How the kimono, robe, hood and negligee appeared, and later became part of the "home" fashion

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It turns out that a very rich and long history is hidden behind such a familiar and not the most elegant piece of clothing like a robe. It is not surprising - now it is chosen for its convenience, but the same quality was inherent in the dressing gown thousands of years ago. Curious details can be found out about the predecessors of modern home clothes.

1. Hanfu

Loose clothes called hanfu were worn in China. It was the traditional costume of the Han people, the most numerous in the modern world. According to some reports, hanfu was worn four thousand years ago. Of course, these were silk clothes. The sun, moon, elephants, dragons were embroidered on the fabric, and they tried to make the clothes as bright as the technologies of those times allowed.

The outfit was made simply - from a large piece of fabric, which was supplemented with sleeves and other elements. But like everything Asian, the way of putting on and wearing hanfu was full of rules and meanings, for example, special importance was attached to the crossing of the cuffs on the front of the suit: as a rule, it was done on the right side. The main type of hanfu suit for women was a combination of a skirt and an outer dress. Men could wear trousers under this "robe". About three centuries ago, with the conquest of China by the Manchus, wearing hanfu was banned. The tradition was kept only by Taoist monasteries. And in today's China, such attire can be seen during ceremonies or shows - you cannot call Hanfu casual clothes.

2. Kimono

From China, the tradition of wearing swinging clothes came to the Japanese islands. The word "kimono" was once called clothing in general, and with the advent of Western-style wardrobe items among the Japanese, this term began to be applied precisely in relation to the national traditional attire. The first kimonos have been known since about the 5th century; since then, fashion and traditions, of course, have changed; there was a belt - obi. Sleeves, according to existing rules, should be wide, bag-shaped. And in order to fasten together the parts of the kimono, strings are used - these clothes do not provide for any buttons.

Traditionally, kimonos are sewn by hand, and silk is also the best material. A new kimono, created in compliance with all the rules, is a very expensive pleasure, its price is about 6 thousand dollars. The cost is determined, among other things, by the amount of material that is required for sewing - more than 11 meters of fabric is used for a kimono for an adult! But you can also save money - for example, buy a used kimono: the practice is quite common in Japan. Of course, in everyday life, the Japanese do not wear kimonos, but Western-style clothing, while traditional attire can be seen on geishas, and also during holidays, especially weddings, and besides, at the participants in the tea ceremony.

Kimonos are worn with a wrap to the left - both men and women. They acted in a different way only when dressing the deceased: his kimono was supposed to demonstrate, among other things, the dissimilarity of this world to the afterlife.

3. Banyan tree

In imitation of oriental customs, banyan trees were worn in Europe in the 17th century - spacious home clothes for both men and women. Not surprisingly, at that time trade with Japan began, and various exotic finds made by Europeans quickly became fashionable. The first to wear banyan trees were the Dutch. Men wore it over a shirt and trousers, women over a nightgown in the morning and before going to bed.

This home dress was sewn from cotton, linen or silk - of course, the clothes were intended only for the upper class. In the portraits of that era, banyans were often depicted as intellectuals, philosophers, thinkers - or those who considered themselves such and ordered this image to the artist.

4. Bathrobe

And the robe itself was a garment that came to Europe from Asia. Since ancient times, the inhabitants of many eastern territories, including North India, have put on it. The robe was worn everywhere, not only at home - it sheltered from the scorching sun during the day and from the cold at night, served as protection from the heat and from the chilly, albeit short, winter.

Europe learned about the robe thanks to the Ottoman Turks, although in the west it was used only as a household garment. The dressing gown was worn over the pajamas after sleep - it was in it for breakfast, in this form, according to etiquette, it was allowed to appear in front of domestic servants or guests. Over time, the dressing gown became not only a symbol of home clothes - it turned out to be comfortable work clothes for representatives of some professions: doctors, cooks, workers laboratories, movers and some others.

5. Retinue

One gets the impression that modern dressing gowns are completely borrowed from the East, but this is not so. And in Russia there was once a similar clothing. It was a retinue, or scroll. The scroll, the main clothing of the Novgorodians in the 13th century, was a kind of caftan.

The scroll, which was a swinging garment up to the knee or below, was sewn from broadcloth or woolen fabric, buttons and loops were used as fasteners. An embroidered ornament was often used as a decoration. The cut of the old Russian retinue was used as the basis for the men's clothing of the Old Believers until the 20th century, and the scroll became part of the national costume of Belarusians.

6. Hood

In Russian literature of the 19th century, the hood is often mentioned - nobles and landowners wore it - of course, if they were at home. And they also "teased" the shabby overcoat of Gogol's Akaki Akakievich with the hood. Indeed, the hood, before going into the past, managed to be both attire for the house and clothing for going out - like a coat or a warm cape. The history of the hood began in North America during its colonization - to protect against the vagaries of winter weather, the French turned their warm woolen blankets into long hooded coats. Later, the hood became the national Canadian costume.

And in our country, at first, it was a piece of outerwear - quilted on cotton wool, covered with satin fabric. Until the middle of the 19th century, hoods were worn when going outside. In the second half of the century before last, fashion trends changed, and the hoods turned into a cross between a robe and a dress - they were worn by ladies. The home hood was a wide swinging garment; it was usually not intercepted at the waist. They wore hoods, as a rule, until noon - then it was customary to change into another outfit.

7. Peignoir

The most exquisite piece of home wardrobe appeared, of course, in France, in the most luxurious period of its history - during the "gallant age". This was the era of the reign of Louis XV - when aristocrats were supposed to change their outfits at least seven times a day, and in the morning, combing their hair, generously powder their hair and wigs. The negligee appeared to prevent the silver powder from getting on the clothes for going out. Having originated in France, it spread to the wardrobes of women all over the world. A negligee was sewn from fine and expensive fabrics, often from silk, and decorated with lace.

Worn in the boudoir, after waking up or before going to bed, had breakfast in a negligee, even received morning guests. During the French Belle Epoque - the period of the last decades of the 19th and early 20th centuries - peignoirs were worn not only at home, but also on trips, in hotels, on trains. In such cases, gloves often served as an addition to the outfit - etiquette demanded that, because the lady found herself in the company of strangers.

That's how went to the theater in the 19th century: Attire, norms of behavior, allocation of seats and other rules.