During this research process I was reminded of how much the culture of China intrigues me. The society was so structured, so formal, and yet the clothing had a movement to it that undermined the rigidity of China’s social hierarchy. In its clothes China stuck to an axiom that is extant in many cultures of the Far East, beauty in nature. The Ancient Chinese people moved and worked with nature; sometimes shaping it to their will, and sometimes allowing the natural beauty of the substance to flow through. With fabric the natural properties of it create a beautiful draping effect that is often lost in today’s world. Designers today often create beautiful garments where the natural properties of the fabric are overshadowed by the structure the designers imbue. In Han China the fabric spoke, the flowing silks were left long, and allowed to drag along the ground in an effect considered most elegant. The thin layers of the silk were worn three or four levels thick to create warmth, and the thicker silk brocades were woven into exquisite floor length coats that were delicate and exquisite. The Han people’s understanding and appreciation for silk was quite unparalleled in the ancient world. During this process I ran into many different stumbling blocks. First, during the research it became difficult to precisely pinpoint the exact period of clothing. Most Dynasties of Ancient China were ruled by the Han people and for this reason the designs of different Dynasties are often very similar, and as you get further back in history the exact style is relatively unknown. During the creation process I realized too late that I was out of graphite paper, and then had to improvise my graphite paper. The presentation was a lot different then I had anticipated, as there were only three people in the room, and therefore my idea of passing around the silk to compare the different types did not occur as easily as I thought it would.
