The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-04-19
W0MAN'S DRESS IN JAPAN.
YUM YUM'5 TOILET FROM THE
BATH TO COMPLETE ATTIRE

Getting Themselves Up in Stunning Style.
What Causes Them to Shuttle When
They Waik-A Young Japanese's De-
scrfption of His Countrywomen.
Having been soaped and dried, the Japan
csc girl takes a long strip Of cotton or silk,
according to her taste and condition, the
strip being about eighteen inches wide and
three yards long. Holding the upper corner
Of the end of the cloth just over the left hip,
she winds the strip tightly around the loins
and hips, fastening it by tucking the end
corner in the belt 50 made. This might be
called the japanese corset, except that, in
stead of COMPRISING the waist, it squeez@
theloHer abdominal portions and upper hip
| When properly put on it makes an almost
rigid bandage, and it is this which gives that
! peculiar little shuttle and swing to the orig
| inal Yum YuIn's walk, the legs being really
| only movable from the knee down. Most
! writers have ascribed this waddle to the
| high wooden clogs, but this is a mistake The
men wear clogs, but they walk as freely as
an Indian.
The kilt, 50 to speak, having been adjusted,
the japanese girl then slips on little loose,
sleeveless jaczet-again either of cotton or
| silk-which comes down to the loin cloth, and
over that blouse or short kimOno; then an
other little longer, two or three of these,
then the kinono, and then the obi or bow
All these undergarments and the kimono
itself are crossed in front and ere open at the
neck. Each is decorated at the neck with a
strip Of colored Grape, and the whole IS so
arranged that these strips show one beneath
the other. Sometimes q belle VIII show g
half dozen or moro of these different colored
strips, the effect being quite rainbowish If
the weather is warm the inner garments are
dispensed with, and the parti-colored silks
are sewed to the inner side Of the kimono in
a number of plaits.
DON'T WEAR STOCKINGS.
Stockings the japanese woman does not
wear, except those who have adopted the Eu-
ropean fashions, while the shoe is either a
sandal or clog No matter what the form
Of sandal or clog, the method of attachment
is always the samoa soft loop into which
the foot Is thrust, with q thong 10 pass be-
tween the great toe and the others. The san
dial (zaTb Is nearly always made with a straw
sole and quilted top, and is used for indoor
wear, while the clog (gita) is of wood. Their
height Is regulated by the tony" aspirations
of the wearer, just as French heels Of exces-
sive height are worn by our own fashionable
sisters
The ldminos seen in this country just clear
the ground, and this is the every day cut of
the garment. When the japanese young
lady wishes to put on style, however, she
lengthens her knnino and adds to its breadth
IN the lower portions SO that il shall spread
out on the floor as she stands This is her
train, but must stand ell around her feet in
bell shape The nice management Of this
train is a,great achievement and takes much
practice to bring about the true japanese an
giles andstitPneSs. In the old days the kimo-
nos worn by the court ladies were something
extraordinary in their voluminousneSs. They
were not only long behind, but they were also
long before, and the poor creature stumbling
along in one of these looked as though she
were shuffting about on her knees.
It is in hor obi or sash, however, that the
japanese belle takes her greatest pride. Or
dinarily it is tied behind in bow about
foot square at the back, resembling a car
fridge box in shape. But there are times
when this modest little bow will not suffice,
and there are ladies who go to excuses in the |
size of the obi. 1t is made out of black silk,
folded to be fully yard wide, and it is tied |
in bow whose ends extend fully three feet |
across. Moreover, it is worn in front and a |
little to the side, and altogether is very
affair.