This is a traditional Chinese dress, called a qipao in Mandarin or a cheongsam in Cantonese. Qipaos were popular among Chinese women from the 1920s to the 1960s.
When my mom emigrated by herself from Taiwan to the U.S. in 1964, she brought with her a single suitcase filled with her most precious belongings. As an immigrant, she left almost everything she knew behind and started from scratch in a new country.
We lost my mom earlier this year, and in cleaning out her closet, we found the suitcase. We had heard the story of her journey but she never showed us what was insideāthatās when we found the qipao. The dress represents something from her hometown and a side of her that we as her children knew little about. Unfortunately, I have no memories of my mom wearing a qipao, probably because they had gone out of style by the time I was born in 1970. But, we still have photos of her in this dress, and they remind me of her journey to this country and that she had a completely different life before I came along.