Hanching Qipao / Mother-of-the-Bride Guide

Mother of the Bride: Choosing a Cheongsam

The top table does not move, the lighting does not change, and the places you stand for the photographs are set. Choosing a cheongsam for the mother of the bride is not really a question of whether it looks good; it is a question of which cut, and which depth of colour, will hold up all evening under those three fixed things.

Counting Back from the Wedding Day

Please allow one to one and a half months for a made-to-measure cheongsam — the shop's hands are limited, and only so many orders can be taken at once. For a wedding we suggest coming in to be fitted a month ahead. What follows is the rhythm that counting back from those two gives you.

• About three months before the wedding｜Talking Style — Settle the venue, the time of day and what the elders in the family prefer. What this step decides is how deep the colour and how elaborate the garment, not the details of the style.
• About two months before the wedding｜Fabric and Colour — Look at the cloth twice — once in daylight, once under banquet lighting. The same satin that reads as calm in daylight will pull towards red under warm yellow lamps.
• About a month and a half before the wedding｜Measuring and Pattern — The made-to-measure lead time starts here. Shoulder, waist and the way you walk are all measured, and sitting down and raising a glass are tried out too.
• Two to three weeks before the wedding｜Fitting and Adjustment — Collar height, cuffs and where the side slit sits are settled at this stage. If your weight has changed, this is the last point at which there is still time to alter it unhurried.
• One week before the banquet｜Pressing and Finishing — Check the frog buttons, the piped edging and the overall line, and look at them together with the heel height you will wear on the day — two centimetres of heel and the proportion of the hem is different.

The schedule above is a suggested rhythm, worked backwards from the lead time published on the official site (one to one and a half months for made to measure) and the fitting advice (a month ahead when it is for a wedding). It is not a hard rule announced by the shop. For your own schedule, please confirm with the master in person.

Made to Measure or Rental

Both routes work. The difference is not how much you spend, but which of these matters most to you.

	Made to Measure	Rental
Fit	A pattern cut to your own figure; the shoulder line and the waist follow each body as it is.	Based on existing patterns; how much can be altered is limited.
Choice of Fabric	Choose the cloth to suit your taste and the occasion; work on fabric you bring yourself is also accepted.	The choice of styles is limited to what is in stock.
Customs and Details	Frog buttons, piped edging and the collar can be made to suit your family's customs and what the elders ask for.	There is less room to match the details.
Time	Please allow one to one and a half months.	A one-week hire, collected and returned within opening hours.
Cost	Quoted in store. The price depends on the grade of the fabric, how elaborate the style is and the embroidery; no made-to-measure price list is published on the official website.	NT$ 1,800 – 6,800 per garment, depending on the combination of fabric and style.
Afterwards	It has keepsake value and can be kept for years.	Returned after use; it cannot be kept.

The cost information here is drawn from what is currently published on the Hanching Qipao official website. No price list is published for made-to-measure work; bring your occasion and your budget to the shop and the master will quote in person.

One Cheongsam, a Different Face for Each Occasion

What decides how deep a colour should be is not the season but the light. A lunch reception runs on daylight, an evening banquet on warm yellow lamps; the same cloth is two different colours in the two rooms.

• The Lunch Reception, Kept Light — Daylight magnifies everything, honestly. Satin for an occasion like this need not be elaborate — the cut and the sheen are enough, and embroidery that is too heavy only reads as noisy in daylight.
• The Evening Banquet, Kept Deep — Warm yellow light eats the gradations out of a pale colour. A dark ground with gold thread or a tone-on-tone figure is what stands out under lamps, and it holds up better through a whole evening of walking about and photographs.
• The Morning Ceremony, Kept Composed — The ceremony is usually in the morning, the light is hard and there is a great deal of movement. Sleeve length and the side slit have to allow for bowing and for getting in and out of a car; composure comes down to whether you can move freely.
• The Group Photograph, Kept Easy — In a group photograph the couple stand in the middle. The colour on the mother's side should set them off rather than overpower them — put one step of lightness between your dress and theirs, and the picture settles.

Figure and Cut

“A cheongsam is only for certain figures” is usually a pattern that has not been adjusted properly, not a problem with the figure. Made to measure, there is more that can be moved than people expect.

