ziseviolet:

Hi, thanks for the question!

My favorite hanfu style is waist-high ruqun – especially those with parallel collars:

It’s my favorite for the following reasons:

a) Cinches at waist & follows body’s natural form. The waist-high ruqun is tied at the waist, accentuating the natural feminine lines of the body. Since I have a relatively small waist, I appreciate any clothing that accentuates it 😛

Which brings me to my next reason…

b) Balanced silhouette. The waist-high ruqun has relatively balanced proportions (vertically & horizontally), centered on the middle/waist, which I find aesthetically pleasing. Parallel collars, running straight down the chest, further enhance this sense of balance.

c) Ease & beauty of movement. Compared to most other hanfu styles, waist-high ruqun is relatively easy to move around in. Its flowing lines move gracefully to reflect the wearer’s actions.

d) Versatility. Waist-high ruqun can be customized using many different methods: “jackets” (banbi, beizi, daxiushan, etc), short outer skirts (weichang), long scarves (pibo), waist ornaments, etc. Below – worn with blue beizi (left) & green daxiushan (right).

Parallel collars render the chest undergarment (moxiong) visible, providing an extra piece with which to accessorize the ruqun. Below – the color of the moxiong matches that of the pink banbi (left) & green pibo (right).

e) Beautiful from the back. All hanfu styles are pretty from behind (see chest-high ruqun, quju, aoqun below), but waist-high ruqun (top left) is especially so.

After waist-high ruqun with parallel collars, my next favorite hanfu styles are, in descending order: waist-high ruqun with crossed-collars, heziqun, zaju, quju, beizi, chest-high ruqun, & aoqun (see this post for definitions).

1) Waist-high ruqun with crossed collars: This would be my favorite style, if not for the fact that I prefer parallel collars slightly more than crossed collars.

2) Heziqun (left): The hezi acts as a gorgeous centerpiece for the dress. 3) Zaju (right): The additional triangular strips add delicate movement to the outfit.

4) Quju: Curved lines wrap elegantly around the body for a pleasing form. However, it’s more restrictive around the legs & not as easy to move in.

5) Beizi (Song-style): Arguably the most convenient style, and can be worn with trousers. Multiple parallel lines create a charmingly straight & simple silhouette.

6) Chest-high ruqun: The high-waisted silhouette & long, flowing lines of the skirt produce an ethereal effect, especially when worn with daxiushan.

7) Aoqun: Exquisite designs and crisply pleated skirts on a triangular silhouette give the wearer an air of grandeur.

Note: the above is not a complete list of hanfu styles. There are more, like zhiju, u-collar ruqun, yuanlingpao, etc (not to mention men’s styles).

Now that I’ve waxed poetic on my preferences, I have a question for everyone: Which hanfu style is your favorite? I’m curious! 😀

ziseviolet:

Great question! First of all, I’d like to point out that wearing hanfu does not require fancy hair, makeup, or accessories – it can be worn casually as you would any other clothing.

That said, there are many ways to incorporate hanfu styles in a more “modern” flavor. You can always mix-and-match hanfu separates into your usual wardrobe. There’s also an entire offshoot of hanfu called “hanyuansu/汉元素”, which refers to designs that utilize elements from traditional hanfu. Here are some of my suggestions/inspiration for incorporating hanfu style:

1) Shortening sleeves and/or hemlines can produce a more “modern” look.

2) Layer on a Beizi/褙子 (jacket) – Beizi are extremely versatile, and come in all lengths and materials, for all seasons. (note: the pics below are “hanyuansu”; real hanfu doesn’t have modern pockets)

3) Put on a Banbi/半臂 (half-sleeve jacket) or Bijia/比甲 (sleeveless jacket) – Similar to Beizi, but with shorter/no sleeves, these can be worn like cardigans/t-shirts/vests. 1st row: banbi, 2nd row: bijia.

4) Hanfu skirts – Try wearing a hanfu skirt with your outfit. Left: Ming Dynasty-style, Right: Tang Dynasty-style.

5) Song-style pants/宋裤

– These pants were popular with women during the Song Dynasty. Try adding them to your outfit. (note: the right pic is a modified, “shorts” version)

6) Doupeng/斗篷 (cloaks/capes) make a nice accessory during the colder months, and come in various lengths and designs.

These are only just a few ways to incorporate hanfu elements; there are a lot more ideas and designs out there. I hope this helps in providing inspiration 🙂

(edit: links to clothing are in this post)

ziseviolet:

Hi, thanks for the question! I covered the basic types of men’s hanfu here and here, so in this post I’ll describe the basic types of women’s hanfu. Resources on identifying different types of hanfu can be found in my reference tag.

– Ruqun/襦裙 – the most basic type of hanfu consisting of a top and a wrap-around skirt. The top is called “ru/襦” and the skirt is called “qun/ 裙”, hence “ruqun”. Sleeves can be narrow or wide. Generally speaking, people divide ruqun into two types based on the height of the skirt: “Qiyao Ruqun/ 齐腰襦裙” (waist-high ruqun) and “Qixiong Ruqun/ 齐胸襦裙” (chest-high ruqun).

