留袖 - Tomesode

「留袖」というものを先生が初めて説明してくださったときに、私は得意の想像力を働かせすぎて、勝手に解釈ミスをしてしまいました。留袖とは「羽を切る」ようなものだと。　
なぜそう思い込んだかというと、結婚した女性は、未婚の頃のように美しい羽をはばたく振り袖を捨て、自由なその羽を留めなければならない時期が来たという意味なのだろう思ったのです。
でも、それが私の完全な妄想だと気づいた時には、自分で笑ってしまいました。実はそんな深い意味はなく、単に、主婦となったらしなければならない家事の邪魔にならないようにという実用的な理由で袖の長さを短くするだけだったんですね。まったく西欧的な誤解ですよね！
実際に私が留袖を着られる機会は、なかなかないと思います。だから着付けレッスンで着られてとても嬉しかったです。
着物と袋帯にもちゃんと意味があるという事実にも感心しました。二倍の幸せを招くために二重である。そして、何度でも、また何代にもわたって繰り返して着る。こういうものはカナダにありません。カナダでは、結婚式にお嫁さん以外白いドレスを着てはいけない、というのがたった一つの規定です。新郎新婦の母親だけが特別なドレスを着て、それでもウェディングドレスと同じく一回しか着ないものです。


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When my teacher first explained Tomesode (the formal kimono worn by married women) to me, I misunderstood the explanation and thought the sleeves were ‘wings’ and that the tomesode was ‘clipping wings’ rather than the two kanji meaning "to fasten" (留) and "sleeve"（袖）. My mind went on a whole story about how married women do need to clip their wings, that they aren’t the beautiful butterflies they were in their furisode (the formal kimono for unmarried women has long sleeves - that almost touch the ground) before they got married. But that’s my western misinterpretation. I giggled when I realized that it was far less sinister and much more practical; sleeves needed to be shortened to be more practical in the kitchen.
I don’t think I will ever get a chance to wear tomesode (it should be worn at the wedding of your sister, or children - neither of which I have), so I loved the fact that I had the opportunity to wear one at kimono school. To further celebrate the occasion in which it is worn, the kimono and the furkuro obi are full of meaning as well, both are double lined to bring double happiness.
And the best part about tomesode is it is worn again and again. It is the formal dress for a married woman. You only need one. We don’t have this in Canada. Our only stipulation is that to a wedding you can’t wear white, as it detracts from the bride. And the mothers of the bride and groom are the only ones who usually wear special dresses, but these (like the wedding dress) are only usually worn once and rarely handed down.

- originally published in a/r/e/c/o/l/e monthly magazine, June Issue.   アレコレ月刊の6月号に出版