Item of clothing I've had the longest is a swag T-shirt from the 1991 Apple Worlwide Developer Conference I attended. Oldest item of clothing is a vintage haori (a Japanese outer garment) that spouse, who collected them to use as office wear, spotted and encouraged me to buy when we were at a show run by an importer who showed locally. A friend who is a Japanophile and reasonably knowledgeable about haori noted the lining when we shared our purchases with them. (Customarily, the outside of the haori represents one's public face, while the lining, which may be quite personal, represents one's private face and is typically only revealed to people one is very close to.) The lining had a repeating pattern, which, on closer examination, showed a train and a cannon. Friend identified the train as representing the miniature railroad Commodore Perry brought with him as part of opening trade relationships with Japan in the 1850s, making the cannon a reference to the armaments of his ships. Having such a lining indicates that it was most likely created between Perry's visit and the start of the Meiji restoration for someone who favored more open relationships with other countries. This was consistent with the apparent age of the fabric, and the garment's construction techniques.

Opinion on trying to maintain isolation from the rest of the world was divided and fractious at that time, so this garment likely served as a membership badge that a sympathetic wearer could reveal to like-minded other people.