Asian Fashion through the Eras

Nov 8, 20224 min read

Journey through Fashion from 1900s - 2000s in East Asia

Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese fashion all have one thing in common, they are completely different to Western styles - like UNIVERSALLY different.

Many fashion trends in Asia have been mostly influenced by Chinese Culture and trickled into partnering countries, evolving into different versions of one idea. In the 1900s china was historically the dominant country and a main influence to other cultures and countries nearby, the silk history mainly originated from the eastern side of Asia and cultural dress of all Asian countries are evidently influenced by Chinese ideas.

Silk Produced in parts of china were favoured by the Chinese elite and poorer communities were left with cotton, silk was imported and exported all around china especially to Japan, Korea and western countries. The basic garment of China for both sexes was a robe like, tunic like wrapped garment that didn’t have much shape or silhouette. I find the fact men and women wore the same thing interesting as compared to western fashion in the 1800s where women would wear tight corseted clothing with big skirts - very Edwardian styles and men would wear suits that were completely different, the western style seems very luxury compared to the asian garments. People of Asian decent wore the same thing every day, very bland colours, natural fabrics and gender less, if you look at the description in-just made if the 1800s fashion and didn’t realise what it was in relation to you may think it was a 2022 new Valentino collection with words such as natural and genderless.

Late 1800s progressed massively in fashion and women started wearing fabric wrapped and tied with a chunky belt, that were long as to not need under garments, sometimes shorter fabrics were worn over trousers or a long skirt and were again worn by both women and men. It was classed socially essential to wear your hair up in a topknot and covered with a head cloth or some kind of hat. Elite women played with bright colours, embroidery and patterned silks.

Asian women have always had a stronger strive to make themselves beautiful, even now in the 2000s century Asian women especially in China and Korea use whitening methods and bleaching to lighten there skin, as white skin shows you haven’t been in the sun much, relating back to workers working in the sun and getting tanned opposed to wealthier women staying inside and maintaining there light complexion. America has some extreme beauty treatments but it is definitely more common in Asia and much more dangerous and a social expectation. 1910-1930 the Cheongsam, a garment worn very commonly even now is a tradition Chinese garment that represented prosperity, women felt sexy and were able to wear a garment with structure, shape and interest. The anti breast binding movement and the anti foot binding movement had just set woman’s breasts and feet free after 1000s of years and the 1910s was a year of freedom and relief for women. The cheongsam uplifted breasts and fit comfortably compared to previous clothing that forced breast downwards or flat in tight waistcoats or bandages, face cream and power became fashionable daily necessities and women were allowed to explore beauty and comfort in a more accessible and modern way.

Western products like Vaseline and Ponds entered the market and allowed for the Asia to catch up with the western fashion. Feminism movements came into play, free feet and free love were considered due rights, and beauty icons moved from royals that stayed inside or royal prostitute to independent women with strong personalities that stood up for movements and showed political interest. First Lady Sung Mei-ling was considered a representative of independent women and her wedding dress became incredibly popular and viral in Shanghai, it was around this time a poet called Liu Bannong

invented the Chinese character (她) HER, this was the first time women had a Chinese character that represented themselves. 1930-1949 was the period of luxury, this was the most chaotic time in Chinese history and the period of change. This time housed the anti-Japanese war and civil wars, it was unknown how women could uphold the beauty and elegance they created in a time of so much devastation of wreckage. In this period Rolls-Royce models were seen around Nanjing Rd and billboards featuring the worlds top brands advertised across Shanghai. Luxury products were released such as Lux Soap, Cigarettes, Cologne’s etc. Sexy imaginary of Chinese ladies took over Calendars and prostitutes dominated male focused advertisements starting a public sexualisation of female bodies in mainstream media.

The cheongsam evolved as it got to the 1950-1976, more luxurious fabrics were used for the creation, embroidery became available to those who weren’t hidden behind probated doors and women could embrace there personality through there own style of cheongsam. As the political movement evolved, women were pulled towards the Lenin coat after Zhang Ai-Ling was seen wearing a cheongsam with a cardigan and was labelled alternative. Women git more and more opportunities to participate in society and there appearance and dressing style kept pushing limits and women experimented with new colours, styles and silhouettes. Products that became popular in this period were garments such as the Mao jacket and the Chinese Tunic Suit.

2010s we see a massive influx in western influence into Chinese fashion, bell bottoms appeared, goggles, jeans and men started growing there hair out, long and curly, wearing checked shirts and peaked collars. The 80s influence was still widely seen with fluid, flowy materials and comfort above everything else. Now China is still the biggest influence over China closely followed by South Korea, both have a vastly growing fashion market and heavily influence the Western style as much as western style influences the Asian style.

Asian economy and fashion has shot up since the increase in popularity of idols such as Jackson Wang and Chris Wu becoming massive pop stars worldwide and influencing food, fashion, music and pretty much everything.