Furisode

Girl holding up the furisode sleeves of her kimono

A furisode (振袖, "swinging sleeves") is a style of kimono distinguishable by its long sleeves, which range in length from 85 centimeters for a kofurisode (小振袖, lit., "short swinging sleeve") to 114 centimeters for an ōfurisode (大振袖, lit., "large furisode"). Furisode are the most formal style of kimono worn by young women in Japan.

As with all women's kimono, the sleeves are attached to the body of the kimono only at the shoulder, with the inner edge being open for the rest of its length. This allows the lining and underkimono (juban) to show when worn.

Furisode, like other formal kimono, are mostly made from fine silk, decorated in bright colours to reflect the wearer's youth. Furisode are often either rented or bought by parents for their daughters to wear on Coming of Age Day in the year they turn 20.

In previous decades, a furisode was exclusively worn by only unmarried young women, due to higher rates of marriage at a younger age leaving few women unmarried past their mid-twenties. In the present day, the lines of formal wear have softened, and even unmarried young women may wear other types of formal kimono such as irotomesode.

The furisode is generally worn for formal social functions such as the tea ceremony or the wedding ceremonies of relatives.

History

A girl wearing a 19th-century furisode, with her mother (Yōshū Chikanobu, circa 1896)

The furisode originated in the mid-1500s as middle- and upper-class children's clothing for both sexes; it was not worn by adults. Initially furisode had relatively short sleeves and was used as everyday wear by those who could afford to do so; over time as the sleeves became more exaggerated it became an elegant form of dress worn mainly on special occasions. According to a 17th-century text, boys could wear furisode until their 18th year or until they went through their coming-of-age ceremony (which usually occurred in late adolescence), while girls were supposed to cease wearing it upon marriage or reaching their 20th year. Initially furisode did not differ noticeably between the sexes, but fabric designs started to become more gendered in the 19th century. In the 20th century furisode became restricted to women and girls only, as part of the increasing gender-specificity of children's clothing that developed in the wake of Western influence. As the furisode became increasingly associated with young adult women, the term was removed from the shorter-sleeved children's garment, which acquired the more generic term wakiake (open-sided).

Gallery

• 
  Furisode with Paulownia Tree and Phoenixes, Late 18th-early 19th century, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• 
  19th century furisode, Indianapolis Museum of Art
• 
  Furisode, Japan, 1920-1940, The Khalili Collection of Kimono
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  Furisode, 1930s, Textile Museum (George Washington University)
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  Kimono with birds in flight, 1942, Metropolitan Museum of Art

External links

• Media related to Furisode at Wikimedia Commons