Love in a Fallen City (1984)
Cora Miao as Bai Liusu

Despite her on-again, off-again, extremely subtle relationship with playboy Fan Liuyuan, ‘the fall of Hong Kong became her salvation’.

Cora Miao is rarely seen in a period film wearing qipao. Here, she exudes a unique style.


Characteristics of the Qipao Costume

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, material supplies were scarce, and clothes might have had to be assembled from different fabrics. Is this what the costume designers had in mind in designing this qipao with contrasting front and back fabrics? Cora Miao was the cooly magnificent fashion icon in the day. The costumes in the film are resplendent with the aesthetics of the 1980s.

Costume co-ordinators: Sheelagh Cullen, Sheila Hippisley Coxe.
Sheelagh Cullen won the 25^th Golden Horse Award for Makeup & Costume Design.