The Kimono

I’d like to write a little bit about the kimono. Please understand that the information I know of the Kimono is something learned orally and not by research. Things told to me by teachers, and peers. As it is with information learned in this way I feel it is based in truth, but also maybe lacks the real substantial research type information that today’s society seems to seek.

Anyways.. In the past couple of posts I have been talking about the “psychology of clothing”. I think that the kimono is a pretty interesting garment that also has been designed to be a certain way and affect the wearer. Kimono in Japanese really just means like “thing you wear” or “wearing thing” depending on how you translate it. It has a very generic name, but specifically means the traditional Japanese garment that wraps around the body, it has rectangular sleeves and is usually worn with an obi. It looks more like a tree-trunk than follows the curve of the body. I think this is because. the main focus in the garment is the beautiful textile they are made of. I also think to a certain extent it provides uniformity and conceals the wearers body shape and makes everyone look relatively the same. I have also been told that the kimono is worn tight and prevents the wearer from having a lot of mobility. The image created here is more of a dainty porcelain doll than of an actual human. This is kind of the part I want to focus on. And I don’t have much to say other than it is very interesting that a garment can create a physical restriction that then begins to comment on a much larger social structure. It creates a certain image of what “women” are and their roll in society. All by one garment and how it is worn. It is just very interesting. And I also find it interesting how more people don’t really confront clothing and how it plays into our psychology and society on a larger scale. Instead we kind of consume in a once dimensional way because we see it in a magazine, blog, or some celebrity wears something.

I don’t have much to say, but more this post is just a prompt to get people thinking a bit.