Classic White Fundoshi...now available in cotton lawn....

Yes, it is time for a little fabric lesson. Today, we stray away from all the gauze and cheesecloth into the exciting world of lawn. Put those eyebrows down. We wonʻt be seeing fundoshi made from turf...though that does pose an interesting challenge!

Lawn originally comes to us from Laon in France, which was a major producer of linen lawn. This type of material is what handkerchiefs are generally made from. Lawn is a plain weave fabric made mostly from linen or cotton. This weave is very simple, having each warp and weft thread aligned evenly in a criss-cross pattern. The threads are also even in their weight, so the surface is smooth and untextured. 

You can find lawn in many different colors and patterns. The fabric is a little too thin to use for swimming unless you are in a very liberal environment...in which case, just ditch the fundoshi and swim unveiled!  (note to self:  wet fundoshi...future photo shoot?)

For this shoot, I was playing with very dim lighting. It didnʻt really work out that well, but this is a learning experience. I also had a length of sheer burgundy fabric I was planning to use for curtains and grabbed it as a prop. Todayʻs blog having a mini lesson in fabric, I thought that would be appropriate. 

Fundoshi...crisp and white - a classic.

Fabric....cotton lawn. Lawn has been used for centuries as an undergarment material, but it is thinner than what is used in Japan for fundoshi. Lawn is considered to be ʻsheerʻ or ʻsemi-sheerʻ, depending on how many threads per inch is used. 

Photography....I thought the dimmer light would hide the creases in the white backdrop more than it did. Still learning how to deal with it....maybe some day I will, or Iʻll just pick up a paper backdrop on a roll....

The rest of the shoot and photo notes after the break....

I think with light this dim, a black backdrop would have worked better. 

I used very diffused light to create a softer look.

A couple of tests with the same light and adding the cameraʻs flash.

Obviously, the flash has now been turned off....

Playing with fabric as a prop. I increased the light a bit.

Next time on fundoshi, fabric and photos, cotton voile comes our way!