Chi Yunuo’s white silk robe embroidered with an owl and flora pattern puffed through the air as she flitted around the boutique to help customers trying on pieces.
She paused in the corner to style a woman’s hair into two elaborate chignons, finishing the look with a red ribbon.
Stepping inside Beijing shop Dreamy Garments is an exercise in time travel – the store caters to a growing clientele of “hanfu” devotees, dedicated to wearing ancient attire believed to be worn by China’s Han ethnic majority before centuries of foreign domination brought Western fashion into vogue.
Some of the most committed, like Ms Chi, 31, don daily these intricate outfits, ignoring the stares.
They are proud to slip into robes they say reflect a return to a collective Chinese identity and traditional values.
“For example, every piece of ‘hanfu’ must have a back seam...it symbolises the integrity of a person,” said Ms Chi, spinning around to display her rear. “‘Hanfu’ embodies so much wisdom of our ancestors.”
And anyway, “it is more comfortable to wear ‘hanfu’ than modern attire – it’s loose, but still forms a nice silhouette,” she said.
“I can’t imagine squeezing my legs into jeans again!” In a country where large social gatherings and activities are often banned, the retro fashion boom is one that even Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party, seems to have endorsed.
Since taking office in 2012, he has stressed the revival of the Chinese spirit, traditional values, and the importance to "proceed with the inheritance of cultural bloodlines."
As “hanfu” popularity grows, so have sales at Ms Chi’s shop – on a good day, more than 30 garments fly off the racks, some as expensive as 2,500 yuan, equivalent to the average monthly salary. Enthusiasts trace the trend to 2003 when electrician Wang Letian wore a few of his own handmade garments on the streets.
Now, a social media account that chronicles the movement claims there are two million "hanfu" lovers in China. Followers around the country have formed clubs to share their love for the clothes and to stage traditional activities – putting on tea ceremonies, practicing archery, painting calligraphy and playing the zither, a stringed Chinese instrument.
“When I walk on campus wearing ‘hanfu’, it feels like I’ve entered history,” said Wang Tongyu, 19, who studies garden design at the North China University of Technology.
“In a time of material affluence, we should pursue something more spiritual. I feel it’s my duty and mission to promote ‘hanfu’ and trace our historical roots,” said Liu Jingqiu, 32, a social worker, who wears traditional outfits outside of work.
Today, she had on a pink robe with phoenix birds and peony flowers lining the bottom.
Ms Liu’s boyfriend, He Shipeng, 23, an IT worker – they met at a “hanfu” event – explained that such flora and fauna patterns harken back to a more “peaceful and glamorous era,” as he gracefully pulled a pair of glasses from a billowy sleeve designed to store small items.
The "hanfu" revival, however, highlights what experts perceive as a growing intolerance for minority ethnic groups, many of whom are persecuted under the Han ethnic majority.
“While it’s called a Zhonghua [Chinese] identity, it is a Han-centric national identity that has little space for ethnic cultural diversity," said James Leibold, a professor at Australia's La Trobe University who specialises in China's ethnic policy. But “hanfu” devotees say they’re simply expressing a love for their heritage.
People at times “confuse the clothing with Japanese kimonos or traditional Korean attire,” said Ms Chi. “But now more people recognise that this is the traditional attire of the Han people,” she said. “I’m just happy to show that Han people have their ethnic costumes as well.”