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- homongi (visiting wear): semi-formal worn for visits and parties; has no crests and decoration is allowed on shoulders and sleeves as well as on the body of the robe yukata: unlined cotton kimono worn in summer for errands and casual occasions.
Other garment types found in this exhibit include: uchikake: highly decorated kimono with padded hem, worn loose and unbelted over all other robes on formal or ceremonial occasions, especially weddings haori: outer jacket-like garment worn over the kimono - the front edges hang parallel rather than overlapping obi: waist sash worn to hold kimono closed
The exceptions to the formality and stiffness of most 20th century kimono wearers were the geisha. At the beginning of the 20th century, geisha had achieved considerable status in Japan, due in large part to their support of the samurai who successfully rebelled against the Tokugawa shogunatc to restore the emperor to figurehead power while actually ruling Japan themselves. Kyoto had been a center for many of these rebel samurai and their geisha lovers often concealed them from the shogun�s secret police or otherwise aided the rebels. Takayoshi Kido (1833-77), one of these three most powerful men in the new Meiji government, married his geisha lover, and prime ministers and many government officials and important businessmen in the new imperial capital, Tokyo, had geisha mistresses and sometimes wives who had been geisha. Geisha also continued the Edo tradition of style or chic [iki) and wore their kimonos with much more panache - open, sweeping behind them with padded hems, and often with dramatic patterns or colour combinations. The geisha may wear any type of kimono, from the furisode to the 5 crested tomesode and chooses the one best suited to the song or dance she performs. Ichimaru continued the geisha tradition of dressing with great style and elegance when she became a popular singer.
Lesley Downer, in Geisha: The Secret History of a Vanishing World writes: �For a geisha, the art of choosing and wearing a kimono is as important a part of her training as learning traditional dancing or studying the shamisen. The kimono is an art form in its own right, as subtle and complex as a tea ceremony, flower arrangement or brush painting.... A geisha is an artist, who transforms herself into a perfect work of art according to rules laid down by tradition. Everything in traditional Japanese life reflects the season [and].... the geisha chooses the kimono proper to the season... in fabric type, colour combinations, and decoration.... [Appropriate seasonal motifs include] sprigs of pine in January, plum blossoms in February, cherry blossom in the spring, small trout in summer, maple leaves in autumn and snowflakes in the winter.� Ichimaru�s kimonos include many of these motifs, as well as others chosen for their seasonal or classical literary themes, and show in their design and rendition that in the 20th century, kimonos continued to be works of art.
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