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...... What is actually spectacular about the traditional kimono is the intricate and artistic design which embellishes the piece of cloth. The designs on the kimonos are either dyed or painted on or made as embroideries.The textile design represents an art in itself in the Japanese culture. The design was a tribute to aesthetics first of all, but also a form of cultural expression. Through the specific color and design, the kimonos embedded the wearer in a certain recognizable social category, marital status and so on. The designs were inspired on the one hand by religious motifs, by important literary works as The Tale of Genji or the Tales of Ise, by folkloric pieces such as Momotar, the Peach Boy or Oni no Nembutsu(The Devil's Prayer) and so on.(Cort, 1973, 122) Other themes for embroidery or design were symbolic images of animals, such as the turtle, natural phenomena, plants and so on. The geometrical textile patterns used were, for example the diamond pattern, the tatewaku pattern, parallel undulating lines arranged regularly along the warp of the textile so that adjacent lines define oval lozenges, the karakusa pattern (scrolling vine), ishi-datami pattern (paving stone) and many more (Cort, 1973, 125-128) In

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