Summer Hanfu Style Guide
Scorching summer heat doesn’t have to sideline your Hanfu fashion. With the right fabrics and styling, you can stay cool, comfy, and chic while embracing traditional Chinese clothing in daily life. This summer Hanfu guide shares tips to elevate your Hanfu summer outfits and make animated film fashion inspired looks part of your wardrobe!
What to Wear?
Fabric Choice Is Everything
Summer outfits need to be light, soft, comfy, and breathable.
In terms of breathability: Silk > Cotton > Linen > Chiffon
For inner layers like camisoles or underskirts, prioritize silk for its unmatched breathability, followed by cotton and linen. Fabrics like suluo or zhengjuan, common in Hanfu fashion circles, are silk weaves offering a luxurious feel, as noted in Hanfu fabric guides. However, silk’s cost and maintenance make it less common for outer garments.
Want to dive deeper into the historical significance and diverse styles of Hanfu? Check out our comprehensive guide for more inspiration on your Hanfu journey.
Since silk is pricey, wrinkles easily, and isn’t low-maintenance, it’s less common for outer Hanfu garments. Following our breathability ranking and looking at what’s available, fabrics like Tencel, linen, and cupro are popular for open-front shirts or flutter sleeves (feiji xiu). Tencel-linen blends, woven from Tencel and linen, are also a go-to for tops. They’re breathable, sweat-wicking, and flowy, often outperforming pure Tencel in summer.
Summer skirts don’t just need to be light and airy—they also need strong wrinkle resistance and pleat retention. Considering these factors, most Hanfu skirts are made of 100% polyester (quandi), aka pure synthetic fiber.
Different yarns and weaving techniques mean even skirts from the same material can feel unique. Common skirt fabrics fall into four types: synthetic chiffon, crinkled silk, synthetic gauze, and synthetic satin. Despite fancy names, these are mostly polyester or nylon blends.
To highlight specific traits, brands give these fabrics catchy nicknames. For example, chiffon comes in varieties like imitation silk chiffon, pearl chiffon, luster chiffon, or metallic thread chiffon.
The name often hints at the fabric’s vibe: imitation silk chiffon feels as breezy as Tencel, while metallic thread chiffon sparkles with shiny threads.
Heads-Up: Metallic threads can oxidize and darken over time.
Even within the same fabric type, quality varies. You can’t judge all skirts of one material based on a single piece. Trying them on is the best way to find what feels most comfy.
On the left, a gauze hundred-pleat skirt (baidie qun); on the right, a satin horse-face skirt (mamian qun). You can tell them apart by light transmission—gauze is sheer and light, while satin is smooth and substantial.
Some brands make satin as airy as gauze or gauze as rich as satin. That said, skirts using fangzhuanghua (imitation brocade) techniques are usually heavier and not ideal for summer.
How to Style?
Mix and Match for Cool, Work-Friendly Looks
Summer styling offers endless options. For comfort and versatility, many Hanfu fans embrace mix-and-match outfits. Blending Hanfu with modern clothes or combining pieces from different dynasties is now a fashion statement. Staying cool while rocking your favorite Hanfu elements? Win-win!
Idea 1: Changgan Temple shirt / modern blouse + hundred-pleat skirt / horse-face skirt
Pair a traditional or modern top with a flowy skirt for a breezy, chic vibe.
Idea 2: Modern camisole / long bijia vest + horse-face skirt
Layer a sleeveless vest over a camisole with a structured skirt for a bold yet airy look.
Idea 3: Camisole / Tang-style beizi + broken skirt (po qun)
A light top with a fluttery Tang robe and a deconstructed skirt screams summer elegance.
Idea 4: Open-front shirt + modern Song pants / two-piece skirt
Combine a classic Hanfu top with tailored pants or a split skirt for a comfy, modern twist.
Summer Hanfu styling offers endless possibilities. Curious about ancient summer Hanfu styles and modern adaptations? Read this in-depth article to unlock more ideas.
Styling Tips for Hanfu Summer Outfits
Mix-and-match Hanfu summer outfits blend traditional Chinese clothing with modern flair, creating work-friendly, cool looks inspired by animated film fashion.
Creative Hanfu Fashion Combos for Summer
- Changgan Temple Shirt + Hundred-Pleat Skirt: Pair a traditional or modern blouse with a flowy baidie qun for a breezy Hanfu fashion vibe.
- Modern Camisole + Long Bijia Vest + Horse-Face Skirt: Layer a sleeveless vest over a camisole with a structured mamian qun for bold traditional Chinese clothing style.
- Camisole + Tang-Style Beizi + Broken Skirt: Combine a light top with a fluttery Tang robe and po qun for elegant Hanfu summer outfits.
- Open-Front Shirt + Modern Song Pants: Pair a classic Hanfu top with tailored pants or a two-piece skirt for a comfy, modern Hanfu fashion twist.
Explore more styling ideas at New Hanfu, and make Hanfu summer outfits your go-to for chic, breathable traditional Chinese clothing this season!
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