The collars, as well as the decorative panels on the more complex garments, are edged with a bias border (made from strips cut at a 45-degree angle from the straight of grain). The Han clothing tradition included finishing the edges of garments with bias bindings. At first, the bias strips were used as reinforcement and to prevent raveling, but later contrasting colors were used, and the binding became a decorative element. The same is now true of traditional Jingju costumes, where most of the bias edgings are also decorative.

A stiffening glue is brushed onto the bias strips before sewing them in place. The pieces to be bound do not have a seam allowance. The bindings that are decorative borders are sewn to the face fabric 3/16 of an inch inside of the edge, and then pressed to the outer edge of the garment, where they are caught in the seam that also attaches the lining. This technique is employed for stitching the bias edges around the decorative pieces and flaps of the gongzhuang and kao, for example. When the bias binding is used in the neck hole, there is no seam allowance on the neck hole, and the inner edge of the binding functions as a facing instead. Some garments, including the mang and guanyi, have an extra piece of cording inserted into the bias edging to create a piping that adds dimension to the neckline. The corded neckline detail carries over from the Ming dynasty. The standing collars are stiffened with an interfacing and glue. In some cases the collars and the neck edges are both completely finished, and then the collar is stitched to the neckline of the garment, while other examples indicate that the collar was applied in the conventional way, with the raw edges of the neckline concealed between the layers of the collar. Many of the curved decorative pieces and borders in contrasting colors are clean-finished on the inner edge and machinestitched to the garment along the inner edge of the binding. The linings in the smaller panels and streamers of the nükao and gongzhuang are hand-stitched in place. The collar on the jacket of the zhan’ao zhanqun can be finished in another way. The binding is stitched only onto the neck edge of the collar, and then the collar is attached to the neck of the garment. A single strip of bias-cut fabric is then machine-stitched around the front edges of the garment and collar, and around the top edge of the collar in a continuous seam.

Long robes are usually slit on the side seams, and the performer’s movement can include lifting the garment to deliberately expose the lining. The linings are contrasting colors, generally light blue, yellow, or white, so most garments are clean-finished, and facings are used only on the neck edges. The linings are sometimes basted to the center front and back of the long robes, and for additional support, the linings may be basted in place around the embroidered borders. The trousers are the only unlined costumes.