Jenn
New Member
Posts: 1
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Post by Jenn on Sept 7, 2004 10:46:06 GMT -5
If a woman never marries, at what age does she shorten her sleeves?
I ask because in my city there is a Japanese Festival every Labor Day weekend. Since there are so many young adults getting into anime and manga, there were lots of people in kimono and yukata this year. It got me wondering, if I (36 and single) were to wear kimono, would I wear furisode or another style with shorter sleeves?
Also, I noticed that a lot of the performers during the festival wore red obi and red-thonged shoes. Is this traditional for a matsuri? Is that just for performers, or for everyone?
Thanks for your help.
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Post by Kiyoaki on Sept 7, 2004 15:26:30 GMT -5
Jenn,
The short answer is: Whenever she chooses. However, some more practical guidelines are traditional. Either when she is no longer a virgin (which is how the geisha judge it), or when her age or apparent sophistication would make it silly doing so. Wearing furisode is associated with innocence and naivete.
As to the red obi and red-thonged footwear __ it may have been simply a festive note or part of a group's id.
Kiyoaki
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bawsin
Junior Member
Posts: 58
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Post by bawsin on Sept 8, 2004 2:02:20 GMT -5
Jenn said, > If a woman never marries, at what age does she > shorten her sleeves? <snip> > It got me wondering, if I (36 and single) were to wear > kimono, would I wear furisode or another style with > shorter sleeves? The concise answer is: shorter sleeves are more suitable, if you wish not to raise any Japanese eyebrows. You might get away with longer ones if you are a very youthful-looking 36-year-old, otherwise you risk being viewed by traditionalists as "mutton dressed as lamb." Here's what Liza Dalby says on this topic in her book Kimono: Fashioning Culture (p. 204-205): Conversely, of course you can wear anything you like - and if you're gaijin, you'll probably be given a certain amount of leeway/tolerance because of course it's understood that you won't actually know all this For more info on how age, formality, station, etc. influence the choice and wearing of kimono, it's actually worth reading Dalby's entire chapter on "The Structure of Kimono." Or, just mosey (mousey?) on over to www.lizadalby.com and click on the Kimono heading to view a superb Macromedia Flash film by Liza Dalby on this very topic. Hope this helps, bawsin (a 43-year-old who doesn't wear furisode, but is prepared to wear kimono in colours brighter than her age "permits"!)
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Post by HikaruNoGo on Oct 20, 2004 21:23:40 GMT -5
Wouldn't an iro- muji kimono apply for any woman? I'm referring to the kimono that's a single color (not black) with short sleeves. From "The Book of Kimono", it says that a woman, wheter married or not may wear this kimono. It's also for formal or for informal occasions. For formal, you wear a crest on the back.
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Post by Kiyoaki on Oct 21, 2004 20:47:23 GMT -5
I wouldn't disagree with the Book of Kimono, but the distinction being made here is between a woman versus an adolescent or Ms. versus Miss, rather than virgin versus non-virgin.
A furisode is already a formal garment, so a solid-colored one would be a redundancy. Yes, one can always dress 'up' [i.e. 'more conservatively/soberly'] in the iro-muji, but certain females shouldn't go the other way.
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Flock
New Member
:o Flock!
Posts: 46
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Post by Flock on Jan 11, 2005 15:59:04 GMT -5
A Furisode wouldn't be my choice, and unmarried women don't always stick to furisode, as they get older they may want to portray a more sophisticated mature look.. and thus would chose Iro-tomesode (I think) The more you read on the subject the more you will gain a feel for what is appropriate and what is not, and what kimono type portrays what image. I hope this is of help to you
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