Zhang Ailing once said: The two things that a woman should collect most in her life are jade bracelets and cheongsam. In the narrow alleys of Jinan's whip alley, Qu Zixin, a non-genetic inheritor, runs a handmade cheongsam studio, a small storefront filled with hand-sewn cheongsam. With her love for qipao, she quit her job and studied art with a teacher for 2 years, becoming a qipao craftsman, telling Oriental Fanghua with a stitch and thread.
Quitting his job and learning to make a handmade cheongsam is a skill and patience
At the age of 12, Qu Zixin put on her first cheongsam, which her sister sewed by herself. Since then, the seeds of the cheongsam have begun to take root in her heart. "My sister is a tailor, and when I was a child, she used to make clothes for me to wear, especially the cheongsam, and I felt that my whole temperament changed after wearing it." Her love for cheongsam has a long history.
Time passes like a white horse, fleeting. Qu Zixin soon became a big girl, and her gradually increasing age and experience not only did not change her love for qipao, but made her more determined to go to the end on the road of inheriting qipao making skills. "The cheongsam is the characteristic dress of our country and represents an oriental culture, why are few people wearing it now?" With such doubts, she was determined to let more people appreciate the beauty of the cheongsam.
In 2015, 37-year-old Qu Zixin quit his job in sales and began to learn to make cheongsam under the door of the Red Gang tailor who had been in the late Qing Dynasty and early People's Dynasty. The master leads the door and practices in the individual. Learning art was boring, and she practiced cutting, sewing, and embroidery day after day, twice until she learned it. "It takes more than 20 processes to make a cheongsam, the key is to tailor the patterning, and the essence is the design of the piping and buttons." She learns and learns. Two years later, she learned her craft and became an apprentice.
A cheongsam takes a week to make 6-meter piping and requires thousands of stitches
In 2017, Qu Zixin and Master established He Xiaoxuan's nine-foot cheongsam studio. What is a nine-foot cheongsam?" The nine-foot platform starts from the soil, telling himself and his apprentices to do craftsmanship step by step, and at the same time, 'ruler' and 'inch' are our traditional units of measurement. She explained why.
From March to the end of September every year, it is the peak season for cheongsam making, because there are more marriages, which is just needed. During this time, Qu Zixin soaked in the studio every day to thread needles, and each piece was customized. When a customer comes to make a cheongsam, she will chat with them for more than one hour and make exclusive cheongsam according to each customer's body shape, skin color, image temperament, wearing occasion, etc.
"It takes about a week to make a cheongsam, 12 hours a day, slow work. Hand sewing is particularly troublesome, the piping on the cheongsam is 6 meters long, and there are 3 stitches per centimeter, adding up to thousands of stitches. Qu Zixin stretched out his hand and said that when sewing, you need to use your fingers to pad the position of the needle below, being pierced is commonplace, and the material of the cheongsam is relatively "delicate", such as silk, there can be no meat thorns on the hand, otherwise it is easy to scratch the fabric.
Today, more than 80% of the customers who come to Qu Zixin to customize cheongsam are young people, and there are many highly educated women and entrepreneurs, and these groups are also important customers who support her to "survive". "My sister worked as a tailor for 15 years, and finally gave up because there were fewer and fewer people making clothes, and there was no income." She said that only by ensuring survival can this skill be passed on.
Try to make an improved cheongsam that is more suitable for young people
A beautiful handmade cheongsam, the fabric and handicraft fee are added, ranging from a few thousand yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, which makes the oriental aesthetic works and the mass consumption concept far apart. Expensive, there is always a reason for expensive. "In the simplest sewing, for example, hand sewing can better control the density of the stitches, and it feels softer and more comfortable after wearing, while the machine sewing is harder." Qu Zixin introduced that it is easy to learn to make cheongsam, but it is difficult to do it well. To use a popular phrase nowadays, it will be seen and scrapped when it is done.
In recent years, the cheongsam has frequently appeared on the international fashion stage, and has appeared in various international social etiquette occasions as a formal dress with national significance. The frequent "out of the circle" of the cheongsam has also made more and more women love it, and a more daily and more people-friendly cheongsam has become a public demand. Taking advantage of this trend, Qu Zixin began to try to make improved cheongsam, especially one suitable for young people.
"There are dozens of cheongsam fabrics for making them, like this cheongsam on the model, which is made of silk fabric, and at the arms and shoulders, it is made into a one-piece body, which makes the clothes line softer." Qu Zixin's improved cheongsam, due to the younger style and more popular color, has become a popular one in the store recently, and this simple and charming cheongsam has also helped her attract many new customers.
Insist on making a cheongsam with enthusiasm and perseverance, and hope that someone will continue to pass it on
The cheongsam is divided into the Shanghai school and the Beijing school, representing two styles of art and culture respectively. The Shanghai style is characterized by the absorption of Western art, which is new and flexible. The style of the Beijing school has an official style, which is reserved and condensed. Qu Zixin chose the former. "If you want to continue to do it in the handmade cheongsam industry, you need to look at the market, atmosphere, and consumption concept. Today's people tend to consume quickly and pursue personalization, so the Shanghai cheongsam will be accepted by more people. She explained the reason why she chose the Haipai cheongsam in the first place.
In addition to making daily orders, Qu Zixin also accepted some apprentices. Wang Tianhui is one of them, from the freshman year to the graduation, she has been studying in the He Shaoxuan Nine-foot Cheongsam Studio for 4 years. She goes to the studio almost every day to study with the master, sometimes staying all day, and her family is very supportive.
The profound cultural connotation of the cheongsam deeply attracted Wang Tianhui. The design of the cheongsam has an oriental symbolic style, just like the meek and elegant quality of oriental women, and at the same time represents the long history and culture of the Chinese nation. "If I used to like cheongsam, now I'm addicted." She said.
"Making handmade cheongsam requires passion and perseverance. I hope to find good seedlings from the apprentices and continue to develop this skill. For the future of handmade cheongsam, Qu Zixin expressed concern, but full of confidence, although there is no suitable candidate now, but there will always be in the future.
New Yellow River reporter: Wang Zheng and Li Kunran
Editor: Han Luying