Modern Living: The Chinese Look: Mao a la Mode

For Western chic, this is the year of the coolie who came in from the cold. Starting last spring, when the first Chinese-inspired fashions swept Paris, European and American designers have been having a collective field day redecorating workers' uniforms and baggy pants, overblouses and quilted jackets. The style might be called Mao a la mode. Now, with the fall collections, American couturiers have gone from paddy to palace, digging deep into the treasure chest of Imperial China. Result: high-collared mandarin robes, silk jacquard jackets, sable-lined evening coats of old damask and golden-scrolled...

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