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It was inevitable. Once I put up web pages on Japanese historical dress, I knew I was gonna get 'em.
Anime fans. Otaku. Cosplayers. People from a subculture that is alien to me, O My Readers.
Perhaps it's generational. I generally don't care for anime. We got dribs and drabs of it when I was still of an age to watch cartoons on weekends and I never felt particularly inspired by "Speed Racer" or "Marine Boy." I liked "Spirited Away" based on its subject matter, not on its animation art. "Tokyo Godfathers" turned out to be a pleasant surprise, but honestly, most of it just leaves me stone cold.
It was right around this time last year that I received an inquiry from a young lady who was trying to research and re-create a costume. The way she oh so carefully phrased her introductory email to me made me ask, "Is this a cosplay thing?" Sure enough a character from some manga/anime was the subject. I warned her that I didn't particularly care for anime so she would have to accept ignorance of the character/story/series as well as some possible bias on my part. That said, I agreed to look at the images she furnished and see if we could figure out what was going on sartorially for the character in question.
I can hear the gnashing of teeth and I know exactly who you are, so knock it off. You know what? She posed intelligent questions. Her approach was identical to the process examining a portrait for a historical costuming project: what do these images tell us about what this man is wearing.
We managed to identify some of the design motifs on Angry Bearded Guy's Pink Flowered Bathrobe. We discussed dyeing techniques that would achieve a gradient pale-to-darker effect on a garment. We ultimately concluded that the creator of the manga was having his fans on because he knew some of them would try to cosplay the character. Basically he took a married woman's irotomesode (a type of kimono with decoration around the hem) stuck the decoration around the shoulders instead, and put it on a male character.
Why did I get involved?
She asked nicely. Really, that's all it takes.
I get all kinds, O My Readers. I get people from other countries apologizing for their "bad" English - which, BTW, is usually quite functional. I get SCA folks. I get moms whose kids want to be Inuyasha for Halloween. I get the cosplayers. I got the guy who wrote "Marry me!" after I answered an email about attaching a collar to a kosode. I got the guy whose question was so vague I had to write back and ask him to explain what it was he was actually trying to ask me.
Because it takes all kinds.
Anime fans. Otaku. Cosplayers. People from a subculture that is alien to me, O My Readers.
Perhaps it's generational. I generally don't care for anime. We got dribs and drabs of it when I was still of an age to watch cartoons on weekends and I never felt particularly inspired by "Speed Racer" or "Marine Boy." I liked "Spirited Away" based on its subject matter, not on its animation art. "Tokyo Godfathers" turned out to be a pleasant surprise, but honestly, most of it just leaves me stone cold.
It was right around this time last year that I received an inquiry from a young lady who was trying to research and re-create a costume. The way she oh so carefully phrased her introductory email to me made me ask, "Is this a cosplay thing?" Sure enough a character from some manga/anime was the subject. I warned her that I didn't particularly care for anime so she would have to accept ignorance of the character/story/series as well as some possible bias on my part. That said, I agreed to look at the images she furnished and see if we could figure out what was going on sartorially for the character in question.
I can hear the gnashing of teeth and I know exactly who you are, so knock it off. You know what? She posed intelligent questions. Her approach was identical to the process examining a portrait for a historical costuming project: what do these images tell us about what this man is wearing.
We managed to identify some of the design motifs on Angry Bearded Guy's Pink Flowered Bathrobe. We discussed dyeing techniques that would achieve a gradient pale-to-darker effect on a garment. We ultimately concluded that the creator of the manga was having his fans on because he knew some of them would try to cosplay the character. Basically he took a married woman's irotomesode (a type of kimono with decoration around the hem) stuck the decoration around the shoulders instead, and put it on a male character.
Why did I get involved?
She asked nicely. Really, that's all it takes.
I get all kinds, O My Readers. I get people from other countries apologizing for their "bad" English - which, BTW, is usually quite functional. I get SCA folks. I get moms whose kids want to be Inuyasha for Halloween. I get the cosplayers. I got the guy who wrote "Marry me!" after I answered an email about attaching a collar to a kosode. I got the guy whose question was so vague I had to write back and ask him to explain what it was he was actually trying to ask me.
Because it takes all kinds.
