Parts of the Qipao (Cheongsam): a comprehensive guide to the qipao anatomy

This is my comprehensive guide to all the subtle yet distinct parts of the qipao (cheongsam): from the material, the fit, to the height of the mandarin collar, the width of the edging, the style of the pankou, and others. I hope it helps you to understand the intricacies of the qipao a little bit better, and to fall in love with it a little bit deeper.

I have been delving into the world of qipaos (or cheongsams) for a long time now. But I have yet to come across an explanation of all the parts of the qipao in a comprehensive and easily understandable way, either online or in “real” books, in English or in Chinese.

So… I decided to write one. Something that summarises the many subtleties of the qipao into one place. This is by no means the “best” guide, but it is a reflection of everything that I have learnt and read to date, and I hope to continue to update and improve it over time, with your help – please leave a comment or email me if you see something here that can be improved.

My biggest hope is that this guide will be useful for you – my friends and readers. I hope that when the time comes for you to buy your next qipao, whether it be your first or 100th, this guide helps you to select something that makes you feel beautiful.

Fabric 面料和里料

One of the first decisions for a qipao is the material. A qipao can be made from many types of textiles, almost any material that can hold a reasonable shape and does not have too much stretch in it (even a stretchy material, with enough weight, could be used for a qipao, although some allowances need to be made when structuring the zipper and buttons).

For everyday wear, I find that cotton or linen are great for summer, while a wool or cashmere is good for winter. Silk, velvet and lace tend to be used for more dressy and formal occasions, often adorned with embroidery, beads or sequins.

Traditionally qipaos are fully lined. Many modern qipaos, especially cotton or linen ones for the summer, no longer have a lining for a more casual and lighter look.

Shanghai-style or Beijing-style fit 京派或海派

There are two broad qipao fits (see my post on Shanghai-style vs Beijing-style). The most common and classic fit being the Shanghai-style or Haipai fit, which has a similar silhouette to a pencil-dress and can be extremely figure-hugging. The less common fit is the Beijing-style or Jingpai fit, which is more or less A-line.

There are of course variations of each and combinations of both. For example, for someone with a little belly, a Shanghai-style fit but with a more straightline mid-section which does not emphasise the waist area too much is quite flattering.

Parts of the qipao (cheongsam): an overview

In the sketch above, I have identified and labelled 6 main parts of a qipao. For an experienced qipao tailor or customer, there may be many more nuances that are possible, but these are the main components that we can start with. Each is described below –

Qipao part 1: Mandarin collar (领／領)

The mandarin collar is one of the most quintessential parts of a qipao. The collar is usually made from a single piece of material that wraps around the neck, with the two ends meeting at the center front of the neck. The two corners of the ends at the base of the chin are rounded and slightly open, while at the base of the collarbone they are tightly closed.

The collar can, and historically has been, made in a range of heights. At one extreme, in the early 1910s,collars were so high that they reached the bottom of the ears, whereas in the early 40s during the war, collars were very low, perhaps just a few centimeters (an inch) high. Going all the way back to the Manchu pao of the Qing dynasty (ancestors of the qipao, and where it derives its name), those were in fact collarless.

The collar height I see most often on qipaos is 4-5cm (1.5-2 inches), although my personal favourite is about 6-7cm (2.5-3 inches), high enough to cover almost the entire neck but not quite as dramatic as under the ear-lobe. This was a very popular height in the 1930s, and also what Maggie Cheung wore in In the Mood for Love.

Qipao part 2: Pankou (盘扣／盤扣)

The pankou is the namesake of this blog, and something I have written about fairly extensively before. Pankous are traditional Chinese knotted buttons, and were used to fasten the qipao together, running from the base of the mandarin collar down the front of the qipao (the name of the diagonal chest opening), all the way along the right side of the body.

Pankous range from extremely simple straight pankous (直盘扣／直盤扣, or一字扣) to very elaborate floral designs (襻花盘扣／襻花盤扣). The straight pankou is the most common, and usually runs in a series of three on the collar and chest area: one at the base of the mandarin collar, and two along the chest portion of the front. When a floral pankou is used, it would typically come in a set of two: a large main piece on the chest, and a matching small piece at the base of the mandarin collar. In some of the more formal 30s-50s era vintage qipaos, I have seen the floral pankou at the base of the collar made without an actual knot for fastening. This is because the women used to wear a jewel piece to connect the two sides together, and often times earrings to match.

Pankous went in and out of vogue over the years. After the 1940s when “revised qipaos” with zippers became popular, many qipaos were made without pankous and used only press studs, as you would see in In the Mood for Love. This did create very body-hugging dresses, but in my own personal opinion, there is still nothing quite as sexy as the thought of a dress held together by only buttons.

Qipao part 3: Large front (大襟)

The front part of the qipao is called the large front (大襟), or simply front (襟). It is essentially the frontal closure area of the qipao, and like the button down area of a shirt, is traditionally how a qipao is put on and taken off. Usually the front includes a diagonally shaped chest area, enclosed by a series of pankous.

There is quite a variety of fronts, and I have previously dedicated a post to all its shapes and lengths. The front and the pankou make up one of the most distinguishing areas of a qipao.

Most of the fronts used today are right-opened large round fronts (右开大圆襟), running from the base of the of the centre of the collar to just underneath the right armpit in a downward facing arc. This is a simple and flexible front, on which a range of pankous (or hidden press studs), can be used.

