After watching the show, I spent a week collecting photos of Anna May Wong from all over the web, combing through her entire fashion archive and her influence on fashion design, styling and photography today.
I posted the article on my official account, and I wanted to reprint it here and share it with everyone, but because the typesetting of the official account is incompatible, so I was lazy and only put some of the pictures and texts, and shamelessly posted a link to the original text below. Interested students can follow my public account "LukeLooks" to read (142 pictures).
Anna May Huang: This Chinese IDOL a hundred years ago still dominates the fashion industry
Netflix released Ryan Murphy's new drama "Hollywood" in May, which tells the story of a group of aspiring filmmakers in the post-World War II American film industry struggling to rise to the top. Among them, there is a Chinese face - Anna May Wong.
In the finale, the screenwriter gave Anna May Huang a sad and moving plot: she won the 1953 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her fictional film "Meg".
Who is Anna May Wong? She is not only a real character outside the show, but also a highlight in film history. She was the first Chinese film star to break into Hollywood and appeared on the screen at the age of 14; she was a veritable international star at the beginning of the last century, known as "the most beautiful Chinese girl" and "the world's best dressed woman".
In the silent film era, even if it is a small role, she can share a lot of the protagonist's scenery with one look and a dance - see the coquettish look and position below. ▼
After the appearance of talkie films, she traveled to Europe, and in three months she practiced standard English pronunciation, and she sang and talked to get rid of the fate of a silent actress.
She is gifted, but born out of time. Living in the most serious era of Chinese exclusion in the United States, not only did she fail to win an Oscar as in the fictional plot of "Hollywood", but her race also made her unable to play the leading role, and she could only play the role of a snake or a prostitute. The ending was either killed or committed suicide; In her eyes, she is a racially degrading puppet and a "traitor".
However, she tried her best to turn everything around: with her efforts, the Chinese were able to play important roles in European and American films; she once went to China to find her roots and learn Chinese culture; after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, she not only shot anti-fascist films, made speeches, and auctioned clothes Jewelry supports China.
Even less noticed is that she used her clothes to speak for China, earning a place (if at times symbolic) for Chinese aesthetics in a global context. To this day, we can still catch glimpses of her beautiful temples on the runway, the red carpet and in magazines - let me use the 142 pictures below, one by one.
01 Dragon Girl
Anna May's early films always bear the stereotyped and even negative symbols of the West towards Chinese people. For example, it is always difficult to get rid of the image of "dragon" and play the role of "Dragon Girl" (evil girl).
But in the middle and later stages of the film, she tried to interpret the "dragon" in a confident and unabashed way. In 1934's "Limehouse Blues", she appeared in this modified cheongsam - at this time, with the improvement of Anna May's status, she was already free to choose the costumes. ▼
Dragons embroidered with gold thread and sequins leap up from the circular floor-length skirt, representing the courage to pursue true love. ▼
Because this costume is so impressive, it directly led to almost all fashion designers in the next century when they touched Chinese inspiration, they couldn't get around it. In John Galliano's 1992 ready-to-wear collection, this black cheongsam paid homage to abstract brushstrokes. ▼
The same motif is also found in Pucci, Valentino, etc. ▼
Especially Valentino, the ready-to-wear series in the picture above did not play enough of this element, and made another one after a season of couture. The dragon body is coiled around the skirt, which is quite the essence of the prototype. ▼
The same goes for menswear. In 2015, for the Met Gala titled "China: Through the Looking Glass", Olivier Rousteing, the creative director of Balmain, designed a dress jacket for Justin Bieber. In addition to the black gold dragon, the designer also replaced the Black Tie's collar with an oriental style straight. collar. ▼
Last year's pre-fall collection, Balmain tried and tested, once again used this element. ▼
02. Paper-cut
Regarding the image of the dragon girl, the earlier "Dragon Girl" was quite controversial. In the film, Anna May played the daughter of the notorious character "Fu Manchu". On the other hand, this is the first Hollywood film starring two Asian actors. , to a certain extent reflects the increasing importance of Chinese actors. ▼
In Paramount's shot, the strong light casts shadows on the background through the dragon-shaped paper-cut, and Anna May looks eerie and mysterious under the silhouette - this is the mysterious and unpredictable China in the eyes of the West at the time. ▼
Today, similar lighting is still preferred when shooting Chinese-themed fashion blockbusters, such as Zhang Ziyi photographed by Vanity Fair below. ▼
In 2015, in order to cooperate with the exhibition "China: Through the Looking Glass", the American version of VOGUE shot a blockbuster titled " Go East " for Feifei Sun. The shape of the picture below is probably inspired by "The Lady with a Hairpin", and the light and shadow are still the same. Lighting + hollow silhouette background. ▼
In the blockbuster, this dress on Feifei Sun's body is from Jean Paul Gaultier's 2001 autumn and winter haute couture, and the scenery behind it is like a carved paper-cut of flowers and birds. ▼
The same elements can also be found on Ralph Lauren's show. This time, it is presented with mesh embroidery. The model turns around, and the dragon pattern is like a paper cut and a tattoo on the back, which is quite amazing. ▼
Gong Li's Roberto Cavalli dress on the red carpet of the Met Gala in 2015, superimposed lace with embroidery, embroidered folding fans and peonies, also used this element. ▼
Finally, I will post a summary of the remaining sub-headings~
03·qipao04·tassel05·pagoda shoulder06·Peking Opera07·makeup hair08·hard photo09·cool girl
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