Not just the Mao suit: Chinese fashion in the Mao years

Abstract

What were the sources of Chinese clothing designs in the Mao years? The usual answers would be the Sun Yatsen suit and military uniform; but pattern books from this period show a variety if images were at play, forcing us to look in other directions. Foreign films, foreign publications, and foreign designs for export markets were among the less commonly acknowledged sources of inspiration for the modern clothing regime of early socialist China.