Out of Place

Want to show off your enthusiasm in hanfu without looking too awkward or out of place? Try these tips! So you’ve been introduced into the world of hanfu culture, or maybe you’ve been part of the community for a while now. That’s great! Now, how do you plan to incorporate this beautiful aesthetic into your daily life? For the boldest of us, we might be willing to just directly start wearing full sets of hanfu onto the streets, but most of us probably aren’t willing to step so quickly into the deep end. Here are a few ways to show off this aesthetic in your daily life—unobtrusively enough that you won’t stand out too much, but definitely stylish enough to draw some appreciation! Hanyuansu / Modified Hanfu ( 漢元素 / 改良漢服 ) The first, most obvious option is hanyuansu. Hanyuansu or gailiang hanfu is the name given to modified hanfu—hanfu that has been modernized or changed in some way to match mainstream fashion more closely, whether just for the thrill of blending aesthetic or for practicality (i.e., pockets, shorter skirts, shorter sleeves). They resemble traditional hanfu (though technically all hanfu is modified a bit since we only have historical records…

Have you ever struggled with tying your hanfu skirts, or gotten used to the old ways of tying them? Look no further for a collection of tutorials on how to tie hanfu skirts in various styles! 1. Double-Eared Let’s start with the most classic of ways to tie a skirt—the double-eared. This is the shape that most photos you’ll see have, suitable for pretty much all hanfu, although it has a more feminine flair and requires a long length of leftover ribbon to work with. Many people try to duplicate this pattern just by looking at it, but find that it’s easy for the loops to fall out of place when you move—no worries! Here’s the best way to tie your hanfu skirts in the double-eared pattern: 1. Put on your skirt as usual. You should end up with two tails of the ribbons that you'll need to secure around your waist, making sure that both tails are roughly the same length. I'm demonstrating with a mamianqun (horse-face-skirt) that honestly should probably be ironed out, but this should work on any wrap skirt with long enough ribbon tails. For our purposes we'll refer to the one on the right (your…