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Old school glamour on the cheapBy Kristie LuStout Editor's note: CNN International anchor and correspondent Kristie LuStout writes her "Shanghai Diary" as part of CNN's extensive "Eye on China" coverage. She will file stories daily from Shanghai and the surrounding region.  The qibao bowed to communist fashion sensibilities for a while, but is on its way back. SHANGHAI DIARY
SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSFrom Ruan Ling Yu to Zhang Ziyi, China's screen vixens have long wooed audiences in the qipao (pronounced "chee-pow") -- a slender gown with an upright collar and form-fitting cut. The dress evolved into the quintessential look of 1930s Shanghai. The communist revolution ended the fashion, but decades later -- it's ready for its close-up. Local designer Lin Wen is an interpreter of classical Chinese dress. And she recently took me on a qipao tour in Shanghai's bustling Dong Jia Du market. The market is chaotic maze of cashmeres and silks, zippers and fastenings -- located not far from the Huangpu River. Lin Wen picks up a fabric I would have never considered on my own -- a fuchsia and purple plaid silk taffeta that could be best described as "psychedelic madras." To make sure the taffeta is the real thing, she asks the vendor to burn the fabric with a lighter. The fibers burn into a powder and release the smell of burned hair -- a sign that the fibers are all natural. Haggling is the practice in Dong Jia Du market, so we engage in a bit of back-and-forth with the vendor until we get the price down to 90 yuan (roughly $10) for two meters of silk taffeta, and move on to the next stall. Lin Wen introduces me to Gary Lee, her favorite tailor at the market. At Gary's shop, we find another bolt of silk to play with. It's an orange silk brocade with silver and pink flower details. I initially have reservations about the fabric, afraid that it would spin forth a tacky Chinatown qipao. Lin Wen reassures me that her design would bring nothing of the sort: "It's a new orange I haven't seen before and it's kind of vintage, sort of Asian, sort of European. I think it suits your personality." She gives me a big smile and I'm sold. We hand over the fabrics to Gary, and I get measured for the gowns. His workshop is not far from the market. It's a cold room just larger than a shed. There, his team carefully stitch together silk buttons. Gary sets to work on my qipao -- expert tailoring by hand for just $24 a dress. Four days later, I pick up the gowns and slip into them one by one in a cramped closet in the back of his shop. The orange silk brocade dress fits like a dream and delivers -- as promised -- that East-West vintage punch. As for the "psychedelic madras" dress -- Lin Wen has added additional quirky touches such as cream ruffles all along the collar and body of the dress, as well as a dark lining that appears when I walk and kick up the hem. She calls it a "qipao with a twist, a modern twist." I call it an excuse to throw a party just to throw it back on! Silk taffeta dress: 
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