The Oregon daily journal., January 19, 1908, Page 32, Image 32

THE OREGON SUNDAY ' JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY . HORNING, . JANUARY 19, 1903
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Suppose, lire
I 1
ii Africa '
rfUPPOSE it were customary for,
i i ifwry woman to whom you were
introduced to tell you her age!
j Imagine, for a moment, what a social
t pandemonium" would prevail , among he .
' fair sex if an edict should go forth that
every, woman, of 6, for instance, must
! garb 'herself in brown, and every -woman
o 50 i the somberness of black! ;
ff womanfs age! yTis a sacred sub
ject at least, in most countries. ' No man
would dare jask a fair, ' acquaintance . how
many winters had passed over her head,1
nor would any woman tread upon the sa
cred ground of . this subject unwittingly.
That is; in most lands where they are not
; meek and lowly. Yet there is a country
where women have no compunction about'
telling a stranger how old they are; in
fact, they indicate their age by colors and
; modes of dress; . they virtually shout tit
from the housetops, as it were. ' s .
In Japan social law decrees that every
' woman, old or young, shall dress accord
ing to her age. As she advances from the
time she is a little mite in a be flowered ki
mono until she is elderly, the colors of her'
garments become more sober, , more sub
dued. -And; strangely, the great 4mbition
'of a woman's life there is to become old. .
- She rejoices when she can wear plain black
- land cut the hair off her head. She does
, this when she., is approaching three-score
rfr,y(ar$'ii:i, ''-:s- ;4"r rv - rt.i .
Remarkably pfetti are the soft 'flow
ing dresses these little Japanese women
wear; in early life they disport nearly all
the colors t of the 1 rainbow. ' Nothing is "
V more charming to the eye than a bevy of
these? pretty young girls. t No women in
. t late life,' perhaps, ; appear so funereal as
' the Japanese women when they have laid
aside the gaudy livery of their youth. ':' I
INTEREST has been aroused in the costumes
of Japanese women by the recent dress re
: form which had its inception at the Worn-,
v an's University,', Tokio. - At ' the r request
of 'President Naruse, of the institution,1 Miss
Kara G. Smart, secretary of the ; Women's
Christian. Temperance Union, furnished de-'
". signs for a "reformed dress," which combined
good points of both the Occidental and Japanese '
costumes. -
- Of course, many of the ' fair ones of the
Flowery Kingdom held up their trembling little
hands v in indignation - and protest. Do away
with the charming style of dress which makes
the women so picturesque and which satisfies,
the eye so perfectly with a; harmonious display
of color! Miss Smart explained that it was not -'
, necessary, or even practicable, td supplant the'
- graceful kimono. But she said this: , v ' ,
,"The fact remains that the Japanese women
and girls are demanding, and most .emphatic
ally, a change m their attire." And this , change
is bound to ' come sooner or later. "They have
asked to be helped in'making the desired change,
and it. is i or us to give them something that
appeals to their cqmmon sense, that gives great
er freedom of inotion, in their ever-increasing ,
activity, that is becoming and also, to some ex
tent, forfeignited.,;;;;, h:W:- Y,:r,Jicl
, Xowadays a. visitor to the' Woman's Uni.
versity will see many young native women wear1
ing the new costume which was devised.:' It is f 1
cit of tailor-made suit, modified by the kimona '
of iM&Ii
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idea. It is quite sedate and sober looking.
Fortunately for those who visit the CelesV,
tial Kingdom in a Search for the picturesque,
this dress has made little headway among the
other women of the empire. Many persona, .
however, say the : kimono . will .pass in Japan.
The influence of . European vdxcsS is already -manifest,
and the change, they tell you, is in t
evitable.; :''i(V. '; y ' I - 'y- ':
v 'When a girl .baby is born there is great re-
joicing in a Japanese household. And the hap--piness
of the mother's heart seems to glow in 1
the gorgeous, highly colored garments in whioh
the little stri
stranger is clothed. Silks covered with
embroideries
grotesque d
'of wondrous crushed flowers and
difsgons and weird animals are used .
the tiny dresses. , ' , ? ;.;."'
Some little girls wear dresses of pure white, 1
beautifully embroidered.;. Until the age, of 13
' . the brightest colors ' are displayed-dapplod,
, mottled, variegated colors ; daztling, bewildering ;
colors.' "And this gay dress, of course, just suits !
' tie bit of sunshine which it incloses.x -i v;
' Of the little Japanese girl, Miss Dorothy
Menpes, the English authoress, writes: v"!'
