Rare sight: cheong sam spotted!
Hong
Kong
Cheong sam (cantonese) also known as the QiPao (mandarin. pronounced chee-pao) is the traditional chinese single piece dress worn by women over the past century or two. They are very elegant and sexy. I always say that the person who invented the cheong sam and the person who invented the high heel shoe are both geniuses that have unjustly gone unrecognized for their brilliant creations. Put the two together and you have a sure fire, knock out combination!
These days it is very rare to see women in Hong Kong wearing a cheong sam outside of formal functions such as weddings. This is sad, really, because cheong sam are so chic! Apparently, there is a negative perception about wearing cheong sams amongst local girls, probably because they have grown in an era where they only saw cheong sams worn by hostesess and waitresses at tradtional (mid and upper scale) restaurants and do not wish to be confused with restaurant staff. A poor excuse in my mind since the latter are very obvious.
So, I put this one down as yet another victim of globalization and western culture destroying something beautiful when it arrives in Asia. Nothing would be me happier than to see more cheong sam clad women around town.
As you may imagine, this was a rare sight and I it begged to be photographed. I really ought to have approached this lady and thanked her!
© evangelo costadimas 2005
Cheong sam (cantonese) also known as the QiPao (mandarin. pronounced chee-pao) is the traditional chinese single piece dress worn by women over the past century or two. They are very elegant and sexy. I always say that the person who invented the cheong sam and the person who invented the high heel shoe are both geniuses that have unjustly gone unrecognized for their brilliant creations. Put the two together and you have a sure fire, knock out combination!
These days it is very rare to see women in Hong Kong wearing a cheong sam outside of formal functions such as weddings. This is sad, really, because cheong sam are so chic! Apparently, there is a negative perception about wearing cheong sams amongst local girls, probably because they have grown in an era where they only saw cheong sams worn by hostesess and waitresses at tradtional (mid and upper scale) restaurants and do not wish to be confused with restaurant staff. A poor excuse in my mind since the latter are very obvious.
So, I put this one down as yet another victim of globalization and western culture destroying something beautiful when it arrives in Asia. Nothing would be me happier than to see more cheong sam clad women around town.
As you may imagine, this was a rare sight and I it begged to be photographed. I really ought to have approached this lady and thanked her!
© evangelo costadimas 2005
Posted: Thursday - August 18, 2005 at 01:55 PM
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Published On: Nov 06, 2007 02:31 AM
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Published On: Nov 06, 2007 02:31 AM