indigo dyed, non-denim, clothing?

[superBobo]

looks amazing, and do post pics of everything!

[jubei]

Beautiful textiles, nightdeposit.

Does anyone have any examples of the use of indigo in India? I've seen a lot of examples throughout SE Asia during my time at college, but I'd be curious to see how it was used in India in general (since indigo was probably introduced to SE Asia from India)

[nightdeposit]

looks amazing, and do post pics of everything!

Beautiful textiles, nightdeposit.

thanks, im really enamored with them at the moment.. i will put up some more photos of the ikat factory later..

[xcoldricex]

pictures from my n. vietnam trip:

grow their own indigo, weave their own hemp, make their own clothes.

indigo plant:

[xcoldricex]

hey i need that!

[Chicken]

damn, beautiful photos coldrice.

i need to get me to vietnam, too.

[poly800rock]

great pics coldrice, wish i went further north. next time I'll head over there and into china.

[superBobo]

coldrice, what kind of clothes/shirts are they drying in that pic? you didnt end up buying any, or something like that?

great photos, impressive.

[poly800rock]

the pic with the tag is closest to the real deep color. Hope you can see the knit....

[xcoldricex]

it's all traditional black hmong clothing. i'm a lot bigger than the average hmong man, so all i got was some pants. i got a vest thing, but it doesn't really fit me haha. most of the stuff was bought for my girlfriend. there made lots of great indigo blankets too. i contemplated buying some bolts of fabric while i was there, but i didn't have the backpack space to carry it around.

there's a store in bangkok that sells indigo stuff - i think it's a thai-based japanese company? anyway, it was in siam, they had some pretty nice stuff.

ah mentioned by analyst: ken nakamura http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?p=687148

[poly800rock]

analyst is basically the best resource on this board pertaining to traveling south east asia...

[xcoldricex]

some more:

wanted one of those shirts ^ but they were too damn small!

[kiya]

Samurai sweatshirt

STLI-101

i have this.. i've only worn it twice so far, it turned my shoulders blue within a few hours.

i love it..

[Chicken]

i would have totally bought one of those shirts off you if they were my size, coldrice.

[Ahlvahroe]

this ones kinda dope, in a pandering kinda way but dope none the less. http://item.rakuten.co.jp/bears/eternal-53116/

i really wanted the samurai one when i first saw it but the japanese large is a bit too small for me. if they only did an xl then id be all good.

[jacksonr]

also ive been eyeing this RRL waffle shirt on ebay for a while, Its sort of expensive and RRLs sizing has been known to be fucked, even with their shirts, but it looks pretty good:

I have that shirt and it's true to size. It has a really nice depth to the color.

[beatle]

That Eternal sweat/zip up is very nice...

[Largo]

Like xcoldricex mentioned, there's a (relatively) small natural indigo crafts tradition here, mostly rooted up north. I've only seen it trickle down here as either tourist-centric shops or the previously mentioned Ken Nakamura-his stuff is odd since all the in-shop signs mention it as traditional Aizome and japanese related, but the fabrics in some of his pieces look distinctly similar to Thai ones I've seen. There's also some sort of indigo fabric called 'morhom' they're specializing in producing up north near Chiang Mai (I believe) and the northwest (city called Phrae comes up a lot) that's supposed to be very traditional and luxurious, but I haven't found a sample here yet.

[xcoldricex]

hm i'll ask one of my sister's friends about 'morhom' - he grows his own natural cotton and manufacturers clothing up in chiang mai. ^

[Pandemonium]

shiiiit that sweatshirt kiya posted made me my heart die a little bit.

why? cause i know i can't get one of those any time soon

that sweatshirt needs like it's own white shirt so that it doesn't stain all the other shirts!

[Charlie Delta]

Nice thread Bobo,

I have a pair of 70's cotton sweatpants from Adidas (that cost me a whopping 1euro btw) and already thougth about making a post about it.

They are a beautifull deepdeep dark blue, maybe not neccesarily indigo dyed as it has retained its colour really well, but very nice nonetheless, I'll try to post pics.

[superBobo]

Coldrice, really cool pics. The long plain shirts in the background looks wearable aswell..

It seems reasonable that stuff like this should be sold somewhere on the net, but I cant find any on ebay..

Guess I wouldnt be able to fit anything in anycase :/

Ken Nakamura sounds interesting aswell..

