in fashion refers to the any use of elements in fashion, especially in American and European fashion. Since the 17th century, Chinese arts and aesthetic were sources of inspiration to European artists, creators, and fashion designers when goods from oriental countries were widely seen for the first time in Western Europe. Western was also often mixed with other exotic elements which were not all indigenous to China.
Throughout its history, in fashion was sometimes a display of cultural appreciation; but at times, it was also associated with exoticism, Orientalism, cultural appropriation, Western imperialism, and colonialism, and eroticism.
History
Pre-17th century
China traded luxury goods to Europe from ancient times, and early contacts of Europeans with China also directly influenced European fashion. Silk from China, as well as textiles from India and Turkey, were extremely popular among European royalty. The art of sericulture itself originated in China and was introduced to the West via the Byzantine Empire. The secret of sericulture was eventually smuggled out of China in the 6th century by the Byzantine Empire and then became an important component of Byzantine industry allowing the Byzantine empire to gain a monopoly of silk in Europe. From the eleventh century CE, the art of sericulture spread to Italy and to Southern France. However, the import of raw silk from China continued to remain significant.
During the Italian Renaissance period (14th to 17th centuries), Italians saw Imperial China as a refined civilization which was equal to Europe (except for religion) and very advanced in terms of science, technology, architecture, and culture; as such, Italian élites would dress in Chinese fashion to show off their wealth. These Chinese influences in fashion were illusions created by Italian craftsmen who had started to produce in Lucca and had appropriated Chinese cultural symbols, such as lotus flowers, pomegranates, peonies, florets, phoenixes and dragons.
Chinese silk which was manufactured in China to appeal to European taste continued to be imported into Europe; this import increased even more in the late-17th century as traders established direct maritime links between China and Europe. The introduction of items, such as painted silk, pearls, and umbrellas, from China was also sped up in the 1400s through the sea routes.
In the 16th century, Europe imported Chinese brocades to make the vestments for priests in Roman Catholic cathedrals. According to British records dating to the late-19th century, gold foil was the ordinary form of precious metal which was used in embroidery and was a Chinese invention wherein Chinese people invented the process of laying a thin gold leaf on paper before rolling it around a silk thread. Chinese gold-thread technology was later introduced in the West and adopted by Italian weavers in their goldwork.
17th to 18th century The 17th to 18th centuries, Western fashion was greatly enriched by the various items which were imported from the East which led to the introduction of new patterns and new possibilities in Western dress and was immediately imitated by mills found in England and France. As China was considered as the greatest empire in the 17th and 18th century, China and became in vogue in Europe; in this period, however, was the result of a conscious attempt in making "oriental culture" acceptable to the taste of Europeans.
17th century
In the 17th century, Chinese luxury items, such as Chinese textiles and porcelain, were introduced in Italian port cities, Portugal, England, and Holland; these items were what Europeans used to informed themselves about the customs and cultures of the East. Imported porcelain from China depicted how clothing was worn in China while Imported Chinese textiles led to fascination in Europe due to the technical skills found in the weaving, hand-painting, and needlework of Chinese silk. Chinese textiles were readily tailored into Western-style garments. The large amounts of imported Chinese patterned silk textiles in the Western-sphere also influenced the Europeans' perception of Chinese designs; this became known as . Chinoiserie, however, was the result of the European's misunderstandings of authentic Chinese art and life.
Not only did Europe import Chinese textiles, but they also imitated Chinese textiles. Moreover, import of textiles from Asia by the East India companies in the late 17th and early 18th centuries influenced European designs creating a "bizarre style" as designs and motifs were blended into strange and familiar motifs and was influenced by and .
18th century In the 18th century, China was tremendously popular in France, leading to what was referred as the "Oriental Renaissance" by Edgar Quinet in 1848. From this period and throughout the 19th century, was especially celebrated in France, and the origin of most Chinese-inspired fashion was French during this period. French Chinese fashion, which involved the wearing of petticoats with frills, was also introduced in England where it became fashionable among British women; it is however unknown if British women were aware that they were wearing French Chinese fashion. This craze for China was also shared by England which also showed an obsession for Chinese culture objects in the 18th century. was also a popular theme in masquerade balls, and King Gustav III of Sweden was even dressed in Chinese robes by the Swedish royal family at some point in his lifetime when they were at the summer palace in Drottningholm. The craze for however started to wane in England in the second half of the eighteenth century and further receded in Europe during the 19th century.
