Chinese hand-stitched dress...any ideas??

[mndy]

Hello! I am trying to find out anything I can about this dress. It has no labels other than the selvage edge of the fabric (pictured), and all stitching is done by hand. Seams are flat-felled or french. The blue/purple trim follows all raw edges and is used again in the frogs. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance!

 

[Jonathan]

It's a Cheong Sam - the style developed in Shanghai in the 1920s/30s but this is a postwar version - probably 1950s and was probably made for the Asian market rather than for export to the west (the export ones usually have labels or at least the ones I have seen do.) They have been available in the west as hostess/at home styles since the late 1940s - reaching a peak of popularity in the early 60s.