kimono

kimono este mai mult decat fascinant
prin rigurozitatea impusa de traditie si prin simbolistica
un kimono este un intreg limbaj si o intreaga mistica

Usually Japanese women own only one kimono, furisode, and that's what they got from their parents or relatives as a present for seijinshiki.
What truly creates kimono atmosphere? Is it the pattern of woman's obi or whiteness of her tabi? Or is it the way how her sleeves swing in the wind when young woman is going to temple to celebrate her seijinshiki? The spirit of the woman herself is eventually the thing that gives kimono it's beauty and character. Today's Japanese women wear jeans and sit legs crossed in train. Although there are kimono academies and new styles, it is hard to find a woman who would be thrilled about wearing kimono As Kondo Tomie said in (The feminine heart of dressing, 1985):

"If you wear kimono yourself, it's obvious that the sleeves get in the way as soon as you do anything and that your steps are hindered by the narrow skirt. I suppose, too, that the soul of a woman who wears kimono is spiritually in a man's shadow as she walks behind him, suppressing any trace of her own ego. Since such women are rare these days, it's probably useless to hope to find anyone who truly loves to wear kimono."

What ultimately makes kimono, is the way to wear it, not the shininess of kimono fabric itself. I once saw a woman wearing kimono in a hurry, quickly wrapping her obi in simple man's style, and still her character was mostly Japanese, attractive and most kimono-like. As often heard from the experts, when worn correctly, kimono should bring no discomfort to woman. Some disagree though. For example, the fact is that woman cannot eat much when wearing obi. You simply cannot tie it so loose that it would allow woman to enjoy a satisfying meal. This has without a question affected growth of young women in old time who wore kimono through their youth in Japan. Following feminist statement, from a male writer says:

"The kimono has a criminal record. For hundreds of years, up until the twentieth century, the kimono has unilaterally insulted the female sex and caused women to suffer. It has prevented free expression and impeded natural growth. When women finally removed their kimono, they burst in the shackles of feudalism. But now the silky insinuating voice of kimono is heard again, seeking to confine women to the dim and cramped backstage of life. Who would say it's appeal is simply due to a feminine desire for elegance? We must expose kimono for the pernicious device it is. " - Clothing historian Murakami Nobuhiko, Agura o Kaku Musumetachi.

In the old times, kimono had more layers of cloth than nowadays. Court ladies were said to have up to sixteen layers of different coloured fabrics. Kimono is made of only four strips of fabric - two for main panels and two for sleeves. Thus the basic construction of kimono is rather simple. However, making a kimono consumes more cloth than you would realize - about 9 meters of 30 centimeter wide cloth.

It is interesting to realize that size does not matter in kimonos - they are made from rectangular pieces sewn together and itself have no shape at all. Your height doesn't matter either, cloth can be tucked under obi to measure your height. Most kimonos are standard size. Making kimono in traditional way is very economic - no kimono cloth is being wasted in the process. If some parts would be damaged, the kimono could be took apart for cleaning or to be reassembled to make haori.

What Kimono Signifies
In Japan kimonos are present through all stages of life. Young children are dressed up in colourful children's kimonos, women are dressed in pure white wedding dress when getting married and corpses are dressed up in kimono which is folded right over left. Kimonos are also weared in several traditional Japanese occasions, omatsuri and Japanese women often wear kimono when going to hatsumode in New Year.

One purpose of kimono has been to convey information, such as personality or age, or marital status of the wearer. Choice of the fabric, colour pattern and form are all tools for conveying this information. Everything in kimono symbolizes something. For example, younger the woman is, more higher the pattern reach in the hem of the kimono.

3.1 Expressing Marital Status
Usually, young unmarried women wear furisode (swinging sleeve), a kimono with long sleeves and complex patterns reaching up the obi. Married women wear tomesode (truncated sleeve), kimono with short sleeves and less patterns. In present though, women sometimes wear furisode in their 20's regardless they are married or not. This seems sensitive and complicated thing, in which also personal differences count. Some say that they can't imagine wearing furisode after seijinshiki, and some few years younger than thirty still wear it like never before. It seems though that thirty years age is the milestone for woman between furisode and tomesode.

