In Japan, the Haori (kimono jacket) lining is the epitome of men's kimono stylishness. Haori generally have luxurious silk patterns and designs on the inside of the jacket, where nobody can see it, leaving on the contrary the visible outer fabric plain and toned down. This mindset comes from a moral rebellion that developed around the 17th century. Today, this concept of “beauty in the unseen” is often perceived as a characteristic of Japanese modesty, but I believe it is more a manifestation of the rebellious spirit of the people at the time.
During the Edo period, townspeople and merchants became more and more wealthy, indeed even wealthier than the samurai. So they naturally started spending more on clothing and luxury goods. But the Edo Shogunate didn’t see that with a keen eye. Concerned that such extravagance among the common people would exacerbate tensions with the more frugal samurai class, they issued several “Sumptuary Laws” in order to control how townspeople should dress. These laws regulated colors, patterns, fabric, and prices the commoners' kimonos.
Needless to say, it did not work :-)
People always find ways to evade regulations by smartly playing around the often too ambiguous wording of those laws. In response to the government, some started to wear sumptuous and pricy kimono hidden in plain sight: the outer fabric was monochromatic, but inside, the lining that nobody could see become more and more elaborate.
The Shogunate tried to limit kimonos color to brown, gray and indigo. But again, people fought back and created in response many subtle variations of these colors, naming them after popular Kabuki actors or scenic landscapes of the time. That gave words in Japanese like “Shijuhattcha Hyakunezu” (many variations of brown, many variations of grey). Colors like “Danjuro-brown” (Danjuro is the name of a very famous Kabuki actor), Ume-nezu (plum grey), Hatoba-nezumi (pigeon-wing-mouse grey), and other subtly differentiated new colors emerged, allowing people to pursue a unique and chic kimono style even within the confines of the regulated 3 colors.
The fact that successive governments passed several “Sumptuary Laws” over 2 centuries shows that people mostly ignored or dodged them, in defiance of the Bakufu.
I remember seeing my kimono-loving uncle's Haori. They were all made of a subdued dark navy or charcoal grey outer fabric, but the lining was always gorgeous : Ukiyo-e style Mount Fuji, eagles, traditional gold patterns… As a teenager, I vaguely thought it was kinda “punk” but after knowing the history behind it, I feel even more strongly about it.
Punk is not dead.
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