Vintage Kimonos

[LaMedicine]

Where does this picture fit in with traditional/non-traditional styles? Is having an obi with a cartoonish design like this a 20th century thing, or were there humorous depictions like this put on earlier designs?

It's going to depend on when you put the dates for traditional or non-traditional. Also, on whether by 20thC thing, do you mean pre-WWII or post? After all, 20thC spans 100 years, and at least in western clothes, especially female clothing, the change during this time span is no less dramatic to the point that you might consider extreme. Compared to that, the changes in kimono designs are subtle.
However, with the obi, there are some particular changes that took place within the past 100 years, and one of them is the improvisation of the Nagoya obi. Nagoya obi has the section of the obi that is tied around the body sewn into half the width of the back panel. This design was improvised by the headmistress of Nagoya Girls' School in 1919, hence the naming, Nagoya obi. With the improvisation of the Nagoya obi, the pattern of having the motifs placed only on where it is seen--in the front and the back, also became popular. Before this, most obi had the motifs woven in the entire length.
The obi below is a copy of an early 1920s desgin. Amazingly contemporary, don't you think?

That said, caricature in Japan has been around for quite a while. We are the land of manga and anime, after all. The origingal Japanese caricature dates back to the mid 12thC, to the Chojyu Giga scrolls (a scroll of caricatures of birds and animals).
This is a jyuban, an underkimono, that's worn inside the kimono. It is not the innermost wear so, it isn't worn directly over naked skin. The collar is meant to show from under the kimono collar, and is called han-eri, half collar. The standard/formal han-eri is white, but various patterned ones are often used to add color and accent in less formal scenes. A cotton shirt called hada-jyuban is worn underneath the jyuban. Anyway, the motif is the copy of Chojyu Giga.

The motif of the obi below is based on Chojyu Giga as you can see, with the rabbits playing modern and western instruments. These kind of adaptations aren't anything new.

What one would consider classic designs and motifs are prefered for formal occasions, but relatively modern motifs are incorporated as well, especially if the motifs go along the theme of the particular occasion. The cat and mouse type of motifs, however, are strictly for casual combinations.
Iki--subtle and chic/sassy/sophisticated--was highly sought after in the Edo era, especially among the affluent commoner class. This was in part due to the crackdown on extravagance by the Tokugawa Bakufu, the ruling Edo government. Extravagant kimonos were persecuted, so the affluent obeyed the rules on the outside--followed the rules for the outer fabrics, but the linings were another story. They couldn't be seen by just a cursory surface check, so the people vied with each other, who could come up with the best lining, be it flashy, funny, extravagant, luxurious, chic, or sophisticated. In other words, iki. With the Yuzen dye method developed in the late 17thC, it became possible to paint just about any kind of motif onto silk fabric, so I wouldn't be surprised if contemporary (for the particular period) designs were incorporated into them, and that they included caricatures that made fun of the ruling class, or particular social events of the times.

Go is a highlly intricate and intelligent game. To be honest, I don't know the rules save for that you surround your opponents stones to win. No, I don't mind your mentioning and explaning the traditional Japanese board games. Do you know that there's a city that holds a human Shogi game once a year?

 

[Feraud]

This is a perfect garment motif for a couple of drinks with friends.

Here's an obi that the gentlemen might find amusing. This is one of my choice when I go out for a few drinks with friends.

 

[Mahagonny Bill]

However, with the obi, there are some particular changes that took place within the past 100 years, and one of them is the improvisation of the Nagoya obi. Nagoya obi has the section of the obi that is tied around the body sewn into half the width of the back panel. This design was improvised by the headmistress of Nagoya Girls' School in 1919, hence the naming, Nagoya obi. With the improvisation of the Nagoya obi, the pattern of having the motifs placed only on where it is seen--in the front and the back, also became popular. Before this, most obi had the motifs woven in the entire length.
The obi below is a copy of an early 1920s desgin. Amazingly contemporary, don't you think?

That is very cool. I had seen obi designs where the pattern is woven the entire length and obi designs with landscapes, but I did not know that there were designs with a modern representative image like this. It's almost as if this type of design is the grandmother of the modern t-shirt with the central image on the back instead of the front.

