Traditional Garb Dilemma

[Solitary Ninja]

Oi. Been having a problem that I thought the kind and generous members of e-budo might be able to help me with. :D

I'm a collector of many various traditional garb, as well as an avid weapons collector, but one thing has eluded me all these years up until recently. I was looking for a true reproduction of the garb worn by the ninja of old when not disguised as peasants, priests, etc. I've found one link with a pricey reproduction and I'm debating my purchase as I'm not sure I'll get what I pay for i.e. the site is not valid/trustworthy. The color is perfect (dark blue, not black, which is not a natural color; stupid commercial Shinobi Shozoku's...) and the bottoms have the puffed out upper leggings with the tightly wrapped lower portion for the distortion of human body shape. Each piece is sold individually on this site, but I was wondering, does anyone else know where I might find a more secure place to purchase these? Maybe even cheaper...

http://www.geocities.com/tenchijin10/GOKUI2.htm

Many thanks in advance, all.

[Jim_Jude]

Well, if that's what you're looking for, then it looks good tho pricey, but are you aware that Ninja didn't dress like that running around the house doing ikebana or mowing the lawn or whatever? Why would they?
Plus, they were certainly searched at any check points they needed to cross, and how would they explain it? Just carrying a kusarigama or a kyoketsu shogei, or even senban or star shuriken is gonna get you nailed to the wall, let alone a ninja outfit.
Plus, Straight Black is not as invisible in the dark as brown or blue.

[Solitary Ninja]

Actually, the particular garb on that site is dark blue, not black, which is why I wanted it. I'm very aware of how the ninja usually dressed, as evident from my post, however, for collection purposes, I wanted to purchase that. I'm looking for a more professional place, whether more expensive or less expensive, as I do not trust that site much. Still in need of help. Thanks for the post, but please try and stick with any information about possible places that I might purchase such an item as I already know the history of what the ninja mostly wore as a disguise, however, there were uniforms like this for certain other activities and such is what I'm looking for. I do hope someone can help me with this. It would be ever so much appreciated.

[Karyu]

Watch the anime "Ninja Scroll" and look at the way Jubei is dressed, that's how ninja used to look.

...and it's about the only accurate thing about the movie.

[Solitary Ninja]

Mmk, Ninja Scroll being one of my favorite animes of all time (manga, actually) I know how Jubei is dressed and yes, it does resemble how many would dress, though the sword would not be in such plain view. My only concern is finding a place that sells what is on the site which I linked to right now. Not to sound rude to anyone, but I did not post looking for information on other ninja garb, but rather, help on location other places of purchase for what I have shown an interest in buying. The whole outfit would be a gem amongst my samurai kabuto helmets and other such collected armor and weapons. Any direct help on my inquiry would be very much appreciated as already stated.

[Baio]

i know the guy who owns that site, so sorry to say he doesn't have any of that stuff on hand and probably won't for a long time i'm surprised the site has been up so long. you might have to either make your own or go to this site http://www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/index.3html.htm you'll find iga-bakama there a bunch of kimono and hakama-shita waraji and waraji-kake, tekko, and kyahan so you can slap totogether you own repro with the exception of the zukin which you can make yourself

heres a pic of there tattsuke-bakama or iga-bakamahttp://www.shop-japan.co.jp/english-boku/image-e/tattsuke-s02-2985-84-81.jpg

[Don Cunningham]

I also have an interest in traditional Japanese costumes, especially from the Edo Period. As a result, I have set up a web store site in cooperation with a number of Japanese manufacturers of festival clothing, chiefly for the classical performing arts market. These companies, most one-person operations, have formed a cooperative and offer a catalog of their products, many which I can not find anywhere else. For example, one cooperative member only makes and sells the white makeup used in Noh theatre.

Please feel free to check out the clothing items available at eBudostore.com (http://www.ebudostore.com). These items are all produced in Japan. With the cost of shipping, therefore, they may be even more expensive that on the site listed previously. For the most part, they are made for festival wear, so they may not be suitable for extremely heavy training, either. The fabrics used may not withstand the rigors of martial arts practice any more than the original costumes. However, they are all traditional style.

[Onmitsu]

Because of the prohibitive costs of purchasing a Iga-bakama or a Kamishimo, I have been looking for pattterns for these. These are great for demos. Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate a source for these on the net. Are there any good books? Certainly no one is giving away these patterns for free on the Internet.

