Clothing and Jewellery
In Ancient China a persons
status was often depicted in the style of clothes worn. Unlike other civilisations
China had it down pat when it came to fashion. They had different textures
of clothes, colours, jewellery and all the accessories associated with
the wealth and knowledge they had of fashion. Their clothes were made of
silk that was worn everyday. The quality progressed depending on a special
occasion. Peasants, who obviously couldn't afford such luxuries, wore a
shirt-like piece of clothing made of undyed hemp. Over time the fashion
changed but basically it was just altered a bit.
As for jewellery, the
scholar gentry class had jewellery made from gold, silver, jade, or brass.
Others just had copper and iron pieces. Women of the Tang Dynasty started
to wear one hundred bird feather skirts, but it was banned to prevent rare
bird species from becoming extinct. Males became what some psychiatrists
would call obsessive saying they would not go out in public without a head
dress, which became a symbol of a person's status and occupation.
There were five main
hats worn by emperors, and they were the plain emperors hat, the lacquered
guaze cage hat, water chestnut kercheif hat, the warrior helmet and a guaze
turban.
Men's clothes in the
Tang dynasty consisted of long lace robes which were quite heavy, so when
they hung down they didn't flap in the wind, and a woman dressed in long
flowing silk dresses.
More dress-inclined
people wore a skirt and a jacket on the top with a short-sleeved upper
garment.
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