Greetings seeking clarification of sorts

[gryphon]

Greetings,  just found this fountain of digital information a few weeks ago. It is my intention to portray a samurai in the SCA. I have been reading up on www.sengokudaimyo.com but do to the way I learn it's contents aren't sticking in my head. So I suppose what I am looking for is a list of sorts, you know a normal list. A 1,2,3... type list of a samurai's wardrobe. Does that make sense? 

[Deleted]

May 30, 2016 22:11:07 GMT -5 gryphon said:

So I suppose what I am looking for is a list of sorts, you know a normal list. A 1,2,3... type list of a samurai's wardrobe.

As far as the garb goes, my list would look like this:

1. Start by making a kosode from bleached cotton muslin. That's a good start.
2. Then make a pair of hakama from black linen or linen-look. Now you have a basic outfit.
3. Make another kosode, either from white cotton or white linen. Now you have a change of shirt.
4. Make a kosode from a solid color linen that you like. Now you can layer that over white for a little more class.
5. Make an eboshi to cover your head when you go out.
6. Make another kosode from solid color linen, or a nice cotton print if you can find one.
7. Pair of kyahan.
8. White kosode.
9. Kataginu kamishimo (hakama and kataginu from the same fabric) in a solid color linen.
10. White kosode.
11. Kosode from the fanciest cotton Japanese print you can find, hopefully one that goes nicely the kataginu.
12. Kamishimo.
13. Eboshi.
14. White kosode.
15. Kyahan.
16. Kosode from solid color linen or some nice woven-in pattern like stripes or plaid.

That gives you about a week's worth of clothing if you are willing to wear things more than once. Really, you can never have too many white kosode.

Unless you're really good at sewing, that's probably a year's worth of projects right there. After the basic wardrobe, you can go both less formal (mompe, hippari, simple hitatare) and more formal (dobuku, another kataginu kamishimo, tate eboshi, suikan, nicer hitatare) while expanding your wardrobe (more kosode, more hakama, start doing some shibori for fancy kosode).

[gryphon]

May 31, 2016 22:46:05 GMT -5 @ishiyama said:

May 30, 2016 22:11:07 GMT -5 gryphon said:

So I suppose what I am looking for is a list of sorts, you know a normal list. A 1,2,3... type list of a samurai's wardrobe.

As far as the garb goes, my list would look like this:

1. Start by making a kosode from bleached cotton muslin. That's a good start.
2. Then make a pair of hakama from black linen or linen-look. Now you have a basic outfit.
3. Make another kosode, either from white cotton or white linen. Now you have a change of shirt.
4. Make a kosode from a solid color linen that you like. Now you can layer that over white for a little more class.
5. Make an eboshi to cover your head when you go out.
6. Make another kosode from solid color linen, or a nice cotton print if you can find one.
7. Pair of kyahan.
8. White kosode.
9. Kataginu kamishimo (hakama and kataginu from the same fabric) in a solid color linen.
10. White kosode.
11. Kosode from the fanciest cotton Japanese print you can find, hopefully one that goes nicely the kataginu.
12. Kamishimo.
13. Eboshi.
14. White kosode.
15. Kyahan.
16. Kosode from solid color linen or some nice woven-in pattern like stripes or plaid.

That gives you about a week's worth of clothing if you are willing to wear things more than once. Really, you can never have too many white kosode.

Unless you're really good at sewing, that's probably a year's worth of projects right there. After the basic wardrobe, you can go both less formal (mompe, hippari, simple hitatare) and more formal (dobuku, another kataginu kamishimo, tate eboshi, suikan, nicer hitatare) while expanding your wardrobe (more kosode, more hakama, start doing some shibori for fancy kosode).

Thank you very much this is what I was looking for. For some reason I felt like I had just punched in chicken recipes in a search engine. Like a jumbled mess of information. 

[Please Delete]

Not a bad start, for me I would recommend getting enough fabric for the kataginu and hakama together. Kosode + hakama + kataginu is your most basic late Sengoku bushi (samurai) outfit. If you get those three pieces, you can run around and not look like you are running around in your underwear.

Multiple kosode are good.

I wouldn't worry about kyahan until later, personally. I'd be curious on Ishiyama-dono's thinking, there.

With print fabrics--do your homework. Just because it is Japanese print doesn't mean that it is anywhere near period, and a lot of the modern Japanese prints made for quilting may look great on the bolt but not on the body. Solid colors or doing your own block prints are much more likely to be something that you will use again and again over time, whereas I've made things out of print fabric that later I really didn't want to be seen in, as I learned more.

Once you have a kataginu kamishimo, I would recommend a hitatare kamishimo for something a bit more formal. (Note: "kamishimo" just means the top and bottom are the same--though be aware that it is sometimes used for the Edo period kataginu kamishimo which is quite different looking from the period variety)

The nice thing about most of these is that they are made of rectangles.


-Ii Katsumori

[Deleted]

Jun 2, 2016 18:31:00 GMT -5 Please Delete said:

I wouldn't worry about kyahan until later, personally. I'd be curious on Ishiyama-dono's thinking, there.

• Kyahan are common across all social strata. The fabric varies depending on class and use, but the object is the same.
• They are easy to make, and they are another small touch that really gets you closer to "the look".
• They are actually nice to have. When it's wet out, you can tie up your hakama to keep the hems away from the ground while still keeping your shins from getting cold.
• Personally, I make tabi socks from modern athletic socks. The tabi cover these from the ankle down, and the kyahan cover them from the ankle up.

The nice thing about most of these is that they are made of rectangles.

Agreed.

Really, if I had known I was going to stick with this over the long term, I would have just bought a whole bolt of medium-weight white linen and gotten it over with. Between needing so many kosode, and wanting to learn more about fabric painting and dyeing, I'd probably be on my second bolt by now.

[Please Delete]

Repeat after me: "Buy the bolt!" (I think that was my first household's unofficial motto....)

I do need to grab a few bolts of white linen--I have a dream of making a bunch of hakucho outfits for insta-servants if ever needed.

The reasoning for having kyahan makes sense.


-Ii

[gryphon]

Jun 2, 2016 18:31:00 GMT -5 Please Delete said:

With print fabrics--do your homework. Just because it is Japanese print doesn't mean that it is anywhere near period, and a lot of the modern Japanese prints made for quilting may look great on the bolt but not on the body. Solid colors or doing your own block prints are much more likely to be something that you will use again and again over time, whereas I've made things out of print fabric that later I really didn't want to be seen in, as I learned more.

Once you have a kataginu kamishimo, I would recommend a hitatare kamishimo for something a bit more formal. (Note: "kamishimo" just means the top and bottom are the same--though be aware that it is sometimes used for the Edo period kataginu kamishimo which is quite different looking from the period variety.

-Ii Katsumori

Not too worried about printed fabric at this point. Slow steady steps, and basic colors for now. Lol.