[Baio]

http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/garb/Garb.html this has a listing of pretty much all male japanese clothing thorugh the different periods the patterns aren't up on the site yet but you can contact ajbryant@indiana.edu he's a re-enactor of a lot of samurai and sengokujidai stuff and makes his own armor, clothes and whatnot so he should be able to get you some

[Solitary Ninja]

Unfortunately, I cannot find the Iga Bakama in as dark of a blue as on the original site I posted. Yes, that is dark blue, not black. But please, keep posting sources as I'll make my decisions from the best products available to me. That, or wait until that site has the products available again, no matter how long I have to wait. Hopefully someone strikes gold or close to it. Anyone know of someone in Japan who might be able to produce a near exact likeness to those pictures? I'd be grateful to anyone who can get me something resembling that exact fabric and colour, if only just in the Iga Bakama.

[kabutoki]

hi !
there is a book on the market "make your own japanese clothes". no ninja costume for sure but maybe a starting point.

karsten

[Jim_Jude]

Have you thought about contacting a seamstress or a tailor in your area and maybe having something made? I knew a guy back in Seattle whose sister was really good, he just took one of those ninja outfits (good design - shody craftsmanship) and had her make one out of 8oz cotton canvas. Damn thing was a dream, all kinds of hidden pockets & everything.
Tho, it probably would have cost him at least $150 to have someone do a custom jobbie like that, but he kept it in the family.

Just a thought...:cool:

[Jim_Jude]

Originally posted by kabutoki
hi !
there is a book on the market "make your own japanese clothes". no ninja costume for sure but maybe a starting point.

karsten

That's actually a great book!!! I suggested it to my Grandmother (who sews her own clothes most of the time) & told her that she can make all my Christmas & B-day presents out of that book from now on. She's gonna make me a couple Nemaki/Yukata, some jimbe(?)& maybe even some suede tabi?(praypraypray)

[Solitary Ninja]

The seamstress idea had crossed my mind, but I'll probably have to obtain a pattern for the iga bakama from someone. I'm not sure I'd trust the seamstress to get the tightly wrapped calf and then balloning upper legging right without it. But hey, who knows? Anyone have a suggestion for what material to use for the hood/mask. Maybe even a pattern or place to find them. Most commercial sites sell them the way I don't particularly like. I'm looking to be able to wear it with just the mouth and nose covered if I should want, then cover the hair/forehead with the second piece. See the picture attached below. Any suggestions?

[Asia]

Josh,

Have you thought of DYING your clothes. This is what I do. I buy many Japanese clothes in white or a light color and dye them to a desired color (except my valued haori collection). Once you get the hang of it it is not that difficult. The hardest part is getting the dye to go evenly across the fabric. The cotton is the best for this. Just a thought

[Solitary Ninja]

That always was an idea, but I didn't want to soend so much money on the clothes simply to make errors on them as it would be my first time dying. I'm actually just going to use a seamstress and see what they can do. Still looking for ideas on what the fabric of the clothing in my link is and what fabric is best for my described mask, also shown in the picture. I actually have a mannequin that I plan on setting up with this particular outfit that's about my size at 6'2". I just want it to resemble the picture I posted as its one of the favorite "ninja" images in my collection. Many thanks for all the insight thus far.

[Don Cunningham]

The problem with suppliers in Japan is not only the expensive cost, but the sizing. I have trouble finding available clothing in sizes suited for the average Western male (or female).

A lot of this has to do with traditional materials used in making such clothing. I know we had problems trying to get a white hakama made in larger sizes. According to the manufacturer, the width of cloth in traditional Japanese bolts is the limiting factor. When using certain materials, he could adjust it by changing the direction of the cut in the cloth. On others, though, this wouldn't allow him to match the weave pattern. That's why many of these traditional clothing items are limited to certain sizes, mostly too small even for modern Japanese much less other nationalities.

[Hoshi_Ryu]

Whats wrong with buying a regular hakama for $66.00 at www.martialartssupermarket.com and cutting a flap on the leg and sewing it back up and sewing some ties? I think their hakama are navy blue. I have made my own hakama before but it looks alittle bad because I made my pleats different because the 7 in front/2 in back was too hard to understand.

Here is the link to the market hakama in blue.
http://martialartssupermarket.com/index.cfm?action=moreinfo&itemid=8399

[mtn_warrior]

Whats wrong with buying a regular hakama and cutting a flap on the leg and sewing it back up and sewing some ties?

that seems to be a great idea! can be more specific on how you would do that? I have a couple pair of Hakama and one of them I do not mind cutting them..

Mike Youngblood