What springs to mind when you think of Chinese fashion? Is it red and gold imperial robes, dragon motifs and frog fasteners? Is it folded clothes encased in plastic envelopes — cheap thrills that cost less than the postage it took to mail them? Or is it an exhausting discussion about cultural appropriation and who gets to wear a slinky version of the traditional qipao (or cheongsam, as it’s known in Cantonese) dress to prom?
Translation:
提到中国时尚，你会想到什么？是红金色的皇家服饰、龙纹和盘扣？是装在塑料袋里、廉价的快感——价格比邮寄它们的邮费还便宜？还是关于文化挪用的无尽争论——谁该在毕业舞会上穿那件贴身的传统旗袍？
Takeaway:
spring to mind: if something comes or springs to mind, you suddenly or immediately think of it 突然出现在脑海里，立即被想到
motif n. a small picture or pattern used to decorate something plain 〔装饰等的〕基调，基本图案
fasterner n. something that you use to join something together, such as a button on a piece of clothing 扣件，扣紧物〔如衣服上的纽扣〕
encase v. to cover or surround something completely 把…包住；把…围住
slinky adj. a slinky dress, skirt etc is smooth and tight and shows the shape of a woman’s body in a way that looks sexually attractive 〔衣服、裙子等〕紧身的，显出体形线条的
Throughout my own Chinese life, the images and feelings that I associated with Chinese fashion have frankly been a mess. As a young girl growing up among the soyabean fields of the US Midwest in the 1990s, I saw Chinese fashion to be as relatable as a fairy tale or a mass-market trend that felt weird for me to participate in — hair chopsticks and colourful mesh slippers that looked more at home on my blond neighbours than my own family members.
Translation:
坦白说，在我自己的华人生活中，与中国时尚相关的画面和感受一直是一团乱麻。作为一个1990年代在美国中西部大豆田间长大的小女孩，我觉得中国时尚要么像童话一样遥不可及，要么像大众市场的潮流一样让我无所适从——发簪和彩色网眼拖鞋，戴在我的金发邻居身上比戴在我自己家人身上更合适。
Takeaway:
slipper n. a light soft shoe that you wear at home 室内便鞋，拖鞋
Lacking context and nuance, my understanding of Chinese fashion was as convoluted as my understanding of what being Chinese even was, a soup of discrete definitions that included (or excluded, depending on who you ask) San Francisco gold rush, political refugees and the modern diaspora that included intellectuals, capitalists and manual labourers alike.
Translation:
缺乏背景和细微差别，我对中国时尚的认知，就像我对“身为华人”意味着什么的认知一样混乱——那是一锅离散定义熬成的汤，里面包含了（或排除了，取决于问谁）台湾、香港、旧金山淘金热、政治难民，以及包括知识分子、资本家和体力劳动者在内的现代海外华人群体。
Takeaway:
convoluted adj. complicated and difficult to understand 不易理解的，费解的
diaspora n. the movement of the Jewish people away from ancient Palestine, to settle in other countries 大流散〔犹太人离开古巴勒斯坦到其他国家定居的迁移〕
manual adj. manual work involves using your hands or your physical strength rather than your mind 手工的；体力的
If anything, Chinese fashion had nothing to do with me, a Chinese person who loved fashion. It didn’t factor into my personal style, except as something to react against.
Translation:
如果说有什么关系的话，中国时尚与我这个热爱时尚的华人毫无关系。它从未融入我的个人风格，除了作为一个需要抗拒的对象。
Takeaway:
factor into: If you factor a particular cost or element into a calculation you are making, or if you factor it in, you include it. 将…计入;将…考虑进去
react against: to show that you dislike someone else’s ideas or ways of doing something, by deliberately doing the opposite 反对；反抗
I wish that version of myself had access to the new exhibition Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The show is largely based on the personal archives of Berkeley-based artist and designer Chere Lai Mah, who became a de facto archivist in her Chinese-American community.
