During the Republic of China, women were banned for wearing "vulgar" and "modern clothes"

People always say that China is a country with a profound feudal tradition, so no matter what, we will not let the modern trend go. Those who defend the road must step forward even if they stand in the way of the car; Shanghai took the lead in the modern trend when Shanghai emerged. However, the initial actions were still cautious. For example, those who believed that "the culprit was foreign women" did not wear socks, which was surprising and offensive, so the Shanghai City Public Security Bureau issued an order to strictly prohibit it. Guangzhou, under the rule of the culturally conservative Southern King Chen Jitang (1928-1936), is even more exaggerated. In August 1933, while the Guangzhou City Social Affairs Bureau announced the ban on bare feet and short dresses, it also banned all exotic clothing. The Guangdong Province Department of Finance also issued strict instructions to its female employees to dress their hair and dye their nails and apply powder and grease. While strictly instructing them to refrain from superficial and clean lead, they also specially required them to wear earthen clothes to keep their eyes straight.

However, after all, the local authorities could not stop the trend of the times. Some Shanghai female students who were in a rebellious period were particularly unwilling to buy it. They simply removed their socks, not only revealing their legs, but also revealing the "fragrant hooks", not only revealing their snow-white and pink thighs, but also on the thighs, patterns were drawn. Since then, more and more women did not wear socks. In 1933, in Tianjin, they did not wear stockings and were regarded as the most modern. Moreover, although she is no longer a female performer, as Mr. Lu Xun observed in 1933, the essence of selling to men is still the same; prostitutes use thick makeup and glamorous costumes to beautify themselves as much as possible to win the favor of customers. Most of the housewives are also unconsciously competing with prostitutes. -naturally, they have to try their best to decorate their bodies so that they can attract the hearts of men. Lu Xun "About Women")

After the "pioneering" and "trial" of the Shanghai and Guangzhou authorities, by 1934, the anti-modern movement finally rose to the central level. In February 1934, Chiang Kai-shek personally instigated the New Life Movement in Nanchang. The first aspect was to comply with the aforementioned appeal and ban exotic costumes. This is also an important part of the boycott of Japanese goods, and it also has practical significance economically. On June 10, 1934, the Jiangxi Province government, under Chiang Kai-shek's order, took the lead in issuing the "Measures to Ban Women's Extraordinary Dresses." Strict regulations were set on sleeve lengths, dress lengths, hemlines, and collar heights, so that you could neither be surprised nor different.

In banning exotic costumes, various places have basically followed Jiangxi's example, but Guangdong has intensified its efforts. Chen Jitang personally worked to formulate various clothing standards through the Guangdong Political Research Association, and spared no effort to ban women's strange costumes, and violators were "immediately arrested and prosecuted." To this end, the Public Security Bureau hung large slogans on major roads reading "Public Security Bureau bans exotic costumes and is mandatory from September 1", and sent a large number of off-duty armed police to inspect various tailor shops in the city. If strange costumes were found, they would be confiscated and destroyed. At the same time, it also cooperated with the Social Affairs Bureau and the Promotion Association to jointly organize daily clothing styles exhibitions and clothing standards patrols. However, apart from the extinction of overly exaggerated modern costumes on September 1, there are still many people who "wear cicada wings and thin underwear", and the authorities are very annoyed that "there are still stubborn girls who regard official orders as a joke."