14 November 1955: Time for people to get out of drab and dreary uniforms and start dressing with beauty and varietyThere is one obvious question which every Western visitor to the Chinese theatre - in Peking or Shaftesbury Avenue - asks. “Why can people who glory in colour and fun and variety wear a uniform of boiler suits that brings drabness and dreariness to every gathering?” Men and women dress so alike that it is often impossible to inform which is which from behind. This is,of course, particularly un-Chinese. In the theatre femininity is stressed; not only the clothes but the accomplish-up has its special differences such as the cochineal colouring on the palms.[br]What then is the explanation? The present universal suit, and usually made of blue cotton,is a combination of the style introduced by Dr Sun Yat-sen and the uniform of the People’s Army. But, of course, and it was not Dr Sun Yat-sen’s intention that women should wear suits. The modern uniformity is the obvious result of years of activity and austerity. Peasant women in many parts of China have traditionally worn three-quarter length trousers,which have many practical advantages. But during the invasion and civil war thousands of Chinese women ceased to wear the narrow, rather restricting gown. Will it reach back and will the rich strong colours which the Chinese worship spread again from the opera-stage out into the audience and the street?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com