This is the photo of AiLing Zhang, taken in the 1940s. In this time, China has experienced the World War Two and the Civil War. In this photo, Ailing wore the traditional Chinese garment named cheongsam.
Ailing used to say that “life is like a fancy cheongsam which full of lice,” and this quote shocked me when I first saw it. I began to read some stories and literature of her, and I found she was crazy about cheongsam. She not only wore different cheongsams but also design cheongsams for others. Although it is not beautiful in my perspective, when I saw her wearing cheongsams, I feel like I was watching her life as a passenger.
This is a picture of cheongsam, designed by Hongsheng Zhu in 1940 for Die Hu, a famous actor in China at that time. This cheongsam was the cheongsam that made of laces,
This is the dress from Dior in the 1950s. That time was the major shift in post-war fashion in the late forties of Dior.
When I first saw this dress, I was fascinated by the shape of the sleeves. The loose sleeves and the tied waist design gave me a visual contrast.