 

[LaMedicine]

The back view is just as much, sometimes even more, important with kimonos. This has historically been so for a long time, long before the kimono evolved into its present style. More than 1000 years ago, in the Heian Era (the days of The Tale of Genji if you are familar with Japanese classic literature) women of aristocratic families hid from the public view, and appeared in public only behind screens. The beauty of the ladies were judged by their long hair, the hems of their kimonos spilling out from the edge of the screens, and the fragrance of the incense suffused into their kimonos. Many paintings depicting this era, even if they were painted at later dates, often depict women from the back, not front. There's the famous Ukiyoe called "Mikaeri Biijin", beautiful woman looking back (I don't know the English title for this, I'll have to look it up) that also paints the woman from the back.
When we choose kimono combinations--the kimono itself, the jyuban and the han-eri, the obi, and the obi bustle and band, we imagine what it looks like, not only from the front, but from the back, and check the back view one last time before going out. Many a time, I have untied the obi and retied it again even when I am in the rush of leaving, just because I didn't like the back view with that last check. lol lol lol

Incidentally, I checked the books I have on motifs and designs from the past, and there are many that are *contemporary*, very new and innovative at the time the designs came into being. Many of these designs were also humorous or controversial or both by the standards of that particular era, so in that sense, the drunken cat and mouse carries on the tradition.

 

[LaMedicine]

This is a perfect garment motif for a couple of drinks with friends.

This is actually the back motif, not front.
The front design is the mouse on the left sneaking in a sip.lol

Another cute drinking party. Tanuki, Japanese badgers, known in our folklore for having the power to change into human forms and play tricks on people. The leaf is their tool in changing forms.

The front. Sleeping it off after having had a tad too much.

This obi is for Fall, because the dry fallen leaf the tanuki is holding is a Fall feature, and so symbolizes Fall. With many kimono and obi designs, the seasons they can be worn are designated not only by whether they are lined or not, and the thickness/lightness of the fabric, but the motifs themselves. Subtle nuances are very important with such motifs.

Also, the cat obi is hand painted, but the tanuki obi is woven, motif and all.

 

[LaMedicine]

My mother in her kimonos around '56, '57.

 

[LaMedicine]

Kanreki celebration.

Not exactly vintage but.
We have some special traditional celebrations when we turn certain ages, starting with Kanreki, which means return of the calendar to our birth year. The very traditional--no longer in use--way of noting the birth year was by the combination of the 12 animals of the revised Chinese Zodiac (I say revised, because the pig is replaced by the wild boar here) and the 5 elements of nature--wood, fire, soil, gold and water. 12 times five years, and the combination returns to what it was the year one was born. The celebrant is presented with a cap and vest to wear during the ceremony--or the merry making, whichever you prefer
For Kanreki, the color is red, then the next year is Koki , meaning very rare since ancient days, at 70, Kiju, happy celebration, at 77, Sanju at 80, Beiju at 88, Sotsuju at 90 and Hakuju (white celebration) at 99. From Sanju on up, the naming derives from the Kanji--Chinese--characters that can be broken down into characters indicating the respective numbers.
So, this year, my Kanreki has come, and the other day, we had a collective bash with a friend who also turned Kanreki in June and took our turns wearing the red cap and vest.

The kimono looks like a solid color but is actually black on red stencil print that belongs to a group of motifs called Edo Komon. Rather than stencil dyeing the red flower print onto black fabric, the bolt is first dyed solid red, then dye proof starch is applined using stencil patterns, and finally dyed black. The finished fabric is washed to wash off the starch, so the print appears. This is done all by hand. This particular motif goes back more than 400 years, and is a reproduction of a motif favored by the first Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, his is black on yellow. The pattern is slightly enlarged, a quarter coin covers about 10 flowers.

 

[Laura Chase]

LaMedicine, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us, I'm seeing so many exciting new (to me) motifs here! Cranes are one of my favorite kimono motifs. I also have a question for you: When looking through Ichiroya kimono flea market, I sometimes see motifs with people working in fields or doing some other laborous things like that, they always intrigued me, but I know nothing about it. Unfortunately I did not save the photos, but if you have some examples please show us.

 

[LaMedicine]

@LauraChase

I do know what you are talking about, but I don't have any sample pics of such kimonos.
Motifs of working scenes are a category of motifs. Most common are Tokyo Yuzen works.
Yuzen is a method of dyeing kimonos, who's specific characteristic is that starch/glue are used as outlines of the patterns, and the dyes are mixed with starch to prevent running and the colors mixing with each other when hand painted. The three major producers of Yuzen are Kyoto (known as Kyo Yuzen), Kaga (present day Ishikawa prefecture, whose capital city is Kanazawa) and Tokyo. All 3 have specific characteristics in their motifs that differentiate them from each other. The subjects of motifs of both Kyo Yuzen and Kaga Yuzen are maily nature--plants, flowers, trees, birds etc, though with Kyo Yuzen, inanimate objects also are used. Another characteristic of Kyo Yuzen is that embroidery and gold guilt are often added to enhance the motifs, where as Kaga and Tokyo Yuzen are only dyed/painted. The subject of the motifs of Tokyo Yuzen are more realistic and often of daily life of people, and of sceneries rather than plants and flowers.The motifs of Kyo Yuzen are also more stylized than those of Kaga and Tokyo Yuzen. The plants and flowers of Kaga Yuzen are more realistic, in fact, realistic to the point that leaves are painted in with wormholes in them. Also, the color gradation of Kaga Yuzen is outside in (the outer colors are darker and becomes lighter towards the center) while with Kyo Yuzen, it is the opposite.

