Hong Kong and Tokyo textiles - Mianao (Coat) and Chi-pao (Dress)

Hong Kong and Tokyo textiles -  Mianao (Coat) and Chi-pao (Dress)

The bright yellow silk coat or Mianao was purchased in Hong Kong on my first trip to Asia as a gift to a special family member several years younger than I.  It reminded me of the strength of family ties because bright yellow is the color worn in a Taiwanese funeral procession by the fifth generation, a great great grandchild. The yellow is a tag symbolizing the longevity and the fruitfulness of the loved one who has passed.  Ultimately, it was worn in my family as a similar symbol of recognition although there was no funeral involved just a school dress up occasion.  The second featured item in the photos is also from the same trip and is a brightly striped wool cowl neck dress. It was a knitwear dress fashioned in the style of a Chinese Chi-pao, a form of attire worn then as a style of formal national dress by Chinese women.  It was common back in that period for westerners to have a Chi-pao handmade as a token or memento of a trip to Hong Kong. The  traditional dresses from Hong Kong were frequently silk or silk like concoctions covered in beautiful and complex embroideries.  My version purchased in  Tokyo was very much a "lost in translation" type of memento with a flavor of both East and West.  It was very exciting to enter a Japanese department store and purchase this piece which seemed very high style in the late 1970s.  It was bright and colorful like the city in which it was purchased.  It felt like I had acquired an example of the fine craftsmanship both modern and ancient that was everywhere in Tokyo.  The dress was also a symbol like the technology in the nearby Sony store that I visited the same day that "made in Japan" was now a term of pride.  "Made in China" was soon after to go mainstream too for everything from textiles to electronics hastened by investment from businessmen all over Asia.