The cheongsam, from swinging Shanghai to Suzie Wong to slit thigh-high

Introduced by the ruling Manchus during the Qing dynasty, the cheongsam (or qipao) is today one of the most recognised Chinese dress styles.

The first cheongsams were loose and covered almost the entire body, and the modern version dates from 1920s Shanghai. The influence of Western fashion at that time saw the cheongsam get shorter, sexier and more revealing of the wearer’s figure. Tailored tight to the body, it became the form-fitting design we know today.

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The new style quickly caught on with the upper classes, and became standard wear for Chinese women in the years that followed. In China, it took the Cultural Revolution and the Mao suit to bring its reign to a shuddering halt.

Beyond China, hit 1960 film The World of Suzie Wong, with its sexy lead character, played by Nancy Kwan, thrust the modern cheongsam into popular consciousness. The form-fitting versions, slit dangerously high, that Kwan wore on screen inspired copies worldwide, and still to this day provide a reference point for some of fashion’s biggest designers –– Hong Kong’s Shanghai Tang has been a faithful supporter of the cheongsam. Among the fashion houses to have featured cheongsams in their recent collections are Ralph Lauren (2011), Gucci (2012), Louis Vuitton (2011) and Emilio Pucci (2013).

Of the Hong Kong tailors making cheongsams, Linva Tailors in Central district have been turningn them out since the 1960s. Linva made cheongsams for the Hong Kong film In The Mood For Love (see below). Master tailor Leung Ching-wah took up an apprenticeship when he was 12. “There’s no point in making a cheongsam if it’s not made in the most traditional way, no point in making it if it’s not beautiful,” Leung said.

“In the 1950s and ’60s everyone wore a cheongsam, but after the 1970s, when the Western influence kicked in, they became unpopular,” he said.