So, what you are talking about are most likely Tokyo Yuzen kimonos.

There is also another difference between Kyo Yuzen and Kaga and Tokyo Yuzen.
Kyo Yuzen is the product of the collective effort of many craftsmen--up to 20 or so people. The original designer, the artist who line draws the design onto the kimono fabric, the craftsman who dyes the base color of the kimono, the artist who hand paints the motifs, the embroidery, the gold guilt, are all done by different people. With Kaga and Tokyo Yuzen, the original design, the outlining and hand painting and dyeing are basically all done by the same person.

 

[LaMedicine]

Reproductions of vintage prints

Many Japanese kimono makers have histories that go back more than 100 years, a few over 400. These makers have kept samples and pattern books with the how tos of producing at least their representative products, so it is relatively easy to reproduce even the oldest motifs, so long as there are skilled craftsmen available to do the job.

One such maker is Okaju, founded in 1855. Its founder, Usaburo Okajima, was one of the first people to import chemical dye in 1868 from Germany. This caused a revolution in the making of kimono designs/fabrics. Up until then, the dyes used were natural dyes, derived from plant extracts, minerals extracted from rocks, and pigments extracted from sea shells and sometimes, even bugs. For the darker colors, threads had to be dyed repeatedly, or fabric design painted over and over to produce the required dark color. Yuzen dye was completely hand illustrated/painted by the craftsmen. With the availability of chemical dye, it became possible for *mass production* of Yuzen, in the form of stencil dye. Mutiple stencil patterns were used to print intricate motifs. This method is now called Kata Yuzen as opposed to the hand illustrated Tegaki Yuzen. Kata Yuzen made it possible for the emerging middle class commoners to aquire them, as opposed to Tegaki Yuzen, which were *only one* products, produced on order and in collaboration with the customer, which meant only the upper class were able to order such kimonos. Even if they are *mass produced*, Kata Yuzen is still hand made--printed by hand--requiring at least 20-30, sometimes more than 100, stencils to produce the prints.

For some years now, Okaju has been marketing reproductions of their historic prints, and the motifs range from purely Japanese subjects such as Ukiyoe, to motifs from the Western world, such as bisque dolls and sail ships. These prints were not designed for outer wear, but rather, as haura (linings of haori, the kimono jacket) and jyuban, the under kimono, as the prints would be too flamboyant to be worn as kimonos, though some were used as children's kimonos. Motifs for such articles range from humorous to exotic to horrific (like skulls floating on sea waves) to traditional. It is considered the ultimate of sophistication and chic in choosing the haura, and what the person chooses reflect his/her taste. Okaju also has published a book of the pictures of over 200 of their historic prints. I was able to aquire this book as a present when I bought a couple of bolts of their reproduction prints.

These are from early Showa (1926-1989), Showa Chic designs of the Taisho (1912-1926) Romantic/Showa Chic era.
Cigarette box lables.

As haura.

Toys and bisque dolls.

 

[LaMedicine]

Two keepsake obi.

I received two obi as memento of my grandmother and a deceased aunt on my father's side, earlier this week. Both date back to the late 1930s, pre WWII.
Grandmother's obi. The motif is travellers of the Edo era (1603-1868) along a major road. Mt.Fuji is seen in one of the panels.

Obi worn by my aunts (3 sisters) in their maiden days. One of the aunts present when I received the obi said that this was handed on down from the eldest to the other sisters as they grew up.
The motif is embroidered on gold and magenta check. Good luck symbols, objects and flowers are embroidered within a Tachibana (mandarine orange, also a traditional good fortune symbol) frame, surrounded by orange blossoms.

Back panel.

Front panel.

 

[Grant Fan]

LaMedicine I can't even tell you how enviours I am of your kimonos they are so beautiful

 

[YETI]

I have 3 vintage kimonos I'm considering putting up for sale. 2 are the haori type and one is the full length style. About a month ago, I saw around 10 vintage kimonos for sale at a thrift store and didn't buy a single one. Some were made of a heavy rayon crepe material or silk and others a lightweight almost mesh material of various patterns. :eusa_doh:

 

[LaMedicine]

I have 3 vintage kimonos I'm considering putting up for sale. 2 are the haori type and one is the full length style. About a month ago, I saw around 10 vintage kimonos for sale at a thrift store and didn't buy a single one. Some were made of a heavy rayon crepe material or silk and others a lightweight almost mesh material of various patterns. :eusa_doh:

The majority of kimono are silk, unless they were made for dance troupes putting on mass dance performances. If the motifs are arranged in the formal pattern, then they most likely are silk. Keep in mind that Japan was the major producer of silk fabrics for a long time even in the 20th century, even after WWII, until about 30 yeaers ago. Synthetic fabric kiimonos came into being in the '50s, but they never became truly popular, and were used only for daily/casual kimonos.
Lightweight mesh kimono are summer kimono. The summer ones should be unlined as well.

