Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News Letter No565

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Iro- Colors are full of wonder. There are so much to talk about colors. As a kimono seller we found some tendency about colors.

Pink is the color most used for kimono. For obi, red seems to be used most. For haori, warm colors as orange or red are overwhelmingly big in numbers. For summer kimono, blue are most used. When people like us who sell used kimono find this tendency, that means those items were sold so many in certain period of time. 

Those tendency are quite natural thing- haori are worn in cold seasons, so opeople like warm colors. It is the same as summer kimono- people chose blue to look cool. 

Pink, the most popular color for kimono especially furisode, the reason is it looks KAWAII.

We heard pink makes people calm and peaceful.  In USA, they made pink walls in some jails, and another story we heard is, there was a foot ball coach who painted the enemy's locker room with pink paint.

Japanese women seem to like pink in older days and also present time too.

When I went to Italy (when I was working for a department store), I found people wearing basic and chic colors as black or gray. I saw many people in monotone colors, it made me surprised. I had this idea, people in Italy wore very colorful clothings but actually it was not so.

Of course there is always a fashion trend. In late Showa period(Showa:1926-1989) Oshima tsumugi was very popular. We have many Oshima tsumugi and those old Oshima tsumugi has mosly red color hakkake, bottom lining. Present Oshima tsumugi has more chic and dark colors very often. Hakkake only shows when the wearer walk, and getting a glimpse of red lining color, was oshare, fachionable thing at that time. However the trend seemed to have changed and red hakkake might not be oshare any more.

When you do net shopping, you may find colors look different from the actual colors. A monitor of each computer is different and the colors shown on that monitor also change as time goes by. Of course we try to show the actual colors. What we use is this color monitor caribration.

It does not solve all the issues but at least it works to show closer color from the actual color.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00C2GSFO8/httpdblodre06-22/

Ther are a lot more stories related to colors. Colors can encourage us(do you know the sport called Tae Kwon Do? Winning percentage seems more with the player wearing red sash. They say red looks more aggresive to judge)

Colors surely give influence to our psychology. When you wear colorful kimono, how do you feel?