An analysis of ladies' normal dressing and their appreciation of clothes and accessories in Song dynasty = 宋代仕女的日常衣飾及相關審美觀探析

Abstract

Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history. It is divided into two distinct periods-Northern and Southern. Ladies' normal dressing in Song dynasty is very different from the one in Tang dynasty for various reasons. This paper will analyze the dressing style and the aesthetics for clothes and accessories in both periods of Song dynasty. In an overview, ladies' dressing style was simple and elegant while they preferred luxurious hair accessories. Ladies in the era dressed in way such that they appear elegant, slim, and fragile. The ladies in Song dynasty liked to wear clothing pieces that were like waistcoat with relatively long hemline and long sleeves outside of mo' xiong, the women’s underwear. This dressing style makes the ladies look slimmer and weaker. On the other hand, ladies in Song dynasty wore massive, highly decorative headwear and tall, complicated hair styles. In fact, some headwear mounted to an impressive height of more than three feet. Besides tall headwear and hair accessories, ladies at that time also wore wigs that resembled chignons. The wigs also made ladies appear taller. Ladies took much care about the details in their appearance. For instance, they used gold decors to cover hems. Ladies' dressing and hair styles in Song dynasty demonstrated their personal tastes.