Design characteristics of Chinese traditional clothing of the Ming-Qing Dynasty era in contemporary women’s fashion

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to consider the design characteristics of Chinese traditional clothing, especially from the Ming-Qing Dynasty era, and how they have influenced contemporary fashion. Regarding research methods, this study determined the design characteristics, such as the form, color and pattern of Chinese traditional clothing of the Ming-Qing Dynasty era. In addition, 440 photos were collected from the Paris Collection from 2005 to 2014 using www.firstviewkorea.com. The results of this study are as follows. First, the most popular silhouette from Chinese traditional clothing appearing in contemporary fashion was the H-shaped one, and the internal lines appeared in the following order: Chinese collar; narrow sleeve; symmetrical front opening; round collar; wide sleeve; and the C-shaped Biwa front-end. Second, the most popular color was achromatic black, followed by white. The chromatic colors were in the order of blue, yellow, red, green, and purple. Third, the patterns appeared in the following order: Plant patterns, complex patterns, and animal patterns. The peony pattern appeared the most commonly as a plant pattern, followed by the arabesque pattern and the plum blossom pattern which appeared with a similar proportion. Dragon, bird and phoenix patterns appeared the most for animal patterns. It is considered that the results of this study will be helpful for designing products for Korean fashion brands that will advance to the Chinese market. In addition, it will help Chinese designers apply the Chinese-style design characteristics popular among people throughout the world when they advance to the West.