The song dynasty clothing is a style of clothes with profound classical beauty. It carries the historical background, cultural characteristics and aesthetic concepts of the Song Dynasty. Its shapes, fabrics, patterns and colors are all full of rich cultural flavor.
Features of Song Dynasty Hanfu
Song Dynasty Hanfu sewing pattern is exquisite and simple in overall style. It is not just a kind of clothing, but also a cultural inheritance and historical memory. Song Dynasty Hanfu has various shapes, including curved collars, straight collars, round collars and other styles. Each style has its unique design elements and matching methods. Under the influence of “Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism”, the aesthetic concept of the Song Dynasty changed. Unlike the gorgeous and luxurious clothing of the Tang Dynasty, people began to advocate simplicity, pay attention to following traditions. Plainness, nature, freshness and elegance became the main characteristics of Song Dynasty clothing. With the development of commodity economy in the Song Dynasty, Hanfu became more popular among common people.
Song dynasty clothes Style Diagrams
Beizi: Beizi is the most representative clothing in song dynasty name, a revolutionary garment in the Song Dynasty. It was worn by both men and women, across all social classes. Its shape is roughly straight collar and front opening, with slits under the armpits. The two side pieces are separated, and the waist is tied with a ribbon. The length is below the knees. Its unique feature is the decorative laces hanging under the armpits, which add a lot of beauty. Men’s Beizi was mostly used as casual wear or lined inside official robes, and was rarely worn outside.
Men’s Daily Wear in the Song Dynasty: The styles of men’s Hanfu in the Song Dynasty generally followed the basic styles of the Tang Dynasty. In addition to innovations in Beizi, men’s Hanfu was mainly divided into slanted collars and coiled collars, with ribbons tied around the waist.
Women’s Hanfu in the Song Dynasty: Women’s Hanfu in the Song Dynasty， was usually paired with tube tops and crotch pants as inner layers..The middle layer was shirts, and the double layer was 袄 (wadded jackets), both in the form of straight collars and front openings. The lengths were either waist-length or hip-length. Short shirts and ru (short jackets) were often worn with bijia or banbi outside. The lower garments mainly included erpoqun, baidiequn, xuanqun, etc. Men’s clothing mainly included lanshan, which was a long shirt with a round collar and large sleeves. A horizontal strip was sewn at the hem, symbolizing “upper garment and lower skirt”. Common people’s costumes were mainly short jackets, short ru, which were narrow and fit, with plain colors.
Shapes of Song Dynasty Fashion Hanfu
In the early Northern Song Dynasty, it inherited the style of the Tang Dynasty clothing. Women’s Beizi was loose and matched with long skirts. In the Southern Song Dynasty, due to social unrest, clothing tended to be more practical. The decorative function of Beizi gradually evolved into a part of traditional clothing. First, the body of the clothes became narrow and long, extending from above the knees to the ankles. The sleeve shapes were divided into inward and outward expansion types. There were also great innovations in matching. The inner layers expanded from mamian to narrow-sleeved ru and shirts. Skirts and pants were sometimes matched interchangeably. Noble women usually wore pearl crowns on their heads, while common people used cloth belts to tie their hair.
Song Dynasty Clothing VS Other Dynasties
Song Dynasty Clothing advocated simplicity and elegance in overall style, with very exquisite details. The collars, cuffs and slits of Beizi were often trimmed with “lingmo” (collar edges), long cotton strips made by hand printing, with techniques such as gold printing, embroidery and painting. Although the patterns on the clothes were not grand scenes, they were exquisite and ingenious. Every pattern and stitch was just right.
Song Dynasty Clothing shows ingenuity in simplicity. Its clothing style, like the atmosphere of the dynasty, is fresh, elegant, simple and plain. It is a vital part of China’s Hanfu system.
Tips for Buying Song Dynasty Clothes
First, you need to clarify the shape: female friends can choose straight-collar front-opening Beizi and cross-collar ruqun (jacket and skirt). For men, there are zhiduo (long robe) and round-collar robes. But note that if they have high waist or wide waist designs, they are not Song Dynasty Clothes. Prioritize natural fabrics such as cotton, linen and plain yarn, and avoid chemical fiber and hard satin. The whole clothing should not have more than 3 colors. Patterns should be mainly plain. It is better to have small-area dark patterns or narrow-edge embroidery for decoration.