Translation:
我真希望当年的我能看到洛杉矶县艺术博物馆（LACMA）的新展览“塑造中国女性：从帝国到现代”。这场展览主要基于伯克利艺术家兼设计师谢丽·马的私人收藏，她实际上成为了她所在华裔美国人社区的档案保管员。
Takeaway:
de facot adj. really existing although not legally stated to exist 〔未经法定途径宣布但〕实际存在的
Featuring more than 70 garments worn by Mah’s friends and family, the dresses tell a resonant story of personal style, socio-economic optimism and an enthusiasm for cultural exchange that’s seldom seen in dialogues about Chinese fashion.
Translation:
展览展出了马的朋友和家人穿过的七十多件服装，这些旗袍讲述了一个关于个人风格、社会经济乐观主义和对文化交流热情的故事——这种热情在关于中国时尚的对话中很少见到。
Takeaway:
garment n. a piece of clothing 衣服
resonant adj. resonant materials increase any sound produced inside them 共鸣的，共振的
Mah’s collection is extraordinary because of its ordinariness, says guest curator Michaela Hansen, who notes that museums typically focus on imperial, often male dress or explorations of western fashion borrowing from China: “[Typically] it’s not day-to-day life. It’s not personal,” she says.
Translation:
客座策展人迈克尔·汉森表示，马的收藏之所以非凡，恰恰在于它的“平凡性”。他指出，博物馆通常关注帝王服饰（且多为男性）或西方时尚对中国元素的借用。“（通常）那不是日常生活，那不是个人的，”她说。
Spread over three sections, the show loosely follows the development of the qipao, from the embellished loose-fitting robes and jackets of the Qing dynasty that ended in 1912 to the bespoke dresses of the 20th century that first became popular among communities in the Chinese port city of Shanghai, and spread as wealthy Chinese moved around the world in response to social and political transformations within China.
Translation:
展览分为三个部分，大致沿旗袍的发展脉络展开——从1912年清朝灭亡前装饰性的宽松长袍和短褂，到20世纪的定制服装——这些服装最初在上海这一港口城市的社交圈中流行开来，随后随着富裕的中国人因国内社会政治变革而移居世界各地而传播开来。
Takeaway:
embellish v. to make something more beautiful by adding decorations to it 装饰，修饰
bespoke adj. a bespoke product, especially computer software or a piece of clothing, has been specially made for a particular customer 〔尤指计算机软件、服装等产品〕定做的，定制的
It explores how innovations in textile manufacturing and rapidly changing gender roles made the qipao truly modern, as a piece that reflected the way the wearer felt about herself, her role in society, her national identity — and her Chineseness. Because qipaos were typically designed and made specifically to the wearer’s tastes and specifications, they are a powerful reflection of personal style.
Translation:
展览探讨了纺织制造业的创新和迅速变化的性别角色如何让旗袍真正变得现代——成为一件反映穿着者如何看待自己、她在社会中的角色、她的民族认同——以及她的“华人性”的作品。由于旗袍通常是按照穿着者的品味和规格专门设计和制作的，它们强有力地反映了个人的风格。
This exhibition challenges the idea that “western fashion has a monopoly on self-expression”, notes Hansen, focusing on one of the biggest points of difference between this show and 2015’s China: Through the Looking Glass at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The latter showcased how Chinese aesthetics were interpreted by western fashion houses. “It’s not a designer’s perspective on things, it’s the women themselves who made all of the design choices,” she says.
Translation:
汉森指出，这次展览挑战了“西方时尚垄断自我表达”的观念——这也是本次展览与2015年纽约大都会艺术博物馆“中国：镜花水月”展览最大的不同之一。后者展示的是西方时尚品牌如何诠释中国美学。“这不是设计师的视角，而是女性自己做出了所有的设计选择，”她说。
Takeaway:
monopoly n. if a company or government has a monopoly of a business or political activity, it has complete control of it so that other organizations cannot compete with it 垄断；独占；专营
aesthetic n. Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of the idea of beauty. (审）美学
The LACMA exhibition attempts to bring these individual women to the forefront by listing their real names on the placards and creating custom mannequins that reflect the women who wore them.
