Wedding Kimono Colors and Motifs

A reader recently asked about wedding kimono colors and motifs, so here's my quick translation and summary on exactly this topic from a Japanese wedding/special occasion florist site. :)

Colors

"There are what are called the "three primary colors" for a Japanese wedding kimono: white, black and red.

White can be seen on shiromuku (all white wedding kimono) and black in some hikizuri (trailing kimono), but where do we see red used?

Red is a truly supreme color when used with "color-uchikake" (non-white overcoat wedding kimono). Note that by "red", I mean only a true vermilion. This red is a classic and traditional Japanese color.

It is a lively color with several meanings: strong magic, protection from disaster, and exorcism of bad luck or bad spirits."

It goes on to say that due to use from noble houses, red also has the feeling of being a rich, splendid color.

"However, when it comes to choosing wedding kimono, you're not limited strictly to red, black, or white. For example, purple gives the feeling of nobility and high class, green suggests harmony, and pink gives a feeling of happiness."

Because the bride is so important, the company advises readers to carefully consider the colors used in the wedding hall so the bride's kimono doesn't get visually lost in a bunch of colors.

Patterns

There are many auspicious patterns for wedding kimono.

"When we say 'auspicious patterns', we mean things like the classic 'pine/bamboo/plum' combination motif, cranes, tortoises, and phoenixes.

(Here the tortoise is included
with the plum, pine, bamboo motif.)

Other 'auspicious motifs' include the geometric "shippo", the 'treasure ship' motif (a ship laden with treasure or containing the Seven Immortals), Heian-era ox-drawn carriages, or any motif with lucky connotations."

You can also choose a motif that is not specifically an auspicious motif, but in that case you need to carefully consider the season of the motif you want to use.

If the kimono contains auspicious motifs, it can be worn any time of year, but if it has a normal motif it is bound by that motif's seasonality in terms of when you can wear it. For example, it wouldn't look good to wear a fall-themed kimono with red maple leaves to a spring wedding.

"The next point to consider is the proportion of your body to the designs on the kimono. Tall or bigger people should go for large, boldly sized designs and short or smaller people should go with smaller, finer designs. Generally speaking, you want to create balance between yourself and the kimono."

Always double-check your height and the kimono's height as you'll need to both take pictures and walk in it.

All images from Ichiroya and used with permission.
Source: Dramatic Flowers

Kimono Seasonal Motifs, Flowers, and Colors: May

Here we are with the month of May, my birth month actually. :) In olden times, the months had different names than the simple ones they do now (Fifth Month, Sixth Month, etc.). May's old name was Satsuki ("the month of growing things"), and is also used as a girl's name.

(If you're looking to buy kimono, I recommend Rakuten for new ones, especially casual wear, and Ichiroya for nice vintage ones!)

The Month of May 

Kimono

Kimono are lined. Fabrics include kotoshi chirimen or kawari chirimen, and for woven things mon-ishou silks (single-color fabrics woven with patterns in the background) are used. Rinzu silks feature refreshing patterns like flowing water or streams (ryuu-sui), waves (nami), running bamboo (sasa), or a mix of scattered nature and court patterns (go-sho-doki).

Running bamboo

Go-sho-doki pattern

Colors are bright tones while reflecting the season. With dyed patterns, it’s good to go with things like flowers that bloom in the beginning of summer, general evergreen plants (toki-wagi), seasonal scenery (fuu-kei), and dyed gradations.

For the first part of the month, wear lined kimono. Starting in the middle of the month, things like kimono that are unlined on the body part, lined “ro (gauze)”, and lined “sha (gauze)” silks can be worn to stylishly hint at the coming season.

A lined ro kimono

A lined sha kimono

Obi

This month, brocade-weave (nishiki-ori) fukuro obi use the same materials as spring obi, but through colors and patterns it’s good to give a sense of summer drawing near.

Rather than multicolored obi, go with monochrome or something like gold/silver brocade to create a cool brilliance. Other than things like tapestry-weave obi (tsuzure), for more lightweight wear you can use shioze or habutae silk obi painted with seasonal designs, or chirimen silk Nagoya obi with dyed patterns.

In the case of lined ro or sha kimono, a medium-weight summer obi is a good match.

Accessories

Obiage and obijime are similar to spring ones, but the colors and patterns are brighter, losing their darker and more muted tones. Obiage are lightweight chirimen or rinzu. Obijime types include narrow maru-kara-gumi, kanze, or yurugi.

Maru-kara-gumi weave

Maru-kara-gumi obijime

Naga-juban are hitoe: choose light colors featuring things like summer flower patterns or gradation.

Collars are shioze habutae, tabi are lined white calico, and footwear is enamel (vinyl) in light colors.

