Asked by Anonymous
Hi! I enjoy your blog because it offers much information and is aesthetically pleasing! I was wondering if you could talk about the shoes? What did people wear back in the days? And what are proper and fitting to wear today if you are wearing hanfu? Thank you.
Hi, I’m glad you enjoy my blog! ^^
Here are some informative posts/articles about traditional Chinese shoes for hanfu - please check them out!:
- Overview of Common Hanfu Shoes - this post by @fouryearsofshades is the best guide to hanfu shoes I’ve seen so far - read this first!
- History of Traditional Chinese Hanfu Shoes
- Han Dynasty Shoes
- Traditional Chinese Upturned-Toe Shoes
- Ancient Chinese Shoe Tip Styles
- The Secret of the Chinese Ancient Hanfu Shoe Tip
- The 12 Beautiful Traditional Chinese Embroidered Shoes
Today, when wearing Hanfu, most people wear traditional Chinese cloth shoes that are decorated with embroidered designs. The most formal type of shoe is the 翘头履/Qiao Tou Lǚ, which is a type of shoe with an upturned toe. The upturned toe was historically used to hold the hem of the Hanfu up, so it wouldn’t drag on the ground. Below - examples of modern Qiao Tou Lǚ with different styles of upturned-toe shoe tips:
More casual and commonly worn is the 弓鞋/Gong Xie, which has a less exaggerated upturned toe:
As you can see, nowadays it’s quite trendy for such shoes to have lace-up ribbons and embellishments such as pearls.
Another type of shoe that’s commonly worn with modern Hanfu is the traditional Chinese boot called 靴/Xue. This type of shoe is often worn by men:
Bonus - you can wear the shoes with traditional Chinese socks called 袜/Wa:
For more references, please see my Shoes tag. Hope this helps!