A visually more complex front family, and a favourite of the late Madam Song Mei-ling, is the double sided front. The most common double sided front is the round ba-front, a dual-sided version of the large round front. These tend to be decorative on the left side and open on the right only.

Unlike collars and pankous, there was less of a fashion aspect to fronts. The right-opened large round front has consistently been the most popular choice over time, dating from its original use on the Manchu robes.

Qipao part 4: Edging (边)

Traditionally, all visible edges of a qipao are finished with at least one of four special edging techniques:  滚 gun，镶  xiang，嵌 qian or 宕 dang (please see this articlefor detailed descriptions of each and pictorial examples). The original Manchu pao used combinations of these techniques to create elaborate edges with multiple types of materials.

This simplified over time, and today a single gun-edge (滚边／滾邊) is most common. It is the single-coloured narrow edging seen on many qipaos, and made from stitching a narrow piece of material which is rolled (the literal meaning of “gun”), or wrapped around the edge of the qipao.

A “one-gun-one-qian” (一滚一嵌／一滾一嵌) edge is also quite prevalent today, and used for double coloured edges. In this combination, a narrow qian-strip（嵌条）is joined onto the material used for the gun-edge, and the two are then rolled onto the edge of the qipao together. This gives the effect of a very narrow strip of contrasting material between the edge and the main body of the qipao.

Many of my more casual qipaos also do away with edging altogether, and as I like strong colours/patterns for the main fabric of my qipao, no edge or a simple, single coloure gun-edge is what I generally choose (this is also the case for many of the qipaos in In the Mood for Love). But for a plain, solid coloured dress, a strong contrasting edge could be a very nice pop.

Qipao part 5: Sleeves （袖）

The most typical sleeve lengths seen on a qipao today are either sleeveless or fitted cap sleeves, made for the summer months. But over the years they have come in a range of shapes and lengths.

If you’ve read my series on the history of the qipao, they you will know that qipaos evolved from Manchu robes, and the very original sleeves were “hoof-cuffed” (ie. very tight around the wrists) long sleeves. Over the Qing dynasty, they were influenced by Han clothing, and the sleeves became extremely wide long sleeves.

In the 1920s, qipaos gained quite a distinctive flapper flair, and bell shapes in a variety of lengths became popular, especially those with a scalloped or embellished edge. In the 1930s and 40s, sleeves became more minimal and straight, and in the summer times they became very short. Although you can see from the he qipaos in Lust, Caution that even the shortest sleeves of the era still extended past the shoulder tips and armpits for modesty.

It’s important to know that from the Qing dynasty through to the 30s and 40s, sleeves were all grown-on – ie, cut in one piece with the body of the qipao, with no shoulder seam. This is quite different from the set-in sleeves used on almost all clothing today, where the sleeves are attached separately to the shoulder. Grown-on sleeves were also very popular in the West in the 1950s, on blouses to match the full circle skirts, and they generally have some loose fabric around the shoulders to allow for movement.

It was not until the Hong Kong qipao era of the 50s and 60s that set-in sleeves became popular, and a true sleeveless style became acceptable. You can see that the sleeveless qipaos from In the Mood for Love have a straight vertical cut at the shoulders, and the cap sleeves are set-in which allows for a much closer fit.

My personal favorite sleeve is actually a set-in narrow three-tenths length（三分袖）sleeve that ends just above the elbow. It is a little bit more demure than the average short sleeve, and I find a perfect balance for a longer dress length.

Qipao part 6: Length and side slits (长度和开衩/長度和開衩)

Qipaos have historically been popular in a range of lengths. As mentioned above, the 1920s qipaos were influenced by flappers, and so dress lengths ranged from below the knee to mid-calf, just like their flapper counterparts. As qipaos of this era were not yet very body-hugging, and some used techniques such as pleats in the skirt, side slits were not yet prevalent.

Towards the end of the 20s, skirts became more narrow, and so short side slits which start at or below the knees became popular by way of practicality.  By the mid 1930s, the golden era of qipao, qipaos became floor-length, and side slits crept up to the thighs, creating a very sensual silhouette.

From the 1940s and beyond, qipaos again decreased in length. From the 1940s-60s, below the knee and mid-calf were common lengths (see latter qipaos from Lust, Caution and qipaos from In the Mood for Love). And as qipaos tended to be quite fitted in this era, slits tended to start above the knee for ease of movement.

Today many people like to wear their qipaos above the knee as they consider this a more contemporary look. I still personally prefer either below the knee or mid-calf, as I think this balances better with the “heavier” top half of a qipao with its mandarin collar and pankous. I also think this length provides a more elegant, elongated silhouette. And if you want something sexy, adjust the height of the slits – to me that flash of thigh is a lot more captivating than revealing all of the knee, but it is all up to you at the end of day.

 

Well, this has been a rather long post, if you are still reading, thank you for getting through to the end! As I wrote at the very beginning, I will try to continue updating the information here as I delve deeper into the world of qipao, and I would like to also ask you to help me. If you have any information and think it should be included, please email me or leave a comment to let me know.

As I already mentioned in the article above, many of you who are reading this article would probably also be interested in the history of the qipao, which I detailed in four parts previously and can be accessed here: Qing dynasty – 1910s, 1910s-1920s, 1930s, 1940s and beyond. Recently, my posts on qipao history were cited in The Atlantic in an article which discusses cultural appropriation and I think quite an interesting read. 

Lastly, I would love for you to join me on my journey of qipaos, and sign up to our newsletters below. Thank you!