…Musings of a modern day qipao (or cheongsam) addict…
Reviving stories and history of the traditional Chinese dress;
sharing inspiration & ideas for a qipao wardrobe today.
I’m Miranda. Born in China and grew up in Australia, moved all around the world a little and for the moment call Shanghai home.
I have always loved dresses, and had always been a little bit infatuated with these dresses called qipaos (or in Cantonese, cheongsams). But it was not until I saw Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love that I became quite obsessed.
To me, qipaos are elegant yet seductive; demure but provocative; timeless, ageless, and simply beautiful.
The pankou is the traditional Chinese knot button that holds qipaos together, and the namesake of this website. I started thepankou in part selfishly to indulge in this obsession, but also in part because I could find few very good resources in English about these dresses. So I wanted to create a place to learn, share and uncover things about the qipao, without being bound by the Chinese language. Of course I also could not resist sharing a little bit of my vintage collection, and a little bit about my life.
Please, enjoy my journey and my stories. And please also accomodate my self indulgence a little – I do it for the love of the dresses.
A few other facts about me –
one: I almost always wear dresses and heels, even in winter. The reason is simple – I look better in dresses than trousers or shorts. I believe in wearing things that I look good in.
two: People always ask me about the size of my wardrobe because they are under the impression that I have an enormous collection of clothes. But my wardrobe really is not that big. Based on my observation over the years, the size of an average person’s wardrobe does not really vary too much (I mean, most of you have the wardrobe space of 1 or 2 bedrooms, right?). So it really is not the size of the wardrobe that matters, but what proportion of clothes are actually worn from the wardrobe. I think in a good year, I wear 90% of my wardrobe.
three: In our Shanghai apartment, we house two adults, two dogs (Rocky the French Bull and Pippa the adopted shaggy terrior-mix-of-kinds), one cat (Kirin) and a recently added baby (Celine). Oh, how I miss my single life.
four: In a former life I was a strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, but I’ve spent my more recent working life in fashion. My last job was a buyer at Louis Vuitton. I did my MBA at Harvard Business School.
Well, that’s about it. If you have any questions, comments, or have something about qipao (or anything else) you’d like to share with me, email me – miranda(at)thepankou.com
P.S. thepankou.com will soon be releasing a small, curated range of qipaos, designed and made with techniques true to the qipao heritage, yet interpreted for the contemporary woman. There will be some simple, versatile pieces for everyday, and also some detailed, intricate pieces for those special occasions. I would love to share this range with you, so please leave your name and details below –