Calm On The Surface...
Janet Armstrong

I’ve created one of my original ideas—a haori, which is similar to a kimono and in Japan is worn as a coat or jacket. In so doing I have come full circle, or to paraphrase TS Eliot, I have arrived where I started and know this place for the first time.

I’ve used a wide variety of fabrics from my inventory—silks from travels to China and Japan, an embroidered sari shawl given to me by a friend, a blouse from the thrift shop, and some “fibre unknown” satin. This haori incorporates many elements…

• An inside pocket to hold secrets, treasures, ideas and feelings,


• The multiple layers of blues represent the many facets of a personality—as we get to know someone, the layers are peeled away,


• The contrasting lining symbolises our hidden depths—how many surprises lurk there?


• The fabrics are all “dress” fabrics,


• The seams are lapped so that seam finishes, which are normally “inside the dress”, are outside,


• The inner structure is from an actual “under kimono” that I took apart, washed, and reassembled.