Kimonos should also always be worn with the left side over the right: only a dead body dressed for burial should wear the right over left. Though kimonos are indelibly linked with tradition in Japan , they have more recently become a cult fashion item around the globe.
This coincided with a renewed interest in Japanese culture worldwide in the late s. For some, wearing one offers a break from the norm, a chance to dress up and connect to a rediscovered history. For others, it is simply the opportunity to wear something breathtakingly beautiful and feminine, an alternative to a designer dress that might be spotted on anyone.
In fact, many of its modern fans have never even visited Japan yet remain drawn to the kimono for special occasions. Likewise, in Japan itself, the upsurge in kimono rental shops suggests more people are keen to rediscover this classic garment normally reserved for formal celebrations such as weddings. Siobhan Grogan contributed additional reporting. We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements.
To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK". Sign Up. Travel Guides. Videos Beyond Hollywood Hungerlust Pioneers of love. A Brief History of the Japanese Kimono. Alicia Joy. The history of the kimono. When the sumptuary laws were more rigidly upheld in the late 18th and early 19th Century, the women who epitomised this chic, understated style known as iki were the geisha. Forbidden from competing with the courtesans, they had honed the art of restrained elegance.
A fact which will undoubtedly surprise those more familiar with the flamboyant styles they later adopted. In the turmoil that followed, the new Emperor Mutsuhito brought the rule of the military elite to an end and swept the old feudal system away.
Although the Emperor and his court, including some high-ranking women, initially adapted Western dress, by the s there was something of a kimono renaissance. This was part of a broader resurgent of nationalism resulting from growing political, economic and military confidence. While striving to show itself as equal to the West, Japan also wanted to emphasise its unique cultural heritage. There seemed to be no better way for this than through refined, demure women wearing kimono.
The repeal of the sumptuary laws combined with new dying techniques and materials made innovative, exciting kimonos available to a larger clientele than ever before. In the early decades of the 20th Century some fashion-conscious women wore divine Art Nouveau and Art Deco inspired kimonos styled with Western shoes and accessories.
But complete westernisation was frowned upon. Women had come to personify Japanese morality and they could only do that while wearing kimono. It took the utter devastation of the Pacific War to bring to an end to centuries of everyday kimono wearing. With their country and moral in ruins the Japanese saw Western clothing as the simplest option. There's been a resurgence in kimono-wearing among a younger generation in Japan credit: Getty Images.
Kimono businesses responded by creating schools in order to teach Japanese women how to wear kimono. The kimono became rigid, formalised attire worn only on significant occasions by a wealthy middle-class elite. At the same time, it was used as a potent soft power tool to rebrand Japan in the aftermath of the war.
Kimono clad women, seemingly ever ready to please, became an essential feature for companies seeking to regain trust. An American PR company suggested that Japan Airlines have kimono clad air stewardesses to emphasise Japanese hospitality.
Although this somewhat ridiculous suggestion was rejected on the grounds of air safety, the airline felt enough pressure to pander to the Western gaze that it adopted the custom of a single stewardess wearing kimono during its first-class cocktail service. 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.
During the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period , both men and women wore brightly colored kimonos. Warriors dressed in colors representing their leaders, and sometimes the battlefield was as gaudy as a fashion show. During the Edo period , the Tokugawa warrior clan ruled over Japan. The country was divided up into feudal domains ruled by lords.
The samurais of each domain wore identified by the colors and patterns of their "uniforms. The kamishimo was made of linen, starched to make the shoulders stand out. With so many samurai clothes to make, kimono makers got better and better at their craft, and kimono making grew into an art form. Kimonos became more valuable, and parents handed them down to their children as family heirlooms.
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