Japanese clothing

thumb|upright|Photograph of a man and woman wearing traditional clothing, taken in Osaka, Japan

There are typically two types of clothing worn in Japan: traditional clothing known as , including the national dress of Japan, the kimono, and which encompasses all else not recognised as either national dress or the dress of another country.

Traditional Japanese fashion represents a long-standing history of traditional culture, encompassing colour palettes developed in the Heian period, silhouettes adopted from Tang dynasty clothing and cultural traditions, motifs taken from Japanese culture, nature and traditional literature, the use of types of silk for some clothing, and styles of wearing primarily fully-developed by the end of the Edo period. The most well-known form of traditional Japanese fashion is the kimono, with the term kimono translating literally as "something to wear" or "thing worn on the shoulders". Other types of traditional fashion include the clothing of the Ainu people (known as the ) and the clothes of the Ryukyuan people which is known as , most notably including the traditional fabrics of and as well as having had an impact within the Japanese fashion industry itself, with many designers either drawing from or contributing to Japanese street fashion.

Despite previous generations wearing traditional clothing near-entirely, following the end of World War II, Western clothing and fashion became increasingly popular due to their increasingly-available nature and, over time, their cheaper price. It is now increasingly rare for someone to wear traditional clothing as everyday clothes, and over time, traditional clothes within Japan have garnered an association with being difficult to wear and expensive. As such, traditional garments are now mainly worn for ceremonies and special events, with the most common time for someone to wear traditional clothes being to summer festivals, when the is most appropriate; outside of this, the main groups of people most likely to wear traditional clothes are geisha, and sumo wrestlers, all of whom are required to wear traditional clothing in their profession.

Traditional Japanese clothing has garnered fascination in the Western world as a representation of a different culture; first gaining popularity in the 1860s, Japonisme saw traditional clothing – some produced exclusively for export and differing in construction from the clothes worn by Japanese people everyday – exported to the West, where it soon became a popular item of clothing for artists and fashion designers. Fascination for the clothing of Japanese people continued into WW2, where some stereotypes of Japanese culture such as "geisha girls" became widespread. Over time, depictions and interest in traditional and modern Japanese clothing has generated discussions surrounding cultural appropriation and the ways in which clothing can be used to stereotype a culture; in 2016, the "Kimono Wednesday" event held at the Boston Museum of Arts became a key example of this.

History

Yayoi period (Neolithic to Iron Age)

thumb|Reconstructed Yayoi clothing

Little is known of the clothing of the Yayoi period. In the 3rd-century (, a section of the Records of the Three Kingdoms compiled by Chinese scholar Chen Shou), there is some description of clothing worn in Japan. It describes broad cloth (possibly double-width), made into unshaped garments by being tied about the waist and shoulders.

Kofun period (300–538 AD)

Until the 5th century AD, there is little artistic evidence of the clothing worn in Japan. Kofun period clothing is known from clay sculptures used atop offering cylinders. These were used in the 5th and 6th century, The Imperial Japanese court quickly adopted Chinese styles of dress and clothing. As early as the 4th century CE, images of priestess-queens and tribal chiefs in Japan depicted figures wearing clothing similar that of Han dynasty China. There is evidence of the oldest samples of tie-dyed fabric stored at the Shōsōin Temple being Chinese in origin, due to the limitations of Japan's ability to produce the fabrics at the time (see ).

Asuka period (538–710 CE)

Kamakura period (1185–1333)

Muromachi period (1336–1573 CE)

Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600)

Originally worn with , the began to be held closed with a small belt known as an instead.

In response to the increasing material wealth of the merchant classes, the Tokugawa shogunate issued a number of sumptuary laws `for the lower classes, prohibiting the use of purple or red fabric, gold embroidery, and the use of intricately dyed patterns. As a result, a school of aesthetic thought known as , which valued and prioritised the display of wealth through almost mundane appearances, developed, a concept of kimono design and wear that continues to this day as a major influence.

From this point onwards, the basic shape of both men's and women's kimono remained largely unchanged.

From this point on, Western clothing styles spread outwards of the military and upper public sectors, with courtiers and bureaucrats urged to adopt Western clothing, promoted as both modern and more practical. The Ministry of Education ordered that Western-style student uniforms be worn in public colleges and universities. Businessmen, teachers, doctors, bankers, and other leaders of the new society wore suits to work and at large social functions. Despite Western clothing becoming popular within the workplace, in schools and on the streets, it was not worn by everybody, and was actively considered uncomfortable and undesirable by some; one account tells of a father promising to buy his daughters new kimono as a reward for wearing Western clothing and eating meat. By the 1890s, appetite for Western dress as a fashion statement had cooled considerably, and the kimono remained an item of fashion.