Common rule used to be that younger the wearer, the higher the pattern reach from the hem. Following image demonstrates the sleeve length in traditional system:

Similarly, the way how front overlap and collar is set symbols the marital status. Kimono collar is usually made so that it exposes nape of woman's neck, which is erotic symbol in Japan. It may sound paradoxal that married woman expose sometimes more neck than young unmarried woman, who is supposed to be decent. Collar should never be set so that it lines flat against the nape of the neck. This is perhaps most fundamental mistake and would destroy the entire shape of kimono.

The bosom side is less crucial but it can also be said to symbol the marital status. Unmarried women usually wear their kimonos so that V-shape is wide, not reaching so far down. Older married women (with some status!) would have deeper V. It is important to realize that we are talking about differences of a few centimeters here.

Also the obi styles have variation relating to the marital status of the wearer - unmarried girl wears her obi scarf exposed more, when married woman wears darker obi-scarfs tucked deeper. Older women wear darker obi scarfs. The obi itself has more variety for unmarried women, such as complex turtle shapes to origami or butterfly. Married woman would wear less fancy obi, perhaps taiko-style.

It is said that young women in their furisodes, their obis tied like a gift package, sleeves swinging in the wind, tempts the male in omiai to unwrap the package and accept the gift. :)

The black tomesode is called kurotomesode. Married women wear it for most formal occasions, such as their children's weddings, funeral and so. With kurotomesode, white obi-age and obi-jime is used.

Homongi which literally means visiting wear, can be worn by married and unmarried women. Homongi is less formal than tomesode. It is worn in informal parties, tea gatherings, flower exhibitions, New Year's parties or weddings of friends. Parents sometimes give homongi to their daughter when she is getting married, this will be her second kimono. Homongi have patterns in hem that continue from front to back, accross the side seams. The patterns could for example illustrate crysanthemums, peonies or cherry blossoms. In mid 19th century, young women wore chuburisode homongi, which sleeves were medium length.

Tsukesage and iromuji are semiformal kimonos that can be worn in various smaller parties and informal events - or even shopping. Depending on their colour and pattern, they can be however a possible alternative to homongi in regards of formality.

3.2 Things That Matter
When choosing and wearing kimono, one must take a several things to account. This is often the reason why modern Japanese women don't feel comfortable to wear kimono, since they are worried of breaking the multidimensional kimono etiquette. Several things matter:

Wearer's Age
Quality and Formality of Occasion
Season
Wearer's taste
One's Class
Man wearing woman's kimono is considered quite strange in Japan, and people usually think it's expression of cross dressing or perhaps he is an actor of a play, playing woman's role.

Geishas In Their Kimonos
Geisha cannot be geisha without her kimono. Thus kimono is the thing that keeps geisha most occupied in her daily duties. Big part of geisha's training is particularly kimono, how to care of it, how to replace broken or stained parts, and most importantly how to wear it. Geishas can be said to be professional of kimono, afterall they are only women in Japan who wear kimono everyday. Big part of geisha's attraction is the way how they use their kimonos with ease. Their expression is cheerfull and light and they are not least bothered by kimono - it is natural part of them. Their walking is adjusted to it so that the hem of their kimonos does not flap, when they sit down they naturally remember to care of their obi sitting only on the edge of the chair. And they look perfectly comfortable.

Geisha have special formal, trailing kimono, de which means "going out". It exposes the nape of her neck deeply. Only geisha can wear kimono like this. Also geishas wear heavy and distinctive white makeup and a wig that is often decorated. In the old times, geishas didn't wear wig but had their actual hair oiled and prepared to shape like that. It was very hard to make, thus when they slept, they had to use special hard support to hold their head to prevent their hair to mess up.

However, geisha wears her de only for formal occasions. In their daily work, they use normal, non trailing kimono. It is striking that this kimono isn't usually so very different what ordinary Japanese woman might wear. What makes the difference is the way how geisha wears it. She has a good bearing and her walking is elaborate, well trained. Most importantly - she is cozy in her kimono and she is one with it. It seems like the kimono is her second skin, as if she had it when she was born.

The way how geisha wears her taiko is different to ordinary woman. It is tied down in their waists, perhaps because the neck is so exposed, it creates better balance. Geishas wear their kimonos usually so that their under kimonos are slightly exposed in the front.
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