Fashion is a worldwide means of self-expression. Many things are factored into an individual’s fashion choice, from color, to style, season, and even accessories. Fashion has no boundaries or age limit, and it is a universally popular phenomenon.
In doing research, the fashion choices of the Japanese culture was really intriguing; from the unique shape and intricate designs of their kimonos, to the more modern and outrageous fashion style of the Japanese youth. Traditional Japanese fashion is timeless, and many time unchanging.Although the Japanese have taken to fashion quite a bit in the last few centuries, they are still very traditional and continue to wear their traditional garment. The traditional garment worn in Japan is called the Kimono. The word kimono means something that one wears.
It originally referred to all types of clothing worn by the Japanese, however in today’s times it usually refers to a full-length garment worn by the Japanese people of all ages. The kimonos that are worn by people tend to reflect their personalities and social status. Specifically, how many layers the kimono has and the sleeve length.For many people, the wear of kimonos truly give credibility to the statement, “you are, what you wear”. Similar to other countries, the style, print, color, etc of their kimonos vary by age group, event, and season.
The style of the kimono has changed significantly throughout the years. The history of the kimono in Japan is one that spans over many periods and has changed over time to reflect the society and culture of the current period. The kimono began to take its shape in the Heian period (C. E. 794-1185). The custom of elaborate layers of colored kimono robes became popular with Japanese women.
Since then, the basic shape and cut of the kimono hasn’t changed. It is a T-shaped, straight lined robe that falls to the ankles, with a collar and sleeves that most times fall to the wrist. In most informal styles, when the arms are held out, the length of the sleeves, hit the waist. In more formal kimonos, the lengths of the sleeves can be as long as floor length. The robe is worn wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right, secured by a large belt, called an obi.
The belt is usually tied in the back. Shorter sleeves, called kosode were introduced into kimonos, during the Kamakura period (C.E. 1185-1133).
The influence of the military class and warriors, influenced people to want more informal garments, and they lost the desire to wear the more elaborate garments with longer sleeves. There are also many different styles of kimonos. The formal kimono is broken down into two categories based upon age and marital status. Children wear a Hanten. Hantens are a smaller version of an adult kimono.
They are just as elaborate and worn the same way as adults. At the age of 20, a young Japanese girl transitions into adulthood. At this time, they transition from the Hanten to the Furisode.Young, unmarried women wear Furisodes. It is just like the traditional kimono with long sleeves, but they feature vibrant colors with complex patterns.
The furisode is considered a subtle advertisement that the woman is single and available for marriage. Married women wear the Tomesode. It is a kimono with short sleeves and the designs are smaller with solid or subdued colors. It is most commonly worn to wedding ceremonies of close relatives.
The other types of kimonos are broken down into many categories. They consists of the Homongi, Tsukesage, Iromuli, Komon, Uchikake, Hikazuri, Yukata, and the Shiromuku.The Homongi and Iromuji’s are both kimonos that are worn to formal parties, by both married and unmarried women. The designs of the Homongi, consists of patterns on the shoulders, seams and sleeves of the kimono, while the Iromuji is single colored and plain. The difference between the two is that the Iromuji is usually worn to tea ceremonies or afternoon events.
The Tsukesage is a formal kimono, worn by married women. The designs of this kimono consist of small patterns covering the lower waist region of the kimono. The Komon is a casual kimono that has small repeated patterns throughout the garment.It is informal and worn by both married and unmarried women.
It is usually worn around town but can also be dressed up for dining out. The Uchikake is a very formal kimono, worn only by brides at their wedding reception or stage performers. It is usually all white in color or multicolored with a red background. heavily brocaded and worn outside of the actual kimono.
It is heavily padded along the hem and trails along the floor. The Hikazuri is the kimono worn by geisha’s or performers of traditional Japanese dance art. It is longer than a regular kimono because the skirt is supposed to trail along the floor.The Yukata is a casual, summer kimono.
They are usually colorful with intricate designs. They are mostly worn during firework displays, other summer festival events, or after bathing at traditional inns. The Shiromuku is the traditional white or off-white kimono worn by brides for their wedding ceremonies. They normally have been brocaded, damasked, or embroidered. Hakama’s, which are Japanese pants, are broken down into two categories, umanori and andon bakama. Both styles of Hakama’s, were originally only worn by men, however, today both men and women wear them.
They are worn over the kimono, usually tied at the waist and ankle length. The Umanori’s have divided legs, similar to American trousers, being looser in the waist and narrow in the leg. The Andon Bakama’s are undivided pants. There are also two types of jackets that the Japanese wear. The Haori, and the Michiyuki. The Haori is a short silk jacket worn over the kimono.
