---
node: fashion_heian
type: fashion
slug: heian_period_fashion
title: "Fashion in the Heian period"
lead: "The Heian court created Japan's classic aristocratic dress: women's formal wear was the layered ensemble popularly called junihitoe, men's was the sokutai, and the whole aesthetic turned on refined layerings of seasonal color."
published: 2026-07-27
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: heian_period_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genji_emaki_Yadorigi.JPG"
image_author: "Attributed to Fujiwara Takayoshi (Heian period)"
image_license: "Public domain"
previous_hash: "805c9ad73b043ef5250cf0c3f039cb6efd7e8a0a062997c16be5bbfc95f59700"
renamed_from: "heian_period"
change: "Merged under the history section; title reframed as “Fashion in …”; added a period image"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion is no longer a standalone section but lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

After official embassies to Tang ended in 894, court dress developed a distinctly national style (kokufu). Noblewomen wore many unlined robes (uchiki) beneath a karaginu jacket and a trailing mo — the ensemble later nicknamed junihitoe, or twelve layers, though the count varied.

## Key garments and style

Men wore the sokutai for ceremony and the lighter noshi or kariginu informally. The prized art was kasane no irome, harmonies of layered colors named for flowers and seasons and glimpsed at collar, sleeve and hem.

## Transition

As warrior government rose, this heavy, elaborate dress gave way to simpler clothing, and the small-sleeved kosode worn underneath began its long rise toward the outer garment.