Why the elegant male cheongsam was forgotten
Now sadly out of favour, the male cheongsam was once an elegant sartorial addition to the streets of China
Classically tailored men’s cheongsam – especially when made from top-quality silk – have always been an expensive undertaking. Construction of each garment requires several continuous metres of fabric; sleeves and body panels must all be cut in a single piece from one length of cloth, without recourse to seams. In place of buttons, collars and shoulder- and side openings are held together by knot-and-loop style fastenings, popularly known as “frogs”. Silk fastenings are typically made from the same fabric used for the garment’s inner lining, or from satin in a matching or complementary colour scheme.
While widely worn throughout China during the late-Qing period, the male cheongsam enjoyed its highest popularity in the Republican era – in particular the 20s and 30s. During this time of disconcerting societal change, the garment came to symbolise a more traditional Chinese personal identity for some wearers. But for others, it simply combined everyday comfort and convenience with a beguiling olde-worlde charm.
For those who enjoyed playing the role of a scholar-poet from earlier days, a flowing male cheongsam was a perfect sartorial fit. One well-known personality, who habitually wore the garment to the exclusion of anything else, was Chinese avant-garde poet Zau Sinmay (1906-1968). A contributor to the influential Shanghai literary journal T’ien Hsia Monthly, Zau had earlier studied at Cambridge University in Britain, where – like other Chinese students from wealthy families – he developed a fondness for tweed, plus fours and well-tailored dinner jackets. On his eventual return to China, however, Zau’s erstwhile taste for these foreign garments was discarded as a youthful affectation.