Post by yumehime on May 26, 2016 7:45:32 GMT -5
It took me years to discover this sneaky little secret about modern kimono. Why so long? Because the majority of kimono enthusiast and bloggers focus on the glamours geisha, and geisha dress funny.
That's right, geisha dress funny.
The vast majority of women's kimono were never made to be worn by a geisha, they were made to be worn by everyday women. These were made for fisherman's wives, farmers, mothers, tailors, weavers, ect. These are garments designed around people who had a lot of work to cover every day. They are not cloths made for professional entertainers, or débutantes who have nothing to do but sit and write beautiful poetry or arrange flowers. The main bulk of women who wore kimono did not have the time or the money to have a professional dresser bind and pad them each morning, yet it was the main garment worn for centuries.
So why is it so difficult to get into one? And what does this have to do with period costuming? Bear with me, because I have a point, and it may change how you build your kosode.
So, after some time of trying to fake it using a modern kimono without a juban, I decided to measure my silk and build the undergarment. It turns out the kimono I was working from had an angled seam in the side that I had never noticed before. You see, the used kimono was not fitted to my body, so it appeared the the side and okumi panels were just attached with straight seams. Years of seeing sellers claim that as long as the sleeve and hem length were enough, 'one size fits most', further complicated noticing this. After all, if they all fit about like a bath robe, why check seem angles in relation to my body? A kimono bolt is assembled with the savage left in, so it must all be straight seams till you get to the collar, right?
Well, as it turns out, most tailors use an angled seams from about the hip down, right at the side and okumi atachment, to make a smother tuck at the hip. That's a relatively modern concept, so I didn't originally think it affected garb construction. After all, when correctly angled, this seam would really reduce the graceful fall of trailing hem layers, and if you want the trailing red pants for high court garb, it would really hinder movement. This means I'd only want to adjust this seam to a modern angle if I was working with a non-garb kimono, but for garb I'd want the kosode to have the straight seam.
Well, now not only do I finally have that mothball saturated summer kimono clean, but after finding that the wash did not even out the fade and did nothing to mute the violet sweat stains, I designated it to a house kimono. I put some loops on the inside of a garb kosode so I can pull back the collar when I'm not at events.
The first dressing told me that my kosode collar was much too tall for my neck(oops). The second try showed me that even with the height adjustment, the white bed sheet was just to soft to pull back(the summer kimono had a stiffer collar than the undergarment. oops.). To make a multi-functional garment I could still camp in, I used a bit of fusible interfacing in a second layer for the upper collar to fake good Japanese juban material, stitched it over the floppy collar, and put on the kimono over it again. Well, as I expected, the collar now holds shape beautifully on my bed sheet kosode whether in period dress style or pulled back for more modern style.
The part that surprised me? I skipped the sport bra to fake chest binding. I already knew this kimono would tuck neat and easy at the hip, but in my very soft tank top, I expected the chest area would put up a fight. Since I was only going to wear the garment for about 2 episodes of TV to test the kosode modification and how stable it was, it didn't seem like a big deal. As it turns out, this is the only kimono I own that dresses better without a bra. That's right, it worked BETTER without a bra. Who knew they could do that?
I thought the grandmother from japan that said 'They didn't bother with a bra back then.' was insane or very...modestly sized. It turns out she just understood how to chose a garment better than the sellers who claim 'one size fits most'. The torso section of this kimono is angled in such a way at the side and okumi seams that when the obi sits at about the same point as a bra strap, the kimono becomes it's own support garment.
That's right, if the kimono is tailored right for the body, it's also chest support. Only one of my kimono fits like this because EACH was made for a body, but this was the only one made for a body shaped like mine. Chest, rib, waist and hip measurements for a different body just won't give the right support for me or pop into place with a few himo. The obi needs to also be the right size because the hips hold it in a stable location. Too short of an obi will slide down lower than I need it, and to high of one will cause uncomfortable pinching or pressure, much like a corset. The full width formal obi would easily be folded to just the right width for the body, but more modern hanhaba need to start wide enough to get the same effect.
Since the kimono started as the kosode, this means that the same method could be used in the upper part of the kosode. When the apx. 3 inch himo secures the kosode, the apx. 3 inch pants/skirt tie can be secured just above that. This creates about 6 inches of semi-stiff material right around the waist area and works....pretty much exactly like a modern obi. It maintains that nice high waited tie all day long. As long as the correct angles are present, this makes the bra effect, stabilizing the whole layered collar effect for long wear. From about the waist down, you'd still want a more generous hem line to help with stride, and could add quite a bit of width in by angling here too.
So why don't we learn this from 'How to wear a wedding kimono' or 'Spend a day dressed like a geisha' videos? Geisha RENT kimono. Those costly bits of silk may only be worn once or twice in their whole performance career, then they go back to the tea house and return it all for the next dancer. When you factor in the damage that repeated tailoring can do to silk, it makes more sense to make the body fit the garment, not a garment that fits the body. Wedding kimono and highly formal occasions now mean a rental, and even in the 1800's you wouldn't modify a garment you may only wear once in a lifetime. However you're day-to-day kimono would have to be comfortable and functional unless you were rich enough for an on-call dressing assistant.
For a generation of Japanese people who haven't lived in kimono, this can be easily missed, but their grandmothers would know. Grandmother's kimono would be tailored just so in order for her to pop right into it and wear it all day long, whether she was helping in the field, making breakfast, mending nets, or relaxing with a nice cup of tea after a long day. The upper portion of the kosode would work in much the same way so a lady could keep her carefully chosen layers of color peaking in just the right way, showcasing every costly layer.
