heian period costumes at the pac-asian museum

[aimeekitty]

I rewore my kimono from yesterday for practice. I'm definitely getting faster and cleaner with my kimono dressing! huzzah!


I took some photos today at a heian kimono dressing demonstration in Pasadena today. ^_^... My camera is not so great for dark indoor stuff like this but I thought maybe some of you might be interested.

these were flown in from a museum in Japan. Some of the fabrics are polyester and some are silk. they are all reproductions based on surviving garments and patterns, etc. All the dressers flew from Japan.

young girl in everyday outfit
you can notice that the pink layer (with red, green, orange edge) is faking more layers. in reality, it would have had all those layers I guess. She said that they could have as many as 20 layers? Also she said each layer is shorter than the previous to allow for the layering effect.




a girl dressed as a nobleman, in what he would wear to court the ladies (not what he would wear in front of the emperor). (she was SO ADORABLE)


noblewoman in traveling outfit, with the layers down (for when she's inside).

dressing a nobleman in his traveling/hunting outfit. and the same woman as the previous photo, but with her layers pulled up for traveling.


the whole group (with samurai and dancing girl on the left)
http://aimeemajor.com/images/photos/2007nebuta/heian13.jpg

and the kimono dressers
http://aimeemajor.com/images/photos/2007nebuta/heian14.jpg

if you want more instep photos, you can view the directory:
http://aimeemajor.com/images/photos/2007nebuta/ < --- ones marked heian

Comments

[ashbet]

I've never seen them with the layers folded up like that -- she's like a beautiful little package! The hat with the veil is fascinating :D

Is it just me, though, or are the eyebrow-dots/makeup a little off? Maybe I'm just used to seeing artistic representations from the era, but I always have seen the dots closer to the middle of the forehead, and just above the line of the natural brows. (I also assumed that the brows themselves were plucked/shaved into shape, rather than just powdered over, given the images I've seen.)

The costumes are gorgeous, I'm just curious whether the makeup is meant to be accurate as well . . . ?

It looks like an awesome event -- wahhhh, why are there so few things of this nature (aside from the Cherry Blossom Festival) in the D.C. area??!?

-- A <3

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

it's possible that they were off, though she did say that the more noble you were, the higher the dots were.

[ashbet]

Aha! That may be the answer, then ^_^

(Trying to make sure that Kitsuko has her brows in the right place, LOL!)

-- A <3

[ashbet]

Women’s make-up was also quite involved. Faces were whitened with heavy rice powder. They often shaved their eyebrows and either redrew them in a perfect arch high above the natural brow line or gave themselves "thumbprints." To make "thumbprints," a woman would dip her thumbs into black make-up, cross them, then press them into the forehead. This left two symmetrical smudges towards the center of the forehead.

OK, looking at some images of Hina Matsuri dolls, the Empress has the dots very high up on the forehead, almost at the hairline -- so that would make sense ^_^

Yay for learning new and interesting details -- thank you!

-- A <3

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

well, I dont know if any of these have makeup information, but here's some heian links I"ve found :
http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/garb/garb.ch14.html
http://www.wodefordhall.com/
http://www.lizadalby.com/TofM%20SUBJ.html
http://www.iz2.or.jp/fukushoku/f_disp.php?page_no=0000001

[ashbet]

Ooohhh, thank you!

I'm not too perturbed about Kitsuko either way, I should add, since she's a nonhuman fantasy character anyway, and I knew I was taking some liberties with her makeup when I designed her . . . but I like to know the *right* way to do things, so that when I'm breaking the rules I'm at least aware of it ;)

-- A (off to investigate the links!)

[restless-wings.livejournal.com]

I <3 your Kitsuko, Ashbet!

I always wondered how women could wear all of those layers w/o passing out.

I think I need one of those hats with the veils on the sides for when I step outside of the house - I just look at the sun, and I start to burn.

My eyes are still weak from the surgery, but are those Peonies on your kimono? It's so pretty!

Thank you for posting your photos!

[ashbet]

Awww, thanks, hon! *Kitsuko-kisses*

How are you holding up, hon? Do they think that the surgery has fixed the problem?

(And I love Aimee's kimono, too -- the flowers are lovely, although my botanical knowledge is virtually nil, so I can't help you identify them *grin*)

**hugs**

-- A <3

[restless-wings.livejournal.com]

The surgery did take care of the problem, but I still cannot wear contacts until the eye heals more. I'm going to the optomitrist to get a new glasses prescription tomorrow :)

[persoconchii.livejournal.com]

the layering looks heavy, but daaamn pretty!

[april-art.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info and photos! I LOVE this sort of stuff! (And it's actually work-related for me, which is fun. I do a LOT of Japanese-related illustrations.)

[lberghol.livejournal.com]

Ooo that is sooo fascinating! Those costumes are beautiful! It must have been amazing to see them dress them, I always wondered how they got so many layers on and could still move about! LOL!

[uminomamori.livejournal.com]

OOh thanks for posting :D