Translation:
LACMA的展览试图将这些女性个体置于前台——在标牌上列出她们的真实姓名，并制作定制的模特来反映穿着这些衣服的女性。
Takeaway:
to the front: to be in a leading position in an important activity that is trying to achieve something or develop new ideas 位于（某事物的）最前列，处于（某事物的）领先地位
mannequin n. a model of the human body, used for showing clothes in shop windows 〔商店橱窗中用以展示服装的〕人体服装模型
Created by Chinese fashion designer Jason Wu, the mannequins were 3D-printed in China to feature nine different hairstyles that depicted the range of eras during the time each garment was worn. The stylised facial features present hooded eyelids, and the colour was specifically developed with a slight yellow base.
Translation:
这些模特由中国时装设计师吴季刚创作，在中国通过3D打印制成，呈现了九种不同的发型，以代表每件服装穿着时期的不同年代。模特的面部刻画了带有上眼睑褶皱的眼型，肤色也专门调制成略带黄色基底。
“I thought it was important to reflect our skin tone and eyelids, a part of cultural identity that’s very important to me,” says Wu, who also has a background in designing dolls, having created a special 12-inch doll dressed in a swirling green-and-black 1955 cheongsam in a rayon damask with real jade jewellery, available for purchase here.
Translation:
“我认为反映我们的肤色和眼睑很重要，这是文化认同的一部分，对我来说非常重要，”吴季刚说。他也有设计玩偶的背景——曾创作过一个12英寸的玩偶，穿着一件旋转绿黑色图案的1955年人造丝锦缎旗袍，配以真正的玉饰，可供购买。
Takeaway:
rayon n. a smooth artificial cloth used for making clothes 人造丝，嫘萦
damask n. a type of cloth with a pattern woven into it, often used to cover furniture 〔常用来铺在家具上的〕织花缎子，锦缎
Throughout the show, Mah’s family’s story is told warmly in videos, audio and text, and traces the journeys of matriarchs of her family as they fled their homes in Guangdong province following the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937 and emigrated to Fresno, California.
Translation:
在整个展览中，马的家庭故事通过视频、音频和文字被温暖地讲述，追溯了她家族中女性长辈的旅程——她们在1937年抗日战争爆发后逃离广东的家乡，移民到加利福尼亚州弗雷斯诺市。
Takeaway:
trace v. to find the origins of when something began or where it came from 追溯；追查
matriarchy n. a social system in which the oldest woman controls a family and its possessions 母权制，母系制 → patriarchy
In America, they formed a tight-knit community with like-minded Chinese-American women whose own qipaos brought in design elements and textiles from places such as Bangkok, Tokyo, Singapore, Paris, New York and Hawaii. “They’re from all over the place — and in that way, it’s really an American collection, a California collection,” says Hansen.
Translation:
在美国，她们与志同道合的华裔美国女性组成了一个紧密的社区，她们的旗袍带来了来自曼谷、东京、新加坡、巴黎、纽约和夏威夷等地的设计元素和面料。“她们来自世界各地——从这个意义上说，这真的是一组美国收藏，一组加州收藏，”汉森说。
Takeaway:
tight-nit adj. a tight-knit group of people are closely connected with each other 紧密团结的
like-minded adj. having similar interests and opinions 趣味相投的，想法一致的
One particularly arresting mini dress came in the form of an acid-green Mayan Revival pattern on a little black dress from 1948, in a beautiful mash-up of influences. “The qipao is such an important, pivotal invention that came from a culture that was deeply engaged with internationalism and exchange,” says Hansen. “It’s not static fashion. It’s dynamic and changing.”
