---
node: fashion_kamakura
type: fashion
slug: kamakura_period_fashion
title: "Fashion in the Kamakura period"
lead: "Under the first warrior government dress grew plainer and more practical: samurai wore the matched hitatare of jacket and hakama, and the kosode, once an undergarment, was increasingly worn as visible outer clothing."
published: 2026-07-27
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: kamakura_period_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heiji_Monogatari_Emaki_-_Sanjo_scroll_part_7.jpg"
image_author: "Unknown (Kamakura period, late 13th century)"
image_license: "Public domain"
previous_hash: "55a02811ab22a1300aebfb4741d704d877188ee031e3625e1738de308e500d89"
renamed_from: "kamakura_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

The Kamakura warrior class favored function over the Heian court's layered splendor. The hitatare, a top and hakama of the same cloth, became standard samurai dress, and armor was worn over practical robes.

## Key garments and style

Women too shed the heaviest court layers; the kosode moved outward as everyday wear, sometimes with an uchikake robe draped over it or hakama below. Ease of movement now mattered as much as display.

## Transition

In the Muromachi period the kosode would complete its rise to become the principal garment across classes.