Dresses have been one of the most commonly used clothing since ancient times
In ancient times, both men and women of the Han ethnic group wore deep clothing with long hair and a top connected to the lower garment. The waist tied clothing of ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Mesopotamian region all had the basic form of a dress, which could be worn by both men and women, with only differences in specific details.
In Europe, until the First World War, the mainstream of women’s clothing was dresses, which were used as formal attire for various ceremonial occasions. After World War I, due to the increasing participation of women in social work, the types of clothing were no longer limited to dresses, but still remained an important form of clothing. As for formal dresses, they mostly appear in the form of dresses. With the development of the times, the variety of dresses is also increasing.
In the pre Qin period, people generally wore deep clothing, which can be seen as a variant of dresses.
In 1973, a batch of 11 complete cotton robes with various colored silk fabrics were unearthed from the No.1 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan. Among them, 4 belonged to the continuous lapel and straight train style cotton robe (i.e. deep robe). Shen Yi is one of the clothing styles made by the Han and Qin dynasties, which actually sews the top and bottom together, similar to today’s dresses. Due to the deep body, it is named “Shen Yi”. Here, it should be noted that the ancient lower garment is different from the skirts worn by women today. It is somewhat similar to the aprons of later generations, and of course, pants are still worn inside the garment. This type of pants has no crotch or waist, only two cuffs tied to the waist with straps, and all the intimate parts are covered by clothing.
The evolution of deep clothing went through two processes: first, the use of a “curved train”. Before the emergence of deep clothing, people’s clothes were divided into upper and lower sections, namely tops and lower garments. Clothes, robes, and underwear are each responsible for their respective duties, and the collar and hem are not related to each other. Later, due to the removal of the apron, the lower part of the garment became difficult to handle: if there were slits on both sides of the hem, it was inevitable that spring would suddenly appear; If not slit, it will inevitably affect walking. To solve this contradiction, ancient people came up with a method of concealing the “curved train”, which is to lengthen the collar to form a triangle, wrap it around the back when wearing, tie it with a belt, and look like a swallow tail from the back. This way, it is both convenient to walk and there is no risk of exposure. When people’s underwear is perfected, it develops into a “straight train”. Compared to traditional tops and undershirts, wearing this deep garment is much simpler and more suitable. So, in the pre Qin period, it was the household attire of feudal lords, officials, and scholars, as well as the formal attire of ordinary people.
The crimson gauze, printed with colors, continued with lapels, straight skirts, and cotton deep clothing were unearthed from the No.1 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha. The length of the garment is 130 centimeters, the length of the sleeve is 236 centimeters, the width of the sleeve is 41 centimeters, the width of the cuffs is 30 centimeters, the waist is 48 centimeters, the hem is 57 centimeters wide, the collar is 29 centimeters wide, and the hem is 38 centimeters wide. Its clothing style includes a cross collar, a right lapel, a bearded sleeve, and a straight train. The sleeves and hem are both adorned with large wide edges. This piece of clothing has a major feature, which is a wide extended lapel, that is, the lapel (formerly known as “lapel”) is embedded in the lower part of the skirt from the armpit, straight and flush with the hem, as if it is a continuation of the right lapel, hence the name “extended lapel”. This style of deep clothing with a wide edge and straight train was popular in the Changsha area of the Western Han Dynasty, but it maintained the previous straight train form, which was to adapt to the “curved train” form just introduced at that time. It can wrap a wide collar around the back and tie it tightly with a belt, providing warmth in winter.
The fabric of this deep garment is transparent yarn (a lightweight plain silk fabric with square holes), with a warp and weft yarn size of 10.2 deniers, and the silk warp is very fine. Due to its close warp and weft density, the texture of the yarn is relatively dense.
The dyeing process of this garment is also very outstanding. The fabric has a crimson background color. This crimson color is dyed by matchmaking with madder, and to this day, it is still incredibly bright. Printing and painting on a crimson gauze, known as the printing and coloring technique by ancient people. The patterns printed on it are deformation patterns of vine plants, using pigments such as vermilion, pink, silver gray, gold, brown gray, black, etc. Through a combination of printing and painting techniques, flowers, leaves, buds, and flower buds are made. Finally, cloud and water patterns and dots are drawn in pink and white, with clear and gorgeous flower patterns.
When wearing this garment, the inner lapel covers the left armpit, the outer lapel folds to the right side, and the bottom hem forms a trumpet shape. Hands flat, the large beards hang in an arc, and the clothing pattern shows the appearance of today’s bat sleeves. Before the Middle Ages, most Western skirts belonged to dresses. After the 16th century, tops and skirts gradually separated. After World War I, the mainstream of women’s clothing continued to be dresses. The types of dresses have become diverse. From the mid-16th century to the early 20th century, Western boys typically wore long robes or dresses during their childhood.
