In the past three years, Lian Ziyi has collected more than 100 clothing items, spanning nearly a hundred years, showing his past spirit and stories in sharing.
No matter through the impromptu data records in Weibo or the textual research articles on clothing history in the official WeChat account "Phase I Law", people have learned a lot about the fashion trends of clothing and makeup in the Republic of China, and also remembered the precious video moments of actresses at that time.
From the first FA of Lian Zilian's official WeChat account, people can learn about the dress and makeup aesthetics in the Republic of China.
However, Lian Zilian herself has always maintained a mysterious feeling of resolutely not showing up. Some people say that she may be an old gentleman in the collection field, and some people think that she is a fashionable woman from his own retro decorative painting style, Weibo.
As a matter of fact, Lian Zilian is a young man born in 1994. He studied clothing in college. He doesn't like to show himself, and he is particularly talkative only when it comes to the history of collection and clothing.
Lian Zilian said that his hobby is spontaneous, and what he is doing now can't be called "traditional cultural revival". After all, this topic is too big. He is more accustomed to calling himself a "fashion porter of the Republic of China", carrying old clothes home in the form of collection, and then carrying the records in the materials of the Republic of China to social media in the form of words.
Even the illustrations for Weibo's head.
Although he developed a profound part in the process of loving the fashion of the Republic of China, everything went back to the starting point, which was just a minority hobby of subculture youth against loneliness. When more and more people are interested in traditional aesthetics, he is also willing to share his fun with more people.
The following is Lian Zizheng's self-report-
I am a senior in 20 17, and decided to do my undergraduate thesis in the direction of "Fashion Research in the Republic of China". I like modern fashion very much. Since high school, I will often take the high-speed train from my hometown of Shandong to Beijing and go to the China Film Archive to watch the precious films of the Republic of China. From the beginning of the broadcast, I stared at the clothes of the characters on the screen, such as what the actors wear when they get up, what they wear at home, and what shoes they change when they go out, including indoor furnishings and scene structure. Looking at them, I forgot the usual routine and heavy schoolwork. I have seen the movie "Return from 65438 to 0934", which is Ruan's masterpiece that has never been published. That was the first time I saw many sets of cheongsam in Ruan Yuling. This is really satisfying.
For the research of my graduation thesis, I started my first costume in the third year of high school. Since then, my interest in collecting old clothes has been out of control.
What impressed me the most was that in 20 19, an antique dealer contacted me and said that an old man in Shanghai needed dialysis because of kidney disease, but the medical expenses were very expensive, so he could only sell the clothes that his mother had left at home for a century. It's a gorgeous 1920s inverted sleeve top with a huge leaf pattern covered with ice crack shading and a texture like gold foil. This is a very tense design, and it is conceivable that the wearer used to be a very bold and fashionable woman. The old man must also love his mother deeply to keep her clothes intact.
The workmanship and aesthetic value of clothing are real, and the story behind it seems not so difficult to test. From the almost perfect appearance of this dress, I can feel the affection of the old man when he kept his mother's clothes, and I am also willing to help the old man tide over the difficulties.
The brocade long vest collected by Lian Zi-pheasant1in the mid-1920s is said to come from Li Hongzhang's old house. A hundred years later, its details are still gorgeous.
I will pay more attention to the aesthetic value of clothes than winning by quantity. My collection is mainly concentrated in the Republic of China, from cheongsam and coats to men's suits, including ties, shoes, bags and other small clothes. In three years, I collected more than 100 items. From the mid-period of 1920s, geometric pattern dresses with patterns influenced by western decorative art styles; By the end of11920s and the beginning of 1930s, cheongsam and western-style dresses were combined to improve fashionable dresses; There is also Mr. Zhou Shoujuan, a representative writer of "Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School", whose embroidered brocade flows out of his Suzhou mansion.
Through the antique clothes with good appearance, we can see the fashion taste and living conditions of people in the old society. But it is not so easy to find the ideal antique.
