Traditional clothes in Japan and Germany - Essay Example

Culture is expressed by a range of values that are special and unique for a country or a region – these are history, language, cuisine, traditions. Clothes are a distinctive national peculiarity. Traditional clothes have evolved, as culture has evolved during the ages, influenced by historical developments, religious beliefs, regional and class subcultures.The Japanese traditional clothing today has become to represent Japan’s cultural identity. The word kimono or wafuku means simply “Japanese style clothing”, and is used to differentiate this style of attire from yofuku, which is the Western-style clothing Japanese prefer to wear today Traditional clothes have specific attributes like form or color that make them distinctive to the national culture.

The thought here is that clothes’ elements and style in the past have developed for a reason, conveying meaningful messages to other people as part of the nonverbal communication process. The kimono is a universal symbol of Japan. It represents the traditional beauty and simplicity, having a single basic pattern in size and shape. Originally the kimono was worn in multiple layers of different colors. The symbolism behind this variety of colors is that during the Heian period women had to be protected by multi-layered clothes, whereby the different colors of the layers revealed the character of those who wore them.

(Chiu, 2001). Elements of the clothing were indicative of woman's character - her skill in matching colors and even the smallest details in the kimono were highly valued as artistic sensibility. Other symbolic elements in the