It’s no secret I just love qipaos, the form-fitting Chinese dress. And because I’m obsessed with qipaos, I’ve noticed the publishing industry has taken an interest in them, too.
Tonight I had to buy some gifts, so as I perused an online bookstore and clicked on Jennifer Cody Epstein’s fabulous novel, The Painter from Shanghai (W.W. Norton, 2008)–one of my favorites about pre-revolutionary China–I had a bout of déjà vu.
Beautiful cover, right?
It’s been several years since I’ve read The Painter from Shanghai, so I’d forgotten the details of this elegant cover. But it quickly stirred up memories of another book I read more recently.
Check out these other qipao-clad covers of books I’ve read over the months:
Besides the gorgeous cover, Cheryl Tan’s story is mouth-watering delicious. Her cover reminded me of this one:
While it seems like the qipao is in fact a trend in book cover artwork, I can’t forget The World of Suzie Wong (World Pub, 1957), published back when Hong Kong women still wore cheongsams, or qipaos, as their everyday attire. (They certainly weren’t wearing them north of the border back then!).
But I can’t remember a qipao book cover from the decades between Suzie Wong and several years ago. Are qipaos more stylish now than in the recent past? Or were they even taboo in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, seen more as a fetish than a fashion?
What do you think?
Thanks so much for your comment, as always! “The World of Suzie Wong” is a classic, if a little dated, but I enjoyed it. When I read “The Painter from Shanghai”, I thought that’s the book I wished “Memoirs of Geisha” had been. It’s quite a story and based on a real artist. The other books are all good, although when I started “The Concubine’s Daughter”, I thought it was written by a Chinese man. It turns out the author is a Caucasian man, but the story is still a good one. It’s like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”.
Beautiful book covers with qipao as the theme. But I must confess I haven’t read any of the books featured. I have heard a lot of The World Of Susie Wong though. That’s you in the qipao in the last pic, right? I think I had said you look good in it. And you do look good in it in the full length pic.
Thanks for the plug! And–oh my gosh! How weird indeed….especially since (innocent that I am) I assumed the image was created specifically for “Painter.” Now I’m really curious about where it came from….may have to shoot a note to the art folk at Norton….
Thanks so much for your comment! Norton used the image first because Kensington published “Song of the Silk Road” this year. I’ve seen some covers that use the same concept but never before the same image!
The first two books have used the same image. Are they the same publisher? How odd.
Exactly! I knew I’d seen that image before! No, the publishers were different, but I figure they used stock images, so there’s no copyright issue. I’ve seen book covers that use the same concept, but never have I seen the same image!