Need Help with an old Japanese men's Silk shirt

I

intoxikitty

Alumni
Need Help with an old Japanese men\'s Silk shirt

Hi! I aquired this shirt from a family who states this was their grandfather's shirt and is at least from the 1940s, however when I feel this and look at it I think it could be even older. The family was not really sure how old it was and where it was aquired, but they did say they had remembered him wearing it in pictures that dated back to the 1940s (unfortunately photos didn't come with the shirt)

Anyway, it's a gorgeous silk men's shirt. Shaped much like your 1940s Hawaiian shirt with the long narrow collar and chest pocket. Natural buttons which look to be possibly Abalone or some sort of shell and look to be hand carved. There is a zig zag stitching behind the buttons and odd coinstruction that I haven't seen before. There is no interfacing or stabilizers in the collar or placket. The print looks to be a giant Hawk (?) and the rest i can't make out but it looks to be telling some sort of story (if anyone can figure it out please tell me)

If you know anything about this style or the history of japanese themed shirts and what era it may be, please lend a hand. I'm getting a feeling that it's a bit older than 40s, I have handled a lot of men's 40s shirts and this just seems older.

Lots of pictures to ensue:

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During the 20's and 30's, Hawaiian shirts were made from silk kimono fabric. Could this be one of those?
 
hmmm, it's possible. The fabric is really thin though, like paper thin silk, I don't have any 20s Kimonos to compare with, but I do remember having a 30s Kimono with similar style print. The fabric on that Kimono was a bit thicker, however I'm pretty sure that old Kimono was Rayon. Were the 20s & 30s kimono fabrics sometimes very thin? This fabric is so thin it's nearly sheer. For a minute i thought it might not even be silk, however the fabric test did come up silk.
 
Does it have any sort of label?

Penney's did similar shirts in the 50s...marked PENNEY'S and Made in Japan.

No way would a 40s shirt be retailed in a kimono print...after Pearl Harbor Americans threw out Japanese antiques, or defaced the Japanese marks.
 
hi avamac! No tags, I should have added that It looks to be handmade. By the way the thread does not fully match the fabric and the inside contruction. Also I would think that a company manufactured shirt would have more uniform button construction (there's weird zig zagging behind the buttons as a reinforcement) also because it doesn't have any type of interfacing in the placket or collar and just the general crudeness of the construction (not crude, but not perfect as you would see from a manufacturer) I don't know if this makes any difference, but the family I got it from was Japanese American, would the Japanese have discarded their Japanese items after the war as well?
 
If they were Japanese American and it's homemade, it could well be a recycled kimono.

The Japanese here on the West Coast were hustled into internment camps and allowed to take only what they could carry, so they lost everything BUT a few clothes.

That's really a gorgeous print...! And the long collar looks 30s.
 
Yes that does make sense. I recently saw something about internment camps one somewhat close to my area. Very interesting, it's so sad what happened but so inspiring how they reflected upon it. In times of pure stress when most people would fold they made what they could of it and were able to band together to make happiness of what they were given. It was very inspiring. I wish I had gotten more information from the family, maybe they could have elaborated that it's possibly a remnant from those times. Yes it does seem like something that was a necessity because there are darned areas, there are damaged areas and reinforcements, which tells me it was something that was needed and wasn't a "throwaway" type thing. It looks like they fixed it when needed because it was "needed" and was possibly a part of someone's limited wardrobe. I love items like this, they have character and a mystery behind them that you can only imagine have a great story that only the original owner will ever know =)

Okay sorry for getting all deep, just find these types of things intriguing :D Thank you Maryalice for the info!
 
Oh one more thing. I am seeing a hawk on a bowl with something inside it (can't really make it out) maybe scrolls and some type of keys? The other design looks like a ship maybe with the feather ends of arrows? If anyone can take a hack at making out what the design is I'd be forever grateful =)
 
The design on the fabric looks a lot like boys kimono fabric from the 1930s so it could date from that era. The thing with the feathers sticking out is a samurai helmet. This isn't reused kimono fabric though. Kimono fabric is very narrow. Generally 12"-16" wide. It has to do with how kimonos are constructed. This fabric was made to create "western" style clothing.
 
alot of the "best" silks were printed in Japan for the Hawaiian market; some shirt makers and fabric shops were known for specializing in traditional Japanese prints, that was in the mid to late 30's, particularly

since the Japanese silk printing quality was so superb, eventually, some shirt manufacturers brought their Japanese fabric reps over (from Japan) and wine and dine (and golf) them for weeks (up to 18 months, sometimes) to get the Japanese to understand the Hawaiian "feel" rather than them trying to understand via postcards and snapshots

GREAT great shirt; even if it IS home sewn, these are excellent collectibles in their own right
 
That is really interesting about Japanese prints being made for the Hawaiian market Mary. I'd like to know more about that.

Without knowing the provenance of the shirt I would have said this was made in the 70's and the fabric actually looks like it might be rayon. However you say it is silk. I can see how the collar looks a little like spearpoint a term used to describe the collar shape design seen in the 30's and 40's. But it also looks 70's. I also think the top stitching overall looks later.

Japanese printing on silk is as Mary has said is usually superb and this is not in my opinion top quality and the more I look at the print the more I see a Hawaiian 'feel.'

This is a fantastic website for Japanese prints;

http://www.ichiroya.com/index.php
 
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