Kimono History
- The ancestor of the kimono was created
in the Heian period (794-1192). Straight cuts of fabric were
sewn together to create a garment that fit many different body
shapes. It was easy to wear and extremely adaptable. By the Edo
period (1603-1868) it had evolved into a unisex outer garment
called kosode. Literally meaning “small sleeves,” the kosode was
characterized by smaller armholes. It was only from the Meiji
period (1868-1912) onwards that the garment was called kimono.
- Each garment was the reflection of its wearer. In the same
way, Edo kosode and Hinagata bon are the reflection of an age.
By wearing art, early modern Japanese left us a remarkable
insight into their world and into what it meant to be Japanese
before foreign influence. Which explains how the kimono as a
garment embodies so much about what it means to be Japanese, as
well as why it became so important to post-Edo Japan. The
kkimono kept part of traditional Japan alive in a time of rapid
modernization and foreign influence. The Meiji period simply
renamed it the “wearing thing.” And they encouraged women in
particular to wear it. To put that into context, at the same
time, Meiji law encouraged men to wear Western clothing, and
demanded it for government officials and military personnel at
official functions.
- As Japan was undergoing a fundamental change on multiple
levels during the Meiji period, Japanese women wearing kimono
was a reassuring and visual image. The kimono became a visible
yet silent link between woman, mother, and cultural protector.
Even today, the kimono is a reminder of Japan’s core culture as
it was just before its fundamental change.
