Do you know that people’s clothes are so different from 500 years and 50 years ago? On this webpage, you are going to know more about people’s clothes in the past. You may compare these with your own clothes to see the differences.

1. Clothing:
Past and present
Do you know that people’s clothes are so different from 500
years and 50 years ago? On this webpage, you are going to
know more about people’s clothes in the past. You may compare
these with your own clothes to see the differences.

2. 500 years ago

3. Clothing 500 years ago
The clothing for women in the Ming Dynasty consisted mainly of gowns,
coats, rosy capes, over-dresses with or without sleeves, and skirts.
The formal dress for commoners could only be made of coarse purple
cloth. Gowns could only in light colors like purple, green and pink. They
shouldn’t use crimson, reddish blue or yellow. These colours were for
the people of nobility.
The poor wore cotton clothes while the rich people wore silk clothes.
Their garments in the front were decorated with gold, jade, or pearl.

5. 50 years ago

6. Clothing 50 years ago
In Hong Kong, women wore the cheongsam (or qipao) every day until the
late 1960s. The cheongsam became tighter than before in the 1960s.
The most common material to make cheongsam was cotton and silk. As
for the colour, people thought cheongsams in blue, dark purple, red and
black were more graceful and beautiful than those of other colours.
After the late 1960s, more and more people in Hong Kong wore western
clothing like shirts and trousers, but the cheongsam continued to
survive as uniforms for students, waitresses, and brides.

7. Cheongsam in the 1960s
blue cheongsam
(left)
School uniform
cheongsam (right)

8. Now

9. Clothing nowadays
Today people wear clothes of any kinds they want and any colours they
like. The fashion trend changes every month and every year. There are
fashion shows telling the trends on the Internet. Besides cotton and
silk, there are many kinds of fabrics too, such as linen, canvas and
polyester.