The first ten years of the 20th century coincided with the last decade of the Manchurian Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The Boxer Uprising in 1900 against the foreign allied forces prompted the Qing government to make changes in its politics but not in the apparel of state officials. This featured the queue, or pigtail, which all Chinese men wore as a sign of allegiance to Qing rule, and the peacock feathers in officials' hats that gave Westerners such an eccentric impression of people in China and the Far East.
20世纪的第一个最初十年即是满清王朝（1644—1911）最后的十年。1900年，对抗外国联军的“义和团运动”引致了清政府政策上的改变，但是并未改变国家官员的装扮，其特色在于所有的中国男人都留有辫子，或称猪尾，以示效忠于清朝的统治，装饰于官员帽顶的孔雀羽毛，使得中国人乃至远东人给西方人留下一种古怪的印象。
A long gown was a main garment in both the Han and Manchurian costume, and the common people generally wore skullcaps and Indian topi-style hats. Short mandarin jackets with wide sleeves suitable for horse riding, known as magua, became popular during China's last dynasty.  Men and women alike also wore the long sleeveless, vest-like garments ornamented with exquisitely embroidered borders that were popular through to the end the dynasty.
长袍是汉族和满族的主要着装，普通人一般着无边的便帽与印度风格遮阳帽。穿上短的长袖对襟绣花上衣夹克适合骑马，这种衣物即是“马褂”，它成为中国最后一个封建王朝流行的衣物。男人和女人都穿长的、无袖的且背心状的服装，搭配精巧的边绣，这种服饰风靡于整个朝代。
Fewer demands were made on women than men to signify through dress their subservience to the Manchu Court. The jewelry and aesthetic tastes of Manchurian and Han women inevitably evolved over the centuries into a Qing women's costume, which was a departure from the Ming mode of surcoat and trousers. There was a custom at that time wherby women from illustrious families wore red and widows and common-born women wore black, embroidered with animal and flower designs. The mandarin stand-up collar also became popular during the 1900s.
男性比女性多一些的需求是通过穿着来表示对满族朝廷的逢迎。满族与汉族女性的珠宝与审美品味不可避免地推动了数个世纪清朝女性服装的演变，这是对 明朝衣裳模式的背离。在那个时期，有一个惯例：着红色衣服的女性来自显赫家庭，而寡妇与普通出身的女性着黑色衣物，并绣有动物与花的图案。马褂的立领也在 20世纪变得流行。

The traditional long gown which Manchurian women wore bore similarity to that worn by Han women, but with narrower sleeves and more ornate lace, embroidery and border ornamentation. There were also distinct differences in the hairstyles that Manchurian and Han women wore and in their style of embroidered shoes, as it was not the Manchurian custom to bind women's feet.
满族女性传统的长袍在钻孔方面同汉族女性有相似点，但是她们的衣物是窄袖的，且有更多华丽的饰带，并绣有花边。在发型与绣鞋风格上，满族与汉族女性也有很多明显区别，因为满族没有缠足的习惯。
Sewing and embroidery skills, featuring more elaborate borders and lace decoration had achieved a delicacy and elegance by the end of the Qing dynasty that compared with the European Rococo style.
清朝末年的缝纫与刺绣技术，其特色是以更为精致的花边装饰达到精美与高雅的效果，这可以同欧洲洛可可式的风格相媲美。
History, however, shows that this obsession with richly ornamented apparel reflected the decadence which marked the decline of the Qing and all preceding Chinese dynasties.
然而，历史告诉我们，这种对奢华衣饰的痴迷心态所折射出来的堕落，预示着清王朝其此前一切王朝的衰败。