Last year (2018) we posted a rather long article to our website which summarizes our advice to folks considering their first purchase of our bulk kimono packages by-pound. Since then, given the spread of word about our special wholesale by pound packages of vintage Japanese kimonos, we have been getting increasing numbers of questions. So, as our article is buried somewhere in the info areas of www.yokodana.com, we thought we'd post it here to give visitors a sense of it; here's how we start:
Things to consider as you ponder a purchase of bulk vintage Japanese kimonos by-pound from YokoDana Kimono (www.yokodana.com. or anyone else):
1. Preconceptions are important --Thinking about what you see in your mind's eye when someone says 'vintage japanese kimonos':
Do you picture something bright, sparkly, ornate and dramatic? Or do you see an exotic Geisha's colorful kimono? Many people imagine only the high-end formal kimonos which are bright, colorful and often breathtaking, thinking that this is what "vintage kimonos" are. But there is so much more to vintage Japanese kimonos than those -- as magnificent as the ceremonials can be.
When thinking of buying bulk and by-the-pound kimonos some folks picture kimonos they might have seen in the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" or elsewhere on the web relating to Geisha. Those types kimono are often exquisitely beautiful but you need to keep in mind that only the best of the best are used in those scenes. That level of kimono takes at least a year to make and costs easily US$10,000 and up.
So while such remarkably beautiful works of textile art are beloved by many of our Japanophile customers, there are many of our regular buyers who prefer the beauty (and price) of every day or non-ceremonial kimonos from before 1980. It's hard to explain, but the beauty and attractiveness of what an average Japanese woman wears is somehow different, and an acquired taste among kimono-lovers.
In fact, in some ways, the vintage non-ceremonial kimonos are even better according to some of our buyers, as they are often more subdued or subtle, the sort which looks better the longer you have them. These everyday type kimonos contain many traditional motifs and symbols associated with Japanese culture and history. The more one learns of the nearly infinite ways that these themes and motifs are creatively interwoven and juxtaposed in a kimono, the more one loves the quiet everyday sisters of furisode and uchikake kimonos.
For some kimono-lovers, these non-ceremonial, everyday vintage Japanese kimonos are more cherished than the ceremonials. Yes, we love our Dom Perignon champagne and caviar, but home-made chicken soup can some days be somehow a more enduring pleasure; that's sort of how many folks feel about their vintage kimonos -- And, they can wear them every day if they choose!
2. Deciding from afar -- buying sight-unseen is difficult, this we know: ....cont'd
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