First, channels. In the west and Japan, there is a systematic "sellers are experts" retro clothing collection market, and they can give relatively standardized prices according to the appearance and age of retro clothing. Our retro clothing collection mainly depends on the antique market, but it is not as valued as other categories. Due to the lack of professional sources and practitioners, it is more luck and fate to collect retro clothes of the Republic of China in China at present.
Young people don't cherish it, and it's even harder to collect it. Many descendants reject antique clothes left by the elderly at home, and some even call them "clothes of the dead". In the past few years, good goods have often been sold very cheaply. After nearly 100 years, most of these textiles have become very fragile now. There are also antique clothes that use unprofessional lighting. After a month's exhibition, the front of the clothes has obviously faded because of the light. People who buy it don't know how to save it, which also makes people feel distressed.
Strangeness is one of the main reasons why people didn't feel aesthetic in the Republic of China. When I was a fashion major in college, the textbook History of Modern Fashion in China was only two pages. Many people used "takenism" to summarize the fashion design at that time. In fact, compared with the two sets of parallel clothing systems developed in Japan and South Korea at the same time, the combination of Chinese and Western in the Republic of China just showed our "modern aesthetics", and this unique aesthetic phenomenon is helpful to explain China's modern ideological trend and history.
It is my personal hobby to establish my own collection system of ancient costumes, but I hope to enjoy China's modern aesthetics with more people through the display of old clothes and the output of related contents.
Lian Zilian was deeply fascinated by the aesthetic tendency reflected in the films of the Republic of China. The picture shows the movie star taking pictures at 1940s.
From about 20 15, I began to record my observations on the fashion of the Republic of China on Weibo, and share my favorite fashion history materials, antique clothes collection pictures and other short contents. At that time, the records were improvised and fragmented, and they were happier, more like building a private interest database.
June 5438+October 2020 10, I founded the "first issue FA" of WeChat WeChat official account, and integrated and extended my interests for many years with long articles. For example, I discussed five eyebrow shapes in 1934, and the topic of1long earring modeling, shoulder pads, manicure and lip makeup in the early 1930s. Every time it is a small incision, try to avoid generalizations.
However, the writing of long articles can be said to have no pain at all, especially the search of historical documents, which took a lot of effort.
It often takes many days to write a 5000-word WeChat official account article. For example, once I wanted to write "shoulder pads". Judging from the antique clothes and old materials that have been preserved, strong female aesthetics will be more popular during the war, so many women like exaggerated shoulder contours during the Republic of China. However, because the words used in the old description are different from those used now, the word "shoulder pad" rarely appears directly in the past written materials. Once I looked through the data for several hours before I found a description of the "flat and wide" inverted triangle shoulder profile.
In addition, there are not many effective materials available to the public, because my partner is a graduate student of Beijing Institute of Fashion, and I can make use of the precious university books and archives provided by him, but it is difficult for ordinary people to obtain them. Moreover, both periodicals and books of the Republic of China are mostly physical books or scanned copies, and most of them are not searchable cursor words, so you often need to read the whole book to know if there is any information you want. Sometimes it is very difficult to read because of the damage of ancient books.
During the Republic of China, "flat and wide" shoulder pads were popular among women.
Therefore, I deeply feel how important it is to convey the valuable information I have sorted out and excavated in a way that is acceptable to everyone.
Fortunately, after years of collection and sorting, I have established a huge database in large and small folders on my hard disk. From high-quality old photos, monthly materials, antique clothing collections, to the comparison of Chinese and western materials, every time I determine a topic, I will choose the part I need from the vast amount of materials. Now, there are more than 70 thousand pictures and materials in my mobile phone. I will look through them at any time during the ride to get new inspiration.
The owners of antique clothes are real people, and their stories constitute the history of the Republic of China. How did people dress at that time, how did people live at that time, and what modern young people don't know much about is what I want to express through collection and textual research.
Textual research and sharing are good, but I gradually found something was wrong.
"Traditional aesthetics" has become a very serious topic. Some people who have the ability of textual research or make further progress in recovery tend to have a sense of superiority, and then reject those who just wear traditional clothes and catch up with the trend of "Chinese style" and think they are "unprofessional" In other words, the power to be attracted just because of beauty is deprived.
