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- line; short-sleeved jackets; and, jackets with long, wide sleeves which were worn by the dancing girls to make their movements more elegant and graceful (fig. 69).
Sometime in the Three Kingdoms period, short-sleeved jackets appeared, and by the Sui dynasty, they had become very popular. They were worn by both men and women but were more popular with women. The close-fitting, sleeveless and short- sleeved jackets continued their popularity into the early Tang period. They were usually made of exquisite brocade fabrics and the sleeve was either left plain or set off with a band of contrasting material. This style shows the influence of Persia and Kucha, which was introduced by the musicians and dancers who came to the Chinese court as part of a tribute gift. The first half of the eighth century marked a peak in popularity for foreign fashions. The more conservative court members no doubt criticized this type of foreign dress for showing too much of the body.
Women were also criticized for wearing men�s clothing. In the seventh and early eighth centuries, fashionable aristocratic ladies and their servants liked to dress up in long, tight-fitting coats with turned-down collars, closing to the left. These costumes are similar to the ones worn by the foreign grooms and merchants depicted in tomb figurines. The costumes proved comfortable on outings, such as horseback riding or while playing polo, a new sport introduced to China during the Tang dynasty. The equestriennes are also often depicted wearing foreign-style hats (fig. v). These fashions complicate matters with the identification of tomb figurines, as not only do we have to determine whether the wearer is foreign or Chinese, but also whether it is a man or a woman.
Special mention should be made of a costume with wide, hanging cuffs, flaring shoulder padding and sleeve projections, as well as a form-fitting bodice with low- cut neckline and decorative skirt panel of elaborate design. The elongated skirt panel hangs down from the high waist and has triangular pieces of fabric attached to the sides and is trimmed with contrasting material. It is believed that this costume, which is a combination of foreign and Chinese elements, is a type of dancing costume (fig. 71). Forerunners of this type of dress occur on paintings attributed to the fourth-century artist, Gu Kaizhi. Court shoes curve up from below the hem of the garment. For examples of the different styles of court shoes found on tomb figurines, see figure vi.
Another fashion trend of the eighth century was a preference for loose-fitting costumes with wide sleeves. The new style is exemplified by the tomb figurines of full-figured women dressed in loose garments (fig. iii). Their long, full skirts, which are tied with a sash under the arms, give no indication of a waistline. A shawl is usually draped over the shoulders. The full-figure fashion style is complemented by new hairstyles of various types of top knots. The trend is towards creating complex, high hairstyles, giving the impression of volume. Younger women like the dancing girls, musicians and servants often wear their hair in two chignons. For the various Tang chignon styles, see figure vii.
A little bit should be said here about the make-up of the fashionable Tang ladies. The use of facial decoration has been noticed on a number of tomb figurines depicting women. Female tomb figurines from the Eastern Wu and Western Jin dynasties have a round beauty mark on their foreheads. During the Tang dynasty many shapes besides the round dot were popular (fig. viii). These beauty marks were either painted on or cut out from gold-leaf or paper and then glued on. From murals and paintings on silk, we learn that these beauty marks occurred mainly in three colours: red, green and yellow, with red being the most popular. Make-up was applied in several steps: first, lead powder was applied to get the highly desirable light complexion, then rouge was applied. Next, the eyebrows were painted in the desired shape: either long and narrow or broad and short (the original eyebrows were often plucked out). Lip
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