Imperial Chinese Robes from the Forbidden City

Luscious exhibition at the V&A of royal robes worn by the emperors and empresses of the Qing Dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of China (1644-1911).

The clothes were displayed as beautiful objects and grouped by use and purpose rather than date. This was partly because the style of the outfits did not change over the three centuries. There was lots of detail on what clothes were worn when and what different motifs meant.


I found had questions in my mind as I went round such I wonder how often they were worn and if they were handed on to the next emperor? However just when I wanted some info on how they were made I got it in a nice display on the material and tailoring. I loved a piece of material with a gown embroidery on ready to cut out like a paper pattern.


My favourite items which I wanted to wear were a red and purple empress’s skirt with a fur hem and a rather plain but classy brown and gold empress’s regular dress.

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