Yuzen

March 23, 2015 6:24 PM

Process of Yuzen - the creation of a kimono.
posted by a manly man person who is male and masculine (5 comments total)

Thank you so much for this
posted by poxandplague at 7:49 PM on March 23, 2015

Beautiful. I love that people are still doing this.

I super-love the stencils for the gold leaf glue.
posted by rifflesby at 8:02 PM on March 23, 2015

Gorgeous, thanks for posting. I used to study Japanese embroidery, which included a little history of textile art in Japan. Yuzen, the resist-dyeing process shown here, was once a cheaper substitute for embroidery, which was the pinnacle of opulence for kimonos. (I think back then yuzen would not have been combined with embroidery and gold leafing, since it was not as highly esteemed as today.) Although it sort of boggles the mind, supposedly a few hundred years ago people would have their kimonos bleached and re-dyed with new designs as fashions changed, since silk was costly and labor was cheap.
posted by Quietgal at 8:20 PM on March 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Wow, that was incredible.
posted by arcticwoman at 8:32 PM on March 23, 2015

Amazing, great find. And yes - be sure to jump ahead to the last 1/5 or so where you see the application of the gold leaf and the embroidery.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:00 PM on March 23, 2015