Man wants to make Qipao dress for his wife, masters techniques to become inheritor

Jin Yi, a man from Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, who used to be a civil engineer, has became a Qipao craftsman as he initially wanted to make a Qipao dress for his wife and then began devoting himself to carrying forward the Qipao culture.

Jin Yi (left) and an experienced dressmaker learn details about a Qipao dress. (yangtse.com/courtesy of the interviewee)

Jin started learning how to make Qipao dresses in 2006, as he wanted to make it more convenient for his girlfriend (now his wife), who is a Pingtan artist, to get a suitable Qipao dress to wear when she performs on stage. Pingtan is a combination of storytelling and ballad singing in the Suzhou dialect.

The woman previously had to go to other places to buy tailor-made Qipao dresses.

Jin had visited many townships in Suzhou to look for couturiers who could make Qipao dresses through the use of traditional techniques. However, he found that even some elderly dressmakers didn't know traditional skills.

Photo shows a knotted button on a Qipao dress. (yangtse.com/courtesy of the interviewee)

In 2007, Jin began collecting antique Qipao dresses hoping to learn more about the crafts from details on the dresses. Most of his collections have a history of between 74 and 111 years.

"In 2007, the Qipao culture was not as popular as it is today and an average antique Qipao dress costs about several hundred yuan," Jin said.

While collecting antique Qipao dresses, Jin also kept looking for experienced Qipao dressmakers. Eventually, he found one who made traditional clothing. The two had taken apart a number of antique Qipao dresses to be able to learn the craft through details, including the fabrics, binding, and knotted buttons.

Photo shows Jin Yi and a traditional Qipao dress he made. (yangtse.com/courtesy of the interviewee)

Jin said it takes less than a day to make a Qipao dress with a sewing machine. However, it takes two days for a dressmakers to finish the same by using traditional crafts.

"In the past, dressmakers didn't start to make knotted buttons with cords after the latter were ready, but used an iron plate to press the cords for one night and then sewed the cords into knotted buttons. Knotted buttons made in this way were believed to be sturdier," Jin introduced.

After mastering the traditional crafts, Jin started to make Qipao dresses himself. The first Qipao dress Jin made for his wife was a light-colored one with patterns of small black flowers on it.

Photo shows a Qipao dress made of silver thread. Jin spent 90,000 yuan for it. (yangtse.com/courtesy of the interviewee)

For over 10 years, Jin collected 630 antique Qipao dresses, including one in which he spent 90,000 yuan ($13,077). The fabric of the Qipao dress is made of silver thread and the owner of the dress was a celebrity in Shanghai.

Jin said he has used Yun brocade, silk fabrics and Song brocade, which are intangible cultural heritage items in Suzhou, as fabrics for Qipao dresses, hoping to breathe new life into the dresses.

The Qipao making craft mastered by Jin has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage item in Suzhou.