Did your relatives make you clothes for yourself or your dolls?
I don't remember my Mum making any clothes for my Action Man despite their being knitting patterns for jumpers and cardies for the fighting man.
I do have a slight recollection of something being made for my Fairylite Parker doll but unsure what. I can imagine the old Cockney would have liked a silk smoking jacket or a towel coat for lounging round Sindy's pool on his days off [or maybe Penny's herself! ooh la la]
I've often thought about attempting to make mock-ups of Fairylite Lady Penelope clothes or C21 Topo Gigio gear, which I'll just never find otherwise but my sheer lack of stitchery stops me and Missus Moonbase says no!
What my old Mum did make me though were clothes - for me!
These were very specifically oriental and made to measure to feed my obsession with the Martial Arts in the Kung-Fu fuelled days of 1972.
Mum's bespokery first tailored me a full Karate suit from some off-white cotton. It came complete with hemmed collars and coloured belt and I loved it. Real karate suits were dear and I wasn't ready to join a club. I just wanted to wear it at home and do a few kicks in the mirror!
Things got a bit more serious so next came a whole group of home-made patches for my own dojo in the cellar at home. They were circular and made of material that could be sewn onto a Karate suit or white Kung Fu T-Shirt. The round patches had an embroidered Chinese Butterfly Knife in the middle with the words Powis Road Dojo of Bugei stitched round it.
The patch looked the business and my martial arts mates all got one as long as they trained in the cellar dojo regularly. Sadly no example of my Mum's marvelous patch-making skills exists now although I do still have all the designs for them.
Last but not least and perhaps the dog's katanas of all my Mum's Eastern clobber was a Hakama made just for me.
The Hakama is basically a very wide pair of trousers, which when on look like a broad split skirt. Ankle length, the Hakama allows for fluid movement when practising Japanese martial arts such as Iai-do or swordsmanship, Aikido or the art of flowing body locks, Judo, the art of body throws and Kyudo or archery.
Although I had a go at all of these arts in my own dojo and garden, my own formal Japanese thing was Judo and I wore my Hakama with pride during public demonstrations performed by the club I was at in Ashton, Preston. The Hakama just added that little extra when we exhibited knife evasion and basic sword movements.
I still have my Mum's home-made Hakama and it is very special to me and I occasionally don it to feel that Seventies samurai in my veins once more!
Along with the Katana sword my folk's bought me from Grattan's catalogue they are some of the very few things that I own from my childhood and early teens.
Here's my Hakama, now roughly 45 years old!
Did you have any clothes made for you or your favourite Action Men and dolls readers?
Those are some great recollections from your youth during the Kung Fu era, Woodsy. The treasured 45 year old Hakama has certainly stood the test of time and combat. Really nice to see a pic of it. I can imagine that it must have been brilliant having your own home-made patches to mark the progress of training for you and your mates in that cellar dojo all those years ago :)
ReplyDeleteThe cellar dojo was special Tone yes your'e right. It was a moment in time distinct from any other when young mates had the same dream, to be Bruce Lee so we trained and trained.I even set written exams. I still have the papers and all the answer sheets from my buddies done in exam conditions! ha ha. I was obsessed!
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