Kanzashi

Motif

The motif is composed of twenty elements repeated on the obi. Most of them represent traditional hair accessories, Kanzashi. Some of them are long decorated hair pins, some others are painted wooden combs. Amoung these elements we can also see other small objects that belong to the traditional lady’s closet such as a miniature mirror, a small makeup compartment, or a fragrant incense bag called Nioi-bukuro.

Composition: silk and lamé

Detail

I once shopped in a small thrift store selling kanzashi of this style and the shop owner told me an interesting story. There were sumptuary edicts, during the Edo period (1603 – 1868), forbidding the use of some luxury clothes and accessories. Each class had to follow strict dressing rules in order not to put on ostentatious displays of wealth which could harm the moral values of individuals as well as blur the class boundaries. But as we know well, repression also leads to creativity and the story he told me illustrates it so perfectly. He showed me a few of these long hair pins, with a circular decoration at the end, and a tiny scoop at the top. The scoop, he said, is designed to clear the ears. This way, the hair pin could be sold as utility good and slip under the restriction. Once these regulations were no longer in place, this part of the design stayed and still look a little like a scoop, even if it is not meant to be used in this way.