With exquisite close-up photography of some of the most fascinating pieces in the V&A’s collections, this book reveals the full scope of Japanese dress over the past three centuries. A unique insight into the history and key themes of Japanese dress from the eighteenth century to the present, Japanese Dress in Detail reveals the elaborate embroidery, precise folds, and sophisticated dyes that form some of the most beautiful garments in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s unparalleled Japanese dress collection. This book provides readers with the rare opportunity to examine historical clothing, from breathtaking Edo-period kimono, court robes, and No— theatre costumes to indigo-dyed utilitarian garments and exciting contemporary designs. Featuring both garments and accessories, this book is an extraordinary exploration of the beauty and complexity of Japanese fashion. Specially commissioned close-up photography and authoritative texts accompany each garment, and front-and-back line drawings make this publication an invaluable resource for students, collectors, designers, fashion lovers, and Japanophiles.

A practical and inspirational book for dressmakers, quilters and embroiderers who have long coveted the style of Japanese clothes, in particular the kimono. Expert dressmaker and quilter Jenni Dobson takes you through the techniques for making Japanese clothes with simple step-by-step processes, but goes further, covering details on Japanese design and the various techniques for embellishing Japanese clothes. Colourfully illustrated with images of finished garments as well as practical diagrams and patterns for dressmaking, the author has deliberately made all the garments accessible even for those with limited experience of dressmaking, but there are plenty of ideas to inspire those more accomplished readers.

Contains detailed instructions on making Japanese garments, from kimono towo-toe socks, using either traditional Japanese sewing methods or easierodern methods. The book includes patterns, fabric suggestions and sizingnstructions.

Casual Sweet Clothes offers you gorgeous tops, dresses, jackets and skirts with a designer edge. Simple step-by-step instructions and diagrams guide you through the process of sewing each garment, and the full-size patterns included at the back of the book guarantee perfectly fitting results every time. The 18 simple but stylish casual pieces in this book make the foundation of a hand-made wardrobe that will last for years.

The Japanese have traditionally viewed textiles as an embodiment of not only beauty but also family heirlooms and repositories of history, making the study of Japanese fabric a door into another culture, another people, another time. In Textile Art of Japan, Sunny Yang and Rochelle Narasin venture through that door, inviting the reader to follow them. They start with a brief but informative history of those most typical forms of Japanese dress, the kimono and the obi, and then move on to introduce the techniques of dyeing, weaving, and needlework that distinguish Japanese textiles, discussing their traditions, practical methods, and use on different types of fabrics. This richly illustrated volume, with over 200 color illustrations, is the perfect introduction to the subject of Japanese textiles. It includes examples of modern Japanese fabrics made according to or by adapting traditional methods, and shows them used in innovative ways: in quilts, screens, cushions, and hats. A list of museums all over Japan with fine fabric collections and a selected bibliography are helpful additions to this beautiful book.

Kimono Design: An Introduction to Textiles and Patterns uses hundreds of photographs and a wealth of information on colors, fabrics and embellishments to paint a portrait of Japanese culture, art and thought. Lavish classical patterns, sweeping scenes, and the many motifs that have been woven, dyed, painted or embroidered into these textiles reveal a reflectiveness, a sense of humor, and an appreciation of exquisite beauty that is uniquely Japanese. Organized according to motifs traditionally associated with each season of the year, Kimono Design interprets the kimono's special language as expressed in depictions of: Flowers and grasses Birds and other animals Symbols of power, luck and prestige Land-and-seascapes scenes from literature, history and daily life scenes of travel and the Japanese concept of other lands and many others… Extensive notes on all the motifs demonstrate how the kimono reflects changing times and a sense of the timeless. Information on jewelry, hairpins and other accessories is scattered throughout to give a fuller sense of the Japanese art of dress. This is a volume that Japanophiles, historians, artists and designers will all cherish.

From rugged Japanese firemen's ceremonial robes and austere rural work-wear to colorful, delicately-patterned cotton kimonos, this lavishly illustrated volume explores Japan's rich tradition of textiles. Textiles are an eloquent form of cultural expression and of great importance in the daily life of a people, as well as in their rituals and ceremonies. The traditional clothing and fabrics featured in this book were made and used in the islands of the Japanese archipelago between the late 18th and the mid 20th century. The Thomas Murray collection featured in this book includes daily dress, work-wear, and festival garb and follows the Arts and Crafts philosophy of the Mingei Movement, which saw that modernization would leave behind traditional art forms such as the hand-made textiles used by country people, farmers, and fisherman. It presents subtly patterned cotton fabrics, often indigo dyed from the main islands of Honshu and Kyushu, along with garments of the more remote islands: the graphic bark cloth, nettle fiber, and fish skin robes of the aboriginal Ainu in Hokkaido and Sakhalin to the north, and the brilliantly colored cotton kimonos of Okinawa to the far south. Numerous examples of these fabrics, photographed in exquisite detail, offer insight into Japan's complex textile history as well as inspiration for today's designers and artists. This volume explores the range and artistry of the country's tradition of fiber arts and is an essential resource for anyone captivated by the Japanese aesthetic.

Charming coloring book chronicles six centuries of Japanese fashion history. Warriors, exquisite court ladies, commoners, entertainers, holy men, and more, all in meticulously rendered authentic costume. 44 black-and-white illustrations.

Sew edgy, urban clothes with this stylish sewing book and add a touch of originality to your wardrobe. More and more women are opting to make their own clothes, but most of the books on the market emphasize girly, feminine designs. She Wears the Pants is the first Japanese sewing book (in English) to focus on the increasingly popular "borrowed–from–the–boys" look. Already one of the best–known and reviewed sewing books in Japan, this sporty addition to the sew–it–yourself craze is poised to take the American DIY sewing market by storm. Sometimes women are in the mood for clothes with strong, clean lines and casual sophistication—polish and simplicity without the frills. She Wears the Pants is the book for those times. A graduate of the Bunka Fashion Institute, Yuko Takada provides patterns and instructions for making twenty spare and streamlined wardrobe items, including: Versatile tops that can be either casual or dressy Jackets that are timeless and unique Dresses and skirts that are straight-line or draped Three different pants lengths, from culottes to full-length trousers And much, much more! Patterns can be easily adjusted to suit any body size, and Takada shows readers how to select inexpensive, readily available fabrics and transform them into an elegant new wardrobe. Understated never looked so good!

A glorious companion volume to Historical Fashion in Detail- The 17th and 18th Centuries and Modern Fashion in Detail, this book captures the opulence and variety of nineteenth-century fashion through an authoritative text, exquisite colour photography and line drawings of the complete garments. From the delicate embroidery on neoclassical gowns to the vibrant colours of crinolines and the elegant tailoring of men's coats, the richness of the period is revealed in breathtaking detail. The garments showcased here, drawn from the V&A Museum's world famous collection, were at the height of fashion in their time. They display a remarkable range of colours, materials and construction details- from the intricate boning on women's corsets to the patterned silk of men's waistcoats. Seen in close-up for the first time and further illuminated by detailed commentary and line drawings that show the ingenuity of the underlying construction, these carefully chosen garments illustrate some of the major themes of nineteenth-century dress.