Now you know too, and can start playing with kosode seams to get YOUR perfect fit.
That's right, geisha dress funny.
The vast majority of women's kimono were never made to be worn by a geisha, they were made to be worn by everyday women. These were made for fisherman's wives, farmers, mothers, tailors, weavers, ect. These are garments designed around people who had a lot of work to cover every day. They are not cloths made for professional entertainers, or débutantes who have nothing to do but sit and write beautiful poetry or arrange flowers. The main bulk of women who wore kimono did not have the time or the money to have a professional dresser bind and pad them each morning, yet it was the main garment worn for centuries.
So why is it so difficult to get into one? And what does this have to do with period costuming? Bear with me, because I have a point, and it may change how you build your kosode.
So, after some time of trying to fake it using a modern kimono without a juban, I decided to measure my silk and build the undergarment. It turns out the kimono I was working from had an angled seam in the side that I had never noticed before. You see, the used kimono was not fitted to my body, so it appeared the the side and okumi panels were just attached with straight seams. Years of seeing sellers claim that as long as the sleeve and hem length were enough, 'one size fits most', further complicated noticing this. After all, if they all fit about like a bath robe, why check seem angles in relation to my body? A kimono bolt is assembled with the savage left in, so it must all be straight seams till you get to the collar, right?
Well, as it turns out, most tailors use an angled seams from about the hip down, right at the side and okumi atachment, to make a smother tuck at the hip. That's a relatively modern concept, so I didn't originally think it affected garb construction. After all, when correctly angled, this seam would really reduce the graceful fall of trailing hem layers, and if you want the trailing red pants for high court garb, it would really hinder movement. This means I'd only want to adjust this seam to a modern angle if I was working with a non-garb kimono, but for garb I'd want the kosode to have the straight seam.
Well, now not only do I finally have that mothball saturated summer kimono clean, but after finding that the wash did not even out the fade and did nothing to mute the violet sweat stains, I designated it to a house kimono. I put some loops on the inside of a garb kosode so I can pull back the collar when I'm not at events.
The first dressing told me that my kosode collar was much too tall for my neck(oops). The second try showed me that even with the height adjustment, the white bed sheet was just to soft to pull back(the summer kimono had a stiffer collar than the undergarment. oops.). To make a multi-functional garment I could still camp in, I used a bit of fusible interfacing in a second layer for the upper collar to fake good Japanese juban material, stitched it over the floppy collar, and put on the kimono over it again. Well, as I expected, the collar now holds shape beautifully on my bed sheet kosode whether in period dress style or pulled back for more modern style.
The part that surprised me? I skipped the sport bra to fake chest binding. I already knew this kimono would tuck neat and easy at the hip, but in my very soft tank top, I expected the chest area would put up a fight. Since I was only going to wear the garment for about 2 episodes of TV to test the kosode modification and how stable it was, it didn't seem like a big deal. As it turns out, this is the only kimono I own that dresses better without a bra. That's right, it worked BETTER without a bra. Who knew they could do that?
I thought the grandmother from japan that said 'They didn't bother with a bra back then.' was insane or very...modestly sized. It turns out she just understood how to chose a garment better than the sellers who claim 'one size fits most'. The torso section of this kimono is angled in such a way at the side and okumi seams that when the obi sits at about the same point as a bra strap, the kimono becomes it's own support garment.
That's right, if the kimono is tailored right for the body, it's also chest support. Only one of my kimono fits like this because EACH was made for a body, but this was the only one made for a body shaped like mine. Chest, rib, waist and hip measurements for a different body just won't give the right support for me or pop into place with a few himo. The obi needs to also be the right size because the hips hold it in a stable location. Too short of an obi will slide down lower than I need it, and to high of one will cause uncomfortable pinching or pressure, much like a corset. The full width formal obi would easily be folded to just the right width for the body, but more modern hanhaba need to start wide enough to get the same effect.
Since the kimono started as the kosode, this means that the same method could be used in the upper part of the kosode. When the apx. 3 inch himo secures the kosode, the apx. 3 inch pants/skirt tie can be secured just above that. This creates about 6 inches of semi-stiff material right around the waist area and works....pretty much exactly like a modern obi. It maintains that nice high waited tie all day long. As long as the correct angles are present, this makes the bra effect, stabilizing the whole layered collar effect for long wear. From about the waist down, you'd still want a more generous hem line to help with stride, and could add quite a bit of width in by angling here too.
So why don't we learn this from 'How to wear a wedding kimono' or 'Spend a day dressed like a geisha' videos? Geisha RENT kimono. Those costly bits of silk may only be worn once or twice in their whole performance career, then they go back to the tea house and return it all for the next dancer. When you factor in the damage that repeated tailoring can do to silk, it makes more sense to make the body fit the garment, not a garment that fits the body. Wedding kimono and highly formal occasions now mean a rental, and even in the 1800's you wouldn't modify a garment you may only wear once in a lifetime. However you're day-to-day kimono would have to be comfortable and functional unless you were rich enough for an on-call dressing assistant.
For a generation of Japanese people who haven't lived in kimono, this can be easily missed, but their grandmothers would know. Grandmother's kimono would be tailored just so in order for her to pop right into it and wear it all day long, whether she was helping in the field, making breakfast, mending nets, or relaxing with a nice cup of tea after a long day. The upper portion of the kosode would work in much the same way so a lady could keep her carefully chosen layers of color peaking in just the right way, showcasing every costly layer.
Now you know too, and can start playing with kosode seams to get YOUR perfect fit.