Up for sale here is a shirt from Japanese label Dry Bones. The Dry Bones brand, like a number of smaller “American casual” Japanese labels, is pretty strongly influenced by vintage workwear. They have the quality, detailing and workmanship Japanese labels are known for, but also a pretty unique vintage-influenced design aesthetic that’s pretty strongly their own vision.
This is Dry Bones’ take on classic Japanese workwear. They call this the “koiguchi” shirt, where the mouth of the shirt narrows like a carp (koi means carp and guchi means mouth in this case). It is a vintage silhouette often worn as work clothing and occasionally incorporated into the clothing worn at festivals. Design is more traditionally Japanese in that there are no shoulder seams and the underarms have a pretty solid curve to them. Sleeves come to about three quarters length.
Fabric is 100% cotton, pretty light in weight, and done in an indigo dyed chambray fabric. The chambray further links the design to work wear and was not typically found with the Japanese originals. Still, it is easily washed, breathable and as such works well as a summer shirt.
Dry Bones is one of those labels that has pretty limited distribution even in Japan, and can be harder to track down abroad. They produce some really interesting stuff and are well worth tracking down, and this shirt is one of their more interesting and unique pieces. Get it here at a fraction of the retail price.
Size is labeled “小”, Japanese for small. Fit is a bit relaxed, where this can work for a small or a somewhat slim medium just as well. I measure the chest at 21” and length at 26.5”. There is no shoulder seam so all shoulders should be fine here, while I measure the arms at approx. 20”. The shirt comes in lightly used, very good shape with no holes, tears, stains or visible signs of wear. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $24.