For study purposes

[branchandroot]

It's easy enough for a westerner looking around at kimono to find sites and pictures of (upper class) kimono styles and (upper class) kimono fabrics and accounts of (upper class) kimono layers and how to tie an (upper class) obi. All of these center around the "formal" kimono, which restricts movement, eating, and possible activities in a way no sane person would accept day-to-day without some huge compensation. (I did mention the "upper class" thing, yes?)


What's harder is finding anything at all about what normal people wore, when the kimono was an actual item of clothing instead of a photo-op. So have some resources I've dug up, and a few keywords with which to search further.

Kimonoboy, a web store specializing in workers' clothing (aka "folk textiles", a framing I could really do without).

Database of Meiji photography set to the "search by keyword or category" page. Be cautious of the number of "rustic" photos which are actually posed (look for backdrops, makeup, very long sleeves, and elaborate hair).

Terms to search with:

Hippari. Hip-length wrapped top with straight or slightly tapered sleeves.

Mompe/monpei/try alternate spellings until you get what you want. Tapered pants, mid-calf to ankle length, sometimes have ties at the bottom. Basic construction is the same as hakama but they're far narrower with shorter ties.

Kosode. Searching this one is going to get you a lot of "traditional" hits, so try it in concert with one of the other terms. This is what most people think of as a kimono, anywhere from hip to ankle length, with short hanging sleeves. If it's made out of blue, green or brown cotton or hemp, you're looking at the right kind.

Maekake. Apron, very basic, quite common. You can see a few full length ones in the photos, but shorter ones are most common.

Kyahan. Leg wraps with ties at knee and ankle. You'll get a lot of hits from martial arts supply sites, in a rather different form.

Sodenashi. Sleeveless wrapped top. You can sometimes see "formal" versions of this worn loose or tied just in front, but if you see someone actually working in one it's generally going to be belted.

Comments

[midorigirl]

Totally random, but you might want to check out the NHK Taiga Dramas. They do pretty good representations from what I've seen. You're not always going to get the commoner wear, but the minor/background characters are worth observing.

[foxinthestars]

Re: media, I was thinking that there are a lot of more working-class people in the vintage Japanese movies I watch, like Kurosawa's period pieces. Working-class women are less plentiful but there; Hidden Fortress, Red Beard, and Ugetsu Monogatari come to mind for their female characters (although I could well imagine women adopting more masculine clothing for freedom of motion in a steampunk setting, in general). It had never occurred to me to wonder how accurate the costuming was in all those movies, tho...

[branchandroot]

Yeah, so many period pieces tend to smooth the edges, even when they're not exactly glamorizing being a peasant. They're good for inspiration, though!

[branchandroot]

Oh, lovely! I've left off all the historicals because I have no one to vouch for how accurate the costuming is, but if that one is supposed to be I'll put it on the list.

[midorigirl]

I dunno if I can vouch for it...^__^;; but I did watch one of the Taiga when I lived here about 9 years ago, though it was older than that. The common folk were dirty and had tattered edges on their clothing is what I remember. It struck me because everyone else was polished, and for a TV show it was pretty realistic. I remember that it was set during the Edo period.
For other ideas (as I've forgotten what time frame you're looking at) I imagine also looking at China and Holland's fashions at the time might be worth it. I don't know if Europe would play a role in the steampunk world building for Japan, but they were the nearly exclusive trading partners. I could imagine that, at least dockside, you might get a little intermixing of fashions.

[branchandroot]

*nodnod* I'm pretty much positing global trade and development by the 17th-18th C, and I figure that, for my persona as a foreign techie employee, I can totally get away with some fashion melding. *wistful* Though that means I probably shouldn't do the steampunk-ified jikitabi. Oh well. That would probably look too much like modern construction worker chic anyway.

Mostly I'm just trying to fix in my head what late Edo, early Meiji fashion was like historically, for all classes, so that I can proceed to gender-bend and class-bend in a suitably informed fashion.

[midorigirl]

Do you mean jika-tabi? Tabi boots? Yeah as far as I know those were invented pretty recently. I can imagine that if worlds collided sooner, then there might have been some take on jika-tabi, but my feeling is too modern. Geta would be the footwear of choice for the worker of that time period, but good god is it FUN to wear those. >_< I've worn the maiko version, and nearly brained myself every time. The simple type has nothing underneath the toe area, so if you're like me and walk by rolling heel to toe? Prepare for trouble and a lot of stumbling.

This kinda makes me wish I had access to my old Japanese print/pattern collection. Given that the cloth can be kinda a pain in the wallet even here, you might be able to get away with buying a plain color and screen printing/dyeing the pattern on. Sadly, those books are back home in America.

[branchandroot]

Yes, those! ^_^;

But yes! If even the blacksmiths were working essentially barefoot, I figure the engineers were likely SOL a lot of the time too. Definitely going for boots instead of geta.

I actually had some good luck in my vintage kimono shopping, and found a kimono in a really nice silk but a /very/ low-key navy and tan stripe pattern, which should class-cross nicely. It actually kind of bent my brain when I first saw it, because the sleeves and fabric say 'formal' but the pattern said 'everyday'.

[midorigirl]

Have you given thought to modifying a man's modern yukata? That would give you the cloth and patterns that a middle class person might have worn.
There's also the other summer wear that I CANNOT remember for the life of me...its like a kimono tunic with pants. I thought one of my students was wearing PJs but he was wearing something traditional.

The silk would likely not be used by someone working daily. Pain in the arse to keep clean and given that its production was limited...

[midorigirl]

And I immediately find what I was looking for after I post.
Samue...most of the ones I find have long pants, but they can be made with shorts and of lighter cloth, like cotton.

[branchandroot]

Ah, I remember coming across those somewhere, yes! That could be fun to modify...

I'm actually wanting the silk for steampunk purposes. One of the hallmarks of that fashion really seems to be mixing fabrics and styles and a certain blithe disregard for what kind of clothing would be /practical/ for sailing across the continent in a hot air balloon or messing around in a chemistry lab or tromping through harsh environments, urban and otherwise. It's much more performance art than recreation, which I find kind of appealing.

[midorigirl]

Somehow when you say performance art and steampunk Japan, I think of these horribly intricate obi. Not just the brocade or pattern ON the obi, but something that might break your back if you let yourself lean backwards just a bit without support.
I got nothing after that. Other than if you are going to buy an older kimono made of silk, I do recommend getting the under kimono to help save any cleaning costs.
...actually that could be your performance art with practicality right there. When things get interesting/hot, just take your arms out of the silk and let the top drape around your waist (ala samurai in some movies and modern day hoodies) and start working with your under-kimono taking the hits.