OPINION: Galloping into the Lunar New Year

By Li Li Scheonfelder

The Year of the Horse is here, and with it brings energy, passion, and bold movements. The Horse represents a willingness to take risks and try new things rather than waiting for them to come to you. The Horse urges everyone to make big life changes and pursue personal growth while maintaining steady momentum throughout the year to avoid burnout.  

Silk and Satin 

The traditional qipao dates all the way back to the Qing dynasty, adorned with delicate, feminine florals that serve as more than just a pattern. The version of the qipao we recognize today has informed the image that is conjured in people’s minds in the West when they think of “traditional Asian women’s fashion,” and it emerged in 1920s Shanghai -- a city buzzing with lights, music, and life.  

Fashion Has Always Been Political 

Qipaos gained influence in Western culture when various Hollywood stars began exoticizing Chinese fashion. 

In the 1920s, Chinese women began to push against Confucian expectations, and the qipao transformed into a political statement.  

Tailors throughout Shanghai began blending traditional Manchu silhouettes with Western flapper fashion. The hemlines were shortened, and the bodice sewn tight. This new era of the qipao represented visibility and feminism. From loose-fitting, square-shaped robes, this new qipao acted as a statement of deep cultural transformation. Women wore the qipao to stand up against gender stereotypes and show that they were no longer willing to hide their bodies and independence.  

What Goes Around Comes Around 

Fashion is in and out. The qipao lost traction from the 1950s to 70s, Asian Americans wanted to fit in with Western fashion and dismissed the qipao as outdated. As Asian immigration to the United States increased, traditional Chinese tailors were able to blend Western aesthetics with the qipao.  

The 1960s film, The World of Suzie Wong sexualized Asian women and created the image of a “Chinese bombshell” that became uniform in the West. Suzie Wong’s qipao was ultra-tight-fitting with a high slit. Hollywood became fascinated with the qipao silhouette and depicted many Asian women as delicate, submissive, and hypersexualized.  

This harmful exoticization of Asian women kept the qipao instantly recognizable as a dress that was both alluring and elegant, setting a trend in the West that influenced American consumers while keeping the qipao in the public eye.  

Today, modern fashion stores like Forever 21, Amazon, and SHEIN use Mandarin characters that do not translate to actual phrases, and overuse Chinese aesthetics to capitalize on Western consumers. Many see this as cultural appropriation, as the brands often describe dragon patterns and cherry blossoms as “oriental” on their websites.

As we go into the Year of the Horse this February 17^th, it is interesting to see the parallels of the qipao’s journey and what the Year of the Horse symbolizes. The qipao has transformed across multiple generations and shown resilience and defiance. The qipao is more than clothing; it is a feminist movement that showcases cultural pride and the ability to reinvent itself.