This skirt is made up of two pieces, a frontal panel and a back panel joined together at the waist by strings. It is made possibly from pink silk with the decorative motifs done using silk threads and gold thread couching. It features the peony flowers, phoenix, butterflies and the qilin. Peonies symbolise spring, love, beauty and good fortune while the phoenix can represent beauty, grace, high virtue, the Empress and the bride. The qilin symbolises fertility and good fortune whilst the butterfly is a symbol for joy, beauty, romance and dreams. These embroidered garments were usually done in China by skilled, professional embroiderers and then exported to their Straits Chinese customers.
