Sunday, March 7, 2010
Ever wonder what to do with fish skin? How about turn it into a dress? That would be fantastic. This is a classic example of a on the brink of extinct culture heritage.
Have you ever heard of fish skin clothing? You might wonder whether or not you read it right? Yes, you read it right. Honestly I have never heard about this unique skill before until a few weeks ago.
I was awestruck by my “discovery”. Therefore, I decided to share this incredible yet slowly faded away skill.
Ever wonder what to do with fish skin? How about turn it into a dress? That would be fantastic. This is a classic example of a on the brink of extinct culture heritage.
The fish skin clothes or “鱼皮衣”are a traditional costume for the Hezhe tribe who lives for generation along the Heilongjiang area. They are now around 4000 Hezhe people who still live in that area. But with the youngsters who are more attract to modern city life, this skills are dying.
Fish skin clothes are mainly made by big fish such as salmon and carp which weighed up to 10kg. First, they removed the skin carefully so the whole pieces of skin remained intact. Later, the skin was paste on the door to dry. Next, corn flour was sprinkled on the skin and then hammering will take place.
As the clothes become soft and durable, the tailor will sewn the skin with silver carp-skin thread. Then, a fish skin cloth is accomplished.
There are a variety of fish skin clothes including trousers, boots and skirts. This cloth is durable for cold weather and water resistant. As it is time consuming, it took a skillful tailor to make a cloth by hand in 10 days. However, the whole clothes required approximately 3 months to tailor.
The oldest fish skin cloth is exhibits in Beijing Costume Museum. It has 100 years of history and is still able to see the fish vein patterns. Today, it cost US$8000 and it is fascinating collectors around the world. Hopefully, this amazing skill will be able to inherit by younger generation.
http://quazen.com/shopping/lost-culture-fish-skin-clothes/Labels: ancient heritage, fish skin clothes
; those three words`
