Silk & brocade
With a silk qipao or brocade cheongsam, choose the cloth first and the cut second.
Three cloths worth knowing
Silk crepe
Pebbly and matte. It drapes close and is kinder to curves than shiny satin.
Brocade
The pattern is woven in. Nanjing yunjin, Suzhou Song brocade and Sichuan Shu brocade are the famous three. Its stiffness holds the shape.
Xiangyunsha
Silk from Shunde, Guangdong, dyed with dye yam and coated in river mud. Glossy black outside, brown inside, crisp and cool.
Good brocade is woven, never printed.
How to judge one
Silk & brocade
Hand-picked pieces are on the way.
Good to know
How can I tell if a qipao is real silk?
Ask for the fiber content first. To test at home, take one thread from an inside seam, hold it in tweezers over a sink and light it. Silk smells like burning hair and crumbles. Polyester melts into a hard bead.
How do you store a silk qipao?
Hang it on a wide padded hanger in a breathable cloth bag, away from sun. Folds crack old silk over time, and plastic traps damp.
What fabric is a qipao made of?
Traditionally silk, brocade, velvet or cotton. Many cheap ones today are polyester satin. For summer, choose silk crepe or xiangyunsha, since brocade is dense and usually fully lined.
