How to dress a lackey, er, servant!

[Nagamochi]

So for this coming WW I have two friends, and newbies (this will be their FIRST event!), for whom I'm covering them a great deal. Darn near literally, since I'm having to make their kosodes. In return, they're being my whipping wenches servants from sunrise til after dinnner cleanup. Above and beyond the wonderful illustrations I've seen in Royall Tyler's Tale of Genji translation, I'm at a loss of how to get these two all spiffed up for the part. Keep in mind I feel I can say with fair certainty that this will be a regular thing, not just a one time shot. So any suggestions for good starter servant clothes, one is male, the other female?

Arigato
Nagamochi

[Please Delete]

Heian period, right?

For male servant clothing, look into a good set of 'Hakucho sugata'. Essentially it is a white, linen 'hakucho' kariginu and 'kukuri-bakama'--simple, ankle-length hakama with ties on the end. The kariginu sleeves should be shorter than for kuge. A kosode is worn under all of this, and from some pictures I've seen it appears that it is the kosode that a hakucho servant would generally make fancy. I really would like to make about six pairs of the kariginu and hakama so that I could always have insta-servants if need be, since it can go over just about anything.

For female servants, you are probably looking at a dressed-down version of the karaginu-mo sugata: Something like a ko-uchiki sugata, where it is probably just a few layers (kosode, nagabakama, hitoe, ko-uchiki).

-Ii

[Nagamochi]

Ii-dono, pardon this namban. I know what a karaginu is, but what is a "hakucho" karaginu?

Nagamochi

[Takeda Sanjuichiro]

Here is a pic of one:


Here is the link to the page on the good Baron's site: www.sengokudaimyo.com/garb/garb.ch02.html

I am not sure of the kanji used to describe hakucho, and the comboI am aware of means "Swan" or "white feathered bird" Maybe it got that name because the servants were supposed to skitter to-and-fro like little birds, and wore white. Or maybe it was the common day uniform of the Imperial Commerant fishermen.

[Saionji Shonagon]

I am unaware that swans were indigenous to Japan. Cranes are another thing entirely. And cormorants are black (at least the ones around here are). This is why I've never tried to use elements of Jehanne's device in a mon.

Besides. swans are fairly large and don't skitter. Neither do cranes.

M.

[Takeda Sanjuichiro]

makiwara said:

I am unaware that swans were indigenous to Japan.

LOL true, I got the info from Jeffery's Kanji lookup:
dict.regex.info/cgi-bin/j-e/dosearch?sDict=on&H=PS&L=J&T=hakucho&WC=none&fg=w&S=26&I=on&LI=on
Kanji info:
dict.regex.info/cgi-bin/j-e/inline/dokanji?index=t&ivalue=4772
dict.regex.info/cgi-bin/j-e/inline/dokanji?index=t&ivalue=443b
I do not know if those are the proper kanji for hakucho,
hakucho when talking about the garment and uniform may be written entirely in hiragana. I could not find it on the Japanese side of the costume museum to check the kanji, and could not find any other references to it on the web other than the Baron's site. It might be the kanji, it might not... I'm clueless.

Besides. swans are fairly large and don't skitter. Neither do cranes.

Your right, swans usually just lunge at ya. I was mainly talking about the other translation "white feathered bird" dove/pigeons definantly skitter

[Saionji Shonagon]

Your right, swans usually just lunge at ya.

You've seen "Jehanne's" device? ;->

I was mainly talking about the other translation "white feathered bird" dove/pigeons definantly skitter

The image makes me think of shore birds darting in and out to avoid the waves.

M.

[Takeda Sanjuichiro]

makiwara said:

You've seen "Jehanne's" device? ;->

I hadn't realized it until I just went to look at your website

[Nagamochi]

Hmmm.... me thinks my pageboy may protest, but not as badly as the arazome sugata.