The Post-War Era: Exploring and Reinventing the Self

In the post-WWII era, Canada’s changing immigration policies, the second wave of feminism, and China’s disoriented politics shaped Chinese Canadian women’s fashion. The Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) resulted in a complete block on China’s relations with the Western world. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) perceived fashion as a bourgeois outcome; thus, women in China were forced to adopt military uniforms to display obedience and reject Western modernity. Such political transitions in mainland China affected Chinese Canadian women’s self-fashioning practices, especially those who immigrated to Canada in their late adulthood. Canada established the selective Point System for immigration in 1967 and introduced multiculturalism policies in the 1980s. Although the policies outlined that “all citizens can keep their identities”, Chinese Canadian women coming of age between 1950 and 1980 were highly cautious about revealing cultural differences through their clothing choices in public. 

British scholar Stuart Hall argued that people’s identities constantly evolve throughout their lifetimes. This idea is well supported by postwar Chinese Canadian women’s explorations of fashion. Compared to the previous generations, this group of women experienced a different type of discrimination due to their firm desire of being “Canadian. New national policies and Canada’s adoption of multiculturalism allowed these women to become integral members of Canadian society instead of traditional home keepers. However, many avoided Chinese fashion and ethnic expressions to protect themselves from being interpreted as the “Other”. As this generation of Chinese Canadian women entered adulthood, those who once lost their cultural heritage to assimilation went on unique journeys to reclaim their cultural identities. 

Participating in beauty pageant competitions, travelling worldwide, starting fashion design studios, giving up stability to live new lives… The postwar generation used groundbreaking, courageous ways to fight societal restraints and reconnect with their “Chineseness” while simultaneously gaining empowerment, individuality, and visibility. 

Wedding Portrait, 1951 (Credit: City of Vancouver Archive: 2008-010.3759)