Woman’s Informal Robe China, Qing dynasty, early 1900s Silk gauze embroidered with silk tent stitch and couched metal thread Neusteter Textile Collection: Gift of James P. Grant and Betty Grant Austin 1977.214 To see robe details (four), roll your cursor over the image and click when the arrow changes shape.

The Empress Dowager Cixi is known to have disliked this imperial yellow color, judging it unflattering to her complexion. It is thought she personally designed this robe’s wide, dark borders to reduce the reflection of the yellow silk on her face. Her taste dictated fashion for the princesses and court ladies; at every festival and for each change in season, the Empress Dowager would present them with gifts of the appropriate robes and accessories.


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