#kimono history

[fantasy-seal]

Small sketches of Japanese kimono spanning from the Nara period to the Sengoku period. References come from the Kyoto Costume Museum.

Kimono history is something I love, so this was fun to make and study.

(2024)

[tanuki-kimono]

Great example of everyday noragi (work clothes, worn by farmers for ex.)​ from Taisho period. Note the makisode sleeve shape, offering freedom of mouvement!

You can see the close-up of the weave, made from asa (bast-fiber like hemp or linen) and kamiyori (twisted paper thread​). Despite its "rugged" materials, weave is delicately interlocked with regular black stripes.

The coat also presents geometrical sashiko (white quilting), both reinforcing easily worn areas (collar, hems, inner center back), and decorating the garment.

PSA for writers: please please please don't put characters doing manual labour in "silk" kimono. I'll be forever grateful ;)

[lookingbackatfashionhistory]

• Formal summer kimono for a woman with fuyō and nadeshiko.

Period: Shōwa period

Place of origin: Japan

Medium: Gauze weave; stencil-printed on the fabric surface, silk.

[fashionsfromhistory]

Wedding Kimono (Uchikake)

Chiba Prefecture, Japan

c.1850 (Edo Period)

Denver Art Museum

[noticiasarquelogicasjaponesas]

[arthistoryanimalia]

In celebration of seeing the first fireflies of the season:

Furisode with Fireflies and Irises Japan, Edo period, 18th century silk crepe, paste-resist dyed, embroidery National Museum of Japanese History (photographed on display at The Life of Animals in Japanese Art exhbition at the National Gallery of Art DC in 2019)

[artschoolglasses]

Under Kimono with Graveyard, Skulls, and Crescent Moon, Japanese, 1930

[softsoundingsea]

Ryukyu Clothing (Ryusou/Uchinaasugai - "Kimono")

PSA: I am not a professional dresser or historian and finding this information is more of a cultural hobby. Please correct me if you see any discrepancies.

From a Ryukyuan-language standpoint, I don't think it's appropriate for Ryukyuan clothing to be called "Kimono" because it isn't Japanese. The general term meant to talk about Okinawan clothing in the Ryukyuan Kingdom context is 琉装 (Ryusou in Japanese/Uchinaasugai ウチナースガ�� in Uchinaaguchi). I'm calling it "Kimono" here because it's the most easily understandable. Additionally, this post will not include textiles from the Amami or Ishigaki region and focuses on Uchinaa.

Most Ryukyuan clothing is made for the weather of the region, which can be more humid and hot than Japan. Sadly, if there was record of Ryukyuan clothing before the Kingdom era, it's lost to history. Being a region of trade, a lot of clothing takes inspiration from the many cultures and countries the Ryukyus were in contact with (Southeast Asia, East Asia). Textiles that included Bingata, Kasuri, Silk, or Patterns were for those of upper classes.

I think the most well known style of Ryusou is the one that incorporates a Bingata robe over ウシンチー (Ushinchii). The robes were made of silk and was usually worn by the upperclass citizens in the Ryukyu Kingdom. They tend to have larger sleeves for air. It also tends to fit "loose" since it's very easy to sweat in the region. For men and women formal attire consists of a two-piece outer garment worn over an underwear garment.

ウシンチー　Ushinchi

Below is an example of me being dressed in a ウシンチー (Ushinchii) style, which as you can see in this situation the ウシン (Ushin) sash is small. Doesn't always incorporate Kasuri, sometimes it's a solid color. Sometimes it will incorporate other Ryukyuan style clothing.

This is a more formal style of dress but this is an example of one look when they are paired together.

ドゥジン & カカン Duujin and Kakan

There are other clothes for women like one worn by court ladies that are "two pieces" likeドゥジン (Upper piece) and カカン (skirt). They can also have a Bingata robe worn over it. I believe the Kakan is inspired by the Hanfu and Mamianqun.

(Source)

ハチマキ Hachimaki

For formal wear for men in upper classes, the clothes tend to be more simple. They wear a ハチマキ (Hachimaki) which is a hat meant to denote your rank. Men also would tend to wear thicker sashes or obi than women.