 

[LaMedicine]

LaMedicine I can't even tell you how enviours I am of your kimonos they are so beautiful

Thank you. Kimonos are walking canvases. You're an artist, you can paint whatever motif you fancy on a kimono

 

[YETI]

Here are some I have just collecting dust. One haori is silk crepe and the other smooth silk. The long black one is silk but much heavier with metallic thread woven in a floral design.

 

[LaMedicine]

At a glance.

The first haori is Meisen fabric. The thread is dyed first so the patterns appear when woven. These were popular as fashionable daily wear from mid Meiji (Meiji era 1868-1912) to pre WWII.
It's probable that this haori was converted from a kimono to a haori (which is done often enough, when the kimono gets soiled or the hems become threadbare) from the look of the length of the lining and the fact that the lining is plain white(? or light pink?) silk, rather than the patterned one as in the second haori. The seamstress may have ultilised the original kimono lining because it is plain, rather than patterned as in the second haori.
The following is my mother's Meisen kimono.

The second one is kata-Yuzen, stencil Yuzen dye, and by far the most popular method of dying inexpensive (by kimono standards ) kimono. The lining is also kata-Yuzen dye.
There's a difference in the inner hem length of the first and second haori. The second one is the standard construction of haori, with the inner hem folded back up to around the waist line. This haori probably dates around early to mid 20C, judging from the lining. Since there was a *fad* of long length haoris around the '20-'30, it is likely that it's from later than that, than earlier.

The third is a Nuitori Omeshi kimono. Omeshi is a type of crepe. The woof is spun and twisted much more than those for regular kimono silk crepe, so the crepe ridges are much finer than regular crepe. Nuitori means embrodery, but in the case of Omeshi, it means woven as if it's embrodered. The threads that make the pattern are woven back and forth within the width to form the pattern, rather than woven in the full width so there are loos threads on the backside the entire width. Judging from the linings of the kimono, this goes back at least to the early '50s, but it may not go back much earlier than that. The outer fabric may be older, but the construction--the choice of white lining rather than red, indicates that the possibility of it being sewn/resewn post WWII is higher, as, pre WWII, the most common color of the lining was red.
This is my mother's Nuitori Omeshi kimono that was part of her trousseau.

 

[Feraud]

The textiles are amazing and I enjoyed browsing your two signature links.

 

[LaMedicine]

Feraud, thank you.

I finally got around to wearing my mother's kimonos. I had to have them checked for damages, cleaned and resized for me (I am a few inches taller than my mother) by kimono specialists who specialize in renovating old (not necessarily vintage) kimonos over the past year, before I could wear them.

At a Christmas party last year.

The following combination.

The jyuban (under kimono) for this kimono. This is a repro, but the original design of this print dates back to the early 1900s.

On New Year's Day.
My mother ordered this kimono with specific thought towards the New Year parties held at the Japanese Embassy in Washington DC while my father was posted there.

The obi I found when browsing in a secondhand kimono shop. Obi's back motif. The weave is Tuzure, a kind of tapestry, and the entire motif is woven in, with both sides exactly the same, so if the original outer side is soiled, it can be resewn inside out.

For the New Year event at my work place. This is one of my mother's favorite kimonos. The obi's motif is willow branches loaded with miniatures of lucky items related to New Year traditions.

Close up of the motif. This is a kind of weave over weave. The base fabric is red and black stripe, with the hexagonal motifs woven over it. Since my mother wore this quite often, a lot of the motifs are becoming threadbare, exposing the base stripes.

 

[boushi_mania]

Y'know, I have terrible luck trying to get my own kimono to wear. I do have a yukata that I can wear to summer festivals, so that's fine. But what annoys me is that I've come into ownership of two complete kimono sets (kimono, hakama, nagajuban, haori, obi), one of which is too big and the other too small. The first is practically new and given by a friend who was leaving Japan; the second was received for free from the owner of a tansu-ya that was closing for good.

One of these days, I need to be lucky enough to come across something in my size (I'm not especially tall, but it's harder than you'd think). Until then, at least the tabi fit... [huh]