A few days ago, I shared a female advertisement picture of 1940 on Weibo. Two young women in the picture are wearing one-piece swimsuits and smiling in the sea. I rated this picture as "healthy beauty", but it was immediately questioned, because the war of aggression against China broke out in an all-round way in 1940, and some people would think that saying healthy beauty at this time would have a feeling of "why not eat minced meat".
However, it also shows that readers have higher requirements for me. Next time I share, I will try my best to combine the background of the times and make a richer explanation. However, I am also rethinking that in that war-torn era when hunger was everywhere, the desire for vigorous bodybuilding once existed more strongly. Pure praise of beauty can only be elite taste.
Lian Zilian shared the advertising pictures of Moon brand painted by Hangzhou in 1960s+0940s in Weibo. Two young women in swimsuits are smiling in the waves. Behind them is the first aquarium in Asia, Qingdao Luxun Park, which opened to the public on May 8th. 1932. It is this painting that caused controversy in the comment area.
Some people think that the antique clothes that can be preserved to this day and the fashionable styles recorded in historical materials are often aristocratic. After all, the gorgeous and exquisite historical costumes and fashionable beauties on the cover of periodicals are people with high knowledge and high economic level, and the true state of the general public is often difficult to verify. This is really a problem.
Most of my antique clothes come from folk, and the materials of some clothes are not necessarily expensive, but I can still see the original owner's yearning and pursuit of fashion. For example, as mentioned earlier, people will pursue powerful shoulder pads during the war, and even those women who have no money to buy fashionable ready-made clothes will make shoulder pads and sew them to the shoulder position; Some old clothes also reflect the trend of shortening cheongsam. In wartime, in order to facilitate walking and labor, many women cut short their long skirts or fold them in. This pragmatic improvement formed the popular style at that time.
Therefore, although fashion is not a universal necessity for everyone to consume, the overall fashion trend of an era can well reflect the social characteristics and lifestyle at that time.
We have always thought that traditional aesthetics is fragile, but I am not worried that it will disappear, because the local complex of China people is very strong, which has also been confirmed in history. I read an article that the fashion in the Republic of China was a "fashion chaos period", during which thousands of years of clothing hierarchy collapsed, and people embraced western aesthetics when they moved towards modern aesthetics. Looking back at the development of clothing in the Republic of China, after collision and blending, it formed a fashion vein independent of the western clothing system, and through self-transformation again and again, it adapted to the new trend of the times and innovated people's clothing life.
Since 20 17, our environment has been promoting national culture and traditional customs. For example, programs such as "National Treasures" always emphasize topics such as "Belt and Road" and "Silk Road Revival". The museum's exhibition on the restoration of embroidered cultural relics and the opening of the new Hangzhou Silk Museum also present the changing history of costumes in a complete and modern way. These excellent exhibitions have brought a good opportunity for the public to get to know each other, which in turn triggered the current retro style and traditional clothing craze.
However, blindly following the trend has also caused some mixed performances, especially some businesses that simply feel profitable have produced a series of products that distort the history of clothing without much understanding. These wrong demonstrations will really affect people who lack judgment.
For example, when it comes to fashion in the Republic of China, many people will associate it with the "antique" cheongsam with prominent chest and curled back. Cheongsam in the Republic of China is actually a rebellion against the traditional feudal system. In addition, it also absorbed western aesthetics and patterns, and formed a completely different design from ancient costumes. Too much emphasis on "traditional sense" goes against the original intention of cheongsam.
/kloc-in the early 1940s, the figures of chariots and horses in the Han Dynasty embroidered double-breasted cheongsam, and the archaeological achievements of Han tombs in the Republic of China were embodied in fashion, which made the "antique" costumes in the war period more modern and collected by practicing calligraphy.
But I don't think understanding traditional aesthetics necessarily means copying it in modern fashion design. Once fashion was imagining the future, but now fashion often falls into the mire of imitating the past. We are sometimes moved by the wisdom and innovation of the ancients. It is this simple appreciation that is not good.
Therefore, more people should be encouraged to participate and discuss than to "protect" traditional culture intact in a certain circle. It's great to trigger some profound parts, but it's good to arouse people's interest in fashion history compared with high-sounding reasons.
