FJU Textiles & Clothing Department holds a Qipao Workshop on November 8th in its department building as a substitute event for its annual Qipao-themed exhibition.
To promote Qipao’s frog button craftsmanship that is on the verge of being lost, the Ministry of Culture cooperated with FJU Textiles & Clothing Department to hold a workshop on November 8th in the Textiles & Clothing building for everyone interested in Qipao culture to explore the value of Qipao in Taiwan. As one of the series of the themed events, the Qipao workshop focuses on the different techniques for frog button designs and the speaker's personal experiences with Qipaos and her collections.
Wei-Chun Huang, the secretary of National Taiwan University's Museum of Anthropology, led the workshop. She has been a researcher for more than 20 years and personally wears Qipao: “When I was a child, I watched Grandma wearing Qipao.” This childhood experience led to a childish ambition: “When I turn 20, I will go to Qipao shops to find a designer to make one for me.” Huang shared that once she turned 20, she really had her first Qipao done. “I felt I suddenly turned into a beauty when I put it on,” she said. Currently, Huang has many Qipaos made by designers through the years. The Qipaos she brought to the workshop are just a part of her collections.
The speaker Wei-Chun Huang and her Qipao collections. Photo by Jocinda Wu.
The design of frog buttons varies according to the design of the whole Qipao, and the color stays consistent with the embroidered border. Huang introduced Rong Yi Qipao from Master Xu Qipao Studio, a Qipao studio that preserves the traditional ways of producing Qipao clothing. In the studio, there is a designer in charge of Qipao clothing and another designer specializing in frog buttons. They work independently in the process of making the clothing, and the final piece of Qipao will be combined together after both the clothing and the frog button are completed. There are diverse styles of frog buttons, such as pipa knot, square knot, phoenix knot, flower basket knot, double ear knot, butterfly knot, and bee knot, to name few.
Different styles of frog button craftsmanship. Photo by Jocinda Wu.
Approximately 70 participants attended this workshop. Some were students from different departments of FJU, and some were Qipao researchers or aficionados from other areas in Taiwan. Wei-Di Wang, a senior student majoring in Japanese language and culture, was attracted to this event to learn more about Qipao and plans to visit Qipao shops in the future.“This workshop allows me to know more about Qipao clothing, as it (Qipao) seems so far from my daily life,” Wang said. Another participant, Wen-Jie Qiu, an alumnus from the Textiles & Clothing Department, took part in this workshop to continue to improve his knowledge about the fashion industry. “I am an interior designer, but I am interested in everything that has something to do with fashion and design.”
The students from the Textiles & Clothing Department who take the course “Research of Taiwan Clothing Culture” taught by the Dean and Professor of College of Fashion & Textiles, Zhao-Hua Ho, are required to participate in this workshop. One student said that she is highly interested in Qipao clothing, and it might become her research topic in the future. Professor Zhao-Hua Ho concluded the workshop: “Qipao, after experiencing different eras, different trends, and different backgrounds, accomplishes different classics.”
Participants exchange with each other about their experiences on Qipao. Photo by Jocinda Wu.
“Every year, we hold events about Qipao, and it’s special this year because we have it as a workshop, instead of an exhibition,” said Yi-Ling Huang, the organizer of the workshop. Annually, there is an exhibition held with different themes about Qipao in the Chinese Textiles and Clothing Culture Center (at the 6th floor of the Textiles & Clothing department building) to welcome every Qipao researcher from everywhere. Huang further explained that the reason why it is not held this year is that it is currently unopened for maintenance. Fu-Lin Gao, the manager of Chinese Textiles and Clothing Culture Center, says the team is planning for a new Qipao exhibition, which will be focusing on frog button craftsmanship and the stories behind the Qipao collections in its center. Furthermore, the team hopes the Chinese Textiles and Clothing Culture Center can reopen next year.