The Twelve Kingdoms: A Thousand Leagues of Wind

ladies of the court responsible for the royal wardrobe were likewise busily occupied.
    Observing all this, Youko couldn't help rolling her eyes.
    "And how does Her Highness wish her hair done today?"
    The question was posed by the coterie who tended to her personal appearance. "Oh, just tie it back," she answered.
    Her ladies-in-waiting all frowned. "Your Highness, you can't greet your guests looking like that!"
    "Indeed. If Her Highness has no particular preference in mind, she should leave it to us."
    When they weren't chattering at her in this scolding manner, they went right on arranging her wardrobe pretty much as if she weren't there.
    "How would that emerald tiara look?"
    "Would it go with the red hairpin?"
    "Look, the comb is red as well. Pearl would be better than ruby."
    "Well, then let's made the obidama pearl as well."
    Youko groaned to herself. It's not that she disliked being dolled up like this, but wearing her hair up and having it festooned with jewelry and doodads made her feel top-heavy. And when the whole shebang didn't feel like it was about to topple over, the long hems of her robes gave her the mobility of a turtle. It was driving her crazy.
    "Go ahead and tie it back. And I'll be fine with the jacket."
    They all glared at her. "Oh, you cannot be serious!"
    Youko surrendered with another groan. In any case, for someone like her, raised in what was to them a foreign country, these were definitely not clothes made for walking. Her life before her coronation had approximated that of a vagabond. At the time, the best she could hope for was a tunic and short hakama made of coarse fabric. Pretty much bargain-basement fashion. Having gotten accustomed to it, though, she couldn't get used to these outfits that had the hems of her robes dragging along the ground behind her.
    Even a Japanese long-sleeved kimono wasn't this bad.
    She sighed.
    In basic terms, men's clothing was based on the houkin, women's on the jukun. The houkin consisted of a light kimono ( kin ) worn under a jacket or tunic ( hou ). You never went out just wearing the kin, always the hou over it. The jukun was a more traditional dress, something like a blouse and wraparound skirt. The ju was the blouse and the kun was the skirt. But a woman was not considered presentable wearing only the blouse and skirt. She would never leave the house without donning an outer garment, such as a vest or robe.
    All clothing came in a variety of styles with different names. In a nutshell, the wealthier the person, the longer the hem and sleeve, and the more generous the fit. The fabric was always of the highest grade. The clothing wore by the poor was shorter in length and tighter in fit simply in order to economize. Having grown up in a much different environment, Youko found it disturbing that you could tell at a glance a person's economic status.
    There was a class system very much at work here. The presence (or absence) of a particular status symbol made all the difference in lifestyle. Government ministers and administrators set themselves apart with the long, wide-sleeved tunics the commoners called chouhou, or "long coats." They referred to their own garb simply as "togs" ( hou ), while the elite termed it houshi, or "tad togs." Thus were the distances between the classes demarcated.
    The clothing Youko wore signified the authority of her office. Her hems must be long, her robes exceedingly so, such that they dragged on the floor. Her sleeves as well must be both wide and long. On top of everything else was layer after layer of kimono. The layers also indicated her status. That alone made for quite an unbearable mass, not to mention the cloth talisman she had to hold on to, the obidama and necklaces and other baubles, and in her hair, a mountain of combs and hairpins pressing down on her head.
    If that wasn't enough, they tried to get her to pierce her ears so she could wear earrings. She lied and said that back in Japan getting your ears pierced was the custom of criminals. They bought it.
    "Simple is better," she stated. "After all, the Royal En is one of our guests."
    Her lady's maid scowled. " Precisely because the Royal En is present, you should not want to be seen so. You don't want to look all dowdy compared to the monarch of such a splendid kingdom, now, would you?"
    "And besides, the Royal En is a warrior king."
    A pained smile came to Youko's lips. "I just find it hard to get excited about this frilly getup. I'm afraid it's so over the