In the Mood for Cheongsam1:New Women in Old Shanghai Glamour

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It’s almost sad that whenever we think about the pinnacle2pinnacle頂峰。of modern Chinese style,we always refer to Shanghai in the 1920-30s.As if nothing has happened since.

說起來真有些悲哀。每每思及近代中國的時尚巔峰，我們總會想起上世紀二三十年代的上海，仿佛那之后便是一片沉寂。

[2]It is undeniable that Shanghai in the 1920s and 30s,dubbed by the Chinese as the “Old Shanghai,” epitomized3epitomize概括，集中體現(xiàn)。the most glamorous and most stylish of China in the last century,on par with Paris.You could be a cosmopolitan Parisian or Londoner,but you were simply not chic enough if you had not been to Shanghai.Even Wallis Simpson4通常也稱溫莎公爵夫人。愛德華八世退位后改稱溫莎公爵。辛普森是其前夫的姓。,twicedivorced,coarse voiced American for whom King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and the Dominions abdicated5abdicate退位； 遜位。his throne,had a brief Shanghai sojourn6sojourn短暫停留。(1924)on her cosmopolitan resume.

[2]國人將彼時的上海稱為“老上海”，無可否認，它是上世紀中國魅力與時尚的縮影，足可與巴黎媲美。即便身處巴黎或者倫敦這樣的世界之都，如果不曾踏足上海，也算不上時尚中人。美國女子沃利斯·辛普森聲音沙啞、婚史兩段，英國及其屬地的國王愛德華八世卻甘愿為其放棄王位。縱然是這等人物，1924年也曾到上海小住。

[3]Established in 1843 as a treaty port7根據(jù)《南京條約》和《五口通商章程》的規(guī)定，上海于1843年11月正式開埠。,Shanghai quickly became the largest international port in China by the early twentieth century,attracting expats and Westerners who called the city “Adventurers’ Paradise.” The aura of “Old Shanghai” was derived from the convergence of the Western influences and Chinese sensitivities: rich art deco8art deco裝飾派藝術(shù)（流行于 20 世紀 20 至 30 年代，呈幾何圖形，線條清晰，色彩鮮明）。architecture and designs flaunting an international flair,profusely9profusely極豐富地。illustrated tabloids disseminating the latest trends and celebrity gossips,and beautiful people indulging in their legendary,alas,complicated romances.

[3]上海1843年通商開埠，20世紀初一躍成為中國最大的國際港口，慕名而來的外籍人士和西方人把它稱作是“冒險家的樂園”。“老上海”的光影交融著西式的陶染與中式的敏銳：充滿裝飾派藝術(shù)氣息的建筑洋溢著國際范兒，層出不窮的畫報傳播著時尚與軼事，還有那艷麗的佳人啊，沉醉在傳奇般紛繁的浪漫故事中。

[4]But nothing embodied the Old Shanghai’s unique allure more than cheongsam.And in the world of global fashion,nothing represents the quintessential “Chinese Element” more than cheongsam,known asqipaoin Mandarin,with many of its primary attributes,such as high collar,side slits and hourglass body-conscious shape being equated with the Eastern mystique.Cheongsam reached its current feminine form in the Old Shanghai.

[4]但要說什么能展現(xiàn)老上海獨有的魅力，除了旗袍之外，便再無適合的了。在時尚界，也只有旗袍最能體現(xiàn)“中國元素”的精髓。旗袍的許多主要特質(zhì)，如高領(lǐng)、側(cè)邊開衩及其勾勒出的沙漏型身材，無不幻化出東方的神秘感。富于女性魅力的旗袍款式得以定型，正是在“老上海”時期。

[5]Frankly,I seldom wear cheongsam when there is a Chinese gathering.It’s too predictable.With my dark straight hair and “charming” (as I have been told)accent,I do not need another Chinese Element to exude10exude顯露（感覺或品質(zhì)）。my Chineseness.

[5]說實話，參加中國人的聚會我很少穿旗袍，太老套了。我有一頭烏黑的直發(fā)，還有一口（據(jù)說是）很“迷人”的口音，我的中國特質(zhì)無須另一中國元素來彰顯。

[6]In my prior incarnation as a Wall Street lawyer,one time I attended a cocktail reception at an international conference in Asia.The dress code called for “smart cocktail.” Out of a whim I showed up in a rose red cheongsam made of cotton eyelet11eyelet小孔。fabric that I picked up in Shanghai,leaving all of my (predominantly male)colleagues and clients,who used to see me suited up in pinstripe12pinstripe帶有白色細條紋的深色衣料；細條紋西服。black or blue,with their mouths agape in admiration.Wow—I suddenly realized that cheongsam was still a “turn-on” these days!

