A soft, high-quality rinzu (patterned ground) silk kimono featuring faux-shibori "yabane" (arrow-feather) and blue banana-leaf motifs.  49" from sleeve-end to sleeve-end x 56" height.  The yabane motif was very popular on schoolgirl and teacher kasuri (ikat) kimonos of the mid to late Meiji period. During the Taisho and early Showa periods the yabane was a popular woman's kimono motif, created via shibori, stenciling, or yuzen-dyeing. The arrow-feather motifs were most often vertical, but sometimes created at an angle. The Yabane pattern, like most geometric motifs, is all-season, however, it has an auspicious association with weddings -- like an arrow shot from a bow a bride does not return to her parents' house.