This robe may have been made from embroidered lengths originally intended to be tailored into a dress for a female member of the royal family. The dress textile itself is beautifully embroidered, and the lengths may have been intended for an Empress's <i>chaopao</i> (ceremonial robe) or <i>jifu</i> (formal robe). However, the robe may never have been worn by an Empress. It is possible that the robe might have been assembled at a much later date than when the dress lengths were made: the construction of the robe does not follow standard design, and the trims used on different parts of the robe suggest a latter-day intervention.