Whilst watching Memoirs of a Geisha, it is hard to ignore the elegant fashion and styling that is present throughout the whole of the film. The colour palettes and textures of the Geishas kimonos are simply enough to blow ones mind. Colleen Atwood was the mastermind behind creating the costumes for the movie, subsequently winning her an Oscar in 2005.
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| Photo : Traditional Kimonos from Vanity Fair IT [1] |
Above is a trio of three traditional Kimonos in which a Geisha would have worn during the times that it was popular in Japenese Culture. As we can see the form and silhouette of the garment, is almost none existent, making the waist the same width as the Geishas shoulders and hips. In the film we see a modest change to the traditional Kimono. Costume designer Atwood, explained to the LA times that creating a newer and updated silhouette was important for the movie is it added a bit of 'glam' to the costumes. She then goes onto explain and justifies her decisions that she was changing the kimonos structure as the traditional structure wouldn't have looked correct on film, as well the film is not a documentary it is a depiction of a fictional book by a male writing about a Geisha.
The thing that I enjoyed seeing the most within the film is the evolution of how the main character Sayuri is dressed throughout the film.
I think it is a clever way that both the stylist and film directer illustrate the social status of the main character, through the change of her Kimonos.
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