Hi folks, Can anyone who may ever have made or helped with the making of Chinese garb of previous eras give me a hint on making the undergarment that creates the "Water sleeve" look that is used in opera? It seems to be a very VERY full, long-sleeved garment, almost always in white, that the actors and singers use for emphasis (flicking the fabric about very deftly!) while onstage. The sleeves brush the floor when the arms are down by the sides, and sometimes when not. :-)
I am attempting to replicate the look of this for a non-opera purpose. In an online article about the Chinese traditional opera (an article I cannot now find... alas...) there is a picture of three actors who have brought some children up on stage with them and put them in the garments, and on one child you can see that the undergarment apparently crosses over the front wrap-style, like a kimono, and that while the sleeves are huge and long--the body of the garment itself is barely waist-length. If it's that short on a child, I can imagine it must be like the little white blouse worn with traditional dirndls: very short indeed! :-) There are a couple of kimono-sleeved "modern" tops in the pattern books right now; could I get away with making one of those, shortening it, and making the long, long sleeves with some judicious lengthening of the pattern? Or would I mess it up? I have some gorgeous silk-linen cloth in white, very fine and soft, that would be perfect for something like this... I'm terrified to cut into it until someone more "in the know" than I might possibly step forward and smack me for my fabric timidity... :-) Thanks in advance, Sharon _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