“Qiyao Ruqun” is the kind of ruqun in which the waistband is on the waist. Both men and women can wear it. For women, the top’s collar can be parallel (left), crossed (middle), or u-shaped (right). Men’s ruqun are cross-collared only.

“Qixiong Ruqun”, on the other hand, has its waistband above the chest. The top’s collar can be parallel (left) or crossed (right). It’s only worn by women.

As seen in the photos above, ruqun is often accessorized with a long scarf called Pibo/披帛. Originally used to protect against wind and cold air, pibo gradually became an important feature of hanfu.

– Aoqun/袄裙 – a type of ruqun that became fashionable during the Ming Dynasty. It consists of a double-layered top called “ao/袄“ and a waist-high skirt (”qun”), hence “aoqun”. Unlike the “standard” ruqun that has the top tucked inside the skirt, the aoqun’s top is worn untucked, above the skirt. There are two types of “ao” – “short ao” and “long ao”. The “short ao” (left, right) reaches the waist, while the “long ao” (middle) covers the knees. Ao collars can be crossed (left, middle) or upright (right). Only worn by women.

– Unlike ruqun and aoqun which are made of separate top and bottom pieces, the Shenyi/深衣 style of hanfu consists of one-piece robes that wrap around the body once or several times. Quju/曲裾 (curved-hem robe) and Zhiju/直裾(straight-hem robe) are two types of shenyi. The quju (left, middle) is a robe in which the bottom hem of the left lapel spirals its way up to the waist of the wearer. Modern quju can come in a shortened version (middle) that reveals the skirt worn underneath. In contrast to the quju, the bottom hem of the zhiju (right) circles around levelly, creating a straight line. Quju and Zhiju are worn by both men and women.

– Beizi/褙子 – a parallel-collar “jacket” with side slits beginning at the armpit or at the waist. It can be secured at the front either with ties or a metal button. Extremely versatile, it can be long or short, have narrow or wide sleeves, and is worn by both men and women. During the Song Dynasty, it was popular to wear narrow-sleeved beizi over a chest undergarment and skirt/pants (middle). Another name for Ming Dynasty-style beizi is Pifeng/披风 (right). Pifeng collars can also be upright (not shown).

– Banbi/半臂 – a half-sleeve jacket worn by both men and women. It comes in various lengths and is usually worn over ruqun. Its collar can be parallel (left), crossed (middle), or u-shaped (right). When paired with ruqun, it can be worn tucked inside the skirt as well as over the skirt (untucked).

– Bijia/比甲 – a sleeveless jacket, usually worn over aoqun, that comes in various lengths and styles.

– Daxiushan/大袖衫 – large-sleeve robe commonly paired with ruqun. As its name indicates, its main feature is its broad sleeves. The length is at least 78 inches, and the width exceeds 40 inches. The material is generally thin and light, because it was originally created for wear in the summer.

Of course this doesn’t cover everything, but it describes the basic hanfu styles that appear most often on this blog. Hope this helps!

jenroses:

lyrium:

how have i never heard of archive.org until today.. it’s an internet library that functions just like a real one, as in you borrow the books for 2 weeks and then they are returned to the archive. you can dl pdfs as well, but you’ll lose access after the 2 week period. it’s all free tho, literally just like a real library. i was searching for a cheap copy of this serial murder book from the 90s for my thesis and i found it for free on here. there’s like.. no gimmick at all? i’m so amazed. i literally just signed up and now i’m reading a super hq scan of this book for free. i love libraries.

Calling archive.org a lending library misses like, 95% of the point of having a deep database of most of the internet that goes back like, 22+ years. If you ever get an expired link, you put it there, and you’ve got a decent chance of being able to see the vanished page, in all its iterations. 

vaudevillellain:

Have you ever been listening to Rainymood and thought, “Yeah, this is good … but it would be nice if I could customize the sound more, or if there was a little more choice.

Let me introduce you to MyNoise.

MyNoise is a customizable sounscape looper with so many options, even within each soundscape.  So say, for instance, you really love rain sounds when you write or study or relax.  Anything.  I know I’m a big fan of rain sounds.  They have a page for that.

But say you like really high, pattery rain, and LOTS of low thunder.  Here’s where MyNoise really stands out: you can customize that.  See those sliders with all the cute colors?  That is your equalizer. You can adjust the levels based on what you want to hear more and less of.  Here’s how it looks when you want high, pattery rain and low, rumbly thunder:

But say rain isn’t really your jam.  Say you want something a little more ambient, a little more background noise-y.  Something with people.  Well, they have customizable coffee house chatter that even has the levels listed for things like “kitchen,” “babble,” and “table”:

Or say you miss the ocean.

Or say you miss your cat.

Or say you miss your spaceship.

Or say you miss the dungeon where you and your team of scalawag adventurers used to explore and face off against, say, dragons.  In the dungeon.

This site is seriously so helpful, and those are just a fraction of every kind of sounscape the site has to offer.  The best part is that if you want to layer it with music (for instance, I’ll layer a playlist + rain + coffee shop if the scene I’m writing takes place in a coffee shop), you can adjust the master volume, meaning all of your layers stay at their respective volumes, just louder or quieter.

Enjoy!