iLos Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)Miracle Mile
Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity
This exhibition has ended.
More than 70 ensembles trace a century of Chinese women's dress, from late Qing embroidered robes to 1930s qipao and the 1960s cheongsam. BCAM, Level 2.
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Every mannequin has the same creamy ivory face and hairstyle, 3D-printed and customised by Jason Wu, and most wear no handbag, hat, earring or parasol.
More than 70 ensembles run from embroidered late Qing robes through 1930s qipao to the 1960s cheongsam. Most come from Chere Lai Mah, who kept her mother's and mother-in-law's wardrobes for over 45 years before giving them to LACMA. If you're sitting on a relative's boxes in a Glendale garage, she is the professional version. A 1929 "Chinese Fashion Show" film plays in the penultimate gallery, and the last room shows The Toll of the Sea (1922), a 55-minute silent with Anna May Wong.
Easy Reader called most of the ensembles "jaw-dropping gorgeous" and missed the wigs and accessories. It's a show to look at, with the catalogue for detail. It closes Monday 12 October. BCAM Level 2, included with general admission ($30), and open until 8pm on Fridays.
Editor's pick
More than 70 ensembles, a century of Chinese women's dress from late Qing embroidered robes to the 1930s qipao and the 1960s cheongsam, on Level 2 of BCAM.
Look for
Manchu-style informal robe, c.1900
A late Qing robe from China, shown on one of the Jason Wu mannequins.
Jacket and skirt (aoqun), Shanghai, c.1927
A two-piece ensemble made in Shanghai in the late 1920s.
The qipao group
Shanghai qipao from around 1930 and the early 1930s, one with a matching jacket, beside a 1939-40 dress.
The 1929 Chinese Fashion Show
Film of a fashion show filmed on 4 March 1929, projected on a wall in the penultimate gallery.
The Toll of the Sea (1922)
A 55-minute silent film in colour with Anna May Wong, which you can sit and watch in the last room.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- Going Solo
Skip if
You want to see how the clothes move: they are on static, unaccessorised mannequins.
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Image credits
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- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)ArchEyes Magazine / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- Screenwriting: Takes on LA NoirCourtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood IconCourtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Studio Ghiblis PONYOCourtesy of Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
- Academy Museum of Motion PicturesDowntowngal / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Petersen Automotive MuseumDavid Zaitz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Craft ContemporaryPaul Esposito / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain