Susan Mah knew exactly what she wanted in a “little black dress.” In late-1940s California, after years of commissioning top tailors in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the first-generation Chinese American taught herself to sew and began creating striking hybrid cheongsams (qipaos). One standout dress pairs a classic Mandarin collar and fitted knee-length silhouette with an unexpected lime-green, Mayan-inspired print a bold mix of Chinese form and American novelty fabric. Her daughter‑in‑law, Chere Lai Mah, says Susan wouldn’t have dared such playful designs in China but in Fresno she embraced Hollywood glamour, inspired by Irene Dunne and Barbara Stanwyck, and shopped for “the craziest American novelty fabrics.”
A busy mother of 12 who also handled bookkeeping for the family’s record business, Susan still produced dozens of inventive gowns from brocades with French aristocrats to polka dots and clowns using clothing as a creative outlet. One of these, the Mayan-revival cheongsam, is among more than 70 examples of early- to mid-20th-century Chinese dress on view in “Fashioning Chinese Women: Empire to Modernity,” an exhibition opening Sunday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Most pieces come from the collection Lai Mah donated in 2022, which includes garments from Susan and Lai Mah’s own mother, Li Zhang Huifang.
Curator Michaela Hansen says the collection is rare for its size, provenance and the personal stories attached to each garment details that help document a period of social change after the Qing dynasty’s fall in 1912. Unlike typical museum displays that focus on court dress, contemporary designers or Western fashions inspired by China, this exhibition showcases everyday women’s wardrobes and the cultural blending they represent. Susan’s clothing survived in unusually good condition Lai Mah credits the Bay Area’s climate and offers a vivid, intimate portrait of Chinese American identity, migration and creativity. Lai Mah recalls receiving a turquoise silk brocade cheongsam from Susan in 1971; she never wore it but used it as inspiration for sculptures while studying at UC Berkeley.
