Ma Gua
Ma Gua was an outdoor jacket to keep warm. It was designed to have a short, baggy sleeves and above waist to enhance the mobility of horseback riding. It was initially used for the soldiers; therefore, it was also called Victory Gua. For a period, it was very fashionable among the wealthy to wear Ma Gua inside out showing the leather and fur.
Men wore thin Ma Gua made of cotton cloth in the summer, and warm cotton Chang Pao or fur-lined robe in the winter. Ma Gua with many different styles were mostly blue, purple, gray, or yellow; but men were not permitted to wear yellow Ma Gua unless it was awarded to them, since yellow is the imperial color.
Dress adornments
Besides the Chang Pao and Ma Gua, other dress adornments Beijingers wore were the manteau, cloak, Ao (jacket), Kan Jian (waistcoat), Dun Zi (vest), Du Dou (bellyband), and Zhu Yao (waistband).
Ao was made of silks, satins or cotton cloth, wadded with silk floss or cotton. Women usually wore bright pink, cerise, and peach-blow jackets.
The manteau was in fact a surcoat with buttons down the front, large sleeves, and low collar, usually worn over the Ao (jacket).
The cloak, originating from coir raincoat in ancient times, was usually made of brightly colored silks and satins embroidered with varied designs. It was very common for women to wear a cloak during wintertime. Some even were decorated with precious furs of foxes and lynxes.
Kan Jian, a collarless and sleeveless waistcoat with buttons down the front, was very popular among the old and young, and male and female. An exquisite Kan Jian over the Ao would make the woman more elegant and refined. Today, it usually refers to the third piece of a three-piece male business suit, to distinguish it from other types of vests.
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