[6]之前我在華爾街當律師，有次到亞洲參加一場國際會議，會議雞尾酒會的著裝要求是“時髦雞尾酒禮服”。心血來潮的我，穿了一條購自上海的玫紅色網(wǎng)眼棉質(zhì)旗袍，這讓之前看慣我一身黑色或藍色細紋西裝的同事（多為男士）和客戶目瞪口呆，贊嘆不已。哇哦，我突然意識到，旗袍依然“魅惑十足”。

[7]In effect,for many Chinese ladies,cheongsam was the best way to pull off a professional look without looking macho.Ironically,despite its purported13purported據(jù)稱的。sexual appeal and association with exotic seductresses in the West,the popularity ofqipaohad something to do with the revolutionary history of the early twentieth century,the birth of “New Women”and related progressive causes.It embodied women’s liberation,intellectual independence and free spirits.In 2010,a popular spy TV series in China titledQIPAOtold a story of a young female student turning into a political assassin during the Japanese invasion of China.Code-named Qipao,she ingratiated14ingratiate使迎合，使討好。herself with the villain Chinese collaborator who sold himself out to the Japanese military force,taking advantage of his fetishistic15fetishistic迷信的；物戀的。collection of qipao and women who wore them.

[7]實際上，對于很多中國女性而言，旗袍是想要展現(xiàn)職業(yè)形象但又不想太過強勢的最佳選擇。耐人尋味的是，盡管旗袍展現(xiàn)了女性的性感并在西方人看來富有異國風情，但它的流行卻與20世紀早期的革命史密不可分，在那段歲月中誕生了“新女性”和她們的進步事業(yè)，旗袍更是體現(xiàn)了婦女的解放、思想獨立和自由精神。2010年，中國播出了一部名為《旗袍》的熱門諜戰(zhàn)劇，講述了日本侵華期間一名年輕女學生從事政治暗殺的故事。代號“旗袍”的她親近賣國求榮的漢奸，利用的正是漢奸對旗袍和穿旗袍女性的癡迷與崇拜。

[8]Eileen Chang (a.k.a.Zhang Ailing,1920–1995),China’s Virginia Woolf16英國女作家、文學批評家，意識流文學代表人物。and author ofLust,CautionandLove in a Fallen City,among others,staged most of her fiction against the backdrop of Old Shanghai,even in the stories that she wrote after emigration to the United States.According to Chang,a keen observer of the fashion from the era,qipao,or “banner gown” after the eight military banners under which the Manchus had invaded China in the seventeenth century,had always existed alongside Chinese fashions.During the Qing dynasty (1644–1912),the last imperial dynasty of China,women of the Han descent wore two pieces while the Manchu women wore a long robe.With the establishment of unity between the various peoples by the new republic,women all over the country suddenly began to wearqipao—not because they wanted to show their political allegiance to the Manchu Qing dynasty or their support for its restoration,but “because they wanted to look like men.”

[8]張愛玲（1920—1995）被稱作“中國的弗吉尼婭·吳爾夫”，寫過《色戒》《傾城之戀》等小說，她大部分的作品都以老上海為背景，移民美國之后的小說也是如此。張愛玲當時也熱衷時尚，據(jù)她考證，旗袍（或稱“旗裝”）在滿洲八旗入主中原之后一直與漢族時裝并存。清朝（1644—1912）是中國最后一個朝代，漢族婦女上衣下裙，滿族婦女則一襲長袍。民國建立、民族統(tǒng)一之后，全國婦女一夜之間改穿旗袍——這并不是因為她們要向滿清表達忠心或是支持復辟，而是“因為她們要與男子平起平坐”。

[9]The earlier version of qipao was wide and loose,concealing the figure of the wearer.With time,however,the qipao was tailored to become more form fitting and revealing.Whether you were a student,socialite,courtesan,movie star,dancing girl,housewife,artist,you walked down the street with your Shanghai attitude.

[9]早期旗袍寬松肥大，遮掩了女性的身材，然而隨著時間的推移，旗袍的剪裁變得更為貼身與暴露。無論是學生、名媛、交際花、電影明星、舞女、主婦還是藝術(shù)家，穿著旗袍，你都可以在街上走出一種上海的韻味來。

[10]In the early 1920s,qipaowas straight but already more fitted.The waistline was low,in tune with the Art Deco fashion from the 1920s in the West.The history ofqipaoin Shanghai’s fashion statement was inextricably intertwined with the rich fabric of the Western influences such as Hollywood silver screen fashion and Parisian style.And Shanghai’s fantasy in turn inspired many of the new sartorial17vocabulary in the West.

