A Short History of the Kimono 和服簡史

米卡·羅斯—索撒爾文 徐紅燈譯

‘Fashions have changed， said the Japanese writer Ihara Saikaku in 1688. Certain shrewd Kyoto people have started to lavish every manner of magnificence on mens and womens clothes. By then， everyone in Japan was wearing a kimono. But it was the new， eye-catching， sumptuous ones wrapped around a flourishing breed of fashionistas that Saikaku was talking about. How to show off your wealth and status in Edo-era Japan？ Wear the latest kimono.

This was the starting point for the V&As exhibition Kimono： Kyoto to Catwalk， which opened， then hurriedly closed just days before the lockdown. Those of us lucky enough to catch it can tell you it wouldve been the museums summer blockbuster. A few tantalising images from the show are still on their website and the catalogue is available. Fawn over them as an antidote to your work-from-home jogging bottoms and hoodie.

The bolder the better for samurai. Their plush silk kimono—the oldest， and the first we come across in the show—are embroidered with elaborate and theatrical garden scenes， mountains， musical instruments， birds， insects and skulls. One vibrant kimono from around 1800 was dyed bright red with safflower. Another from around 1730 depicts a rural village surrounded by crisp snow and swathes of purple clouds. It was decorated using yūzen1： an innovative technique of rice paste lines， filled in with hand-painted dye. The effect is breathtaking.

Delicate patterns soon took over， as the newly-minted middle-class merchants found ways to get one up on the royals. Their styles might look humble and muted， but they were pricey to produce. Hanging in one corner of the exhibition is a feather-light summer kimono made out of grey gauze from 1850. Its only embellishments： open-weave chinks and a couple of pine trees and sand dunes， brushed on in barely-there sweeps.

Some trends were set by famous actors and high-ranking courtesans. When the actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu wore a black-and-white chequerboard obi2 tied around his kimono on stage in 1741， the audience rushed out of the theatre to buy one. In a hand-coloured wood-block print， dated a few years later， we see him glide out of an incense shop， his obi now paired with a chequered kimono.

Kimono could be playful and subversive， too. Embroidered on the shoulder blades and sleeves of one from 1750， which is scattered with gold， red， pink and cream maple leaves， are the words from a ninth-century poem by Bai Juyi. A popular fabric from around the same time features abstract Japanese characters and swirling symbols. Get a little closer and see the shapes spell the phrase ‘kamawanu3—‘I dont give a damn.

When Japan opened its borders in the late nineteenth century， most people put on western clothes so that they didnt appear out of touch. Men wore tailored suits. Women wore their kimono—if they were still wearing them—with fur stoles， gilded clutch bags， elbow-length gloves. Europe and America， though， fell in love with forme Japonaise4. Kimono were exotic， almost liberating. Certainly no sign of a corset. We find a striking black-and-white striped coat designed in the 1920s by Emilie Fl?ge， Gustav Klimts life-long companion， all billowing， asymmetrical sleeves and loose draping. Elsewhere， Yves Saint Laurents strapless cocktail dress and matching bolero5 jacket from the 1950s， made of orange silk brocade stamped with gold and silver pine leaves. Its puffball， quilted overskirt was reminiscent of the duvet-like kimono worn during fierce Japanese winters. And in his sugary lilac two-piece ‘La-La-San （2007） for Christian Dior， John Galliano triumphantly updates the iconic New Look6 silhouette with details from eighteenth-century kimono： a delicate ribbon obi at the cinched waist， opalescent embroidery and beading， wide sleeves with origami cuffs.

Then comes the costumes. If there was ever any doubt about how versatile this garment can be， look no further. The final room bursts at the seams with Obi-Wan Kenobis camel-coloured kimono from Star Wars， and Madonnas scarlet outfit by Jean Paul Gaultier for her music video ‘Nothing Really Matters： a mini-dress silk kimono with matching shorts， platform boots and a PVC obi. Fantasize about shimmying around your living room in David Bowies white satin tour costume from the 1970s， adorned with creeping black-ink vines and calligraphy. A couple of clichéd curatorial choices—clusters of bamboo canes; a soundtrack of wind chimes and trickling water—occasionally distracts us from whats going on. And every piece here， exquisite， enchanting， often surprising， deserves our attention. As the merchants put it 200 years ago with the word ‘iki7： subtlety is more stylish than showiness.

1688年日本作家井原西鶴說道：“時尚變了。”一些敏銳的京都人開始在男女式服裝上極盡華麗。那時日本人人都穿和服。但西鶴所說的是那種穿在興起的時裝達人身上、時新搶眼又奢華的和服。在江戶時代的日本，如何炫耀財富地位？答案是穿最時新的和服。

這是維多利亞與阿爾伯特博物館（V&A）“和服：從京都到T臺”展覽的開端，該展在封城前幾天匆匆閉展。我們這些有幸看過的人可以告訴你，這本可以成為該博物館的夏季轟動大展。在博物館的網站上，仍可看到展覽中的一些誘人圖片，展覽目錄也可查到。欣賞它們，以擺脫居家辦公穿慢跑褲與連帽衫的單調。

對于武士來說，色彩越艷麗越好。他們的豪華絲綢和服——最為古老，也是我們在展覽中首先見到的，繡著精致而壯觀的園林景色、山嶺、樂器、飛禽、昆蟲和顱骨。一件1800年左右的艷麗和服用紅花染成了鮮紅色。另一件1730年左右的和服，其上描繪了被皚皚白雪和片片紫云圍繞的村莊，由友禪技法染制而成。友禪染是一種創新技術，使用米漿描線，在線條間手工染色，印染效果驚艷絕倫。

