Threads of Tradition: The Legacy of Japanese Denim invites readers into the world of Japanese denim, where fabric meets art and craftsmanship meets cultural heritage. This book explores the rich history and profound traditions that have shaped Japanese denim, elevating it beyond fashion to an enduring art form celebrated worldwide. From the intricate processes of indigo dyeing to the careful weaving techniques passed down through generations, Threads of Tradition uncovers the dedication and artistry that make Japanese denim a global benchmark for quality. Each chapter takes readers deeper into the legacy, revealing the ancient dyeing practices and the spirit of innovation that drives today’s iconic Japanese brands. With vibrant storytelling and meticulous research, the book highlights how cultural exchange, sustainability movements, and heritage centers preserve and promote Japanese denim. Readers will meet master craftsmen, explore dedicated workshops and museums, and discover how tradition and innovation are interwoven into every piece of fabric. Whether you’re a denim enthusiast, a fashion aficionado, or simply curious about Japanese culture, Threads of Tradition offers a fascinating look into the world of Japanese denim, celebrating its timeless allure and the artisans who continue to shape its legacy. Perfect for anyone seeking to understand the artistry behind Japanese denim, this book is a tribute to the fabric that tells a story with every stitch and fade.

We’ve pursued and achieved the modern dream of defining ourselves—but at what cost? An influential columnist and editor makes a compelling case for seeking the inherited traditions and ideals that give our lives meaning. “Ahmari’s tour de force makes tradition astonishingly vivid and relevant for the here and now.”—Rod Dreher, bestselling author of Live Not by Lies and The Benedict Option As a young father and a self-proclaimed “radically assimilated immigrant,” opinion editor Sohrab Ahmari realized that when it comes to shaping his young son’s moral fiber, today’s America is woefully lacking. For millennia, the world’s great ethical and religious traditions have taught that true happiness lies in pursuing virtue and accepting limits. But now, unbound from these stubborn traditions, we are free to choose whichever way of life we think is most optimal—or, more often than not, merely the easiest. All that remains are the fickle desires that a wealthy, technologically advanced society is equipped to fulfill. The result is a society riven by deep conflict and individual lives that, for all their apparent freedom, are marked by alienation and stark unhappiness. In response to this crisis, Ahmari offers twelve questions for us to grapple with—twelve timeless, fundamental queries that challenge our modern certainties. Among them: Is God reasonable? What is freedom for? What do we owe our parents, our bodies, one another? Exploring each question through the lives and ideas of great thinkers, from Saint Augustine to Howard Thurman and from Abraham Joshua Heschel to Andrea Dworkin, Ahmari invites us to examine the hidden assumptions that drive our behavior and, in doing so, to live more humanely in a world that has lost its way.

A rich and informative source of Gaelic folk medicine.

This is an analysis of the sociological and economic causes of the demise of certain traditions, such as the glowing, rich phulkaris of the Punjab. Also discussed are women embroiderers, working in traditions that are centuries old, but new to the marketplace and urban lifestyles. The book provides a moving account of the rites of passage of Rabari women who, empowered through their embroidery, have become their own designers and entrepreneurs, It shows through color photographs and text how craft has not only been a catalyst for personal growth and social and economic change but has also created new conflicts and challenges. Women who worked to their own rhythms and creative impulses now craft to tunes others play. Cultural influences from the outside world have infiltrated their aesthetic and homes. The articles included describe textiles and skills still used by people for themselves, rather than the courtly textiles of yesteryear. While India is poised between past and future, craft still maintains its place.

This globe-spanning history of sewing and embroidery, culture and protest, is “an astonishing feat . . . richly textured and moving” (The Sunday Times, UK). In 1970s Argentina, mothers marched in headscarves embroidered with the names of their “disappeared” children. In Tudor, England, when Mary, Queen of Scots, was under house arrest, her needlework carried her messages to the outside world. From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the universal beauty and power of sewing.

Housed in the former 16th-century convent of Santo Domingo church, now the Regional Museum of Oaxaca, Mexico, is an important collection of textiles representing the area’s indigenous cultures. The collection includes a wealth of exquisitely made traditional weavings, many that are now considered rare. The Unbroken Thread: Conserving the Textile Traditions of Oaxaca details a joint project of the Getty Conservation Institute and the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) of Mexico to conserve the collection and to document current use of textile traditions in daily life and ceremony. The book contains 145 color photographs of the valuable textiles in the collection, as well as images of local weavers and project participants at work. Subjects include anthropological research, ancient and present-day weaving techniques, analyses of natural dyestuffs, and discussions of the ethical and practical considerations involved in working in Latin America to conserve the materials and practices of living cultures.