bibliography.
Liu, Y., Wang, L. and Liu, P., 2014. On the Advantages and Disadvantages of Design Elements of Chinese-style Clothing in China. In Advanced Materials Research Trans Tech Publications.
Radclyffe-Thomas, N. and Radclyffe-Thomas, B., 2015. The new Shanghai xiaojie: Chinese fashion identities. International Journal of Fashion Studies
