Silver Sari Kimono with Black

I love Kimonos and I love playing with things that are inspired by the garment.

Historically, the Kimono has run through many, many iterations. The sleeves have been short or long, the usual square shape, or rounded in places, open to the tip or closed tightly at the wrist. The garment itself has been ground length, all the way up to just above the knee (although that is a Gi Top). Materials have consisted of silk (of course), a fine linen, brocades, jacquards, and special weaves and textures (however silk has always been the best).

Traditionally, a woman would wear several layers of Kimono, each one showing a little more, until the fine and full one that was layered on top. The richest women wore robes that dragged on the ground behind them, and it was said that the Emperess could wear 16 Kimonos, each one subtly affecting the colour of the others, so that she was never underdressed for any occasion.

Every Asian culture has had some form of a Kimono in its history.

There is so much flexibility in the Kimono that it is just a fun garment to play with.

I have another fascination with working with exhorbitant amounts of fabric. I found a Sari, that was 6.5 yards long, made of art silk ( a fine rayon ) that floated and flowed on my hands. Naturally, I had to play with it.

Materials:
6.5 Yards of Art Silk

Time: About 5 hours

Details:
Cut of material emphasizes the shifting of colours from dove grey to black
Zari work in gold thread
Every single hem and seam is rolled so that there are no raw edges
No collar so that it lies on the shoulders more naturally
Switched colours for the sleeves so
Matching belt
Body full of pleats for extra room to fit plus sized figures
Vent style sleeves with an extra ten inches of opening to allow air to flow
Full sleeves long enough to really show off the fabric
One size will pretty much fit all - at the same time if they are cozy

Inspired by all the wonderful kimonos I see in history books about Asia, and by the details of the sari I purchased.

UPDATE: This submission was changed to clean it up. Additional views may be found in the scraps section, here:

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