Knitted Kimono by Vicky Square

[dianetwrite]

*ducking the multitude of smackyfans*

Ok OK, so it's not period, but it caught my eye as I was trying to find something on Japanese clothes and embroidery.... okay the embroidery is essentially in the same area, so it caught my eye.

I know it's not period, but some of the patterns were very interesting.  It gave me some interesting ideas that I'm not going to use for garb, but they look very warm and could, essentially be used underneath an outer robe for those of us who are not used to the bone chilling cold of the northern Kingdoms... aka An Tir.

[solveig]

Noble Cousin!

Greetings from Solveig! Don't underestimate the warmth of Japanese clothing. There are a LOT of layers to even modern kimono to deal with.

[Saionji Shonagon]

I had to Google it before I realized you were talking about a book. Judging from the number of my friends who knit, the process is quite popular these days. And I understand it's popular in Japan as well.

(Not gonna judge, I have a crocheted Futurama brain slug on a hair barette....)

That said, there's a reason that silk was (and still is) used for long underwear.

[Ishida Kentarou Mitsumasa]

I live in An Tir, and I can usually solve my warmth problems just by wearing enough layers of silk. Japan got cold, and our predecessors didn't feel the need to do anything more than what they left us. The only thing past "many layers" that the medieval Japanese did to deal with cold was to stuff their lined clothing with padding, which is discussed in the book Topsy-Turvy, a translation of a Portuguese account of visiting Japan. That would certainly be a toasty warm thing to do, but I live in Seattle and have yet to find a temperature that four layers of kosode and a silk shitabakama cannot defeat.

[Deleted]

I have a dobuku that I padded with quilt batting that is quite warm on those chilly nights we often get at Pennsic.

[dianetwrite]

Apologies for not making clear that this was a book. As to the brain slug... hey, pics of that would be interesting.

I live up here in Everett, which is running rather cold for my Heat Bug personality and my persona is a Buddhist nun, okay, so she hasn't taken Tonsure yet, but I'm trying to keep the clothes down to a minimum. I can crochet and knit, but my sewing would make anyone who looked at it try to hit me with their fan.

[yumehime]

I have a wrap dress sweater that I got at a second hand store that works well for an extra layer, nice and invisible. It may not be as period as loads of thick silk layers, but I only have so many "kosode" type kimono that pass for period, so there is a current limit to the layers I can build during brutal cold snaps. It also helps when I have a really good looking poly layer that I know won't hold much heat.

Eventually there will be enough nice thick layers of period style silk in both our closets that such modern layers won't be needed, but it can be a functional beginning while you work toward better garb for your weather.