While the cheongsam, also known as qipao, is no longer a common sight on the streets of Chinese cities, the form-fitting dress is still worn at Chinese weddings, important ceremonies and in films.
From actress Anita Mui Yim-fong’s traditional cheongsams with butterfly prints in the film Rouge to the exquisite cheongsams worn by Tang Wei in Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution, the garment has played a role in some of the most memorable Chinese films. Here are five roles that celebrate the traditional garment.
1. Anita Mui in Rouge (1987)
Adapted from Lilian Li Pihua’s novel of the same name, the film depicts a tragic romance between famous courtesan Fleur, played by Mui, and wealthy playboy Chan Chen-pang, played by Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing.
Costume designer Lai Pan was inspired by wallpaper prints for the design of the cheongsams worn by Mui, as revealed by the film’s director, Stanley Kwan Kam-Pang, in an interview.
The cheongsams that Fleur wears when she’s a highly sought after courtesan feature bright flowers, while they become plain and simple once she is shunned. Rouge won the award for best costume design at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Festival in 1987.
2. Maggie Cheung Man-yuk in In the Mood for Love (2000)
Maggie Cheung wowed global audiences with her role as lonely wife Su Li-zhen in Wong Kar-wai’s art house classic In the Mood for Love, in which she dresses in no less than 23 custom-made cheongsams.
“Chinese women look the most beautiful when dressed in cheongsams,” Cheung said in an interview with the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. “The curves of the female body are perfectly outlined and the neck appears much more slender.”
For the film, a series of flamboyant cheongsams were created from old floral dresses by master tailor Leung Long-gwong, whose clothing shop remains open in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
3. Gong Li in Eros: The Hand (2005)
Gong Li stars as social butterfly Miss Hua in Eros: The Hand. Miss Hua develops a relationship with shy cheongsam tailor Zhang, played by Taiwanese actor Chang Chen.
When making cheongsams for Miss Hua, tailor Zhang sews hidden messages of love into the necklines, armholes and hems of the outfits.
Through her cheongsams, the film successfully expresses the love and desire between the two protagonists.
4. Tang Wei in Lust, Caution (2007)
After Rouge, Lai Pan won Taiwan’s Golden Horse Award again for his make-up and costume design work on Lust, Caution in 2007. In the film, Tang Wei’s Wong Chia-chi wears 27 cheongsams in two different styles.
When Wong is still a schoolgirl, her cheongsams are plain cotton and loose fitting, but when she becomes the bait to lure a traitor into a trap, her cheongsams are made with ornately printed silk or satin and are closely fitted.
Lai Pan occasionally pairs Tang’s cheongsams with tailored trench coats, chic hats and elegant heels.
5. Ni Ni in The Flowers of War (2011)
Young Chinese actress Ni Ni rose to fame with her performance as patriotic prostitute Mo Yu in The Flowers of War. Led by Mo, a group of prostitutes sacrifice their own lives to protect a group of schoolgirls during the brutal Nanking massacre in wartime China.
Always dressed in gorgeous cheongsams, the prostitutes’ outfits contrast with the clothes worn by citizens of the occupied city.
The most striking cheongsam worn by Mo is made of crimson red cotton and features a large peacock and blue flowers. She often pairs this particularly alluring cheongsam with a leopard-print fur coat.
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