Cheongsam

or Qi-pao. Dress of the Chinese folk tradition, in pure Suzy Wong style. In smooth or worked silk, with jacquard or flower patterns, it is very tight to the body, with a mandarin neck and buttons, or frogs and fabric buttons, cut diagonally from the base of the neck to the armhole, and almost always very short. There are deep slits on the side of the skirt or a single deep slit which comes up to the hip. Sometimes the hem and trim are in a different color. Very feminine, it was worn by Jennifer Jones in the tearjerker movie Love Is A Many Splendored Thing (1955) which won an Oscar for the costumes by Charles le Maire. In the more recent 1990s, it has displayed the beauty of Gong Li, in films from Ju Dou to Raise The Red Lantern. It has more than once been used by western designers for short Summer dresses or long evening wear.