Politicking Time through Attire: Empress Dowager Cixi and Her Birthday Vest

press release: History of Clothing Series

While it is easy to dismiss the ever-present daily task of donning clothes as a superficial subject matter, digging into the history of garment wearing supports the importance of humans wearing and constructing clothing as an impetus for learning technology, initiating trade routes and group intermingling, and for delineating social identity and position. We present this culture of surface for re-considering, during these enjoyable and enlightening presentations.

Thursday, October 18, 7:00 p.m.:

In this presentation, Yuhang Li will show that through the multi-mediated presentations of a garment to commemorate her birth, Cixi inscribed herself into a symbolic and ritualistic world that secured her legitimacy as a de facto ruler; at the same time, she combined a fashion design and a new media, photography, to display her costume and created a new mode of ritual for imperial birthday celebrations.