A number of different fashions from the West arrived and were also incorporated into the way that people wore kimono; numerous woodblock prints from the later Meiji period show men wearing bowler hats and carrying Western-style umbrellas whilst wearing kimono, and Gibson girl hairstyles - typically a large bun on top of a relatively wide hairstyle, similar to the Japanese - became popular amongst Japanese women as a more low-effort hairstyle for everyday life.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Western dress had become a symbol of social dignity and progressiveness; however, the kimono was still considered to be fashion, with the two styles of dress essentially growing in parallel with one another over time. With Western dress being considered street wear and a more formal display of fashionable clothing, most Japanese people wore the comfortable kimono at home and when out of the public eye. and school uniform for boys, and between 1920 and 1930, the sailor outfit replaced the kimono and undivided as school uniform for girls. However, kimono still remained popular as an item of everyday fashion; following the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, cheap, informal and ready-to-wear kimono, woven from raw and waste silk threads unsuitable for other uses, became highly popular, following the loss of many people's possessions. By 1930, ready-to-wear kimono had become highly popular for their bright, seasonally changing designs, many of which took inspiration from the Art Deco movement. kimono were usually dyed using the ikat () technique of dyeing, where either warp or both warp and weft threads (known as ) Kimono differ in construction and wear between men and women.

After the four-class system ended in the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), the symbolic meaning of the kimono shifted from a reflection of social class to a reflection of self, allowing people to incorporate their own tastes and individualize their outfit. The process of wearing a kimono requires, depending on gender and occasion, a sometimes detailed knowledge of a number of different steps and methods of tying the , with formal kimono for women requiring at times the help of someone else to put on. Post-WW2, kimono schools were built to teach those interested in kimono how to wear it and tie a number of different knots.

Traditionally, the art of wearing kimono (known as ) was passed from mother to daughter as simply learning how to dress, and in the modern day, this is also taught in specialist kimono schools. At these annual celebrations, women wear brightly coloured , often with fur stoles around the neck. Other occasions where kimono are traditionally worn in the modern day include the period surrounding the New Year, graduation ceremonies, and , which is a celebration for children aged 3, 5 and 7.

Seasons

Kimono are matched with seasons. (lined) kimono, made of silk, wool, or synthetic fabrics, are worn during the cooler months. Today, kimono can be made of silk, silk brocade, silk crepes (such as ) and satin weaves (such as ). These pieces are sewn together to create the basic T-shape. Kimono are traditionally sewn by hand, a technique known as .

The , which resembles a long, wide pleated skirt, is generally worn over the kimono and is considered formal wear. Although it was traditionally created to be worn by men of all occupations (craftsmen, farmers, samurai, etc.), it is now socially accepted to be worn by women as well.

The is similar to a belt, wrapping around the outer kimono and helping to keep all of the layers together, though it does not actually tie them closed. are typically long, rectangular belts that can be decorated and coloured in a variety of different ways, as well as being made of a number of different fabrics. Modern are typically made of a crisp, if not stiff, weave of fabric, and may be relatively thick and unpliant.

are a type of sandal worn with kimono that resemble flip-flops by design, with the exception that the base is sturdier and at times forms a gently sloping heel. can be made of wood, leather and vinyl, with more formal varieties featuring decorated straps (known as ) that may be embroidered and woven with gold and silver yarn. These shoes are typically worn with white socks usually mostly covered by the kimono's hem. are sandals similar to that are made to be worn in the snow or dirt, featured with wooden columns underneath the shoes. Initially men used it under kimono. By 2012 new variations of it emerged. Shoji stated that in 2012 the garment still emotionally symbolized the summer, even though there was a sense of embarrassment around it; she stated that it was more common until the 1990s. These art forms have been transferred onto fabric that then mold into clothing. With traditional clothing, specific techniques are used and followed, such as metal applique, silk embroidery, and paste- resist. The type of fabric used to produce the clothing was often indicative of a person's social class, for the wealthy were able to afford clothing created with fabrics of higher quality. Stitching techniques and the fusion of colors also distinguished the wealthy from the commoner, as those of higher power had a tendency to wear ornate, brighter clothing.

Influence on modern fashion

Tokyo street fashion

thumb|right| girls, identified by shortened [[Japanese school uniform skirts]]

Japanese street fashion emerged in the 1990s and differed from traditional fashion in the sense that it was initiated and popularized by the general public, specifically teenagers, rather than by fashion designers. Different forms of street fashion have emerged in different Tokyo locales, such as the rorīta in Harajuku, the koakuma ageha of Shibuya or the Gyaru subculture fashion style.

Lolita fashion became popular in the mid-2000s. It is characterized by "a knee length skirt or dress in a bell shape assisted by petticoats, worn with a blouse, knee high socks or stockings and a headdress". Kogyaru or kogal is another Japanese street fashion based on a Shibuya club-hostess look. Women with this style tan their bodies and faces to a deep brown colour, and will frequently use light lipstick to accentuate the darkness and brownness of their complexion. The trend is found in both Shibuya and Harajuku, and is influenced by a "schoolgirl" look, with participants often wearing short skirts, oversized knee-high socks, and sparkling accessories.

References

External links

Video about Traditional Japanese Wear