But we couldn't be that serious for too long.
Three lovely ladies trying not to smile ...
but it was SO hard.
And for my close up ...
Nor does my teeth-showing smile, but I couldn't help it.
The makeup process was unreal. We were literally being painted white and it took forever. I hadn't worn this much makeup since, hmm ... middle school? Before I knew any better?"The traditional makeup of an apprentice geisha features a thick white base with red lipstick and red and black accents around the eyes and eyebrows. Originally the white base mask was made with lead, but after the discovery that it poisoned the skin and caused terrible skin and back problems for the older geisha towards the end of the Meiji Era, it was replaced with rice powder.
"The application of makeup is hard to perfect and is a time-consuming process. Makeup is applied before dressing to avoid dirtying the kimono. First, a wax or oil substance, called bintsuke-abura, is applied to the skin. Next, white powder is mixed with water into a paste and applied with a bamboo brush starting from the neck, up. The white makeup covers the face, neck, and chest, with two or three unwhitened areas (forming a "W" or "V" shape, usually a traditional "W" shape) left on the nape, to accentuate this traditionally erotic area, and a line of bare skin around the hairline, which creates the illusion of a mask."
"After the foundation layer is applied, a sponge is patted all over the face, throat, chest, the nape and neck to remove excess moisture and to blend the foundation. Next the eyes and eyebrows are drawn in. Traditionally charcoal was used, but today modern cosmetics are used. The eyebrows and edges of the eyes are colored black with a thin charcoal; a maiko also applies red around her eyes. The lips are filled in using a small brush. The color comes in a small stick, which is melted in water. Crystallized sugar is then added to give the lips lustre."
After makeup came the kimono. I was really excited to put on a kimono and experience the whole process. In theory it sounded great. In reality it was painful, took forever & made it extremely difficult to move. I have a new found appreciation for women in kimono."Geisha always wear kimono. Apprentice geisha wear highly colorful kimono with extravagant obi (front belt like piece). Always, the obi is brighter than the kimono she is wearing to give a certain exotic balance. Maiko wear the obi tied in a style called "darari" (dangling obi). Older geisha wear more subdued patterns and styles (most notably the obi tied in a simpler knot utilized by married women known as the 'taiko musubi' (太鼓結び) or "drum knot"). The sign of a prosperous okiya is having geisha not wearing a kimono more than once, meaning that those okiyas with higher economic status will have "storehouses" of sorts where kimono are stored and interchanged between geisha."
Amanda & Meghan's obi:
"Kimono can be as many as 12 or 15 layers for a maiko." There were two or three ladies helping each person with their kimono and they had all sorts of padding and ties and literally wrapped you up. I felt like a lineman when we were finished. They put all of these pieces of padding on your stomach and chest and then tie you up with these ties and then do it again.
"The color, pattern, and style of kimono is also dependent on the season and the event the geisha is attending. In winter, geisha can be seen wearing a three-quarter length haori lined with hand painted silk over their kimono. Lined kimono are worn during colder seasons, and unlined kimono during the summer. A kimono can take from 2–3 years to complete, due to painting and embroidering."
"Geisha wear a flat-soled sandal, zori, outdoors, and wear only tabi (white split-toed socks) indoors. In inclement weather geisha wear raised wooden clogs, called geta. Maiko wear a special wooden clog known as okobo."
And the okobo were extremely difficult to walk in.
Especially when we were talking on the uneven, steep streets of Kyoto.
Amanda & I held hands and lived by the saying 'slow & steady wins the race'.
And finally, after makeup & getting dressed, we had to get some maiko hair."The hairstyles of geisha have varied through history. In the past, it has been common for women to wear their hair down in some periods, but up in others. During the 17th century, women began putting all their hair up again, and it is during this time that the traditional shimada hairstyle, a type of traditional chignon worn by most established geisha, developed. These hairstyles are decorated with elaborate haircombs and hairpins (kanzashi). In the seventeenth century, hair-combs were large and conspicuous, generally more ornate for higher-class women. Following the Meiji Restoration and into the modern era, smaller and less conspicuous hair-combs became more popular."
Lucky for us, most modern geisha and maiko wear wigs. So that's what we have on and they only took about ten minutes to put in place. The only complaint was that they were SO heavy. My neck hasn't been quite the same ever since ...
Me, Amy & our sweet hair:
Partners in Crime:
Some modern geisha and maiko still have their original hair done regularly into the proper style. If you've seen Memoirs of a Geisha you might remember this scene ..."Geisha were trained to sleep with their necks on small supports (takamakura), instead of pillows, so they could keep their hairstyle perfect. To reinforce this habit, their mentors would pour rice around the base of the support. If the geisha's head rolled off the support while she slept, rice would stick to the pomade in her hair. The geisha would thus have to repeat the tiresome process of having her hair elaborately styled. Without this happening, a geisha will have her hair styled every week or so."
So we walked around Kyoto dressed as traditional maiko for about an hour and Amanda and I couldn't get over how instantly popular we were. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we posed for pictures with at least 100 people. We were stopped by a high school group of girls who all wanted to take individual pictures with us. It was the strangest feeling. It's also kind of strange knowing that that many people out there have my picture. Hmm ...
After the first ten minutes or so I was able to snap into my maiko character and didn't smile for the rest of the our time. I felt like I looked so blank at times and just plain angry at other times. Definitely not my style, but it was interesting.
They did take our pictures in the studio and I feel like I look so crazy that I can't like them, but here they are in all their craziness:
Don't worry, I'm not going to quit my day job. :)
much love
-tara-
xx
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