Abstract: Horse-face skirt is a typical style of women’s wear in China’s Ming and Qing dynasties. It represents an important aesthetic concept in the life history of Chinese women, i.e. thinking little of structure but playing emphasis on decoration, restrained and natural, releasing the body’s zen aesthetic ideas, which is in sharp contrast with western drape cutting which attaches importance to structure and highlights the silhouette of human body. The study on the shape and workmanship of horse-face skirt is of certain significance to the inheritance and innovation of Chinese traditional costumes.

Key words: horse-face skirt; shape; workmanship; inheritance and innovation