4.5 Nineteenth Century Fashion

In the early days of British rule, the Chinese still retained their customery way of living including traditional clothing style. For joyous and special occasions, "cheungsam" (grown) and "makwa" (short jacket) remained the apparel for men while beautifully embroidered "shanku" (upper garment and trousers) and "aoqun" (upper garment and skirt) were worn by the wives and daughters of the notable and wealthy families.

But Hong Kong is a place where East meets West, and from the 1920s and 1930s, Western dress began to come into fashion for the locals.

The style was set by wealthy Chinese, merchants engaged in foreign trade, office personnel or well educated young men returning from abroad.

However, the traditional women's dress, "qipao" (lady's gown), was still the fashion for the ladies in the first half of the 20th century.

Credit : History Museum of HK.