[10]20世紀20年代早期，旗袍雖然還是直身款式，剪裁卻已更為貼身。當時旗袍的腰線很低，貼合了20世紀20年代西方的裝飾藝術(shù)風格。在上海的時尚清單中，旗袍的發(fā)展史總是與好萊塢銀幕時尚以及巴黎風范這些西式的陶染有著千絲萬縷的聯(lián)系，而夢幻的上海時尚又反過來在西方世界催生出眾多的服飾新詞。

[11]1930s saw the fertile18interplay between the East and the West,paving the ground for the formation of the classical Shanghai styleqipao,when people began to wear a western overcoat,jacket or sweater over aqipao.During the same period,qipao-making absorbed Western design elements such as turndown collar,V-neck,ruffle collar,ruffle sleeves and slit-sleeves.The introduction of bust darts,waist darts,inset sleeves and shoulder slits19further played up the wearer’s body shape.These all occurred when all aspects of sartorial industries were in full bloom in Shanghai.Thanks to a burgeoning textile industry with a large quantity of products imported from overseas,a wide variety of satin,silk,cotton,woolen cloth and gauze made qipao a modern statement.

[11]30年代開始，東西方之間互動頻仍，女性開始在旗袍之外罩上長、短外套或者毛衣，這種穿法成為上海旗袍經(jīng)典款式的先導。同時，旗袍的制作吸收了西式的設計元素，如翻領(lǐng)、V字領(lǐng)、褶皺領(lǐng)、褶皺袖和開叉袖。胸省、腰省、內(nèi)袖縫、開肩縫等技藝的引進，進一步展現(xiàn)了女性的身姿。所有這些，都發(fā)生在上海制衣行業(yè)全面振興的年代。紡織行業(yè)興起，緞子、絲綢、棉布、羊毛布和薄紗布等各種外國衣料涌進中國，旗袍成了流行時尚。

[12]Simultaneously revealing and concealing,qipaois an understatement about proportion and style.The highly stylized calendar advertisements from the period contained a wealth of pictorial information about the development of the history,painting,industry,products,theater arts and garments.The calendars featured stylish ladies,often inqipaoand accessorized with Western-style fur coats or jewelry,chronicling the evolution history of theqipaostyles.You see these women smoking cigarettes,playing golf,ballroom dancing,putting on make-ups,drinking Coca-Cola,fishing or attending to toiletry20toiletry〈美〉化妝品。.

[12]旗袍的線條若隱若現(xiàn)，淡化了比例和風格。那個年代的年歷廣告高度程式化，畫面蘊含豐富的信息，展示了歷史、繪畫、工業(yè)、產(chǎn)品、戲劇藝術(shù)和服飾的發(fā)展狀況。年歷上的時髦女郎身著旗袍，配以西式的毛皮大衣和珠寶首飾，反映了旗袍風格的演變之路。這些女郎，或指尖青煙，或揮桿高球，或舞姿搖曳，或傅粉施朱，或暢飲可樂，或垂桿待魚，抑或擺弄化妝品。

[13]In the past few seasons,cheongsaminspired Chinese fantasies walked down the runways for Chanel’s pre-fall Paris-Shanghai collection,Ralph Lauren’s Fall/Winter collection,Jason Wu’s Fall/Winter collection,Gucci’s Fall/Winter collection,and Emilio Pucci’s Spring/Summer collection,to name just a few.

[13]在過去幾季里，香奈兒早秋“巴黎—上海”系列、拉爾夫·勞倫秋冬系列、吳季剛秋冬系列、古馳秋冬系列以及埃米利奧·璞琪春夏系列的T臺上，都行走著旗袍風格的中國幻想。

[14]This eternal return of theqipaoelements in international fashion attests to how the Old Shanghai style remains relevant to our contemporary sensitivity.In today’s Shanghai,you can still walk down the numerousqipaospecialty shops that lined the Changle Road and Maoming South Road and pick out you flight to history with a century-old fantasy.■

[14]國際時尚中旗袍元素的輪回，力證了當今時尚風情中依然保有老上海的風尚。時至今日，你依然可以漫步上海長樂路和茂名南路，在沿街的旗袍店里精挑細選，穿行在夢幻之都的百年時尚當中。□

（譯者曾獲第五屆“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽優(yōu)秀獎；譯者單位：廣西民族大學）