It is worn by both men and women, formerly only by men. They are suitable to be worn with either regular kimonos or pants. The front of a Hamori is left open, rather than overlapped, and tied in the center with decorative cords. The Michiyuki is a Japanese coat.It is usually double- breasted and has either snaps or fabric covered buttons.
Many believe that a Michiyuki doesn’t look “nice” unless it is fastened. Similar to the fashion of Americans, the Japanese find the color and fabric of the garment they are wearing to be very important and season appropriate. They often wear bright colors in the spring and summer months, with floral prints, and the garments are usually constructed from cotton or lighter materials. Going into autumn, the garments are constructed of a heavier or lined fabric, and usually consist of warmer colors and more fall like patterns.
The design pattern most used for their autumn clothing is most times maple leaves. In the winter months, they naturally go with cooler colors. Near the holidays, the prints and designs usually consists of bamboo, pine trees or plum blossoms. They wear these prints only around the holiday season, because they believe it will grant them and their family’s good fortune and prosperity. Even though kimonos come in many different colors, prints, styles and sizes, men mainly wear darker hues or muted floral patterns of the season, and women tend to wear brighter colors and pastels with the more intricate designs and patterns of the season.Men’s kimonos are very simple, with long sleeves that are attached to the body of the kimono.
The distinction between men and women’s kimono’s is the fabric. Men’s fabrics are usually matte and the colors are usually subdued, dark browns, greens, blues or black. Men’s casual kimonos are lighter in color, usually purples, green or blue. Men’s formal kimonos are normally black and consist of five designs on the chest, shoulder and back, while an informal kimono would only have three designs. The more modern Japanese fashion is more modern and Western. They took on this style in the 19th century and are now known as “Street Fashion”.
Japan is famous for its outrageous street fashions. A lot of the younger generations wear the latest street fashions. The most common street fashion is Ganguro, meaning blackface. The Ganguro look consists of bleached hair, deep tans, false eyelashes, and mixed, black and white mascara, brightly colored clothing and platform shoes. Tie-dyed sarongs, miniskirts, and a lot of jewelry are also characteristic of the Ganguro look.
Due to the “strictness” of their country, many younger Japanese try to exercise their independence in any way that they can. The most common way of doing this is by tanning.They feel that being darker is a freedom of expression that they are unable to experience otherwise. The idea of darkening the skin to resemble an American pop star or ethnic group they feel sets them apart from others. Lolita is also another fashion and a subculture in Japan.
This particular fashion category includes several subcategories, Gothic, Classic, Punk, Sweet, Wa- and Qi-Lolita. Gothic Lolita, is a youth fashion among Japanese teenagers and young women. This style is reminiscent of Victorian style clothing and strives to give the wearer the look of a Victorian porcelain doll.It consists of dark colors, mostly black, crosses, bats, spiders and various other gothic icons.
Classic Lolita consists of more traditional, light colored and mature clothing. Classic Lolita consists of empire waist dresses, intricate jewelry, functional shoes and natural colors. Punk Lolita consists of tattered and screen-printed tops, plaids, ties, heavy visible safety pinning and chain embellished garments. The most popular shoe for Punk Lolita includes platform boots, mary-janes, oxfords, and other bulky platforms.
Sweet Lolita is a child like style and consists of pastel colored clothing with lots of lace and ribbon. They also usually have prints of baby animals, and fairy tale themes. They also accessorize with large head bows, cute purses, stuffed animals and elegant parasols. Wa-Lolita combines the Lolita fashion with traditional Japanese clothing.
A kimono style blouse is usually paired with either a plain Lolita skirt or a petticoat. The popular shoe for this style is mainly a high-heeled shoe. Qi-Lolita is similar to Wa-Lolita, however, it combines traditional Chinese garb with the Lolita ashion. Cheongsam dresses are paired with either a plain Lolita skirt or a petticoat.
They accessorize this look with platform slippers and bun cover hair accessories.The Lolita style started as a youth subculture sometime around 1997-98 and became a well-established genre available in various boutiques and some major department stores by 2001. Another popular Japanese trend among young women is known as Kawaii, meaning pretty. This style is similar to Sweet Lolita, but they don’t wear the screen-printed tops. Instead, ruffles, pastels, and bright colorful clothing are worn lothing that they feel accentuates the cuteness of the person wearing them. In closing, fashion is something that is constantly evolving all over the world.
It is a craze that most young people take to and it’s a constant form of self-expression.Every person desires to constantly look their best and the as fashionable as possible, no matter where they are in the world. The people of the Japanese culture are no different. Whether they are in their traditional clothing or are more self-expressive, like the Japanese youth, they put their best foot forward in fashion, similar to everyone else!
