The History of Clothing

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19th Century · East Asia · 1800 - 1900

Furisode

A Japanese kimono with long swinging sleeves, worn by children and unmarried women on special occasions.

By Dan Schnau · Last updated

A furisode is a Japanese kimono with long hanging sleeves. The Art Institute of Chicago describes it as "a long-sleeved garment worn by children and unmarried women on special occasions."1 The Victoria and Albert Museum translates the name as "swinging sleeves" and states that the long sleeves of a kimono made in 1800-1840 indicate that it would have been worn by a young woman.2

Red silk furisode with long hanging sleeves, embroidered with a gold-trunked plum tree in white blossom from hem to shoulder
Furisode, late Edo period, 1801/1868, red rinzu silk damask embroidered with a blossoming plum tree in silk and gold-wrapped thread. Art Institute of Chicago, gift of Gaylord Donnelley in memory of Frances Gaylord Smith. Art Institute of Chicago, CC0.

How It Was Worn

JAANUS lists the furisode among garments usually called subtypes of the kosode.3 The Art Institute's red silk furisode of 1801-1868 belonged to a family whose crest was the tachibana and probably was used as an uchikake, or outer coat.1 The V&A's example was shortened at the waist to serve as an under-kimono.2

Materials and Decoration

The Art Institute's garment is made of rinzu, a soft, lustrous silk, with a blossoming plum tree embroidered in gold and white silk thread from hem to shoulder.1 The V&A states that red symbolized youth and glamour for young women, and that both the beni dye from safflowers and the shibori tie-dyeing on its example were very costly.2

The Term Today

Writing for the Textile Research Centre in Leiden, Naoko Kikuchi describes the furisode as a formal garment with long sleeves worn by unmarried women. She states that the bride at the 1959 wedding of Michiko Shoda and Crown Prince Akihito wore a furisode, which inspired young people to wear kimono on special occasions.4

On This Site

Sources

  1. Furisode — Art Institute of Chicago (long sleeves, wearers, tachibana crest, uchikake use, rinzu silk, and plum embroidery; text retrieved through the Wayback Machine).
    Return to text (3 references)Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3
  2. Kimono (furisode), FE.32-1982 — Victoria and Albert Museum, 1800-1840 (swinging sleeves, young women, beni red, shibori, and shortening as an under-kimono).
    Return to text (3 references)Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3
  3. Kosode — Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System (JAANUS), 2001 (furisode as a kosode subtype).Reference 1
  4. Japanese kimonos from the late 1950s to the 1970s — Naoko Kikuchi, Textile Research Centre, Leiden, 19 August 2021 (formal long-sleeved garment for unmarried women and the 1959 imperial wedding).Reference 1