October 21st, 2017: Maiko Koume (小梅) of Kaden (花傳) in Miyagawa Cho is now wearing the sakkō hairstyle! Like many who came before her, she is wearing Kaden’s signature Takarabune (宝船) sakkō kanzashi. Her erikae is expected on November 9th ^^ Image is courtesy of Kyotooina.Kyosanpo on Instagram.

What’s In a Kimono? Part 7

This one was requested by an anonymous reader and, although not outwardly showy, this piece tells quite a story.

Name: Irobana (色花) - Colored Flowers Type: Kurotomesode (黒留袖) and/or Hikizuri (引き摺り) Time Period: Early Showa (1930 - 1945) Age: 72 - 87 Years Old (Antique) Condition: Very Good - Some Staining Material: Silk Motif(s): Kusudama Execution and Technique: Painting Skills and Embroidery Value: $150 - $200 USD Before I go down the list of what’s what I need to explain the issue of kimono, especially ones like these, from the Early Showa Period. There were many hold overs from the Taisho Period (1912 - 1926) such as red lining, painterly designs, and long sleeves. However, the motifs displayed showed a great amount of Western influence. While this is something that I’ve gone over before as well I do need to highlight why this is such a big issue. Take a second and look at where the motif ends. I know that it’s slightly obscured by one of the sleeves, but you may have noticed that it goes beyond where the collar meets the hem. Since the Meiji Period (1867 - 1912) this design style fell out of favor with the common people and was seen mostly on geisha as they’re one of the only professions that wear a kimono whose hem is almost always visible. But, fast forwarding to the Early Showa we start to see some examples of what basically amounts to a hybrid: a kimono meant to be worn by a common woman that has the characteristics of a hikizuri. This issue is still being dealt with today as it can be quite hard to definitively say who this kimono was meant for. On one hand the motifs are large, cover most of the hem, and extend past the bottom of the collar like a hikizuri. But, its hem doesn’t have the standard hikizuri ratio of 55 - 60% and its hiyoku has been changed out at least once in favor of a plainish, cream colored one, which seems far too simple for a geisha. Leaving that mystery to stew for now, let’s talk about what we can say with complete confidence about this piece. We know from its short sleeves and black color that it’s a Kurotomesode (黒留袖) or Kuromontsuki (黒紋付), since both terms are correct. Kurotomesode refers to it being a black tomesode; that is, a short sleeved kimono that has no pattern above the mid line and is considered to be of the highest formality. Kuromontsuki refers to the garment being black and possessing kamon. We know that it’s for a woman as the sleeves are open at the underarms. The main motif is Kusudama (薬玉), which are balls made from flowers and potpourri that were traditionally hung in young girl’s rooms to ward off bad luck. The crowning point of a kusudama was its tassel as this was where you showed off how much money you had. Normal people may have had some small string hanging down while rich people had intricate tassels. In this case, all of the kusudama have extremely long and luxurious tassels signifying that its of the best quality. As for condition, overall it’s quite good but you may notice some oshiroi on the collar; that’s because I did wear this to Anime North and wore oshiroi that didn’t stay within the confines of my eri. Besides that, there’s some light fading on the inside lining, but overall it’s wearable.  Going back to the hikizuri/tomesode debate there’s one final issue to look at. What this piece does possess that can’t really be seen too well from this image is embroidery, which is normally found on kimono that aren’t kurotomesode. The embroidery is so fine that it’s hard to differentiate it from the painting. This fine embroidery has been a staple of formal geiko hikizuri for a long time, so this is another point in the hikizuri’s favor. However, even though there’s more evidence for it being a hikizuri than not, we can’t definitely say that it is, so the best we can do is to say that it’s a hybrid that could have been used in either form. Due to the uncertainty the price reflects what would be expected of a very nice Early Showa kurotomesode.

A few weeks ago there was discussion surrounding how old certain kimono are as they’ve been in use for long periods of time. With today’s addition it becomes much easier to show just how similar things stay when it’s formal. User Nagayoshi.Gofukuten uploaded the first image onto Instagram yesterday. That is former natori geiko Sayoko (紗代子) of Nishimura (西村) in Gion Kobu on the day of her misedashi back in 1997. The second image, taken by Genevieve A on Flickr, shows Chisako (千紗子) of Nishimura (西村) wearing the exact same outfit for her misedashi 12 years later in 2009. In the third image by Kimiko1144, also on Flickr, we skip ahead to 2013, with Shōko (彰子) of Nishimura (西村) now wearing the same outfit (there were maiko in between the three examples who also used this outfit but I wanted to focus on the specifics). So, what changed and what didn’t? Well, the eri is still the same. It features beautiful hagoromo among pines and it one of my favorites. The kimono, obviously, is the same too. But, the obiage and the bekkō kanzashi are slightly different. Sayoko is wearing an older set with very delicate nandina while Chisako and Shōko are wearing the newer cherry blossom set.  Kuromontsuki are known to be used for decades before finally be retired, so the ones that you see most often for formal occasions are exquisite treasures that cost a small fortune and were made decades ago by skilled craftspeople. They continue to be used since they’re often only worn for a few days each year at most and this helps to preserve the gorgeous embroidery and painting skills of the piece itself. So, unless an okiya is very new, their kuromontsuki and even special eri like this one will continue to be used and it’s not unusual for an imoto to wear the exact same outfit as her onesan. 

The current pile of kimono and haori that were sitting in my room until I cleaned it today. They include (from the bottom): -Black and white omeshi houmongi with chrysanthemums accented with metallic threads -Orange furisode with multi-seasonal flowers -Black Taisho geiko kuromontsuki -Indigo yukata hikizuri -Taisho peacock haori -Showa peacock haori -Black furisode with shochikubai -Navy blue butterfly yukata -White morning glory yukata -Red geiko juban with pine needles -Purple and cream houmongi with red and white irises -Black haori with yuzen nanten -Ro geiko kuromontsuki -Black ro musou haori with willow and swallows on one side and multicoloured wagasa (paper umbrellas) on the other They need to go into storage ^^; #kimono #haori #hikizuri #kuromontsuki #furisode #yukata #juban #houmongi #ro #chrysanthemum #peacock #shochikubai #geiko #vintage #antique