This blog entry is going to begin much the way the others do. I was creeping around on a shopping service, and I found a kimono I liked. In this case, I bought a beautiful antique green furisode (formal kimono for unmarried women with long swinging sleeves). Take a look: Pictured: This is the last … Continue reading Restoration In Progress–Work Cut Out For Me
Tag: repair
Antique Haori–Hold My Tsuba
Vibrant And Uniquely Designed Sword Guards On Crackle Textured Black Silk. Top tsuba: Kaede (maple leaf), kamon, and one magatamaBottom tsuba: Ume (plum blossoms) and branchesSeigaiha (waves)Ryu (dragon)...I'm actually not sure what this is supposed to be, if not just a flourish.Tsuru (crane)Ume (plum blossoms)Matsu (pine) Botan (peony)Sasa (bamboo), kani (crab)Sasa (bamboo)Tsuki (moon), nami (waves)Tsuki … Continue reading Antique Haori–Hold My Tsuba
Restoration In Progress–Taisho Kakeshita
How do I accurately describe what I'm thinking right now without just leaning really hard on the all caps and just smashing the keyboard until I feel satisfied? I mean, one could argue that's what the entirety of this blog is. Your name is just noises you respond to, fucking fight me. This kimono was … Continue reading Restoration In Progress–Taisho Kakeshita
Antique Tsukesage–Tsubaki & Sasa
Bright Camellia Blossoms And Long Bamboo Grasses On Delicately Woven Blue Silk. This qualifies as a restoration. This also qualifies as a recent restoration. But I did that thing that I do where I take a big healthy gulp of Big Dumb Idiot Juice and my whole brain just fucks off and I didn't really … Continue reading Antique Tsukesage–Tsubaki & Sasa
Restoration In Progress: “Great Big White Birds”
There is so much excitement and anxiety in my stomach for this piece. Getting my hands on this was some Grade A craziness. The odds of ever coming across it again were so small it it's stupid. Then it got weirder. The universe has presented to me a bizarre smoothie--an absolute puree of people's lives … Continue reading Restoration In Progress: “Great Big White Birds”
Random Tidbit–Shattering
Every so often, I get a question or nine hundred about what certain terms that I use mean. Usually they're questions about the Japanese words, motifs, formalities, eras...you know, the hard stuff. But most recently, I've received a few emails and messages about what I mean when I comment on the condition of a kimono, … Continue reading Random Tidbit–Shattering
Taisho Kurotomesode–Sassy Birb
A Haughty Majestic Phoenix Entangled With Blooming Flowers On Black Silk. That's right, I'm calling it a birb. It's a word I use every day. I have parrots, after all. To be honest about this one, I bought it domestically in a bundle with a maru obi that I'll detail later. I wanted the obi, … Continue reading Taisho Kurotomesode–Sassy Birb
The New Lab Rat Maybe?
I purchased this kimono with the intention to do some things to it that might just fucking wreck it. As I've mentioned before in my restoration entries, I've got a few kimono items that I purchased exclusively to use as guinea pigs/lab rats for stain removal techniques. Those kimono are in dire need of replacing … Continue reading The New Lab Rat Maybe?
Taisho Kurotomesode–Glowing Pines
Vibrant Young Pine Growth With Gilded Fronds On Black Silk. This magnificent beast qualifies as one of my first restorations. Unfortunately, that also means I didn't think to take literally any progress pictures when I first started working on it. I also didn't bother to save any of the original seller photos, or take any … Continue reading Taisho Kurotomesode–Glowing Pines
Tutorial–Opening & Closing A Seam
Oftentimes in conversations with other kimono enthusiasts about stain removals, the first thing I describe doing other than possibly licking a stain like a goddamn psychopath is popping open a seam to get an absorbant material between the layers. What I have neglected to do thus far, however, is actually describe my procedure for doing … Continue reading Tutorial–Opening & Closing A Seam
Silk & Bones 