Gender through Fashion in Edo
Fashion has always been the most defining feature of a person’s outward appearance. And historically, it was the most distinguishing characteristic of a person’s body that clarifies what social class one might be a part of. From hats to socks, anything that someone might have worn shows off the social class one might have belonged to. In Edo Japan, laws and monetary barriers were enforced to ensure that people that gained wealth in the merchant class would not be able to wear certain clothes designated for the upper class (Cliffe, 19). Patterns are the most defining feature of a woman’s dress. A woman of the lower working class would only be able to afford simple colors and designs, like a plain cherry blossom design. This is due to the need for clothes that would last and sustain through the seasons while also being unable to afford “fancy clothes.” This differs from her upper-class counterpart, who could have an equivalent pattern to a gorgeous woodblock print. An upper-class woman did not need to do physical labor and could afford different clothes for different seasons. She also had a better pick of what she could wear and she could choose what she wants on her clothing. It was not until later in the Edo period, that “fashion” was able to reach the lower class, when mass production and commercialization offered ladies of all social classes the choice in clothing (Cliffe, 20).
Fashion has also played a huge role when it comes to Japanese women during the Edo period. The kimono is a sign of good fortune and has a special place in Japanese fashion. The different designs and patterns were used to show individuality, and to show what social class you were a part of. Different colors of kimonos mean different things. Kimonos have paved the way for many different Western designs. Designers have used these unique prints and fabrics to create their clothing pieces. It’s important to pay homage to the original designers of the kimono, and the history and culture they hold.
The Edo period was a time of peace and soldiers essentially stopped wearing heavy metals. Samurai warriors continued to wear their plate and lamellar armor, and lighter leather pieces with metal details concealed under ordinary clothes. They mostly wore chainmail armor and the simpler metal protections. During this period, the armor was worn more for show than for practical reasons. This was a time of peace, political stability, and economic growth under the shogunate (military dictatorship). There was a significant emphasis placed on agricultural production by the Tokugawa shogunate which encouraged significant growth in the economic sector. Manufacturing popularized and increased, causing the production of silk and cotton fabrics as well as the manufacturing of paper and porcelain to become more accessible.
Wakashu were adolescent males who occupied a separate role in society from both adult men and women during the Edo period. When it came to the fashion of wakashu, their appearance demonstrated this special status as it often consisted of aspects of dress worn by both genders, as well as those specific to wakashu. The most significant part of wakashu’s appearance was their hair. Upon reaching adolescence, wakashu shaved a patch of hair behind their forelocks. This distinguished them from the hairstyles of both women and children, who retained their full hair, and adult men, who shaved the entire top of their heads (Mostow, 19). In terms of clothing, wakashu most often wore the gender-neutral kosode, but may have paired it with a more masculine haori jacket, or feminine obi, while those of the samurai class carried swords to signify their status (Mostow, 21). In addition, onnagata were wakashu who worked as kabuki actors, performing in the roles of women after they were banned from the stage in 1629 (Mostow, 23). To give the illusion of being female, onnagata dressed in women’s clothing and covered their shaved pates with kerchiefs or wigs (Mostow, 26). Because onnagata also often worked as prostitutes, these clothing choices also served a secondary purpose of attracting male clients, which led many onnagata to adopt the colorful, long-sleeved furisodes of female courtesans to play into male sexual desires (Mostow, 28).
With this, the theater was a place where gender was expressed differently. Noh dramas were performed by male actors, playing roles such as gods, demons, and warriors. But they also played men and women and with this their inner and outer robes reflected these roles that they played. Noh was the official performing art for the shogunate and performed for important events for the Tokugawa family (Denney 115). Earlier medieval Noh appealed to wider audiences, but in the Edo period, it became a means of ceremonial entertainment for the samurai class (Ishii 48). Stages for Noh were built at the daimyo residences, both in Edo and their province, for mandatory noh performances that accompanied ceremonies (Denney 123). The goal of the performances was to educate samurai women and young people that watched (Denney 123). With this, it influenced samurai women’s outer garments to indicate their knowledge of Noh.
Cliffe, Sheila. The Social Life of Kimono: Japanese Fashion Past and Present. Bloomsbury, 2017.
Denney, Joyce. “Luxury and Propriety: Edo-Period Noh Costumes and Samurai Women’s Garments in the Detroit Institute of Arts.” Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, vol. 88, no. 1/4, Detroit Institute of Arts, 2014, pp. 114–27, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43493632.
Ishii, Mikiko. “The Noh Theater: Mirror, Mask, and Madness.” Comparative Drama, vol. 28, no. 1, Comparative Drama, 1994, pp. 43–66, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41153680.
Li, Vivian, and Nagasaki Iwao. “Pattern Books and Fashion in Edo-Period Japan.” The Kimono in Print: 300 Years of Japanese Design, Hotei Publishing, Leiden, 2020, pp. 19–31.
Mostow, Joshua S. “Wakashu as a Third Gender.” A Third Gender: Beautiful Youths in Edo Prints and Paintings, Royal Ontario Museum, 2016, pp.19–39.
Vaporis, Constantine Nomikos. “Fashion and Sumptuary Legislation.” Voices of Early Modern Japan, 2021, pp. 25–32., https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429503214.