19th century As a result of Europe being at the wake of industrialization, and due to Europeans' perception that Chinese civilization was almost outdated following the first and the second Opium Wars lead to the decrease of popularity in Europe. However, this period was marked by an era of universal colonial exchanges and exposure to various categories found in Orient, such as textiles (e.g. silk) from China and Chinese dress elements (e.g. the precursor of the cheongsam). Many items were looted from China and brought back to Europe during this period. The Old Summer Palace, known as () in Chinese, in particular, which was sacked by Anglo-French forces in 1860s gained the "mythical status as a source of Chinese objects in the West". From the looting of the Old Summer Palace, the French not only looted the imperial treasures, but also forced open the imperial warehouses stealing shiploads of clothing, jewellery, hats, and rolls of fabrics, amongst many other items. Looted items from the Old Summer Palace also flooded the markets of Britain; a cap which was said to have belonged to the Chinese emperor was presented to Queen Victoria, along with a pekingese dog, which became known as Looty. In Europe, these looted items were sometimes cut into a western-style clothing. At the end of the 19th century, British fashion had incorporated key elements from the construction design of Chinese clothing, including the use of wide sleeves and side closure. However, their passion of the British for had vanished. On the other hand, the 19th century was when was fully developed in America as a kind of "aesthetic colonialism" associating China with exoticism and fantasy, perceiving it as "a fantastic, uncivilized nation"; the upper classes, especially those in New England and the Middle Colonies, imitated e fashion; following their independence from Britain, they eventually ventured to China where they directly imported Chinese items. The late 1800s was thus marked with Westerner's fascination to the Far East, especially China and Japan, including in Canada.
In the 1850s, there was a deliberate and self-conscious usage of Chinese materials and symbols in the design of dresses. Floral medallions, for example, were used on dresses as they were characteristics of China.
A second wave of looted items from the suppression of the Boxer Uprising (1899–1901) also made its way to Britain. During the suppression of the Boxer Uprising, many places were looted, including many pawnshops in Beijing. Clothing items by far were the largest-volume trade in these pawnshops, but they also had other items of value, such as jewellery, watches, furniture, rickshaws, and musical instrument; these items were personal items of Beijing commoners who had exchanged their personal items for a small sum of money and intended to redeem their items later when they would be in better financial times. Wearing Chinese clothing at home in the West was not deemed as being done out of frivolity or fancy, but was itself an imperial act which signified having worldly knowledge.
20th century
In the early 20th century, European and fashion designers would use China and other countries outside of the Eurocentric-fashion world to seek inspiration; Vogue also acknowledged that China had contributed to the aesthetic inspiration to global fashion. Chinese motifs regrew popular in European fashion during this period. China and the Chinese people also supplied the materials and aesthetics to American fashion and influenced global fashion; however, they remained perceived as being fashion-less and did not fit the criteria of modern status. For example, in the early 1900s, Vogue encouraged people to buy beautifully embroidered Chinese garments made of high-quality silk in Chinatowns, which were sold as cheap items in America; however, many of these items were actually looted items from Beijing during the suppression of the Boxer Uprising.
From the 1910s in the United Kingdoms, Chinese robes, which were perceived as being only suitable as a fancy or luxurious dress or a source of embroidery pieces, started to be worn by British women as a form of loose coats.
1920s to 1930s
The 1920s was marked by the return of a great craze for . Genuine embroidered Chinese jackets and coats were worn as evening wear. The loose fitting cut of British women garments in the 1920s also reflects the influence of Chinese clothing.
The cheongsam was created in the 1920s and was turned into a high-style evening wear when it was appropriated by the West. By the 1930s, the cheongsam was associated with Chinese dress and was used in Hollywood movies as the identifying clothing of Chinese women. When worn by Asian Hollywood stars, such as Anna May Wong, the sexualized version cheongsam was turned into a symbol of the exotic and erotic nightlife in Shanghai.
1940s to end of 20th century In the mid-20th century, influenced the designs of great designers and/or couturiers, such as Christian Dior and Yves Saint-Laurent.
On 23 February 1981, Princess Diana wore a red coloured silk, midi Chinese skirt known as when she posed with Prince Charles at Clarence House prior to their official engagement announcement. This Chinese skirt was in the Qing dynasty style and was embroidered with chrysanthemum embroidery motifs. and had a red waistband. The use of auspicious red colour was in line with Chinese wedding tradition; however, the skirt was not considered fully auspicious according to Chinese beliefs as it lacked a white waistband instead of a red one. A with white waistband was usually worn by Chinese bride to symbolize: "to grow old together", which Princess Diana lacked; and thus, Princess Diana's was did not conform to the () and was instead considered (), a sign of bad omen.
21st century