Going into the day, I knew it would be crowded with a combination of tourists and locals, and exploding with culture that is quite different from the culture that surrounds me. And I was equally overwhelmed by what I didn’t expect: the smells, voices, and attitude the various streets had to offer. In particular, among interactions with people negotiating prices for vegetables or hurried looks shared in street traffic, once of the things that that really stood out to me was the abundance of red lanterns hanging inside restaurants, inside packed shops, and everywhere else. Because I had architecture as one of my ideas webbed into my history concept, I was fascinated by the shape and structure these red floating balls held. I took pictures of these lanterns layered on top of each other, lining exteriors, and even lit up. The combination of red, gold, the yellow hanging tassels, the characters painted on some while other Chinese symbols were painted on others lead me to buy one large and two small lanterns. As we had also just came from the MET’s Camp exhibit, while designing this garment, the idea of fun and extravagance was key to joining fashion with a shape of paper and wire that can now be found at Home Depo. I wanted to primarily keep this shape of the round lanterns as now lanterns that can be bought in American house holds are often longer and more cylinder shapes. I also wanted to highlight the concept of hanging objects as Chinatown also adapted to hanging fruits, merchandise, signs, and much more similarly to the lanterns hanging, so I added a lot of the same fringe I saw in tassels to further reference the concept of floating/hanging. Finally, I made the entirety of the garment a bright red because it is the color of luck, and one of China’s representing colors worn daily and with a high level of care and respect. I would love to also incorporate lighting somewhere in this garment as the not only are the lanterns lit up, but the “open” signs and various Chinese character signs that were lit up on every store really stood out in a fluorescent, bold, and almost magical way. I believe if the color red was seen more frequently, it would bring light to people’s days and lives. So much of the street traffic was busy and frustrated, people rarely had the time to look up and experience/look up to see the hanging lanterns. Because everyone looks down at their feet or ahead at others, if the color red or familiarity of the round stiff shape of a lantern caught people’s eyes more and more by being worn, it would hopefully further re-ncourage and remind Chinatown of that same opportunity and peace that lanterns are known for.
Research on lanterns:
Originally, monks used lanterns to worship Buddha, and the Eastern Han Dynasty passed this tradition on with trust of its success. This tradition soon turned into a great festival for common people and during the Tang Dynasty the celebration with an making of lanterns symbolized a peaceful life. There are now many many different types of lanterns made out of both silk and paper, and even decorated with paint, tassels, and forms of illumination. Lanterns represent “booming life and prosperous business” and as Chinatown specifically is a place of safety, opportunity, and family for countless immigrants in means of starting families and careers a like. I could imagine seeing a red lantern or wanting to surround myself in even the color has great historical significance to how far and with such strength Chinese culture in America has come, and how willing it is to go even further.
