Comments | kisarazumama: care and feeding of hakama

kisarazumama

care and feeding of hakama

Aug 23, 2012 12:35

So, about a year ago, I bought a pair of hakama from a kimono dealer at a con. They were marked vintage, but were pretty cheap because of some brown staining which the dealer scrupulously pointed out to me. Didn't really care, cos I reckoned I could wash it out, and even if not, WOO REAL HAKAMA. Wore them to a couple of cons, each time packing ( Read more... )

things nippon, international cosplay day, cosplay, japan, otaku, hakama, japanese history

Comments 6

thenakedcat August 23 2012, 18:53:58 UTC

Wow, buyer beware indeed! Are these bifurcated hakama or skirt-style hakama?

kisarazumama August 24 2012, 11:26:50 UTC

Bifurcated. Like really big culottes. Apparently the crotch had given way at least once, it's reinforced with bias tape, unless it was originally made that way.

7veilsphaedra August 24 2012, 07:10:41 UTC

Gosh, I hope they weren't made of silk. I did that once to a flapper dress, and it literally rotted in shreds.

kisarazumama August 24 2012, 11:37:27 UTC

No, they aren't silk. I wouldn't've even dared try to wash them if I'd thought that. They are lightweight and semi-sheer, so come to think of it, I'm not sure. Maybe they're early nylon from the 40s-50s? Showa period crud rather than Meiji then...

It's the newspaper padding in the waistband that cracks me up though. A seam came loose in the washing process, and this brown flake showed that I thought was some kind of lining. I tugged out, and lo, paper with tiny printing on it. I opened the seam, and no question remained. If I were completely remaking these, I'd love to take it all out and see if there was any recognizable date.

7veilsphaedra August 24 2012, 14:46:02 UTC

I think they must be some sort of synthetic then. If the pants were as old as that, it would be obvious if they were made from silk. Shreds, literally. You would be wearing a bunch of disconnected threads bunched up like dreadlocks by now.

kisarazumama August 24 2012, 17:16:13 UTC

Eek. I've heard that old silk is prone to dry rot, but I've never actually encountered it.

Well, rayon has been manufactured in Japan since 1924, and nylon since, far as I can find out, just after WW II. (Trivia: because the stuff was used as a substitute for Japanese silk, there's an apocryphal story that the name stands for "now you lose, old Nippon"). I don't really have a basis to decide, but I'm still thinking they're closer to 50 than 90 years old. So I'll go with nylon as a best guess.