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: restoration
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”
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?
Antique Furisode–Peonies & Peafowl
Vibrant Blooming Flowers And Colorful Peacocks On Black Silk. I bought this kimono just before the 5th year anniversary of my father's death. That's right, it's my fill the void kimono. I'm not really sure what kind of void I'm filling, though. That shit's complicated and weird, and that's not what we're here for. Why … Continue reading Antique Furisode–Peonies & Peafowl
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
Antique Kougai Repair
One of my habits is to collect small damaged items, and then hoard them like the bizarre little goblin that I am until I feel knowledgeable enough to attept to repair them. This is one of those stories. -Law & Order BLNK BLNK- Over the last few days, after tackling an entire iko (kimono stand), … Continue reading Antique Kougai Repair
Silk & Bones 