Nowadays, groups of young people are active on online social platforms, sharing their understanding and practice of retro culture and aesthetics of the times. I hope more people like retro trends. Even if you just enjoy its shelter at first, it's not bad. Maybe one day you will "feed back" it.
Even though "Chinese style" and "retro style" have become new hot spots now, judging from my experience along the way. "Retro aesthetics", the subculture of that year, is a minority hobby that makes me feel not lonely.
Growing up, I was a somewhat withdrawn person in the eyes of ordinary people. I will be attracted by the strange world and plot tension written by horror comics and Junji Ito. When other children keep diaries, I like to record and express them in the form of images.
I started drawing when I was in middle school, and I was drawing when I was distracted in class. In the blank space of the textbook, even on the test paper, there are illustrations that I scribbled casually. I will also spend a whole day studying the aesthetic style of history alone. Probably because of this, I seem out of place with my peers around me, and I have been excluded and bullied on campus.
Junji Ito, who liked horror comics since childhood, even painted the illustration "The Sad Face" with Fu Jiang's gloomy feeling.
Out of curiosity about history and images, when there was no clear concept of "clothing history", I showed great interest in historical clothing and drew the shapes in costume dramas and historical documentaries. It is this simple love that prompted me to enter the clothing major.
Only in the course of clothing history in my freshman year did I come into contact with the real modern clothing history and was deeply attracted by the western clothing culture since the 20th century. From the noisy twenties, flashy thirties, beautiful forties to the starry Hollywood in the golden age, I was obsessed with the fashion materials from the industrial revolution to the great era after World War II, and began to think whether we China people also had aesthetic fashions at the same time as the West. All data collection also starts from here.
However, no one can give me any relevant guidance before I officially go to the art college to study. There is no artistic environment in my home, and the state of groping all the way feels wild.
Fortunately, many times, although my parents don't understand what I am doing, they are still willing to create conditions for me.
In order to preserve my collection, I usually store everything in a special box, so that it can be supported, not pulled by gravity, not folded and wrinkled, and try to keep the room at constant temperature and humidity. With more and more collections, these clothes occupy more and more space in my daily life. It is difficult for me to strike a balance between protecting clothes and quality of life, so my parents vacated a room in my hometown to put antique clothes for me.
Once, I turned to the picture my mother secretly drew in her notebook when she was a child. It turns out that she has always had an unrealized artistic dream, but she can only bury it deep in her heart. My mother never said this, but my self-pursuit now may be the life she longed for when she was young. It makes me feel closer to her.
Lian Zilian claimed that this was her only photo.
Because of my love of fashion in the Republic of China, I was lucky enough to make great friends, two of whom became my partners.
One of them is a primary school classmate who has known her for more than 20 years. She is a simultaneous interpreter preparing for a doctorate. She has strong speculative ability and research interest. Only under her urging and persuasion can I have the motivation to produce long articles continuously. The other is my college classmate, who is good at making plates and cutting men's clothes. We can sort out the existing collections of men's wear, date them together, and combine the historical materials we have combed to create official WeChat account articles.
In addition to collecting and writing, the studio being arranged is also about to open. The studio can be used to place the clothes collected, and it is expected to have some functions of display and reading in the future. In order to meet the expectation of family and social relations to a certain extent, I have been engaged in work unrelated to clothing in the Republic of China since I graduated from college, and now I rely on the income of other jobs to support the operation of the studio.
In her love of traditional culture, Lian Zileng found a partner. The picture shows1In the late 1940s, a modern girl in China was wearing fishmouth high heels.
I didn't run a fan base or attend a party, which is also related to my "non-interactive" personality. I prefer the invisible state. A few days ago, a girl sent a private message from Weibo asking me if I was a man or a woman, which made people feel at a loss. I prefer to be able to export and communicate my hobbies rather than project my attention on myself.
That's why I prefer an open social media platform, where everyone can get and grow from feedback and communication. I am also selfish about the development of retro fashion. When more and more people join in because of their interest in aesthetics of the Republic of China, I can "hide" in it and fight against loneliness with its company.