Japanese Kimono – Cheap Research Essays

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Japanese Traditional Clothing‘Kimono’
The meaning of Kimono

The term of kimono was originally defined literally from Japanese words Verb Kiru “wear” and Noun mono “ thing, which refers for clothing

The name for traditional Japanese clothing is wafuku, (‘wa’ means Japanese and ‘fuku’ means clothing) and western or any non-Japanese style it’s yofuku. Of all wafuku, the kimono is the most instantly recognised Japanese garment and considered the national costume of Japan.
Kimonosthat we know today are most usually worn by women on special occasions such as a coming-of-age, wedding, and admission to a school.

Kimono is distinctive and beautiful clothing showing off Japanese traditional dye techniques, seasonal alluring textile patterns, various coloured Obi and accessories. Kimonos are squared, straight-lined robes that are all in one attached one-piece and the hem falls to the level of ankle, with flat collars and long, wide sleeves.

Straight-line-cut kimonos offered many advantages. They were easy to fold. They were also suitable for all weather: They could be worn in layers to provide warmth in winter, and kimonos made of breathable fabric such as linen were comfortable in summer. These advantages helped kimonos become part of Japanese people’s everyday lives.

? History of Kimono

Clothing reflects its society and era delivering certain messages and information.The capacity of clothing to convey information is enormous as a visual language. This interpretability is especially pervasive and consistent for Japanese traditional clothing. Without exaggerating we can say that kimonos are coded for messages regarding age, gender, season, formality, and occasion.

Japanese clothing was influenced by the extensive Chinese culture from the 5th century. The feature of Chinese traditional clothing helped early kimono to stylize and being splendid during The Heian period, and the overlapping collar became particularly women’s fashion.

A new kimono-making technique was developed to the time, Known as the straight-line-cut method, it involved cutting pieces of fabric in straight lines and sewing them together. With this technique, kimono makers did not have to concern themselves with the shape of the wearer’s body.

During the Muromachi age (1392–1573 AD), the Kosode, a single kimono formerly considered underwear, began to be worn as everyday dress, and an early shape of ‘Obi belt’ appeared to hold and close the kosode.
Over time, as the practice of wearing kimonos in layers came into fashion, Japanese people began paying attention to how kimonos of different colors looked together, and they developed a heightened sensitivity to color. Typically, color combinations represented either seasonal colors or the political class to which one belonged. It was during this time that what we now think of as traditional Japanese color combinations developed.

As the popular culture developed through rising great popularity of the Kabuki (classic dance performance) and Ukiyo-e (woodblock drawing) during the Edo period (1603–1867 AD), and it caused to set a new fashion in way of dressing kimono. The sleeves began to grow in length, especially among unmarried women, and the Obi became wider, with various styles of tying coming into fashion. Kimono with Ohashori needs to be adjusted the length of kimono by making a tuck around waist and wide obi belt nicely shaped the figure. Since then, the basic shape of both the men’s and women’s kimono has remained essentially unchanged. Kimonos made with exceptional skill from fine materials have been regarded as great works of art.

During the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japan was heavily influenced by foreign cultures. The government encouraged people to adopt Western clothing and habits. The more convenient western clothes and casual kimono ‘Yukata’ took the place of the formal kimono as everyday wear. Government officials and military personnel were required by law to wear Western clothing for official functions. For ordinary citizens, wearing kimonos on formal occasions were required to use garments decorated with the wearer’s family crest, which identified his or her family background.
Between 1920 and 1930 the sailor outfit replaced the one-piece like Hakama as a school uniforms for girls. The Tokyo Women’s & Children’s Wear Manufacturers’ Association promoted Western clothes because kimono-clad Japanese women were easy target to plunge due to the Kanto earthquake at the time.
The national uniform, Kuro-fuku a type of Western clothes, was mandated for males in 1940.

Nowadays, Japanese people rarely wear kimonos in everyday life and widely wear Western clothes or the breezier, more comfortable yukata for special occasions. Particularly, Yukata are mostly often worn for informal summer occasion and demands for men and women of all ages. Yukata fashion has been reformed into stylish and various appearances combining western clothing without formality.

? Kimono Types

Kimonos range from extremely formal to casual. The level of formality of women’s kimono is determined mostly by the pattern of the fabric, and color. Young women’s kimonos have longer sleeves, signifying that they are not married, and tend to be more elaborate than similarly formal older women’s kimono. Men’s kimonos are usually one basic shape and are mainly worn in subdued colors. Formality is also determined by the type and color of accessories, the fabric, and the number or absence of kamon (family crests). Silk is the most desirable, and most formal, fabric. Kimonos made of fabrics such as cotton and polyester generally reflect a more casual style.

1. HURISODE
2-1. TOMESODE: KUROtosode&KURO muji
This kimono type is worn by married women at formal occasions. Depends on the colour of fabric, it classified into two tpyes: Kurotosome and Irotosode
Pattern only at the bottom, plus mon (crests) on the sleeves and shoulders. The more mon (one, three or five), the more formal the occasion it may be worn at. Black ones are called kurotomesode and any colour other than black are called iro-tomesode (sometimes called irosode) but black is more often seen As above but with no pattern other than the formal mon. A plain black one is a kurotomesode, any plain colour other than black is called is an iromujitomesode. The more mon (one, three or five), the more formal the occasion it may be worn at. This type of kimono is also worn as mofuku, which is mourning kimono, initially, during the earliest stages of mourning, with a black obi and all black accessories, gradually reducing amount of the black in the outfit as one progresses through the stages of mourning. The one shown here is a medium weight silk crepe, with a smooth silk lining but in summer a lighter weight, cooler version is worn, made of black, airy ro weave textile, with no lining
Both iromuji (any plain colour except black) and kuromuji (plain black) kimonos may have a patterned texture in the weave but are just one all-over colour.
3. IRO muji
An iromuji is a less formal kimono than an irotomesode, which is an iromuji with one, three or five mon (crests) mon. The iromuji is used for various purposes between formal and casual and, for that reason, is regarded as the basic kimono that one often wears as one’s first adult kimono