Book Reviews - Kimono Stuff
Jan. 14th, 2009 12:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
setraI actually /worked/ at work today. Which was refreshing.
Once home I was pleased to find that my two new kimono books had arrived.
The first ("making kimono and japanese clothes" by Jenni Dobson) is pretty much amazing. It has some great dying and embellishing techniques in addition to lovely color pages and a lot of patterns. The textile photography alone would be worth the cost of the paperback edition, but I'm actually excited to try to make use of some of the techniques now. [Since I'm not starting with white linen and doing resists to dye the designs, I think I may be back to applique for Masaomi's flowers. Which I feel better about seeing the techniques being outlined in this book with some traditional backing.] I will note that the overall construction and design notes for garments are pretty limited, and that a lot of the options suggested for modification would make better art-garments than wearable kimono. I am a complete textile whore though, so a full color book with photos of kimono and fabrics and embellishment techniques? Yes please.
The second book I bought on a whim, since Amazon recommended it to me. It's "The Book of Kimono" by Norio Yamanaka. The (translated) intro is really lovely and poetic and the book has some useful description and history on the development and periods of kimono styles. It also has wearing and obi-tying directions. [This book proved with certainty that Tomomori's... thing, is a kariginu and actually showed Masaomi's shrugged-off style in a little sketch somewhere. Without the sleeve-tying of course. The dressing diagrams convinced me again that I need to work out a way to make Saku a proper under-kimono so that I can actually WEAR her costume correctly.] My problem with this book - like so many others - is that it assumes you have a purchased kimono, that you are a normal Japanese size and shape, and that you have all the instruments necessary for wearing kimono 'properly'... which I probably should by now anyway. I've yet to find a book that tells you how to make or substitute for any of the kimono-dressing accessories, but at least this one doesn't dumb things down to 'you can do whatever you want because obviously you're not in Japan'.
I think neither of these books matches the functionality or depth of "Make Your Own Japanese Clothes" by John Marshall from a sewing standpoint or in terms of making garments that are fitted to you. If you want to make a kimono or any related garment - you need that book! Sticking with Marshall's construction and measuring strategies though, I think Dobson's book with definitely help give me ideas on embellishing, embroidery and dying. "The Book of Kimono" will bear further reading, and is now the third 'book' I own with pictorial guides to obi-tying and kimono dressing. [The first being an old imported kimono-fashion magazine I inherited from my mother, and the second being a pamphlet I purchased from the woman running the kimono panel at Detour last year.] I'm glad to add both these books to my library though, and look forward to taking the time to read them in more detail later on.
Once home I was pleased to find that my two new kimono books had arrived.
The first ("making kimono and japanese clothes" by Jenni Dobson) is pretty much amazing. It has some great dying and embellishing techniques in addition to lovely color pages and a lot of patterns. The textile photography alone would be worth the cost of the paperback edition, but I'm actually excited to try to make use of some of the techniques now. [Since I'm not starting with white linen and doing resists to dye the designs, I think I may be back to applique for Masaomi's flowers. Which I feel better about seeing the techniques being outlined in this book with some traditional backing.] I will note that the overall construction and design notes for garments are pretty limited, and that a lot of the options suggested for modification would make better art-garments than wearable kimono. I am a complete textile whore though, so a full color book with photos of kimono and fabrics and embellishment techniques? Yes please.
The second book I bought on a whim, since Amazon recommended it to me. It's "The Book of Kimono" by Norio Yamanaka. The (translated) intro is really lovely and poetic and the book has some useful description and history on the development and periods of kimono styles. It also has wearing and obi-tying directions. [This book proved with certainty that Tomomori's... thing, is a kariginu and actually showed Masaomi's shrugged-off style in a little sketch somewhere. Without the sleeve-tying of course. The dressing diagrams convinced me again that I need to work out a way to make Saku a proper under-kimono so that I can actually WEAR her costume correctly.] My problem with this book - like so many others - is that it assumes you have a purchased kimono, that you are a normal Japanese size and shape, and that you have all the instruments necessary for wearing kimono 'properly'... which I probably should by now anyway. I've yet to find a book that tells you how to make or substitute for any of the kimono-dressing accessories, but at least this one doesn't dumb things down to 'you can do whatever you want because obviously you're not in Japan'.
I think neither of these books matches the functionality or depth of "Make Your Own Japanese Clothes" by John Marshall from a sewing standpoint or in terms of making garments that are fitted to you. If you want to make a kimono or any related garment - you need that book! Sticking with Marshall's construction and measuring strategies though, I think Dobson's book with definitely help give me ideas on embellishing, embroidery and dying. "The Book of Kimono" will bear further reading, and is now the third 'book' I own with pictorial guides to obi-tying and kimono dressing. [The first being an old imported kimono-fashion magazine I inherited from my mother, and the second being a pamphlet I purchased from the woman running the kimono panel at Detour last year.] I'm glad to add both these books to my library though, and look forward to taking the time to read them in more detail later on.
