I have been doing a lot of rewatching some of my favourite movies.
I watched the movie, In The Mood For Love directed by Wong Car Wai and the extraordinarily beautiful cinematography shot by Christopher Doyle.
The traditional dresses that the actress Maggie Cheung wore were so beautiful and so telegenic.
They were a certain type of cheongsam - traditional Chinese dress.
This was the more casual version of the qi pao( another word for Cheongsam).
I was so entranced by it that I took a picture of every dress she wore through the film!
If you aren't into moody and cinematic mid life crisis-esque love stories, then this isn't for you.
But perhaps the wardrobe might keep you entertained?
The movie is set in 1960's Hong Kong so the dresses aren't Halloween or brothel related as these dresses now tend to viewed in the west. In Asia, it seems dresses such as these are related to holidays and once again...brothels!
But Maggie not only wears it as part of her daily wear but with such grace.
The design as illustrated here works with so many different fabrics and slight variations of the neck, sleeve and button placement.
From quotidian to evening wear.
When I first watched the film when it was released 17 years ago, Mad Men was not even created.
But Maggie plays very much the Hong Kong version of a Joan character as she is a secretary who is visually distracting and used a typewriter.
