The Tang Dynasty Vs Corset and Bustier

It was a cultural movie night. The movie that was projected on the wall was called “The Curse of the Golden Flower.” The maids’ dresses caught my attention from the beginning of the film. “Did they also wear corsets?” the thought came to my mind. Therefore, the first thing I did when I got home was to turn on my computer and start the investigation.

The background of the film was dedicated to the later Tang dynasty, in the year 928. Despite what the film is about, I was more interested in the “fashion” of this dynasty. The Later Tang Dynasty is part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. These dynasties and kingdoms were in a turbulent period at the end of the Great Tang Dynasty. As for people living in a turbulent period, women’s clothing would drop from splendid to tolerable, as these dresses could not hold up well from daily routing jobs and unforeseen calamities.

The common theory also applies to Western wars; During World War I, men were on the front lines, women generally did field work, drove delivery trucks, in working-class suburbs, worked in factories. Skirts were so long that they made it difficult for women to move, and corsets were a tremendous nuisance when women were trying to get things done. Thus, the women abandoned their complicated garments and undergarments, no more endless constrictive layers that thickened the silhouette. Instead, a light slip tended to replace all lingerie items. Corsets were totally abandoned by the Great Wars.

If so, the women of the Later Tang Dynasty would not have the luxury of dressing in a luxurious manner as shown in the movie, however… it was a movie about political strife between royal members in the Later Tang palace. But does this add to the fact that there are abundant bust images in any of the past Chinese dynasties? The answer is yes; in the years 618 – 907 of the Great Tang Dynasty, were the most bustling and flourishing years that left a magnificent radiant culture in the history of China.

As in this period of women’s fashion, the pattern of the cloth and the style of the clothing ranged from simple to luxurious, from camouflage to exposure, the body figure was from slender to abundant. Women dressed to embellish the bust line but not emphasize the waist line, the underwear was very similar to what we call a bustier today.

That’s it for the Tang dynasty. If you are interested in the dress of these maids like; You can google the trailer for Curse of the Golden Flower.