世博与文化：用英语介绍旗袍

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在世博园宝钢大舞台的中国元素展区，有一个极富老上海特色的旗袍现场展示区，其中的旗袍盘扣现场制作环节吸引了众多游人驻足。如果用英语，我们要怎样介绍这种精致的传统服饰呢？

“旗袍”在英语中有一个固定的词，不过是一个loanword，外来语，写做cheongsam，是从广东话Cantonese里来的。我们也可以拼写为qipao或者chipao：

The cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women; the male version is the changshan. It is known in Mandarin Chinese as the qipao or chipao, and is also known in English as a mandarin gown.
旗袍是中国一种紧身的连衣女子服饰，男子的被称为长衫。英语中也用mandarin gown来表示这种服饰。

清朝时候的旗装是很宽松的，1900年之后，在上海，旗袍的样式发生了改变：

The modernized version is noted for accentuating the figures of women, and as such was popular as a dress for high society. As Western fashions changed, the basic cheongsam design changed too, introducing high-necked sleeveless dresses, bell-like sleeves, and the black lace frothing at the hem. By the 1940s, cheongsam came in a wide variety of fabrics with an equal variety of accessories.
现代版的旗袍很贴身，更能显出女子的身材，为上流社会的女性所推崇。旗袍的式样也跟随西方时尚而变化，出现了高领无袖、喇叭状袖子和黑色蕾丝泡泡镶边的款式。到上世纪四十年代，旗袍已经有很多种不同材质和配饰。

旗袍和长衫的那种标志性小立领被称为mandarin collar，a short unfolded stand-up collar style，而旗袍的那种盘扣被称为frog，或者Chinese frog，frog在这里不是青蛙的意思哦，意为一种用细绳做的扣饰：

A frog (sometimes referred to as a Chinese frog) is an ornamental braiding for fastening the front of a garment that consists of a button and a loop through which it passes.
盘扣是一种装饰性的编织状扣子，用来扣住一件衣服的前襟。