If you've seen the stills of costume dramas like Moyu Yunjian and For the Sake of the Hidden Fragrance, you'll notice that director Yu has a particular preference for one type of clothing style: the shirt and skirt ensemble. It's the most common style in traditional Chinese clothing and also the easiest to mass - produce and replicate. It's like wearing hundreds of different - colored shirts. Can you really not get aesthetically tired of it?
Styles of Shirt and Skirt
The upper part of the shirt and skirt can be in the styles of cross - collar, front - closing, or shallow cross - collar. The lower skirt is usually a split skirt or a pleated skirt. Simply put, if you change the fabric and color of the upper shirt and the lower skirt respectively, it counts as a new set of clothes. The dynasties when the shirt and skirt were most popular were the Tang and Song dynasties.
The styles of the shirt and skirt in these two periods were different. In the Tang Dynasty, the skirt was tied high to the chest, showing a luxurious and noble style. In the Song Dynasty, the skirt returned to the waist, looking elegant and natural.
Characteristics of Song - Dynasty Women's Clothing
Besides the common Beizi (a kind of outerwear), this type of shirt and skirt vividly depicts another style of Song - dynasty women's clothing. In the book A Story of Chinese Clothing History co - authored by Dai Qinxiang, Lu Qin, and Li Yalin, it elaborates on the rich variety of Song - dynasty women's clothing. It points out that compared with men's clothing, women's clothing was not only more diverse in styles but also had a wider range of colors.
Influenced by Neo - Confucianism, women in the Northern Song Dynasty tended to have a more reserved and elegant dressing style, adhering to the aesthetic philosophy of "subtle makeup is always appropriate, and charm comes naturally". In Tokyo Menghualu of the Northern Song Dynasty, it is described that "gold and jade glittered, and silk clothes emitted fragrance". In Wulin Jishi of the Southern Song Dynasty, it says that "women and children were dressed in gorgeous clothes and came and went like clouds", and "silk clothes were everywhere, and it was always like this every night".
Just talking about Hanfu styles, there were at least dozens of matchable styles unearthed from the Huang Sheng Tomb, including sleeveless vests, long and short shirts, two - piece skirts, wraps, pants, capes, and bags. The shirt and skirt can only be regarded as basic styles, but at least they can be saved. Traditional aesthetics attaches great importance to the harmony of matching and patterns in clothing. In terms of color matching, Song - dynasty women wore light shirts in summer.
In clothing matching, they cleverly used the principle of "light on top and bright on the bottom / bright on top and light on the bottom". Through the gradient of the same color or the same color system from light to dark, such as the combination of brown and light yellow, the fresh combination of light green and blue - green, and the gentle transition between light pink and pomegranate red, and at the same time, they decorated with flower and grass patterns. This color - matching method shows a cross - era fashion sense of clothing, which also allows more of us to keep watching the drama even though we know the characters are wearing the same style of clothes throughout.
Common Song - Style Outfits in Dramas
In the dramas, we often see the shirt and skirt paired with a large - sleeved shirt. The large - sleeved shirt and skirt in the Song Dynasty inherited the style of the shawl and long skirt from the late Tang and Five Dynasties. After changes, it gradually incorporated the solemnity of etiquette and was also the formal dress style for noble ladies and imperial concubines.
In general, the common Song - style shirt and skirt outfit structure we see now is: a round - collar shirt / camisole as the inner layer + an upper shirt + a skirt + a large - sleeved shirt / front - closing outer shirt / Beizi + a shawl / cape. Even with the combination of an upper shirt, a skirt, and a large - sleeved shirt, hundreds of sets of clothes can be created. This is also a common practice in capital - driven dramas.
Women also liked to wear hats. The combination of the large - sleeved shirt and skirt with hats and shawls reflects the Song - dynasty women's pursuit of beauty to the extreme and also reflects the social features and cultural connotations of that era. However, hats were heavy and the production process was complex, so they are rarely seen in costume dramas.
Looking Back at the Song Dynasty and Current Issues
Looking back at the charming Song Dynasty, women, regardless of their social status, paid great attention to their clothing. Even poor women had one or two sets of beautiful silk clothes and a few pieces of headgear. In Jilei Bian by Zhuang Chuo, it is said that "women in the two Zhejiang regions were all concerned about clothing and food and were ashamed of making a living". In History of the Song Dynasty: Records of Five Elements, it says that "women in the alleys used glass as headgear, and people in the capital used carved jade as headgear. There is a poem saying: 'Pearls and jade are banned in the capital, but glass is everywhere in the world'".
Although there are many structural and design changes in the above - mentioned clothing styles in TV dramas, in current TV dramas, the leading characters' clothes often just change the fabric and blindly copy one style. Wearing the same style of clothes throughout the drama will inevitably cause visual fatigue. Can't the art designers study other styles more to relieve the aesthetic fatigue?
Find aesthetic inspiration from ancient paintings and explore the Song - style charm in clothing aesthetics. The chief editor will meet you offline! There will be a public appreciation and sharing session of Hanfu in Ancient Paintings at 2 pm this Sunday on Hefang Street in Hangzhou. Welcome enthusiasts in the vicinity to sign up!
