Chinese Dress: From the Qing Dynasty to the Present Day

I used this book as a key resource for one of my final papers for my Chinese Arts class during my master’s degree. My topic was about buzi and chaozhu. This book really brought key ideas into my paper and also very good visual representations of the clothing items. I will definitely use this as a resource again in the future and I also recommend reading this book just for pleasure. Thank you!

This book is well written and researched! It is an in depth look at Imperial Chinese clothing from the Qing Dynasty. The images are spectacular!

Marvelous in its breadth and scope, Valery Garrett regals the reader with over three hundred years of Chinese dress and its historical context. Evident is the author's passion for the beautiful garments worn in China's last dynasty to the present. This phenomenal book is a welcome addition to scholars and collectors alike and should be required reading for those interested in Chinese art and history.

Love most of the pages in color and show the costumes in details

This book is very good value for the price. It is a nice size and has lots of high quality photos of clothing artifacts. All of the chapters are interesting, even the ones I initially thought I wouldn't be that interested in. The layout is nice too. I enjoyed reading this book a lot, aside from the following caveats: Although this book is the 2019 edition, it only covers up to 2006 and the chapter on modern fashions is limited. The author makes it sound like Chinese today have totally forgone traditional Chinese clothing and customs, which is inaccurate. The author doesn't even talk about the Hanfu Movement's revival of traditional Chinese clothing amongst young people. There have also been revivals of traditional crafts and fabrics, but it's not mentioned. The success of Chinese designers is measured by whether or not they are a worldwide brand, so she concludes that Chinese designers are not successful. Guo Pei is not even mentioned. Another thing that surprised me was that the author perpetuates the racist stereotype: "The Chinese are masters of copying but can be short on originality, probably as a result of past history...Regulations governed dress in feudal China...so traditional dress changed very little. There was not much freedom of expression for improvisation. Styles did not go out of fashion." What? The whole book just showed amazing creativity and craftsmanship, rich traditions and beliefs, from only the most recent times...and then she says that there's no originality or creativity?! If you look at the entire clothing history of China, there is so much creativity! There are a few noticeable spelling errors throughout the book. I expected more from Tuttle Publishing in this regard.

A comprehensive work on Chinese textiles in the last Dynasty of China and the early 20th Century which is profusely illustrated. It is an excellent book for any collector or person interested in this field. Highly recommended. This book doesn't repeat information which has been previously published but gives a fresh view.

A an excellent and beautifully illustrated book on Chinese costume covering the last 350 years

Wikipedia has more "text" on Chinese dress, especially 20th century, than does this book.

Sehr schönes Buch ! :)

Cet ouvrage est très complet pour les passionnés.je recommande vivement.

Excellent research material

Love this book! After binge watching the amazing tv series Ruyi’s love in the royal palace, I wanted to learn more about the different costumes. There are lots of great pictures and enough information to give you a good start in understanding the complicated dress codes of the Qing dynasty through to more modern Chinese fashion. Would recommend!

very useful for who study qing dynasty.