Is this hairstyle,peony pinned on her hairstyle,outfit restricted to royal 👑 ladies only

Hi, thanks for the question! 

The painting you’re referring to is the famous Tang dynasty hand scroll by Zhou Fang, “Court Ladies Wearing Flowered Headdresses/簪花仕女图”. This scroll depicts five palace ladies and a maidservant amusing themselves in a garden.  

The court ladies’ hairstyle is called Gao Ji/高髻 (High Ji), also known as E Ji/峨髻 (Lofty Ji). “Ji/髻” refers to any hairstyle involving pulling hair on top of the head. Gao Ji was a popular hairstyle among Chinese women during the Tang dynasty. As its names indicate, it refers to a relatively high and full updo, decorated with hair ornaments. Tang culture celebrated fullness and glamour, and that aesthetic extended to hair as well. Tang women believed the higher the hair, the better, with some using wigs to achieve the desired look – it was not uncommon for the updo to reach over one foot in height. Gao Ji was beloved by all classes of women during the Tang dynasty.

Gao Ji came in several different varieties. The specific one you’re referring to, with the peony pinned to the top, is called Zan Hua Gao Ji/簪花高髻 (Flowered High Ji). This style involved a Gao Ji embellished with huge peony or lotus blossoms, as well as gold hair ornaments.The practice of wearing flowers expressed women’s admiration for the beauty of the blossoms, but also symbolized the fleeting nature of youth.Zan Hua Gao Ji was especially popular among aristocratic women during the Tang dynasty.

Here are two modern depictions of the hairstyle:

Regarding the court ladies’ outfits – the relatively low neckline and nearly floor-length sleeves of the gowns, and the wide gauze scarves worn as stoles or draped across the arms, are all characteristic of the high court fashion of the Tang dynasty. I also addressed the same question in my reply to you here, so please check it out.

Hope this helps!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Hello :), I have a question, in Mo Dao Zi Shi donghua Hiang Cheng and Wei WuXian wear a sleeveless type of overgarment, what is this called? It doesn’t show up a lot when you look for men’s hanfu, and I can’t seem to get the name of this overgarment.

ziseviolet:

Hi! I haven’t read/watched Modao Zushi, but I think I know what you’re talking about – the sleeveless overgarments depicted here, right?:

So….to be honest, I’m not completely sure what they are ^^;;; The closest type of hanfu they resemble (to me, anyway) is Banbi/半臂 (half-sleeve jacket). Banbi can be worn open in a parallel style, and the shortness of its sleeves can vary. Some examples:

It’s very possible that this particular sleeveless garment (which appears quite often in historical Chinese dramas as well – see below: examples from Cdrama “The Legend of Dugu”) is not based completely on historical clothing, but is rather the product of the artists/designers taking some creative liberties with fashion.

Perhaps some other knowledgeable folks can shed more light on the matter (@Fouryearsofshades)?

Hope this helps!

Update: It seems the second option was correct – as both Fouryearsofshades and Vietphuc pointed out in the replies, this particular type of sleeveless overgarment is inspired by Kataginu/肩衣, Japanese men’s vests with broad, wing-like shoulders, historically worn by Samurai and courtiers:

As I’ve mentioned before, it’s very common for Chinese shows set in the ancient past to take fashion inspiration from different dynasties and occasionally even different cultures ^^;;

Are you watching The Rise of the Phoenixes on Netflix? If so what’s your fav outfit so far?

Hi, thanks for the question!

I’m going to combine this question with another one I received that mysteriously disappeared (tumblr must’ve eaten it…), which asked to identify the clothing in “The Rise of Pheonixes”. Disclaimer that I haven’t watched the actual show, so everything here is going to be based off of photos. 

Similar to “The Empress of China”, the costumes in “The Rise of Phoenixes” are mostly based on Tang dynasty hanfu, with some creative liberties taken by the designers. Female lead Feng Zhiwei’s most commonly worn female outfit is the

chest-high ruqun, an outfit consisting of a top (ru) and skirt (qun), in which the skirt is tied above the breasts or at the bust point. It’s often accessorized with a large-sleeve outer robe called daxiushan.

Feng Zhiwei seems to be fond of wearing sheer ru & matching qun and daxiushan cut from the same cloth:

Sometimes she’ll wear a short outer skirt called weichang over the qun (in the outfit below, the weichang and daxiushan are matching):

This outfit comprises a non-sheer purple ru & dark blue polka-dotted weichang, as well as a light purple beizi (jacket):

Ruqun is often accessorized with a long scarf called pibo, that’s worn wrapped around the arms & behind the back, as can be seen in the photo on the left:

Another style of women’s hanfu on the show is heziqun, an outfit that consists of the hezi (strapless chest cover), skirt (qun), and top (ru). The hezi is worn over the top, and a thin cloth belt is typically used to hide the joint between the hezi and skirt. Heziqun is also accessorized with daxiushan and pibo:

Feng Zhiwei also wears parallel-collar waist-high ruqun:

…and what appears to be a zhiju (straight-hem robe): 

