The history and subject of Japanese clothing can be broken down into three distinct eras: the Heian era, the Tokugawa era, and the Meiji era. Though these times were ridden with strife and change, the trends of fashion during feudal Japan were not quite as…fluid as in modern history (specifically western), where new ideas and trends change with the wind.

The Heian era (749-1185 A.D) was characterized by the extravagant and terribly eccentric style of its nobility, who routinely wore five to seven layers of clothing at a time. Heian men wore loud colors and thick face paint, and even blackened out their teeth as a symbol status. Heian women shaved their eyebrows and replaced them with two black thumbprints much higher on their brows. Commoners of this era wore simple cloth outfits with rope or fabric tied around their waist.

The Tokugawa era was a time of relative peace, and without a war to occupy it time, the shogun spent most of his time finding ways to hassle the commonwealth with numerous restrictions and rules. Loud colors and elaborate dress was restricted to higher class citizens, while common men and women were restricted from wearing anything made of silk or brocade, and also from any manner of gold ornamentation. How a woman dressed and did her hair was dependent on marital and social status. Men of high standing wore what is often recognized as classical Japanese attire, including the broadened and heavily accentuated shoulder pads that resembled something like and angered cobra. However, as is often the case even today, it was during such times of relative idleness that more rebellious forms of fashion are often cultivated, and many young people began to display thread-bare and revealing types of clothing that were considered very racy.

The Meiji era was a time of great change. The influx of western society was in full swing. Suite and ties and western period dress for men and women had begun to replace the “savage” cloth dress of traditional Japanese origin, and soon only very few types of people (such as performers and of course the famous Geisha) were seen in their well known kimono.