Emperor Andreas and Empress Narsha
Floral offerings from Sophie and Mimi,
kind of a combination Hina Matsuri and Chelsea Flower Show!
kind of a combination Hina Matsuri and Chelsea Flower Show!
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A slide show of some of the details of Narsha's junihitoe. This time around almost all the layers of the outfit are made of silk rather than cotton as I did the first time (the cotton turned out to be just too bulky.) While I used the same motif for the mo (the long white "train"), instead of printing it myself on computer printed fabric, I sent the design to Spoonflower and had them print it. There were two reasons for this: the computer fabric only came in 8.5"X11" sheets which really wasn't big enough for a proper mo; and the white fabric yellowed noticeably in the last 3 years. While the Spoonflower print is not quite as sharp as my own computer printing, it did allow me to have a much larger mo, on much more appropriately flowing fabric. I must admit I struggled with how to size the image file I sent to Spoonflower to end up with the correct size print and more to the point, to end up with a lot of white space around the motif, but managed to fumble my way through!
I also succeeded at making more "correct" garments this time. Most of the "guides" to dressing in junihitoe show an "antique" version of the the outfit, from the Heian period, but most of the photos that I wanted to copy show women in (relatively) modern Edo period style and it took me a long time to catch on to this fact. The most obvious difference between the two styles is that layers of uchigi (what we would call "kimono") in the Heian style cross or lap over each other in the front near the waist and then are sequentially pulled open and backwards below the waist while in the Edo style there is very little over lap - just the wide collar/lapel (having seen no instruction for how this style is put on, I'm still not sure what keeps the Edo style "closed" but at least I now understand why I was confused between the images in my "how to" books and the photos of "modern" junihitoe that I wanted to copy!)
Here is a photo from the most extensive "how to" book that I own, by Ms. Chieko Kato. The "empress" here is dressed in the Heian style.
I also succeeded at making more "correct" garments this time. Most of the "guides" to dressing in junihitoe show an "antique" version of the the outfit, from the Heian period, but most of the photos that I wanted to copy show women in (relatively) modern Edo period style and it took me a long time to catch on to this fact. The most obvious difference between the two styles is that layers of uchigi (what we would call "kimono") in the Heian style cross or lap over each other in the front near the waist and then are sequentially pulled open and backwards below the waist while in the Edo style there is very little over lap - just the wide collar/lapel (having seen no instruction for how this style is put on, I'm still not sure what keeps the Edo style "closed" but at least I now understand why I was confused between the images in my "how to" books and the photos of "modern" junihitoe that I wanted to copy!)
Here is a photo from the most extensive "how to" book that I own, by Ms. Chieko Kato. The "empress" here is dressed in the Heian style.
And here is a picture taken at the 1959 wedding of the current Emperor and Empress of Japan, showing the Edo style outfit. (Yes, I know the difference is relatively subtle but .... there is a difference!)
The weaknesses of Narsha's outfit are mostly a function of her weakness as a model but by the time I'd come to realize this, I was far enough along on the project that I didn't want to start over again on another doll. Besides, I chose Narsha not only because she is slightly taller than most of the rest of the girls in the gang but because I wanted to honor her beautiful face sculpt. Her head, by Dollmore, is on an "old" Customhouse Petite Ai body (sadly it doesn't fit on a Tenner body) and since I've been spending so much time in the last year or so with the wonderful Tenner body, I'd forgotten how really primitive and finicky some of the "old" BJD bodies can be!! I ended up having to tie Narsha's legs to a doll stand - not the most graceful way to pose a body and not a situation that makes it easy to drape the nagabakama and uchigi correctly around her legs!
So .... this means I've finally completed a project that I've had in mind quite a long time .... really all the way back to my childhood when I looked at pictures of Japanese dolls and wished and wished for a Hina doll display of my own!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvksRcYW6oQ This is a link to an interesting video about Japanese dolls. In several spots they discuss what it can mean to people if dolls are felt to have souls, and include footage of sending "old" dolls (it looks like mostly Hina Matsuri dolls) adrift in small boats, instead of just throwing them away (or selling them on eBay?) Oh dear!!!! Kind of like doll assisted suicide!! I hope this won't happen to my dolls when I've shuffled off this mortal coil. R.
So .... this means I've finally completed a project that I've had in mind quite a long time .... really all the way back to my childhood when I looked at pictures of Japanese dolls and wished and wished for a Hina doll display of my own!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvksRcYW6oQ This is a link to an interesting video about Japanese dolls. In several spots they discuss what it can mean to people if dolls are felt to have souls, and include footage of sending "old" dolls (it looks like mostly Hina Matsuri dolls) adrift in small boats, instead of just throwing them away (or selling them on eBay?) Oh dear!!!! Kind of like doll assisted suicide!! I hope this won't happen to my dolls when I've shuffled off this mortal coil. R.
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