There's an art to kimono wearing, and it's a whole lot fussier than it might seem at first glance. A multitude of rules govern the proper wearing of one; there are schools that specialize in teaching people all the smallest details that take months, even years to complete. And if you're woman, the details of proper kimono wearing increase exponentially. Sometimes I look at the guys in my tea ceremony class, wishing I knew the Japanese version of "lucky bastards" so I could mutter it under my breath. They pretty much can stick to the same navy/gray/ brown color scheme year round while I'm scrambling to make sure the motifs in my kimono or it's style don't clash with the theme of the current time of year and coordinate with my obi.
I'm always a little surprised when people can't tell the difference between men's and women's kimono, though then again I've had more exposure to the culture than others have had. When I wrote my first Yuuki story around 10 years ago I played around with the idea of Westerners being somewhat clueless regarding this. I also thought the story was done as it was, until a certain Instigator insisted there was a bigger story in there. I mulled over her input and a.) realized the Instigator was right (stop cackling you!) and b.) while the other characters in the original story could plausibly be ignorant about the differences in kimono, as I expanded out the world it made no sense that no one else knew.
So I played around with his (yes his) back story a bit, researched some and discovered that while Yuuki generally identifies as male, he's fascinated with onagata of the Edo era, popular male actors skilled at impersonating females. To him, they are sort of kindred spirits, being able to change their appearance if not as easily as a kitsune might, still with a certain level of skill. This draws him to a more colorful and fem aesthetic. That tweaks things only a tiny bit from my original story (which I haven't published here or anywhere as of yet, and as the Instigator suggested might be more novella or even novel length rather than short story length - stop cackling already!) but I'm glad that I took the time to get to understand Yuuki better to give him the story he deserves. It also made me appreciate the prettiness of my kimono more, and I do feel pretty when I wear them. But I still feel exasperated when I have to fold them; there are rules for that too.
Fascinating! I only know two esoteric things about kimonos: (1) the length of the sleeves tells you whether the woman is married or single; (2) the lapels (for lack of a more accurate term) have to be closed in a certain way because the opposite way is used only in death.
ReplyDeleteP.S. When you said your Instigator "cackled," I knew immediately who she must be!
LOL, yup! I've closed them the wrong way sometimes and jokes were made about me being a ghost or dead. I still have to remind myself when I'm putting on a kimono (and the under kimono and the under-under kimono).
DeleteI now have a great collection of summer kimonos, and I'm ready for when June rolls around. However for the winter...yeah, my butterfly print one does look a little weird when I wear it in January, but it will do.
Wow! You just added a whole new level to Yuuki! I can hardly wait to find out more about my favorite Kitsune! And, I think I recognize that cackle! Lol
ReplyDeleteHe is a lot more complex than I originally envisioned. I always had an image of a clever trickster who delighted in keeping people guessing, but it was fun to research and get to figure out a lot more about him (my research led me to lots more stories about his youth, his family, what happened when he first arrived in South America, etc.).
DeleteThe other characters in the original story got the same treatment. Ajani for instance had a really good (in my opinion) back story from the get go, but then when I thought about who he was in that back story and what had to happen to make him who he is now, I learned a lot about him. And there were originally 6 characters in that story (including Yuuki and Ajani) who got more fleshed out as I researched and played with story lines.
*sigh* The cackling instigator is right - writing takes time!
I think I am going to go back and re-read the Yuuki stories with all this new perspective in mind. What a great excuse to visit that wonderful world you have created once again.
DeleteI love to do research and can lose myself completely in doing it. That is what stopped the last NaNoRiMo I did! LOL
Write on, Rommy, write on!
Yay!
DeleteLOL, the kimono research dovetailed with my tea ceremony studies but I also had fun learning about the colorful lives of onagata. They were big celebrities, rock stars in their own right, and quite popular with both genders. But yes, as much as I had fun reading up on history, my brain is bursting with stories to tell, and I mean to tell them :)
Super Yay on more stories!
DeleteLOL, even though I'm not officially doing NaNoWriMo, November is when I have slated to really start getting these down. I have many impatient characters who want their story out now!
DeleteYuuki was a boy? Lol how did I miss that? I could have sworn she was a girl!
ReplyDeleteYes I have read some stuff about kimonos, they do sound complex!
He'd be rather pleased with himself at that! But yes he identifies primarily as a boy. I have intentionally not used any specific pronouns so far, and in one story I had him appear both as a maid and a manservant to keep things ambiguous. Kitsune are shapeshifters after all, and he likes the flexibility to take on whatever suits him at the moment.
DeleteGood for him! Gender is treated as too much of a polar thing by most people when really it is much more fluid than that for many!
DeleteI love the tone of this post, the information you share, and the reverence that emanate out of the words. Anyone reading this can feel your love and respect for the culture, and that is a great thing to have when one is writing fiction and non-fiction alike, methinks.
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge of kimono wearing is limited to reading Memoirs of a Geisha and reading Manga. From the former, it was easy to tell that wearing a kimono the right way takes a lot of patience and graze.
P.S. Instigators are sexy... especially while they cackle. ;-D
Aw, you're making me blush! I'm glad that comes through. I'm a fan of fairy lore in general which I hope comes through all of the characters as I play around more and more in this world. I have plans for Yuuki, as well as for all of his friends!
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