Thursday, July 1, 2010

Youtube Video: Heian Robes

A little snippet of a video, this Youtube clip is still a cool peek into the clothing of the Japanese noblewomen of the Heian period around 1,000 years ago, the juu-ni-hitoe 十二単 (12 layer robe).

In reality 5-20 robes worn atop each other, the most important aspect of this look was coordinating the colors of the underrobes, usually to suggest romanticized themes in nature. The colors used here are a fall combination, meant to evoke maple leaves changing from green to red.

(Juunihitoe is the more common term, while the formal one is itsutsu-ginu-kara-ginu-mo 五衣唐衣裳 (5 layer Chinese-style robe).)

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