Shanghai in China is always considered to be the fashionable center that guides the tendency of fashion, all kinds of luxuries could be available here, and the Shanghainese in outlander’s eyes are fashionable and the forerunner of Chinese-style fad. The clothes, the hair-style, the cars, the furniture and the food all could be gained to judge the taste and the internationalized life. Many people think of Shanghainese was the representative of the petty bourgeoisie’s elegance. Although the houses in Shanghai are insufficient and crowded, they are able to refine and rationalize the layout, and make people feel comfortable.

During the latter-day history of China, many beginnings appeared in Shanghai and brought a great influence and strike to the tradition. In 1946, China’s Beauty Contest named Shanghai Miss was held in Shanghai with the fulminic impact all over the world. Moreover it was the most extraordinary beauty contest in the history of Shanghai. The returned peace after 8-year Sino-Japanese war, Shanghai eagerly enjoyed the placidity, despite of the long-term tribulation and disorder disturbed them. Shanghai still showed the brawny vitality as well as its prosperity. In July, a notice published in some chief newspapers showed “welcome the beauty and belle sign up and take part in the beauty contest of Shanghai Miss for relieving the people’s pains in disaster. And this idea was come up with by Du Yuesheng., an influential but controversial figure in China’s latter-day history.

After liberation, Central government always pays more attention to the function and importance of Shanghai in whole blueprint or policy decision. After the Cultural Revolution, as the economic center of China, Shanghai plays the most important role in introducing the foreign investment and rapidly becomes the business and financial center around the world. Late Deng Xiaoping extremely emphasized the importance and status of Shanghai’s development in whole national blueprint and macro-scopic strategy of China’s renaissance. The former President Jiang Zemin who acted as the mayor of Shanghai also paid much attention to the development of Shanghai, and changed Shanghai to be the Chinese image in economy and international exchanges. Nowadays, the dynamic Shanghai with driving economic development is also the center city of China and will be the international metropolis such as New York in America.

The women’s selection and preference in life in Shanghai to a great degree represent the tendency of fashion. Although such a choice is changeable, a favor in Shanghai among women is never changed, that is Cheongsam, a modernization of the traditional Chinese qipao which first appeared in the 1910s in Shanghai. Shanghainese lived in Shanghai As for the ordinary impression on cheongsam mostly from the old movies stars whose graceful and slender statures with such a sexy but decent garment attract a large number of audiences’ notice and contemplation. Look at female stars in 1930s from their pictures in books and magazines all impressed the readers on their beautiful cheongsams and their elegance.

Unquestionably the grand Shanghai nearby Huangpu River leads the fashion of modern China nowadays. The T-shaped stages in Bunds, the garment shops on southern Xiangyang Road, the expensive shoes laid in shopwindow on western Nanjing Road and other vogue shows all indicate that Shanghai plays such a fashionable role in China for a long time. A hundred years ago, the woman in Shanghai were as fashionable as we are today.