(Source)

芭蕉布 Bashofu

For common people, I don't know what the name for the attire would be but it was made of Bashofu (banana fibre). Now the textile is quite rare and sought after but before the war, it was commonplace to wear and typically worn much shorter than a Japanese kimono (around the shins). It was a relatively breathable fabric and the sleeves are more like open sleeves than what a kimono is like.

(Source)

There are more names, terms, and history that I need to learn but thank you for reading this.

[jewellery-box]

Kimono dressing gown, c. 1885.

FIDM Museum

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE TASTY PRINTS & LOVELY LADIES OF THE KAIE PERIOD -- TEMPURA WITH HER TEA.

PIC INFO: "Looks delicious," Appearance of a Courtesan in the Kaei Period, from the series "Thirty-Two Aspects of Women" (1888) by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Photo: Nakau Collection.

Source: https://asianartnewspaper.com/life-in-edo-prints/#prettyPhoto[group-135]/2.

[ellas-journey]

From a thing to wear to an icon of culture 👘

There is this hidden detail in Muzan that when I noticed I could not help but smile. Remember how he said that the thing he hated the most was change? Well coming from someone that had to live in 5 different eras is kinda funny, and it's even funny when you realize that he ended up adopting the Western fashion pretty fast. But that's the twist, if you look at Muzan's vest you come to realize that it's the exact same pattern as the kimono he used to wear. The best part? That was a thing that actually happened in history.

Wanting or not, the clothing that the people used to wear represents the history they lived through. "To look seriously at art objects of the everyday, such as clothes - their discourse and practices, their meaning-bearing forms and their codes of internal and external interpretations - in an essential, and often neglected, component of any study of modern aesthetics." - Slade, 2009 Yofuku [Western Clothing] is a type of clothing that is now common all over Japan, but during a lot of time, it was a type of clothes that only selected few grew up with. The 1st contacts with these types of clothing [even if extremely different from what we now call western clothing] was in the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived in Tanegashima. With them came not only different shapes but also different fabrics. But the “true” introduction to western fashion would only happen with Commodore Matthew Perry, catharsis to the Meiji restoration, where Emperor Meiji would start to dress in a typical western military outfit, and soon after the empress would start to aper in the typical victorian dresses. In the Edo period clothing visually distinguished the social classes. "Certain articles of clothing visibly differentiated people of diverse social classes, and simultaneously distinguished an individual within a specific group. The materials, motifs and construction of military campaign coats, for example, marked their wearers as men belonging to the military class." - Milhaupt, 2014; Samurai ranked on the top, followed by farmers, artisans, and merchants on the bottom. What happen was that most of the times the samurai where poor while the merchants lived in economic success. But samurai had the privilege of using certain types of fabrics and patters, even tho most of the times they could not afford them, and so, the merchants would start to adapt the fabrics and patters they were allowed to were and would end up becoming the patrons of arts and fashion. The trends of fashion would later be documented in ukiyo-e, and not only in the work of art sense, but also in pattern books were people could browse the prevailing styles. After the 1st contacts with the westerners, what would start to happen is that slowly but surely the Japanese would start to integrate the western ways of dressing into their lives. The Japanese started to introduce some of its elements with the kimono, shoes, hats, gloves, glasses, umbrellas, etc. Then in the 19th century a full change would happen starting from the man in the highest classes to the man in the lowest classes. The emperor decided to cut his topknot in 1872 and started to dress in western clothing in official appearances, also changing some of the more cultural habits like eating meat and more wester kind of meals. In the official portraits he appears adorned with a French-style military uniform with ornaments in gold and ostrich feathers. Before this, the emperor was never a public figure, so when pictures of the Meiji Emperor became available, and he started to appear more publicly the nation would have their eyes on him and start to imitate him. Women would, for the longest time still dress in the now classic kimono, that would develop as a symbol of the old and traditional Japan. The idea of the western clothing being associated with a modernized Japan and the Kimono [that literally means “thing to wear”] to a traditional country came from the fact that the emperor would choose to wear western clothes in more formal, international events, and for religious national events would choose the traditional Japanese court dress. The western clothes will end up being a symbol of the modernization of Japan, and the Meiji government would use it as yet another tool of national control. For all the Japanese born after 1945 the western clothes became the norm. Most families would end up transforming their kimonos into western clothing pieces, and the patterns sold for kimonos would double for kimonos and western clothing.