新晉的中產階級商人找到了超越王室的方法，精致的圖案很快占據上風。圖案款式或許看起來低調、淡雅，制作成本卻非常昂貴。懸掛在展廳一角的是一件1850年的夏季和服，用灰色薄紗制成，輕如羽毛，其上僅有的裝飾為稀松的裂紋、幾棵松樹和幾座沙丘，淡淡的若有若無。

有些潮流是由著名演員和高級交際花引領的。1741年，演員佐野川市松在舞臺上穿了一件系著黑白棋盤格腰帶的和服，隨后觀眾出了劇院紛紛去購買同款。在一幅幾年后的手繪木版畫中，我們看到他從一家香坊自如走出，這會兒是腰帶搭配方格和服。

和服也可以是俏皮及顛覆性的。一件1750年的和服，點綴著金色、紅色、粉色及奶油色的楓葉，在肩胛處和袖子上繡著9世紀白居易的詩句。一件大約同期的流行和服面料上印著抽象日本文字和漩渦狀圖案。靠近些，就會看到這些形狀拼出了かまわぬ的字樣，意為“不在乎”。

19世紀末，日本打開國門時，為了不顯得落伍，大多數人都穿西服。男士穿定制西裝。女士穿和服——如果她們還穿的話——配皮草披肩、鍍金手包、及肘手套。但歐洲和美國卻愛上了日本的“和風”。和服具有異國情調，幾乎沒有束縛，顯然沒有緊身胸衣的痕跡。我們發現一件醒目的黑白條紋外套，由古斯塔夫·克里姆特的終身伴侶埃米莉·弗勒格于20世紀20年代設計。外套采用不對稱泡泡袖，衣擺寬松垂墜。另一處陳列著伊夫·圣羅蘭于20世紀50年代設計的無肩帶禮服和配套波蕾若短上衣，由橙紅色絲綢錦緞制成，印有金銀松葉，其圓蘑菇狀的絎縫罩裙讓人聯想到日本的寒冬里人們穿的羽絨被般的和服。在為克里斯汀·迪奧設計的甜美淡紫色兩件套（取名為La-La-San，2007年設計）中，約翰·加利亞諾借用18世紀和服的設計細節，成功使得迪奧標志性的“新風貌”系列廓形更顯時尚：精致束腰緞帶，乳白色刺繡和串珠裝飾，袖口翻折的寬袖。

然后是演出服。如果對和服的廣泛用途有所懷疑，那就看看這個吧。最后的展室里擺滿了和服，有《星球大戰》中歐比旺·克諾比的駝色和服，還有讓·保羅·戈爾捷為麥當娜的音樂視頻《一切都無關緊要》設計的緋紅色套裝：絲綢和服式超短連衣裙及套裝短褲，厚底靴和聚氯乙烯腰帶。想象一下：穿著20世紀70年代大衛·鮑伊那件飾有墨色藤蔓和書法的白色綢緞巡回演出服，在自家客廳里晃來晃去。幾處見慣了的策展裝飾——幾簇竹子、風鈴音樂和涓涓流水——偶爾會分散我們的注意力。每一件展品都精致迷人，常常讓人驚奇，值得我們關注。正如200年前江戶商人用“粋”所表達的：含蓄比高調更時尚。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）

1日語“友禪（ゆうぜん）”的羅馬字注音，是一種日本特有的印染技巧。傳統友禪技藝大致分為以下幾步：先在昂貴的絹織上初繪紋樣輪廓，以易溶于水的青花色素作顏料，正式染色時不會留痕跡;在畫好的紋樣上，用米或阿拉伯樹膠做成的糊狀防染劑沿著輪廓描繪一遍，置糊的目的是為了在染色完成后，在圖案的輪廓留有白線，勾畫的線被稱作“糸目”;然后再用刷筆蘸取染料給紋樣染色，稱作“色插”;進行騰蒸以固定色澤;再次用防染劑描繪覆蓋住染好的紋樣，進行整布染色;最后一道工序名為“友禪流”，即將布料置于川河之中任其漂流，以沖洗掉多余的防染劑和染料。 ?2日語“帯（おび）”的羅馬字注音，意為“腰帶，帶子”。

3日語かまわぬ的羅馬字注音，在日本古語里ぬ=ない，所以かまわぬ=かまわない（構わない），意為“沒關系，不要緊，不在乎”。 ?4二者均是法語，forme意為“形式，方式”，Japonaise意為“日本的”。

5 bolero波蕾若外套（前胸敞開的女短上衣）。 ?6 1947年，克里斯汀·迪奧向媒體展示他的首個時裝系列。前所未有的曼妙側影、修長剪裁、獨特款型、窈窕腰身、魔鬼般的性感胸線完全顛覆了二戰后寬松粗獷的女性風格。《時尚芭莎》主編卡梅爾·斯諾（Carmel Snow）贊嘆道：“您的長裙帶來了新風貌。”（Your dresses have such a new look.）此后，這一系列便被稱為“新風貌”（New Look），并一直沿用至今。

7日語“粋（いき）”的羅馬字注音，指日本江戶時期形成的一種美學。日本哲學研究者九鬼周造在其《「いき」の構造》（《粹的構造》）中有詳細闡述。經歷了幾百年發展，日本“粋”文化很難以一言蔽之，可以理解為，人（其姿態舉動）、環境、建筑、時尚、設計等都可以體現“粋”的意識，簡單、恬淡、直觀、精致、原始、低調、克制等都可以是“粋”的表現。