The male costumes worn on the show are mainly based on Tang, Song, and Ming dynasty fashions, and mostly comprise a variety of round-collar clothing based on the hanfu styles of

yuanlingpao, yuanlingshan, and lanshan.
Feng Zhiwei’s most common male outfit is the yuanlingpao (round-collar robe):

Here are some of the various round-collar outfits worn by the men on the show, including male lead Ning Yi:

Here’s Ning Yi in mianfu, the ceremonial hanfu of the Emperor:

As for the question of what my favorite outfit is – personally, from looking at the photos, I find the male costumes more captivating than the female ones. Still, if I had to choose a favorite outfit worn by Feng Zhiwei, it’d be this ruqun below (the outfit also appears in this gifset). I love the sheer ru and the earthy color scheme:

For favorite male outfits, I really like the dark brown yuanlingpao worn by Ning Yi in this shot. It goes really well with his long black hair and blue tuanshan (fan):

Finally, of course we can’t forget assassin/bodyguard Gu Nanyi’s Wuxia-inspired outfits – they make him look especially stunning!:

Hope this helps!

Photos via: 1, 2

I have the impression that all these hanfu styles seem so light and sheer, which is ideal for summer, but what is one supposed to wear in winter?

Hi, thanks for the question!

There are actually many hanfu styles suited for all different seasons, but the light and sheer ones tend to appear more often in photos (better for artistic effect I guess?). For details on what hanfu to wear in winter, please see my answer in a previous reply here. You can also check out my Winter Wear tag for more resources ^^

Hope this helps! (Image Via)

Is the Daxiushan restricted to royal ladies only?

Hi, thanks for the question! (Photo Via)

Historically, the Daxiushan/大袖衫 (large-sleeve robe) was most popular among royalty during the Tang dynasty. Because the Daxiushan often only covers half of the chest, it was restricted to women of a certain status, such as princesses and court ladies. However, it was not completely restricted to royal ladies, since Geji/歌姬 (female entertainers/courtesans) were also allowed to wear it. Furthermore, it was mainly worn for special ceremonial occasions. (Source)

Hope this helps!

I have seen pictures of hanfu where there is are strings tied around the sleeves of the Yishang (correct me if this is the wrong term). I was wondering if the strings have a particular name and what the purpose of this is. Thanks in advance! =)

Hi, thanks for the question! (Image Via)

The strings tied around the sleeves of the Yishang in the photo above are called Bangshoudai/绑手带 (hand wraps). They’re basically a simplified form of the Huwan/护腕 (wrist guards) seen in the photo below (Image Via):

These forms of accessories were commonly worn in ancient China during strenuous physical activity, such as manual labor and combat/sports (hand-to-hand combat, sword-fighting, archery, etc). Their purpose was two-fold: 1) bind up the sleeves for convenience, and 2) protect the wearer’s hands and arms. 

Here are two more examples of Bangshoudai & Huwan worn with Shuhe (Via):

You can check out my Archery and Wuxia tags for more photos.

Hope this helps!

Sources: 1, 2

Hello! I was wondering if you know who this adorable cosplayer is on pinterest? /pin/ 382806037075837352/

Hi, thanks for the question!

He goes by 玖柯9k online, and his Weibo blog is here. He’s a model from Nanjing. You can see an example of his modeling work for hanfu brand 宴山亭 in this post.

Here are some more of his photos:

Bonus:

Hope this helps!

Hi – I was wondering if you could clarify the difference between Tang and Ming yuanlingpao, if there is any? I often see the Tang version worn with the collar open, is there a reason that doesn’t happen with the Ming/could you wear it like that?

Hi! Fouryearsofshades has two writeups on the differences between Tang and Ming yuanlingpao (round-collar robe) here and here – please check them out! 

To answer your specific question: only the Tang version can be worn with the collar open, because it was historically fashionable to do so. Not so for Ming – although I’m not sure of the exact reason why 😛 

(Image – Tang-style yuanlingpao Via)

What started your interested in traditional hanfu? Do/would you wear any yourself?

Hi, thanks for the question! (Image Via)

I’ve always been interested in traditional pre-Qing Chinese clothing, and I loved seeing it in art/media/comics/etc. I longed to wear it myself, and thought it a shame that it had pretty much vanished as a tradition. In 2008, I discovered the hanfu revival movement online, through the Baidu forums (the movement itself began in 2003). Crazy to think that it’s been 10 years already! In that span of time, the movement has grown by leaps and bounds, with more people knowing about/wearing hanfu. The amount and quality of hanfu on the market has gone up significantly. It’s very exciting to see, and I’m looking forward to things improving even more in the future ^^

Yes, I do wear hanfu myself, although it’s only during special occasions (such as events). I hope to get more dailywear hanfu in the future that I can wear casually ^^

Which brings me to a question for my followers – what started your interest in hanfu? I’m curious! 🙂

Hi! Do you think it’s fine for westerners to wear hanfu? I just really appreciate the relatively genderless silhouette of it all, besides the very pretty looks of it

Hi! I actually answered a similar question in this post. The gist of it is, I personally think it’s fine, if it’s worn respectfully ^^ (Image Via)