An Indigo Dyed Cotton Boro Kimono: Beautiful Fragility

**reduced from $495.00**
late nineteenth, early twentieth century
45 1/2" x 44 1/2", 115.5 cm x 113 cm

This fragile beauty--a boro, indigo dyed cotton kimono which is shown here inside-out--is meant to be admired, not worn (unless you feel inspired to patch and reinforce the threadbare and weakened areas).

The cotton kimono is kasuri or ikat dyed in a small-scale, all over pattern; the cotton, being thin or fairly lightweight, has torn at the edges of some of the patches. The original cotton of the kimono has been worn hard, has faded and has become threadbare in certain areas.

However it is the patching that is marvelous and there is a lot of it, especially on the back of the garment which is well-illustrated here. The sleeves, too--also shown here front and back--are beautifully patched with a variety of cottons. The mending stitches used to affix these patches are very good and are just want you would want to see on a boro garment.

As mentioned above, if you are feeling sartorially adventurous you can mend this piece to make it durable enough to wear. Otherwise this is visually interesting enough to stand on its own as art work or to study/admire/be inspired by.

Recommended--and just beautiful.