This cheongsam was the uniform worn by the female front office staff who greeted VIP guests at the Shangri-La hotel. Located along Orange Grove Road near the Orchard Road tourist and shopping belt, the Shangri-La Hotel was completed in 1971. The 25-storey luxury hotel was situated amidst 12.5 acres of lush, tropical gardens designed by Hawaiian landscape architect Raymond Cain to fit into Singapore’s image as a garden city. Each of the hotel’s 520 rooms were equipped with all the modern trappings expected of a luxury property, including individually controlled air-conditioning, television and radio sets, refrigerators, oversized beds and modern bathrooms. The hotel’s name was inspired by the mythical city of Shangri-La described in James Hilton’s novel, ‘Lost Horizon’. In keeping with the fantasy theme, the uniforms worn by staff in the Shangri-La hotel were inspired by the ancient ethnic costumes of Tibet. Doormen were dressed as Tibetan warriors, page boys donned Tibetan festival costume, while the female hostesses in the lobby lounge wore well-tailored cheongsams. The hotel also had an oriental-themed Chinese restaurant, the Shang Palace, a nautical-themed discotheque, the Four Seas, and a boutique, the Wardrobe, which was owned by Mrs Evelyn Chan. Mrs Chan also designed the hotel uniforms in the 1970s.
