Momotaro and His Oni Nemesis
What happens when you feel a wistful longing for children but can’t conceive any naturally?
Kimono – even a Kardashian wanted it!
I would like to talk today about Kimono (きもの/着物 – "thing to wear"), the most traditional Japanese garment worn by men and women that had been on the news recently, as Kim Kardashian had named her new range of shapewear "KimOhNo". The first prototypes of what would become the Kimono were introduced to Japan via Chinese envoys during the Kofun period (250CE to 538CE), leading to a centuries-long fascination by the former of clothing of the latter. The modern Japanese Kimono is a T-shaped, wrapped-front garment and is worn left over right (unless the wearer is deceased). It is usually worn with an obi belt, alongside a number of other accessories, such as zōri shoes and tabi socks.
Hōmongi literally translates as visiting wear. Hōmongi are distinguished in their motif placement – the motifs flow across the back-right shoulder and back-right sleeve, the front-left shoulder and front-left sleeve, and across the hem, higher at the left than the right. They are always made of silk and may be worn by both married and unmarried women; often friends of the bride will wear hōmongi at weddings (except relatives) and receptions. They may also be worn to formal parties
Kurotomesode are formal kimono with a black background and a design along the hem only, worn usually by married women to formal events such as wedding ceremonies. Though, it is a formalwear, it is not allowed at the royal court, as black is the colour of mourning, despite the colour designs decorating the kimono itself.
A Shinto Wedding Ceremony, where the bride and groom wear the traditional kimono bridalwear. The bride wears on her hairstyle a large conical headdress intended to protect her from the “horns of jealousy”.
Yukata are casual cotton summer kimono. They were originally very simple indigo and white cotton kimono, little more than a bathrobe never worn outside the house. However, from roughly the mid-1980s onwards, it began to be produced in a wide variety of bright colours, large motifs and loud patterns, responding to a demand for a more casual modern kimono that could be worn to a summer festival.
Furisode ("swinging sleeve") kimono are the most formal kimono for a young, often unmarried woman. They are decorated with colourful patterns across the entirety of the garment, and usually worn to seijin shiki (Coming of Age Day) or weddings, either by the bride herself or an unmarried younger female relative. In the modern day furisode are not worn often enough to warrant buying thisl form of the dress. There many shops from where they can be rented.
The bride usually wears an Uchikake, an overall coat very fashionable due to its variety of fabric, colours and design.
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