For my final year at Hult University, my senior project combined my major and my minor: Fine Art and Fashion Design. I designed this Kimono that I used as a canvas for my art that reflects the modern woman. Below is my thesis and research and above is the final design.
The Woman Behind the Mask. Modern Kimono Dress and Design
The back of my kimono is a how ‘Society Views the Women of Today’, which features a Japanese mask called a No, armor-like lipstick, pearls, measuring tape, and a red obi sash. The color black was chosen because it is similar to the black ‘power suit’ that we see so many women in today, going to their office jobs. Over 60% of women today work, many require to wear business suits much like their men counterpart. The No mask represents the mask that women hide behind everyday, whether it’s their feelings, personality, fears, or joys. In Japanese culture, the No mask is chosen by the actor before the rest of the costume. Unlike theatrical makeup, which emphasizes personality, the No mask takes over the actor, much like today a comparison can be drawn as women become what society wants them to be by wearing this mask to cover who she really is. On the shoulders, around the neck, and at the bottom of the kimono are the armor-like lipsticks, pearls, and measuring tapes, all in place to emphasize things women are expected to be and do: be beautiful, wear make-up to hide differences, be in style and never outdated, thin, etc. They are sewn to resemble the same armor the Japanese Samurai wore, in order to emphasize the shell and armor that women build around themselves to protect themselves from being hurt or vulnerable. Just like the Samurai who were expected to be skilled at everything from writing, painting, philosophy, to protecting and defending, the women are expected to be multi-talented at certain things to be accepted among society.
However, do we know who the true woman is? What it feels like for a woman in this world? The front of the kimono reveals the real woman, the one hiding behind the mask, the armor that she fronts up every day. In Japanese culture, women would flirt with men that they fancied by flashing the long sleeves of their kimono at him. The sleeves told the man about the woman, her family, status, achievements, etc. On this kimono however, the sleeves hold symbols for what the woman really is in her heart. There is the Venus symbol, not only a strong iconic symbol for women of women everywhere, but with the meaning of feminine energy, feminism and womanpower. It is composed of the circle of unity and the cross of earth. Feminine energy is seen as yin - receptive and magnetic. On the other sleeve is the symbol of Faith, Love, and Charity, for these are all things that women are embedded with, whether they choose to embrace it or not. Throughout the kimono are a series of hearts, some purple (symbolizing royalty) and some green (symbolizing growth and life), each holding an item that characterizes the real woman. In one there are a set of dream catchers, showing how women are dreamers and believers. In another there are a pair of spectacles and a book, showing the intelligence of women. One heart holds corn kernels, symbolizing how women supply and support the family; another holds a hammer symbolizing what hard workers women can be. In the last heart there holds a small pin with the symbol of friendship, showing how women are friends, and value their relationships. The hearts are all connected, symbolizing how love begets love, and how because of a woman’s love; others will learn to love as well, family, husbands, etc. All these things are revealed if a woman chooses to open herself up, to flash her sleeves to someone she fancies, but only for a moment, for many don’t want to make themselves too vulnerable to being hurt. Lastly, glowing in the middle of all is an image of a mother and child because above all a woman is a mother, full of care and affection, and above all has complete and utter devotion and sacrifice for a person other than herself.
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