1960s Japanese Yukata Bolt & Card - Yokozuna Taiho

If you were a kid in the 1990s, you were likely decked out in denim.  This versatile fabric adorned rocks stars, high school kids, cowboys, and politicians.  There is probably no single fabric that identifies America better than denim.  In the 1960s, if you wanted to part of the "in" crowd in Japan, you covered yourself in a beautiful cotton indigo-print yukata during the summer time.  This style of yukata was seen all over Japan during this time and celebrities helped to promote and sell this fabric to the masses.  Being a necessary outfit for sumo wrestlers, they were part of the leading edge of this trend.  The great Yokozuna Taiho, as the face of sumo wrestling, was sought after by the major companies and to help sell the product they often included a photo card showing how the indigo print would look as worn.  I recently picked up this yukata bolt with one of Taiho's cards attached.  Yukata bolts are 100% pure cotton bulk fabric and the purchaser would then have to seam, hem, and sew to make the actual yukata.  Thousands of different patterns were produced so I am not sure what you would call this one, but it has a beautiful deep blue square "barbed wire" pattern with light grey cross hatching behind. This bolt has the "Main Dying Excellence Certificate" which looks like it was the quality seal given out by the company.  My fascination with these yukata/card combinations continues.