Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 4.djvu/208

 devised new methods of knotting the girdle, and showed themselves sensible in one thing only, the abandonment of rouge for the cheeks. There is a tribute to be paid to Japanese female costume, however. In all ages it has been eminently refined. No staring colours or glittering jewels were ever tolerated in any but the very young. Up to eleven or twelve years of age garments of bright hue and hair ornaments of elaborate shapes were permitted, though anything like garishness or discord of tints was carefully avoided. But beyond that age, however rich or costly the garments, they were invariably characterised by sobriety, softness, and harmony. Above all, society never tolerated for a moment the solecism of an old lady wearing youthful clothes. Such a thing was not seen in any era. Spinsters aping the show and the simper of girlhood were unrepresented in Japan. Every age had its appropriate raiment, and every age wore it frankly. It is probably correct to say that no women of any nation dressed with better taste and less pretension than Japanese women did after the unshapely bulk of ancient Court costumes had been replaced by the graceful garments of the Tokugawa epoch. The Japanese garb has another merit also: materials may be expensive, but the gown and the girdle often outlast their wearer's lifetime and are even transmitted to her daughter. Fashion changes so little that what is appropriate in one generation may generally be worn in the