THE HEIAN EPOCH
but no restrictions applied in the case of subjects. The designer was free to conventionalise his motives or to follow nature closely, and the embroiderer's needle came to the assistance of the weaver's shuttle. From this era may be said to have commenced the manufacture of the tasteful and gorgeous textile fabrics for which Japan afterwards became famous. The decorative design on a garment did not serve as a badge of rank. Colour indicated social status. The sovereign wore a yellow robe in the Palace and a red one when he went abroad. Deep purple and crimson followed these colours in order of dignity. A fop's ideal was to wear several suits, one above the other, disposing them so that their various colours showed in harmoniously contrasting lines at the folds on the bosom and at the edges of the long sleeves. A successful costume created a sensation in Court circles. Its wearer became the hero of the hour, and under the pernicious influence of such ambition men began even to powder their faces and rouge their cheeks like women.
The costume of women reached the acme of unpracticality and extravagance in this epoch. Long flowing hair was essential. Unless her tresses trailed on the ground when she sat down, a lady's toilet was counted contemptible, and if her locks swept two feet below her heels as she walked, her style was perfect. Then, what with developing the volume and multiplying the number of her robes, and wearing above her trousers
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