Portrait of Anna May Wong , 1934
Photograph
[2009.300.1507 ]

Anna May Wong (1905-1961), the first well-known Chinese American actress in 1920s Hollywood, was an influential fashion icon for Chinese Canadian women of her time. Wong had relatable lived experiences with many second-generation American/Canadian women with Chinese heritage. Growing up in the exclusion era, she used self-fashioning practices to fight against Western people’s negative perceptions of being Chinese. She adopted fashion as a survival strategy to break stereotypes and reinvent a transnational identity. Wong combined her Chinese makeup, such as thin eyebrows and elongated eyeliners, with a European accent and North American clothing. Her on-screen image inspired Chinese Canadian women of her time to use “strategic hybridity” to fight for more possibilities and self-expressions.

Exhibited by:

Violet Wolfe

Other works by Unknown

Wedding Portrait of Rose Lee , 1950s
Photograph
Violet Wolfe
BC Lion’s Newsletter , 1978
Newspaper
Violet Wolfe
Linda at a Fashion Show , 2008
Photograph
Violet Wolfe
Chinatown’s Girls Drill Team , 1960
Photograph
Violet Wolfe
Gold Ring , Unknown
Jewelry
Violet Wolfe

More from Violet Wolfe

Red Satin Marriage Suit
Garment
Violet Wolfe
Hand-painted Kimono , 1980s
Photograph
Violet Wolfe
Chinatown’s Girls Drill Team Uniform , 1960-62
60 x 46 cm (h x w)
Garment
Violet Wolfe
Portrait of Queen Victoria , 1887
Oil painting
Violet Wolfe
Hand-crafted Art Earrings , 1988
5.8 x 2.3 cm (h x w)
Jewelry
Violet Wolfe