Matching Outfits

After dressing up the beautiful traditional Chinese clothing with adorable accessories, in order to make them look special and prettier in different seasons, ancient Chinese people will put on some matching outfits as well. I would like to introduce two most common types of matching outfit today: big sleeve unlined upper garment and cloak.

Big sleeve unlined upper garment:

The big sleeve unlined upper garment was created in Tang dynasty along with the Qixiong Ruqun, which I mentioned in the previous post. It was initially designed to match the Ruqun clothes in summer. Just as its name indicates, the main feature of it is its broad sleeves. For the sleeves of this clothing, not only the length should be at least 78 inches, but also the width ought to exceed 40 inches in order to reach the standard level. The material of the big sleeve unlined upper garment is generally thin and light, like silk, because people only wear it for beauty in the summer. It is more like a decoration rather than a clothes.

Here is a picture of big sleeve unlined upper garment:

Source: Flying Bee

Cloak:

The cloak was created to prevent people from wind and snow in winter. It can be rather long enough to reach the ankle or short enough to only exceed the hip. In order to make it seem warmer, people usually put animal’s fur around the cloak. Also, they usually embroider on it in order to make it prettier and more special. Nowadays, the cloak gradually becomes thinner and thinner so that people can wear it either in autumn or in spring as well.

Here are some pictures of cloak:

Source: Flying Bee