Colors

Use tones, which are highly saturated colors mixed with neutral ones to dull them and make them softer. Examples include light purple (asa-murasaki) C4A3BF, wisteria purple (fuji-iro) AFB4DB, grey-pink (hai-zakura) E6D2C9, light blue (mizu-iro) AFDFE4, celadon (seiji-iro) 60B49F, and turquoise blue (toruko-buru) 40E0D0. 

Patterns

Peony (botan), flowering dogwood (hana-mizuki), flowers and birds, young bamboo (waka-take), seasonal scenery, gradated patterns, and a mix of scattered nature and court patterns.

Peony

Flowering dogwood

Young bamboo

Flowers Associated with May

Paulownia (kiri), bitter orange (tachibana), lily (yuri), green maple leaves (ao-kaede), Japanese iris (hana-shoubu), rabbit-ear iris (kakitsubata), Siberian iris (ayame), pear flower (nashi-no-hana), bamboo (take) specifically young bamboo, deutzia crenata (u-no-hana), gymnaster savatieri (miyako-wasure).

Paulownia (in the bottom image
it's the bottom left circle)

Bitter orange

Lily

Green maple leaves

Various irises

Pear flower

See previous section for bamboo.

Deutzia (crenata)

Gymnaster savatieri

Patterns Associated with May 

Flower raft (hana-ikada), both the nock/fletching of an arrow (yahazu or yabane) and armor (yoroi) due to Boys’ Day being in May, hollyhock (aoi) patterns due to Kyoto’s famous Hollyhock Festival (Aoi Matsuri) in May, carriages (mi-kuruma), parade floats (dashi).

Flower raft

Arrow nock/fletching

 

Armor

Hollyhock

Carriages

Parade floats

Original Author Notes

Regarding lined kimono for “furo” (portable stove for boiling water used for summer tea ceremonies):

May is the season of bright green (plants).  With the passing of the 5^th, the first day of summer, tea ceremony marks the boundary between spring and summer by switching out the hearth for the portable “furo”.

"Furo", the portable hearth

The tatami mat that replaces the hearth, fresher and greener than the mats around it, heightens the newness that comes with the first tea ceremony of the year to use the “furo” rather than the hearth.

May kimono are lined. Take care to use utensils and arrange the room in a summer-like fashion. Also, remember that winter and spring kimono give a different feeling than summer ones. Avoid creating a heavy look by choosing fresh colors, light fabrics, and simple designs.

The beauty of a kimono lies in its colors and patterns, but how it fits with the obi chosen can also change the impression it gives. While May and October obi like dyed obi and such are light to begin with, we also want their patterns and materials to give a sense of the season. White obi with painted flowers like peony, iris, green maple leaves, wisteria (fuji), and clematis (tessen) might be good for a light feeling.

Wisteria

Clematis

Also, it’s a popular season for “open-air” tea ceremonies. On days where you’re likely to sweat, it’s good to wear “dou-bitoe” kimono. “Dou-bitoe”, or “chest-single-layer” kimono are kimono where the bottom half, back sleeve edge, and sleeve cuff edge are lined, leaving the chest area and sleeves unlined. When worn, dou-bitoe look like regular lined kimono.

A dou-bitoe kimono

From mid-month on, naga-juban change over to ro and collars become shioze as more ways to dress cooler.

With things like sha lined kimono, even if they get a little water on them they won’t shrink so they’re very handy for long trips or time spent in the “mizu-ya”, the room next to the tea ceremony room where utensils are washed. Even though they’re made of sha, because they are sewn as lined kimono there is no problem (I believe the author means there is no problem with the formality level).

Translator Footnotes

Nothing special this month, but yes, I did use Date replica armor for the armor picture. Go Sendai! XD

Translator Notes

Nothing special this month.

(Notes below repeated from previous months)

-The original author repeats several points, so with certain common terms I am using the Japanese name on first mention only. If you’re unsure of something, feel free to ask and I can clarify.

-The number next to the color name is that color's hex code as used in HTML. Keep in mind the exact shade may vary as well, from what I've seen cross-checking traditional color-name sites with actual kimono vendors.

- As a note, this is my translation of a tea ceremony kimono site. The tea ceremony world, I have learned, is among the strictest when it comes to following proper seasonality rules, so bear in mind that these rules are more stringent than the general thinking for daily and casual kimono wearers.

It’s great if a daily wearer can put together an outfit following all of these rules, but very few will look at you funny if you can’t, as it’s hard and can be expensive to collect all the proper pieces. I’m translating this site more as part of my efforts to add to the world of English-language kimono information for those who don’t speak Japanese.