Translation:
其中一件特别引人注目的短裙是一件1948年的小黑裙，上面印着酸橙绿色的玛雅复兴图案，是一次美丽的影响融合。“旗袍是一项如此重要、关键的发明的成果，它来自一种深度参与国际主义和交流的文化，”汉森说。“它不是静态的时尚。它是动态的、变化的。”
Takeaway:
arrest v. if something arrests you or arrests your attention, you notice it because it is interesting or unusual 引起…的注意，吸引
mash-up n. a piece of music, a video, a website etc that uses parts of two or more pieces of music, videos, etc 〔音乐、影像等的〕混搭片段，集锦片段
static n. not moving, changing, or developing 不动的；不变化的；不发展的；静（止）的
Students of fashion history and those with an eye for style will appreciate the fashion dynamism that drives the energy of the exhibition. There are fasteners so elaborate they look like piping on a wedding cake (no wonder that these elements are being heavily referenced in fashion today). A dress from the 1930s made of layers of burnt-out brown patterned velvet reveals a smart polka-dot fabric underneath that could easily be found on the Marni runway. A black and royal blue wedding reception outfit featuring a plaster-pink floral trim won an entry in my notebook to remind myself to play with those colour combinations in my wardrobe.
Translation:
时尚史的学生和懂风格的人都会欣赏驱动展览活力的这种时尚动态。有些盘扣精致得如同婚礼蛋糕上的裱花（难怪这些元素如今在时尚界被大量借鉴）。一件1930年代的连衣裙由多层烧花棕色图案天鹅绒制成，下面露出巧妙的波尔卡圆点面料，放在Marni的T台上也毫不违和。一件黑蓝相间的婚礼接待礼服配上粉白色花卉镶边，让我在笔记本上记下要在自己的衣橱里尝试这些色彩组合。
Takeaway:
elaborate adj. carefully planned and organized in great detail 精心制作的
The qipao never featured in my Chinese family’s story; my hometown in China was far from port cities, my ancestors were not wealthy enough to consider cutting-edge bespoke fashions and remained in China after the founding of the People’s Republic of China that closed the country off to outside influences until the late 1980s when my parents and I moved to the US. Despite this, I saw my Chinese self reflected in this exhibition in ways I did not anticipate: the mixing of cultures; playing with identity; an optimism for what life could be in spite of war, displacement and alienation.
Translation:
旗袍从未出现在我的家族故事里；我在中国的家乡远离港口城市，我的祖先没有足够的财富去考虑前沿的定制时尚，并在中华人民共和国成立后留在了中国大陆——此后中国对外界影响关上了大门——直到1980年代末我的父母和我移居美国。尽管如此，我在这场展览中看到了自己的华人身份——以我未曾预料的方式：文化的交融、身份的玩味、对生活可能性的乐观——尽管经历了战争、流离和疏离。
Takeaway:
cutting-edge adj. Cutting-edge techniques or equipment are the most advanced that there are in a particular field. 最前沿的;最先进的;尖端的
displacement n. when a group of people or animals are forced to leave the place where they usually live 〔人群或兽群的〕被迫迁徙
The first exhibition to launch since the opening of LACMA’s new Peter Zumthor-designed David Geffen Galleries, Fashioning Chinese Women elevates what’s essentially a grassroots artistic movement of real women navigating modernity, migration and self-expression — championed and cherished by Chinese-American Californian women who, ultimately, loved a really beautiful frock. How relatable.
Translation:
作为LACMA新开幕的彼得·卒姆托设计的戴维·格芬画廊的首展，“塑造中国女性”将一场本质上是草根艺术运动的展览提升到了新的高度——关于真实的女性如何在现代性、移民和自我表达中航行——由那些最终热爱一条美丽裙子的加州华裔女性所倡导和珍视。多么能引起共鸣。
Takeaway:
grassroot n. the ordinary people in an organization, rather than the leaders 普通民众，草根阶层
frock n. a woman’s or girl’s dress 〔妇女或女孩穿的〕连衣裙
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