Work it sister: The Chinese qipao is back
When Wang Weiyu was a little girl growing up in Shanghai, she’d often admire her mother’s sophisticated style and glamorous wardrobe. But, when her time came to don the stylish Chinese qipao, it was prohibited to wear anything other than the drab blue and grey garb of that era.
Now, at age 62, she’s proving it’s never too late to look beautiful. Wang has created the Qipao Club for her Shanghai peers (the average member is about 55) that celebrates the Chinese qipao and everything that comes with it: the glamour, the etiquette and the chance to feel like a lady.
“We may be old, but we still want to wear beautiful dresses and celebrate Chinese culture,” she says.
Club culture
The club, which launched about three years ago, now has more than 300 members who participate in monthly meetings and excursions to locales ranging from Suzhou to Taiwan. Sometimes, the women will don their multi-colored dresses and parade down the streets of Shanghai in style.
The concept sprang from a volunteer position teaching etiquette and culture that Wang, a Japanese-language instructor by training, performed at a community center. The majority of the all-female students were between the ages of 45 and 60.
“Most of them didn’t have a high level of education, and felt like they were lower class,” she says. “They wanted to learn manners and etiquette.”
Wang saw a need for Shanghai’s seniors to experience something they’d missed during their youth. “I always liked the Chinese qipao but there was never an opportunity for me to wear it,” says member Chen Ling. “If I were to wear it alone on the street, it would be pretty strange.” That all changed when Chen caught a glimpse of the Chinese qipao club strutting their stuff on Nanjing Lu. She joined the club ,now holds a club leadership role, and has nearly two dozen gowns of her own.
Going back in time
For member Zhang Jing Hua, the club is about confidence. When wearing the dress, “it makes you feel like a woman,” she explained, as she showed off her black and white floral Chinese qipao. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
At club meetings, members don their Chinese qipaos, and prepare songs and dances that accentuate the dress’ style. Often, they’ll play famous Chinese ballads like “Ye Lai Xiang” (夜来香) while members twirl around the stage like young girls in a beauty pageant.
Along with celebrating the stylish frock, lectures on good manners are also part of the meetings’ agenda. Wang instructs members on how to speak and eat slowly, smile, and sit up straight -- the posture that’s most flattering on the tightly fitted garment.
Wang says her club members often confide in her that the club has changed the way they feel about themselves, or even how their husbands look at them.
“They feel confident and beautiful now,” she explains. “It’s the charm of the Chinese qipao.”
Looking ahead
The club’s mission transcends the individual; their goal is also to spread Shanghai culture to China and beyond. Afterall, as Wang is quick to point out, Shanghai is the home of the qipao. Next year, they’ll take the club on the road to Japan and have an exhibit at the Shanghai Expo.
Wang admits she’s happy about the club’s success, but, true to her etiquette teachings, she doesn’t take too much credit.
“The women’s beauty was already there,” she says. “I just helped them discover it.”
getting there
Qipao Club
Wang Laoshi, +86 130 4566 2732
www.sh-qpsl.com
