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The most characteristic features of the dress — the high collar for warmth and the slits for easy movement — are legacies of the Manchu dress, but the formfitting cut of the modern form first developed in Shanghai, the most modern Chinese city of the time, where close contact with western ideas of sensuality and dressmaking strongly influence the qipao’s design. Chinese Jewelry It is cut wide, with long sleeves, buttons in the front, and a stiff collar. The lines are simple and generous. There is no class restriction on the Tang suit; its enthusiasts can be found in commerce, government, and academia. Examples include the scholar Wang Chien-hua, the ethnomusicologist Lin Ku-fang, and the well-known businessmen Huang Jen-chung and Wong Ta-ming. They find pleasure in wearing Tang suits for classes, meetings, and all kinds of formal affairs. Wang Chen-hua began wearing Tang suits 20 years ago. He says that the Tang suit is comfortable and easy to move around in. Moreover, unlike a Western suit, it is not open in the front and so keeps out the cold better. Moreover, the Tang suit has "personality." It displays an individual's character and aesthetic. Yu Yuh-chao has "suffered a blow" at a number of international conferences. He is determined to reshape the image Chinese project, and to encourage culture in daily life. Yu, who worked in the Ministry of Education for many years, is strongly promoting the creation of a new national attire. He notes that modern national dress must have five key characteristics: it must be comfortable, artistic, modern, suited to the locality, and universal. He calls his ideal national dress shuya, which means "comfortable and elegant." Taking the lead himself, two years ago he put aside his Western suits and asked a tailor to make a shuya outfit that Yu himself had designed. He wears it to work and to give lectures. So what is shuya clothing, that it doesn't lose the spirit of traditional Chinese culture yet conforms to the needs of modern life? This March, the Council for Cultural Affairs and Fujen Catholic University, aiming to promote innovation in national costume design, co-sponsored an academic conference and a design competition on the theme of "Comfortable and Elegant Dress Suited to Taiwan's Local Conditions." |