Formed in 2009, the Archive Team (not to be confused with the archive.org Archive-It Team) is a rogue archivist collective dedicated to saving copies of rapidly dying or deleted websites for the sake of history and digital heritage. The group is 100% composed of volunteers and interested parties, and has expanded into a large amount of related projects for saving online and digital history.
Yesterday the Textile Museum Associates of Southern California presented a program from the Victoria and Albert museum in London, on the history of the kimono.
Since it was scheduled to be shown to people in 55 countries, the London based curator decided to go ahead despite the current mourning in the UK.
If you're in the UK, it's worth a trip, I'd say. It covers the kimono, which simply means garment, from the days of the Shogun when the finest silk threads, embroidery and shibori dyeing went into creating wildly expensive bespoke kimonos for the wealthy, to the twentieth century flapper dress.
Most of the slides shown here are of seventeenth century kimonos, moving into the twentieth century where flapper dresses showed their influence, via eighteenth century and later fashion with kimono like features and loose fit.
The Kabuki theater played a role, with actors wearing kimonos which later were made for sale, a kind of early product placement . Cheaply produced woodblock prints advertised the garments. Actresses also modeled the latest kimono fashions.
The Dutch East India company got involved, importing cotton fabric from India for more mass produced kimonos in the latest colors and styles. They also adapted them for European wear, with narrower sleeves and padded cuffs against the cold European winters.
And you'll see below antique dolls created in authentic costume, probably not as toys as much as luxury decorative items.
A wonderful exhibit, one to see in person uf you're anywhere near.
And today's that heavy date, hard to get through, particularly here, close to the city, where we were impacted personally.
Usually it's a beautiful sunny day, more poignant, but today's showers are helping with the inevitable memories. As I'm writing this paragraph, it's the exact anniversary of the moment when the first plane struck the Towers .
Let's go out with this modern take on an ancient Metis art form
Happy day everyone. Ukraine's winning back its territory and Putin may be nearing the end of his power. Hope springs eternal.
