Okita Souji's Bakumatsu fashion
TL;DR: The Shinsengumi didn’t like the blue uniform, so they changed it to all black after the Ikedaya incident. Solemn colors were fashionable in Edo, and Okita liked to wear kimono with small indigo and white patterns when he wasn’t in uniform.
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Have you seen "Hijikata's smartphone" that was broadcasted on NHK the other day?
(It seems that you can see it on YouTube for a while, so if you haven't done so already, please do. There are spoilers below)
I personally groaned at the story of how the Shinsengumi haori was made.
Hijikata who saw that design, said "That’s lame!!" and was violently repulsed.
Serizawa Kamo dismissed him saying, "I won’t listen to your opinion". I wonder if that was the case... Makes me think.
Did Okita hate it too?
In fact, the Shinsengumi haori was only worn for about a year before the Ikedaya Incident.
There are various reasons why they couldn't wear it, such as because it was originally summer clothes, or because the material was bad, but in the end it was probably “because it’s crap”.
There is also a story that Kondo and Hijikata never wore it from the beginning.
Also according to the testimony of 御隠居 [T/N: daughter of a Kyoto kimono shop owner?] who fell in love with Okita Souji:
"Even though he’s in the Shinsengumi, he only wore that haori for special occasions. Everyone else just wears that haori as their uniform, and people can recognize them in the city, so they wore it all the time. He wasn't like the rest of the Shinsengumi. "
Looks like Souji didn't wear it either.
It seems that the testimony was taken as a sign of Souji's humility, but in reality he was probably the same as Kondo and Hijikata.
Since he was raised in Edo, he must have hated flashy things.
By the way, it seems that the Shinsengumi uniform changed to black from top to bottom after Ikedaya.
When Watanabe Noboru, a priest, was targeted by the Shinsengumi, he recollected:
"When I tried to go back to my lodging, two people in suspicious clothing followed me, hiding their appearance.
Their clothes were black from top to bottom, and not only were their kimono black, their kasa (bamboo rain hat) was also black. At first glance, I could tell that they belonged to the Shinsengumi.”
The new uniform had a neat feeling, where the dirt and blood were not noticeable, and it was in a fashionable black color.
Perhaps Hijikata took the lead in the design, but the style of Edo shines in it.
Edo fashion at the end of the Edo period
Souji must have felt relieved that his uniform was all black.
On the other hand, what did his plain clothes look like?
At that time, due to a ban from the shogunate, it was not possible to wear brightly colored clothes.
It seems that in Kansai and other areas, the ban was not thoroughly implemented, but solemn colors were fashionable in Edo because it was located closer to the Shogun’s city, and this became "iki".
Looks like they already wore this much brown in the 6th year of Kanbun
From "Japanese Visual Life History - Edo Kimono and Daily Clothing" ( 日本ビジュアル生活史 江戸のきものと衣生活 )
If you look at it now, it may be brown, but overall it feels austere and sophisticated.
At the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, the number of colors seemed to increase, and it was said to be 48 browns and 100 grays (四十八茶百鼠).
And this is the "Shinchogumi" drawn by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka.
Please pay attention to their clothes.
Their haori was purple or black, and their kimono were brown, gray, indigo, etc., and it’s not as flashy.
On the other hand, they used red scabbards for their swords, and the samurai in the purple haori has a narrow Kobusho-style sakayaki (the shaved part of the forehead) that is said to be "two fingers" wide.
You can see the fashion at that time.
The people from the Shieikan in Edo may have dressed in this fashion.
However, in the kimono shop woman’s testimony earlier, it said:
"[Souji] liked to wear a kimono with an intricate pattern on an indigo background, and in the summer he liked an intricate indigo pattern on a white background (kasuri fabric?) ."
Since this was before Ikedaya, he probably brought his winter clothes from Edo.
I think he purchased the summer clothes in Kyoto, but both were blue (indigo), so maybe he preferred cold colors to brown.
Isn't the intricate pattern a komon pattern?
Neither of them are flashy, so it seems Souji had a taste for simple and well-made things like that.
References
「沖田総司・おもかげ抄」 森満喜子 新人物往来社
「隊服は山形模様ではない」 伊東成郎 (歴史読本 1995.6月所収 kadokawa)
「死生の境 前篇」 田中万逸 編 博文館
「日本ビジュアル生活史 江戸のきものと衣生活」 丸山伸彦 小学館
「近世奇説年表 新徴組」 月岡芳年 (「幕末浮世絵 : 龍馬の時代」 宗蜻蛉 著 創樹社美術出版所収)