• The Shoulder Line — A slightly narrowed shoulder and the right sleeve length adjust the proportion of the upper body; the visual weight of a broad shoulder can be carried downwards.
• The Waist — Leave room to breathe. There is eating to do and toasts to stand up for all evening; too tight and it will not last a banquet.
• Collar Height — The height of the mandarin collar follows the length of the neck. On a short neck, a lower collar with a longer opening is more comfortable, and better looking, than forcing a high one.
• The Side Slit — It has to answer to walking, to sitting at table and to decorum. The height is a matter of design freedom, not a place it has to reach.
• Sleeve Length — The arms are what most people mind about. Short, three-quarter and long sleeves each suit a different occasion and feel different to wear.
• Colour and Sheen — Let your complexion and the banquet lighting decide how deep the colour should be, rather than only how the cloth looks in the shop.

The Labour Goes Where You Cannot See It

What separates one cheongsam from another is usually not the flower on the front but these few places — they decide whether the garment holds once it is on.

• Hand-Knotted Frog Buttons — Knotted one at a time by hand; slight unevenness in the shape is the mark of handwork, not a flaw.
• Piped Edging — The fine edge run along the front closure, the collar and the slit. Whether it is even is what, from a distance, makes the whole garment look crisp or not.
• The Lining — Unseen, and yet it decides the drape. Line it right and the satin will not cling and show the shape beneath.
• Embroidery — The density and the direction of the stitches. The same motif, worked two ways, is two prices.
• The Neckline — The circle closest to the face. A few millimetres' difference in collar height, in the curve of the collar or in where the button sits, and the impression is another one altogether.

Common Questions

Is a cheongsam a suitable choice for the mother of the bride or groom?

Yes, and it is one of the occasions the shop takes on most. The mandarin collar and the straight line of a cheongsam hold the camera well at the top table and in the group photographs. What needs attention is that the depth of colour and the cut should match the lighting of the venue and how much you will be moving on the day, rather than the style alone.

How far ahead should the mother's dress be started?

For made to measure, please allow one to one and a half months, and we suggest beginning the conversation about style and fabric about three months before the wedding, which leaves things unhurried. For a rental, we suggest coming in to be fitted a month ahead when it is for a wedding.

Made to measure or rental — how do I choose?

If fit, the choice of fabric and keeping the garment matter to you, choose made to measure. If it is for a single occasion, if time is short, or if you want to keep the spending contained, choose rental (NT$ 1,800–6,800 per garment, a one-week hire). No made-to-measure price is published on the official website; the master quotes in store once he has seen the fabric and the style.

I am not used to close-fitting clothes — will a cheongsam be too tight?

Made to measure, the waist is left with room to breathe, and the collar height and the sleeve length are adjusted to the individual. Through a banquet there is eating, standing up and toasting to do, and the pattern ought to be shaped around those movements in the first place — whether it feels tight depends on whether the pattern is right, not on the figure.

Will it clash with what the mother on the other side is wearing?

There is no hard rule about this; in practice, a word between the two sides beforehand about colour family and light or dark is enough to avoid it. A common approach is for the two to put one step of lightness between them, and for each to stand apart from what the couple are wearing, so that the layers read clearly in the photographs.

How should the cheongsam be cared for and stored after the banquet?

Silk and satin are best sent to a specialist; do not wash them yourself or press them at a high temperature. Store the garment hanging somewhere airy, avoid leaving it folded under pressure for long periods, and keep weight off the embroidery and the frog buttons. Alterations and later adjustments can be arranged with the master by appointment.

Sources

The clothing history and terminology on this page draw on the public collections below. The shop’s services, lead times, and prices are subject to current notices on its official website and information provided in person.

• Qibao (祺袍; collection record of the National Cultural Memory Bank 國家文化記憶庫) — Chinese Textile and Costume Culture Center, Department of Textiles and Clothing, Fu Jen Catholic University / National Cultural Memory Bank, Ministry of Culture
• 旗麗時代 (Era of Qipao Elegance): Special Exhibition on a Century of Qipao Craft, Memory, and Transmission in Taiwan — College of Textiles and Clothing, Fu Jen Catholic University / National Cultural Memory Bank, Ministry of Culture
• Cheongsam (qipao) (Wikidata Q836934) — Wikimedia Foundation

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See the portfolio · Cheongsam Styling Guide · Modern-Cut Cheongsam Guide