Here is the next installment in my Hime Series, Tsubaki-Hime or Princess Camellia. The Camellia is considered an early spring flower, primarily associated with January and February, but in fact begins to bloom in late Autumn (and thus camellia motifs can easily be worn in late Autumn as well). It comes in two varieties, red blossoms and white blossoms.

I placed Tsubaki-Hime in the current Japanese era, the Heisei Period (1989-). A person who would casually glance at the kimono of the late Showa Period (after WWII), and the kimono of the current Heisei Period would be inclined to say they look exactly alike and that kimono fashions have not changed in the last thirty years. A lot of people would say that kimono fashions have completely stalled and no longer evolve in the way Western fashions do, but that's not entirely true and kimono of late Showa are indeed different from current kimono. It's true that the fact that kimono is no longer the clothing of choice in Japan has slowed the evolution that kimono has gone through, and the introduction of Western culture and clothing has stopped kimono from going along the evolutionary path it was taking during the Edo Period. But, the styles of kimono, ranging from popular color palettes to stylized designs has changed over time, and certain styles have become indicative of certain eras, much like with western clothing. A houmongi from the seventies, for instance, will often have a plethora of small flowers with pastel colors. A houmongi from now, though, will generally have one or two flowers that are bigger with pale but muted colors. The Heisei Period kimono fashion has so far been defined by study and innovation of past styles, with the best concepts of the Taisho and Showa Periods being blended with modern color preferences to create something that is incredibly chic and refined. The dept of statement and idea within Taisho Period kimono has been blended with the color concepts of the Showa Period and then slightly altered, diffusing the bright pastels and subduing them into something more modern and sophisticated. I have to say, I am quite pleased with this change, as I rather dislike late Showa Period Kimono.

However, there are still some facts about Heisei Period kimono fashion that worry me. While I like that kimono are becoming more fashionable to wear, a lot of women don't bother to learn how to wear kimono and just go to a kimono dresser, even for something as simple as a komon and hanhaba obi. Kimono trends have also been divided into two to three different sections, in that a woman can dress in kimono to look elegant, look cute, or sometimes she can dress retro in Taisho styles. The strictness of these limitations is worrying, as it implies that the kimono is only capable of being fit into these small sections of a woman's life. More than that, certain aspects of kimono dress are disappearing. Unless a woman is dressing in a retro style, the underkimono collar in front is barely displayed. The collars also seem to always be worn high in the back, and the obi is being tied higher and higher. These points of dress give a very staunch air, very prim and not at all sexy. While I don't really care if every woman wants to be sexy when she wears kimono or not, it's the fact that kimono is no longer capable of being equated with sexiness that is worrying. More than that, a woman can no longer simply wear kimono because she wants to, she has to have a reason to wear kimono, and then she has to choose which of the three styles that reason fits into. I'm not really sure where the kimono is going down its evolutionary path, but that path seems to be rather prim.

I wanted my Tsubaki-Hime to be very elegant and very Heisei. Modern Japanese girls (and boys for that matter) almost always dye their hair because black hair is felt to be rather heavy-looking by modern youth. Even if most only add some highlights or take their hair into a dark to medium brown, they feel it looks much lighter and fresher than black hair. Older Japanese people, in response, say that Japanese youth no longer look Japanese. But more than choosing the color of her hair, I wanted her to embody the elegance of the tsubaki. It's one of the most elegant flowers I saw while in Japan, and I wanted my princess to reflect that. And to me, there's nothing quite as refined as Tea Ceremony, so that's where I placed Tsubaki-Hime. She is sitting infront of the Tokonoma, the alcove, which is the traditionally the only place in which art and treasures could be displayed in a traditional Japanese room. In Tea Ceremony, the most common items to add are a hanging scroll depicting calligraphy (or sometimes a ink painting), a very simple arrangement of flowers (more complicated arrangements generally take away from the simplicity of the ceremony), and an incense holder. I have her holding a chawan, the tea bowl, made in my favorite style, akaraku [link] and there is a camellia bud for the flower arrangement. I wanted the entire feeling of the piece to be of simple refinement, a definite wabi-sabi feel, which is what the tsubaki evokes whenever I look at it.

Hime Series-
Sakura Hime-[link]
Kiku Hime-[link]
Fuji Hime-[link]
Ajisai Hime-[link]
Botan Hime-[link]
Asagao Hime-[link]
Ayame Hime- [link]
Ume Hime- [link]