This one-of-a-kind kimono silk shirt was hand sewn by Tania in Miami, FL. The shirt is made from a rarely found fabric which is very popular amongst Antique Japanese textile aficionados.
Look closely and you'll find "The Stalker" (ストーカー) embroidered on the back of the shirt in red.
Fabric History
This is a rare find, a roll from during World War II, early 1940s, of a high quality deadstock silk (new but unsold stock) from Amami Islands in Japan. Details on this part of Japan's special pongee silk-making process can be found on the National Foundation for Promoting the National Costume of Japan web site, which explains the natural plant dyes and mud used in making Ohshima Tsumugi.
Threads are dyed with plant dyes such as "Techiki" (Raphilolepis umbellata) and Indigo (Persicaria tinctoria) with a technique, peculiar only to "Oshima Tsumugi," called "Ori Jime." As a variety, an additional treatment is made to the dyed thread by dipping them in muddy water. It is "Doro (mud) Zome (dyeing).
Color looks dark brown-almost black from a distance. But up close you can see that there are very thin lines of dark indigo within the pinstripes, interwoven, quite different.
