曹雪芹生于南京江宁织造府，自小耳濡目染，对织造、服饰等有诸多了解，因此《红楼梦》中才得以呈现精美绝伦的服饰描写。小说中的服饰，不仅是文学的需要，还是历史的写照，同时体现了任人物的内心情感、社会地位、性格特征等诸多方面。但多样复杂的描写也加大了翻译的难度，本文将比较杨宪益和霍克斯版本关于王熙凤服饰的描写，以小窥大。

例子： 这个人打扮与众姊妹不同，彩绣辉煌，恍如神妃仙子。头上带着金丝八宝攒珠簪，绾着朝阳五凤挂珠钗，项上戴着赤金盘螭璎珞圈，裙边系着豆绿宫绦双衡比目玫瑰佩，身上穿着缕金百蝶穿花大红洋缎窄褃袄，外罩五彩缂丝石青银鼠褂，下着翡翠撒花洋绉裙。

杨译：Unlike the girls, she was richly dressed and resplendent as a fairy.

Her gold-filigree tiara was set with jewels and pearls. Her hair-clasps, in the form of five phoenixes facing the sun, had pendants of pearls. Her necklet, of red gold, was in the form of a coiled dragon studded with gems. She had double red jade pendants with pea-green tassels attached to her skirt.

Her close-fitting red satin jacket was embroidered with gold butterflies and flowers. Her turquoise cape, lined with white squirrel, was inset with designs in coloured silk. Herskirt of kingfisher-blue crepe was patterned with flowers.

霍译：She was dressed quite differently from the others present, gleaming like some fairy princess with sparkling jewels and gay embroideries.

Her chignon was enclosed in a circlet of gold filigree and clustered pearls. It was fastened with a pin embellished with flying phoenixes, from whose beaks pearls were suspended on tiny chains.

Her necklet was of red gold in the form of a coiling dragon.

Her dress had a fitted bodice and was made of dark red silk damask with a pattern of flowers and butterflies in raised gold thread.

Herjacket was lined with ermine. It was of a slate-blue stuff with woven insets in coloured silks.

Her under-skirt was of a turquoise-coloured imported silk crepe embroidered with flowers.

解析：1）此段以林黛玉的视角描写王熙凤在书中的第一次出场。穿衣饰品都极尽奢华，表明王熙凤在贾府与众不同的身份地位，同时也显现了她的个性张扬。

2）“金丝八宝攒珠髻”是一种特殊的发髻，用金丝穿绕珍珠和镶嵌八宝支撑的珠花发髻。“八宝”又称“八吉祥”，是轮、螺、馓、盖、花、罐、鱼、肠八种实物的佩饰。杨译为“Her gold-filigreetiara was set with jewels and pearls”，其中的“tiara”为女士冕状头饰置于头顶，但实际上这一发髻应该是盘在脑后的。因此霍译“Her chignon was enclosed in a circlet of gold filigree and clustered pearls”更为贴切。

2）“豆绿宫绦双衡比目玫瑰佩”，“宫绦”是一种系在腰间的悬挂饰物。“衡”为佩玉上部的小横杠，用以系饰物。“比目玫瑰佩”是一种用玫瑰色的玉片雕琢成的双鱼形的玉佩。杨译大部分翻译正确，但缺失了“比目”，“鱼”的意象。这句霍克斯直接删去不译，对于不熟悉中国古代服饰的译文读者而言，霍译更流畅，容易理解，但对于专门研究中国历史或传统服饰的读者而言，文化价值有所缺失。

3）“窄褃袄”为紧身的袄子；“五彩缂丝石青银鼠褂”中的“缂丝”，又称“刻丝”，是一种经彩纬显现花纹，形成花纹边界，具有如犹如雕琢缕刻的效果，且富双面立体感的丝织工艺品，宋元以来一直是皇家御用织物之一，常有“一寸缂丝一寸金”和“织中之圣”的盛名。两位译者对于“袄”、“褂”的处理值得商榷，比如原文“褂”指的是妇女在棉袄和裙子外穿的一种长至膝盖下方的宽大的长外衣，杨译为“cape”指”斗篷、披肩”，虽有些类似但仍然相差甚远。而霍译的“jacket”指“短外衣”同样不合适。

4）两位译者在着力再现服饰特点的同时，也注重原作的语言特色。曹雪芹对王熙凤的初次登场的描写，用词十分讲究，多用排比，句子对仗工整，读起来朗朗上口。而两位译者也注重保留排比句式，如杨译“Her gold-filigree tiara……”, “Her hair clasps……”, “Her necklet……”等，和霍译 “Her chignon……”, “Her necklet……”, “Her dress……”等。