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A greeting from Saeed and Hirokazu! (119K)
Cultural Differences and Similarities of Women's Clothes in the UAE and Japan
Saeed Al-Mehairbi and Hirokazu Tsuzuki
ISALC, Lewis and Clark College
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Cultural Differences and Similarities of Women's Clothes in the UAE and Japan
Saeed Al-Mehairbi and Hirokazu Tsuzuki
Nowadays, there are many kinds of clothes in the world, and the clothes reflect the culture in a country. Each society has its own way to develop clothing but, basically, almost all countries have the main similarity that women's clothes are more showy and fashionable than men's clothes. Also, there are some typical accessories that are only for women in each society. Thus, this paper emphasizes women's clothes in the the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Japan, comparing and contrasting.
Although women's clothes are more colorful than men's are, both are important in the UAE and Japanese culture; thus, this part discusses a bit about general styles and men's clothes. Actually, the type of clothing in the UAE is mainly controlled by climate and religious requirements, always following Islamic principles. In fact, people in the UAE still cling to their traditional costumes. Men usually wear ankle-length, loose and comfortable dress called "dishdasha" with a high neck and long sleeves. Over their head, they put a round cap, called "gahfa." The structure of the cloth works as an umbrella, to protect their head and neck from the sun's rays. On special occasions, or sometimes depending on a person's status, they wear "bisht," which is a black or beige frock bordered with gold embroidery. In the UAE, comparing men's with women's clothes, we can observe that women's clothes are much more varied and ornate. In Japan, men's and women's clothes have both similarities and differences, too. People began to wear the "kimono" over 2,000 years ago, but the materials and design have changed over the years. Before WWII, most Japanese wore the "kimono," not only in the house but also at the office. Basically, there are two kinds of "kimonos" divided by gender, and a man can wear only a black or other dark color "kimono." On the contrary, a woman can wear any color and design she wants. Even today, although Japanese wear the "kimono" only for some specific events, the designs, patterns, textile and other accessories for women's "kimono" have increased day by day. Basically, the man's clothes in both the UAE and Japan do not have so wide diversity, but the women's clothes do have much variety. Also, the women's clothes reflect not only the cultural aspects, but also the recognition of fashion and beauty in both countries.
Actually, in both the UAE and Japan, women's clothes have, as one aspect, that they represent beauty. However, because of the different cultures, the way of expressing the women's beauty is different. Women's clothing in Arabic countries, and the UAE in particular, is usually loose and ornate garments. Back to the 16th century, women in the UAE usually have worn clothes which were simply made. Like for men, "kandura" is the main woman's clothing; it is a wide calf-length robe with wide, long sleeves and long skirt. Sometimes, the "kandura" has an ornament called "khawar." In ancient time, women were not very concerned about the decorative clothing. These clothes were manufactured in a strong way in order to stand in a hard condition and to protect the body from heat, dust and sunshine. However, these days, many women in the UAE are wearing clothes for decoration more than for covering their body. Women's traditional clothes are decorated with coins, sequins and metal. Until now, women in the UAE still use their traditional dress, though there are there additional decorations. In Japan, although the history of the "kimono" is over 2,000 years old, the period of Genroku (1688-1704) has strongly affected the basic style of the "kimonos" even at present. During the Genroku period, women's "kimonos" became more fashionable and showy. Indeed, a book written in the Genroku era, Onna Chouhoki, pointed out the style of women's "kimonos" lasted no more than five years. Moreover, some famous Japanese companies at present, like Mitsui and Sumitomo, began their business as "kimono" retailers in the era of Genroku, and sometimes, their net worth exceeded that of some district states because of the rapidly changing style of the women's "kimonos." Around the same time, the role of the "kimono" began to separate by gender. Although men' s "kimonos" were associated with social classes, women's "kimonos" represented age and marriage, at that time. Even now, there are two main "kimonos" for women divided according to her marriage status. Single women wear a "furisode" and all married women wear a "tomesode." There are not so many differences between the "furisode" and the "tomesode," just the length of the sleeves, and the "furisode" is more colorful than the "tomesode." However, the most formal color of both women's "kimonos" is black.
Although the UAE and Japan have the similar characteristic that women's clothes are considered for their beauty, the materials in both countries also reflect their geographical cultures. Women in the UAE dress corresponding to the Islamic rules, and their basic traditional form of clothes has been kept even in these days. However, there have been some changes in the details, and the color and materials, which are varied such as red, green, yellow, violet; all are possible at present. In the past in the UAE, for economic reasons, women were obligated to choose wool and cotton for their clothes. However now, Arabic women, especially in the cities, have the opportunity to have the silk "kandura." They wear a "thoub," which is more finely designed than the "kundara," and women wear it on special occasions such as weddings, feast days and Independence Day. Basically, all Japanese women's "kimonos" have been dyed by indigo and made of silk from the era of Genroku to today. However, nowadays, there are many exceptions like using other materials and dye, and the "kimono," which uses indigo dying and 100% silk is expensive at present.
Both the UAE and Japan have clothing accessories only for women, and they characterize women's beauty in the two countries. In the UAE, "al burga" is a special mask for covering the women's faces, and it is connected with golden strings from each side in order to fasten it up around the face. Their head is covered by "shailah," which is a black veil made of light cotton. Sometimes, the "kundara" is ornamented by a "khawer" and a "falla" a kind of arabesque around the border of the garment. In Japan, there are some accessories for "kimono," not only for practical purposes, but also for being fashionable. One is an "obi", a sash, to tie "kimonos." The "obis" have many designs and colors. Moreover, there are countless ways to tie the "obis," and some of them are associated with high fashion. Another is a "kanzashi" , which is a hair ornament only for wearing with the "kimono." A woman wears many kinds of "kanzashis" to be fashionable, and whatever "kanzashi" is made of tortoise shell is especially precious. Unlike the two "kimono" styles, the two types of accessories are not divided according to women's marital status.
Clothes reveal mach about people's identities in every society, and each society has its own way to develop its clothes to correspond to its tradition, customs and religion. People in the UAE still wear traditional clothes, although there have been some modifications. In Japan, today, there are few chances to wear the "kimono," but it is still popular and a necessity in Japanese society. Especially, Japanese women usually wear the "kimono" at least twice. One is during the ceremony for becoming an adult, and the other is in her wedding ceremony.
Although people have a variety of cultural backgrounds, almost all people wear some types of clothing, and each has similarities in function, materials, fashion and design. Thus, we have presented the topics of history, materials and accessories for clothing in this paper. Although the clothes of both the UAE and Japan have many differences, the basic development of clothing is associated with both societies, we think. In other words, the diversity of clothing reflects the diversity of societies and cultures.
Go to Saeed's Pages! (Title: A Shameful Moment, Al-Ayallah, The Art of Training Falcons for Hunting).
Go to Hirokazu's Pages! (Title: Life Is Like a Marathon Race, The Burning Man, International Travel of Products, Prius: Why It Is the Car of the Future)
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Updated: 2/21/04
