Post

Sorry for slow posts, I'm travelling around China atm. Mao's fourth wife, Jiang Qing, attempted to create a dress that would serve as a female equivalent of the "Mao suit." It didn't go well and has been almost lost to history. I've recreated it with Lin Zhi here

I think Commonwealth society would have very little conception of appropriation generally; they are cultural internationalists and so would happily incorporate motifs around the world. Like Jiang, worldbuilders exercise control over fashion, especially as symbols.

Here, though, the items are mostly kitsch references to Chinese clothing (or "Cathay" as they call it). Jiefangxie (military sneakers); Jiang's dress; an army tunic; upturned collars -- all ripped up and reassembled in the pure internationalist tradition.