Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era (YÅ«ho ga shitasō, Meiji nenkan saikun no fÅ«zoku), from the series Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion (FÅ«zoku sanjÅ«ni sō) 1888

Curator: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi offers us "Looking as if She Wants to Go for a Walk: The Fashion of a Married Woman of the Meiji Era," part of the "Thirty-two Appearances of Fashion" series. Editor: Isn't she lovely? I get a sense of quiet anticipation, a world of unspoken desires captured in those sidelong glances and the delicate irises. Curator: The materiality is fascinating here, reflecting a period of rapid Westernization in Japan through the woman’s dress and overall composition. The straw hat, for example, is a clear adoption of Western fashion. Editor: Exactly! And that umbrella looks like it's aching for a stroll in the park, like she is. All the color harmonies create this sense of gentle longing, a very feminine tension in the waiting. It makes me wonder about her story, her heart. Curator: It's a fascinating dialogue between tradition and modernity. The details, like the buttons and plaid-like pattern, speak volumes about the era's changing aesthetic values. Editor: It's a window into a soul on the cusp, don't you think? One foot in propriety, one itching for freedom. A beautiful dance, really.