. "A baby Japanese girl is the most delight
' ful creature you v can possibly imagine. A radi
ant, happy, beautiful butterfly.. She is rarely
. known to cry,s and is' rarely slapped. What
mother could have the heart to touch so dainty -;
a blossom as the child flower of this land of
flowerstV ' - ' K
6 MThe little girl loves fun; she loves toys,
sweets and tea in little cups; she loves to smoke,
with a funny pipe made of brass and kept in her
aleeve; and above all, she loves her big, round
, headed dolL" ' 1 i: V
,"tne down AT12;
At the age of IS and 13 there is a toning of
' color. Many girls , at this age 'wear dresses of
psle gray or blue, marvelously embroidered, oft
en with flowers or landscape views. Others
wear a white fabrie, printed with wreaths of
; bright flowers; or purple, pink and lavender fab
rics, decorated with harmonious flowers.
Prom the age of 18 to 18 the sleeves of the
kimonos are worn very long, usually measuring
, three feet As they get older, year by year, the
young women shorten the sleeves until they are
but a little longer than the arm at 19.
At about 25 subdued cloths of pink, purple
and bright brown are allowed, with embroideries
- much less gaudy than th6se worn before the age
of 18. After 25, however, bright colors and deco-
rations are relinquished forever, and - striped
fabrics are adopted.. , .
A visitor to Japan who sees a woman in a
striped fabric of brown, blue or lavender may
know she has passed 25. This may be told defi
y aitcly by the breadth of the stripes which. nar
row each year, until the age of 80, when an ex
tremely .narrow stripe is adopted. , .. ..
At this age a Japanese .woman develops a
desire to ago quickly, and she makes her age con
spicuo-is, too. When she is 35 the Japanese wo
man affects a dark brown or gray fabric.1 Per
haps the only spot of color may be a monogram
in goldor embroidered silk on her sleeve or near
her neck. ' '
Should you meet one wearing a fabric of
brown or blue in a fine cross-plaid you may know
she is 45. At 60 she doffs this, and finally adopts '
a, plain, dark gray, very dark brown or black.
She no longer wears any colors. v
The costume of the Japanese women is not
1 so complicated as one . may suppose. There is
but a slight difference in the clothing of women
.' from those worn by the men. An apron, or short
petticoat, "is worn beneath the kimono.' Some
times two petticoats are worn. As the weather
grows colder an extra kimono is adopted, and as
the temperature goes; down extra kimonos are
added, to the number of six or eight. An obi, or
, belt, is wound about these.
To get married is the great ambition of .
most young Japanese girls. Perhaps it is to lure !
a lover that such gay colors are affected. Any- ,
way, after marriage, the desiro to bedeck herself .
in colors and ornaments wanes.
COLORS FADE AS YEARS FLY
"Startingjife as a butterfly child, gay and
brilliant, she becomes sadder and sadder with
each passing year," a writer observes. "The
colqrs iade;and become dull, until by the time
she is a full-grown woman they have sobered
down to almost Quaker hues. '
."Directly she is a wife, her one ambition is S
to become old; it is almost a craze with her. She
shows it in every possible way -in the' way she
ties her obi,' the fashion in which she dresses her
hair; everything that, suggests the sfdvance of '
the sere and yellow leaf she eagerly adopts.". 1
As We Japanese woman grows older, not
only does she adopt sober colors in dress, but she
changes the mode of dressing her hair. At the v
age of 13 she ties up her hah-, and untij she is
40 wears a high' and elaborate coiffure; ' . ;
; In her maidenhood and the early .days of
her married life she employs a hairdresser, who
usually spends two'hdurs in arranging the black
tresses. To keep the large mass of heavy, coils .
in place large pins are used. The hair is dressed
with oil and bandoline, to hold it in place, and
because of .the extreme labor of dressing it is
taken down only once a week. X. .
j So as not to disarrange it, the , women sleep , ,. .
' on a sleeping block, of carved wood, shaped to "
fit the neck, instead of a pillow. ;.
Up to the,age of 25 large pins and combs
of gold and tortoise shell are used. . At. the age
of 30 white pins are adopted, merely spotted
; with gold or gilding, and at 40 plain shell or '
wood is used. When , she has reached 50 .years , ,
every woman cuts" off her hair.
i Should a woman's husband die before she is - -
, 50, and she intends to remain a widow and de- : ' '
vote herself to the memory of the late lamented,
"she indicates this -by cuttipg her hair.
Japanese women "wear many otnaments. ; In
these there is no significance, only small nar- ' ...
row rings, : however, being worn in" old age. .
K Were one able to take a jpeep at her dainty lit- .
tie foot, a person might tell a' Japanese lady's u '
age by the color of her sandals. ' From 10 to 15 J , , ' '
she wears Ted or" purple shoes; from 20 to 80, " -
blue or gray,; and after 30, black or pearl-gray, ' J. '