Footwear to go with ruqun includes brocade shoes with tipped-up "phoenix head" toes, and shoes made with flax or cattail stems, all very light and delicate. In addition to images in classic paintings, we are able to see real pieces unearthed in Xinjiang and other places.
When wearing the ruqun, the Tang women rarely wore hats. Sometimes they wore decorative flower crowns, but when out, they often covered their faces with a veil. This kind of veil hat became the trend in the early Tang Dynasty, but by mid-Tang Dynasty many no longer bothered to wear it, but chose to show their hair buns when they were out riding. There was a large variety of hairstyles at that time, all competing for opulence and extravagance, including over 30 kinds of tall buns, double buns, and downward buns, most of which named after their shapes. Some of these hairstyles came from ethnic minority groups. A full range of ornamental objects was used on the buns, including gold hairpins, jade ornaments, as well as fresh or silk flowers. This is often seen in Tang paintings, as well as in artifacts unearthed in ancient tombs.
Compared with the gorgeous dress of the ruqun, a full set of men’s riding attire on women had its own unique flavor. The typical men's wear in the Tang Dynasty included the futou or turban, round collar jacket and gown, belt on the waist and dark leather boots. Women dressed like this look sharp, unrestrained yet elegant. Although in Confucian teachings long ago it was said that men and women should never cross-dress, women in men's dressed are frequently seen in Tang paintings and in the Dunhuang Grottos. 
Historical records on Tang garments all told us that in those days, Tang women often wore full sets of men's clothes including boots, gowns, horsewhips and hats. Aristocrats, commoners, at home, or going out, many women dressed like this in those days. It is not hard to imagine that Tang was a rather open society as far as women are concerned.
Such is the extravagance of the Tang garments. Nowadays people call any front closure Chinese jacket the "Tang costume," as a general term for addressing all traditional Chinese garments. However, the term is used only because people today take pride in those prosperous days. In reality, the modern "Tang costumes" have far less of the luster, extravagance and vitality compared to the real thing. The grandeur of the metropolis where all nations came to admire made the Tang Dynasty nothing short of the kingdom of garments.