But it is funny to notice how despite it all Muzan is the one being presented in western clothing and Ubuyashiki is the one in traditional clothes, always being the contradiction of the other, but also it can also be interpretated as the Ubuyashibi family being "trapped" in the past since in hundred years the corps never killed an upper moon, the history never changed. And Muzan in his ever-changing cycle of his life, in the changing of eras and changing of personas he decided to reuse the only thing he could: his clothes. And just like him, they would adapt through the times.

MILHAUPT, Terry Satsuki. 2014 - Kimono: A Modern History. London: Reaktion Books [Ebook]; SLADE, Toby. 2009 - Japanese Fashion: A cultural History. Oxford, Berg. [Ebook];

[detectivehole]

somewhere in the late 2010s design based industries really said "fuck you" to patterned clothing or objects beyond the most generic dots or stripes, and even then they've way toned it down. and we are so much worse for it

[tanuki-kimono]

Lovely article+illustrations by Kimono Ichiba (via Tanpopo <3), overviewing famous "scary"patterns... which are in fact often auspicious as traditional Japanese patterns ;)

I believe I have them all on the blog somewhere but it's nice having them in one place so let's go!

Spiderwebs (kumo no su)

In ancient China, spider were seen as auspicious messengers connecting Heaven to Earth.

As the spider catches its prey in its web, spiderweb came to signify "grasping happiness".

Apparently during Edo period, prostitutes and geisha used spiderweb patterned items as a good luck charm (meaning something like "this customer will come back").

A very famous spiderweb depiction is the Lady Rokujo ukiyoe [焔 honô (the flame of passion)] by female artist Uemura Shoen. Wisteria caught in the web could mean ``I hope [Prince Genji] will come tonight'' which is pretty sad considering her story T_T

Skulls (dokuro)

Exact name for human remains pattern is "nozarashi" (lit. "weather beaten") ie bones scattered in a field. This depicts a corpse turned to bones/unveiled from its grave by the elements.

Skulls are thought to ward off evil and bad luck. Bones can also symbolize a do-or-die spirit​, or hope for rebirth after death.

OP stresses a theory linking bones pattern to a buddhist saying 色即是空 shikisokuzekū "form is emptiness, matter is void, all is vanity​". An interpetation is that we'll all turn to dust one day so we're all equal.

Bones patterns are often seen during Obon (Festival of the dead) season.

Monsters, ogres and ghosts (yôkai / oni / yûrei)

Monsters patterns were then worn to ward off bad luck and evil spirits. Reasoning is: let's repel scary things by wearing an even scarier monster!

Fearsome monsters were especially use by people with dangerous jobs, like Edo period firemen.

Firemen often had the lining of their heavy fire attire (火事装束 kajishouzoku) embelished with lavish designs of brave heroes and fantastic monsters. It was both a talisman and a way to show that they did not fear danger or death.

Another reason behing monsters patterns is the Edo period love for "scary" entertainements, be it ghost stories, parlor or other types of games, art (see for ex. Utagawa Kuniyoshi), etc. And Edo city dwellers were all about being fashionable so a monster pattern would have been considered quite iki!

[lookingbackatfashionhistory]

• Man's Kimono.

Date: ca. 1930

Place of origin: Japan

Medium: Silk plain weave

[fashionsfromhistory]

Unlined Summer Kimono

c.1876

A pond with carp and water lilies adorns the lower part of this kimono, and morning glories bloom at the shoulders. This early summer scene is resist dyed and painted on a blue-and-white ground of high-quality silk gauze (ro), subtly patterned in the weave with goldfish in water. The donor’s grandmother, one of four generations of female textile artists, wore this summer kimono during her thirteenth year, around 1876, for her jūsan-mairi (literally, “thirteenth temple visit”) to Arashiyama Hōrinji, a temple in Saga, Kyoto, to receive blessings as she entered adolescence. The kimono has three family crests: one on the center of the back and one on each sleeve.

The MET (Accession Number: 2006.73.2)

[noticiasarquelogicasjaponesas]