[hawkeye]

Good subject, I actually read this article about a guy in Brooklyn who collects and sells ancient Japanese textiles, (in the Real Estate section of the NY Times) and wanted to post it, but forgot to till now:

When the Everyday Becomes Art

(The first half is about Greenpoint, Brooklyn, then he gets into the textiles)

He finds sanctuary in his uncluttered loft and the cloth of another culture, which allows him to travel to a faraway time and place without having to leave home (although he does go to Japan on buying trips twice a year, visiting dealers and temple markets in Kyoto on what he calls busman’s holidays). “What I love is that there is so much history in every piece,” he said. “These are the normal people’s textiles.”

He buys textiles from the Meiji era (1868 to 1912), as well as from the years just before and after. Mr. Szczepanek explains that before the Meiji era, poor people in Japan were not allowed to wear silk. “They could not wear bold patterns or bright colors, either,” he said. “The things I sell are mostly hemp, cotton and ramie.”

Hanging on his walls like abstract paintings are a boro indigo futon cover and a boro yogi, or sleeping kimono. “ ‘Boro’ is a term now widely recognized that describes these patched and mended fabrics,” said Mr. Szczepanek, who is clearly awed by the ingenuity and beauty of these pieces and writes scholarly articles about them. “The Japanese are inveterate recyclers. They understood the value of cloth.”

As he talks about the fabrics, he becomes increasingly animated. “This is how the Japanese mind works,” he said reverentially. “The Japanese were so poor. They were an indigenous people with a superrefined design sense. They would use anything to make fabric. But what they made was never meant to be seen. There was no intention to reference modernist art.”

He had no intention of becoming a textiles dealer, either. For a decade, Mr. Szczepanek was the curator of 2,000-piece private collection that focuses on Asian art and 20th-century design. His job afforded him access to museum collections in China, India and Japan and a hands-on education.

In 2001, he quit to make a career of antique fabrics. “I just started buying cloth, and then I thought I would make home accessories out of it,” he said. “I would take deconstructed country kimonos and turn them into throws, placemats and pillows, and I sold them to Takashimaya.”

By examining how the kimonos were made, he developed an appreciation for their artistry. He began to meet collectors and realized that Japanese textiles were more valuable and beautiful in their original state. His clients include graphic artists, textile designers and collectors of folk and outsider art.

“I sell a lot to Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein — not them personally, but to their companies,” he said. “The fashion world is always looking for inspiration.”

Mr. Szczepanek finds it easier and more enjoyable to sell textiles than his own paintings, which he has not made for a decade. “It’s easy to promote this stuff,” he said. “It’s interesting and not about me. It is art without an artist. There is no ego there, and I think that is what people respond to. It is art in my understanding of art — what excites the mind and the eye.”

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/realestate/22habi.html?vendor=GABRIELS&partner=GABRIELS&ex=1191556800&en=adbb7481610a07d7&ei=5103

Slideshow: http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/realestate/20070722_HABI_FEATURE/index.html

[Paul T]

Good article.

I recall that in Japan there was an established procedure for recycling kimonos; as it started to wear it would be reworked into a short coat, then sleeves for another garment, then used perhaps as filling for quilted clothing, and then eventually as rags.

(British army uniforms were recycled in much the same way, into something called Shoddy, which remains an English term for things that fall apart!) . Incidentally, the other day I got hold of a kids' book with a beautiful illustration of the pattern for an English Navy uniform, which was of course indigo-dyed. From the 1850s, indigo-dyed clothing became more and more crucial, because the English controlled so many of the plantations on whcih it was grown. According to Jenny Balfour-Paul, the Brits tried to limit the incursions of synthetic indigo - which was German, made by BASF - but when that failed, they put their own scientists onto replicating their own synthetic version.

[ringring]

Italy also has a history of recycling clothing.

In Prato, old clothes are heaped into huge silos and are torn to shreds mechanically. The fibres are then sorted and eventually rewoven into new cloth. All before recycling became trendy and a part of political flag waving

[xcoldricex]

some old indigo outfits:

banana republic indigo dyed polo

45rpm indigo dyed fisherman drawstring pants

45rpm umii indigo-dyed beanie

45rpm indigo-dyed, raw edged, button up jacket

45rpm natural indigo jomon's

[Dex_star]

recently put up on 45rpm shop

[Pandemonium]

what type of garment is that, dex_star?

looks really awesome/wearable.

chambray shirt?

[Dex_star]

double gauze cotton... looks so dope.. they have dark and light indigo

as always with 45rpm tho, its out of my prce range

LINK

[Pandemonium]

wow, i guess i might have to stick to cheaper alternatives.

i'll see if it still exists when i have a proper job.