LadySeshiiria
So I've been doing research on fashions and architecture from Korea, Japan, and Chinese Cultures. I ran into a question I have about hanbok (Korean), hanfu (Chinese) and kimono (Japanese) and such looking at the varied differences on how they wear their clothing and such. In anime it has become popular to fashionista the Kimono by setting the bow or obi in the front. I wanted to use this in a culture as a special event fashion that I am building in world to be similar to the Asian culture in our world but I just found out that when a girl or woman did this in ancient times it was an indication of her being a prostitute. :/ It was easier for them to untie from the front and render services faster. I had all along thought it was a trendy fashion statement or something they might do for a special occasion or status. Which I was partially correct. It is a status thing and in modern Japanese society you have counter culture with the front bow as an accessory now.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fTrDuSPt-v0/maxresdefault.jpg XXX Holic is way guilty of this. XD
Which brings me to ask a question would it be okay to use this idea of the front bow even though it is known as a prostitution thing and maybe make it a wedding tradition without making it disrespectful? I'm going to be designing my own clothing based off of real fashion but maybe adding my own flavor on. Or will this connotation still persist even despite my using it differently in story?
Also I know that in Asian cultures just by looking at their respective fashions at first glance things may look way similar but they are absolutely not. They love bright and pastel colors and exquisite stitching and such but everything from sleeve design to sleeve length and even width of the outfit are all different. So the Korean people have a bow tie in the front on the top of their gowns and have a almost western princess a-line full skirt dress where as Japanese people have a flat bodied slim look they are going for. Meanings are bound to be different. So question here is if a Japanese person sees a Hanbok bow in front do they associate it with obi in front or does that not cross their mind and they just realize its another culture?