Satomi Ishihara in kimono. Image via g2slp of Flickr
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In Ninjutsu to Yōjutsu, Itō Gingetsu writes about what clothing should be used to achieve stealth at night:
"With regards to the unity of the body in agreement with the physical laws, the first thing we will discuss is about clothing. A kimono made of silk will make a sound as you walk, therefore soft cotton is best. Completely black cloth actually tends to stand out in the darkness of night. To counter this, a black that has been blended with red must be prepared. From there even the multipurpose, yard long length of cloth called the Tenugui that is carried about should be dyed with the rather unusual suho, dark red hue. As this is a red that has been infused with black, when worn Hokamuri style, or wrapped over the head and ears, it has the benefit of blending in with surrounding night. This serves to make the head invisible. Further, Tenugui itself is a longer length than the usual three feet. The reason for this is that it is essential for ninjutsusha to travel lightly without burdensome equipment. Additionally, the cloth itself can be employed in a variety of ways.“ -Translation by Eric Shahan.
This information about the Tenugui comes from the Shōninki, where it also says it can be worn as a Hachimaki or even used as a climbing tool. As an aside, didn’t they make pure black colours by first dying in red or indigo anyway? So they wouldn’t be likely to have an abundance of black cloth in the first place. In Gendaijin no Ninjutsu Itō likewise says Ninjutsusha wore suitably dark clothing. This is interesting because it is the image of a Ninjutsusha as depicted in Gendaijin no Ninjutsu which supplied the stereotypical ninja costume popularised in the latter half of the 20th century (Ninjutsu to Yōjutsu also contains illustrations, but they’re fairly crude: there’s one of a guy in zukin doing yoko-aruki). So I was thinking, since Itō specifically gives his preferred colour as dark red, it’s kind of funny that he helped cement the idea of a purely black ninja costume through the illustrations in his book. Other historical depictions of men in black garb also typically appear in monochrome illustrations. It may well be true of both Itō and Edo Period artists that they never imagined a purely black costume in the first place (Edo Period depictions of various thieves and assassins were latter misused as evidence of ninja running around).
Wataboshi (綿帽子) ~ the white hood is one of the essential parts of
shiromuku (白無垢), white wedding dress, worn during the traditional
wedding ceremony. In Japanese, wataboshi
means seed of the dandelion flower. The wataboshi (bridal kimono hood)
is derived from the “katsuki”, a hood worn outdoors by married women in
samurai families from the Muromachi to Momoyama periods. From the Edo
period, this custom was taken up by younger women. White has symbolized
the sun’s rays since ancient times, and from the Heian period, pure
white bridal kimonos became prized. It is said that Wataboshi is worn
during the wedding ceremony and Tsunokakushi is worn for wedding
reception (結婚披露宴, kekkonhirouen).