Joan, Countess of Kent, known to history as The Fair Maid of Kent, was the mother of King Richard II of England, whom she bore to her third husband Edward the Black Prince and heir apparent of King Edward III. Although the French chronicler Jean Froissart called her "the most beautiful woman in all the realm of England, the most loving", the appellation "Fair Maid of Kent" does not appear to be contemporary. Joan inherited the titles 4th Countess of Kent and 5th Baroness Wake of Liddell after the death of her brother, John, 3rd Earl of Kent, in 1352. Joan was born on 29 September of either 1326 or 1327 and was the daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent the 6th son of King Edward I of England by his second wife Margaret of France, daughter of King Philip III of France. Edmund was always a loyal supporter of his eldest half-brother King Edward II, which placed him in conflict with that monarch's wife Queen Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Edmund was executed in 1330 after Edward II was deposed and his widow and four children were placed under house arrest in Arundel Castle in Sussex, granted to Edmund in 1326 by his half-brother the king following the execution of the rebel Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel.

It was a time of great strain for the widowed Countess of her four children. They took charge of affairs, he looked after them well. In 1340, at the age of twelve, Joan secretly married 26-year-old Thomas Holland of Upholland, without first gaining the royal consent necessary for couples of their rank. Shortly after the wedding, Holland left for the continent as part of the English expedition into Flanders and France; the following winter, while Holland was overseas, Joan's family arranged for her to marry William Montagu and heir of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury. It is not known if the 13-year-old Joan confided to anyone about her first marriage before marrying Montagu, her own age. Joan indicated that she had not announced her existing marriage with Thomas Holland because she was afraid it would lead to Holland's execution for treason, she may have been influenced to believe that the earlier marriage was invalid. Montagu's father died in 1344 and he became the 2nd Earl of Salisbury; when Holland returned from the French campaigns in about 1348, his marriage to Joan was revealed.

Holland confessed the secret marriage to the King, appealed to the Pope for the return of his wife. Salisbury held Joan captive so that she could not testify until the Church ordered him to release her. In 1349, the proceedings ruled in Holland's favor. Pope Clement VI annulled Joan's marriage to Salisbury and Joan and Thomas Holland were ordered to be married in the Church.. Over the next eleven years, Thomas Holland and Joan had five children: Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter Lady Joan Holland, who married John IV, Duke of Brittany. Lady Maud Holland, who married firstly Hugh Courtenay and secondly Waleran III of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny. Edmund Holland, who died young, he was buried in the church of London. Descendants of Joan of Kent through her children Joan Holland and Thomas Holland include Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, Duke of York, Edward IV, Richard III, queens consort Anne Neville, Elizabeth of York, Catherine Parr. At the Battle of Bosworth, Richard III, Henry Tudor, the commander of Tudor's army, the Earl of Oxford were all descendants of Joan of Kent.

When the last of Joan's siblings died in 1352, the lands and titles of her parents devolved upon her, she became the 4th Countess of Kent and 5th Baroness Wake of Liddell. Her husband Holland was created Earl of Kent in right of his wife in 1360, her first husband Thomas Holland died in 1360. Some may infer that evidence of a long-held desire by Edward, the Black Prince for Joan may be found in the record of his presenting her with a silver cup, part of the booty from one of his early military campaigns. Although one generation removed from her, he was only 3 years younger as the exact date of Joan's birth is undocumented, it is suggested that Edward's parents did not favour a marriage between their son and their former ward but this may be ameliorated by the fact that King Edward assisted his son in acquiring all four of the needed dispensations for Edward to marry Joan. Queen Philippa had made a favourite of Joan in her childhood. Both she and the King may have been concerned about the legitimacy of any resulting children but such concerns were remediated by a second ruling of Pope Clement's successor upholding the initial ruling on Joan's previous marriage.

In addition and Joan were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. Further complicating matters was the fact that Edward was godfather to Joan's son by Thomas Holland.. At the King's request, the Pope granted the dispensations allowing the two to be married. Matters moved fast and Joan was married to the Prince nine months after Holland's death, the official ceremony occurring on 10 October 1361 at Windsor Castle, with the King and Queen in attendance; the Archbishop of Canterbury presided. In 1362 the Black Prince was invested as Prince of Aquitaine, a region of France that had belonged to the English Crown since the marriage of Eleanor

Durumagi is a variety of po, or overcoat in hanbok, the Korean traditional garment. It is the topmost layer of clothing, worn over jeogori and baji. Durumagi means "closed all around", is known as jumagui, juchaui or juui. Durumagi is worn not only to fend off the cold, but for ceremonial purposes; the origin of durumagi traces back to at least the Goguryeo period, although Mongolian influence during the Goryeo period caused changes in its appearance. Not only was the waist belt changed into a, the traditional po's short length and wide sleeves were lengthened and narrowed to the style of the Mongolian coat xurumakci, of which the name durumagi is said to be derived. During the Joseon Dynasty, the durumagi was less worn as an overcoat but more of a housecoat for the noble class, whereas it was worn outdoors by the commoners. In 1884, King Gojong promulgated the unification of clothing for all social classes through reform laws. However, this law was met with much resistance and it was only until ten years after the Gabo Reform of 1894, that the durumagi became common as formal attire.

Different fabrics and materials are used in making durumagi: calico, wool and various silks for winter. White and navy blue are used. Various types include hotedan durumagi, gyup durumagi, som durumagi, kkachi durumagi or obangjang durumagi for children. The'durumagi' is still considered an important part of traditional attire for formal occasions, but a variety of colors and designs are being used. Colorful durumagis were given as gifts to the world leaders of the 2005 APEC Summit in Busan. Dopo Gonryongpo Hanbok Jeonbok Kkachi durumagi Po Sagyusam Lee Ho-jeong. "Clothing with stories of fertility and faith". JoongAng Daily. Korea National Heritage online from the Cultural Heritage Administration Hanbok Story

Kasuti is a traditional form of folk embroidery practised in the state of Karnataka, India. Kasuti work, intricate sometimes involves putting up to 5,000 stitches by hand and is traditionally made on dresswear like Ilkal sarees and Angi or Kurta; the Karnataka Handicrafts Development Corporation holds a Geographical Indications protection for Kasuti embroidery which provides Intellectual Property rights on Kasuti to KHDC. The history of Kasuti dates back to the Chalukya period; the name Kasuti is derived from the words Kai and Suti, indicating an activity, done using cotton and hands. The women courtiers in the Mysore Kingdom in the 17th century were expected to be adept in 64 arts, with Kasuti being one of them; the Kasuti embroidery features folk designs influenced by rangoli patterns of Karnataka, mirror work embroidery and gold & silver thread embroidery were used for special occasions like weddings. In Karnataka Sarees embroidered with Kasuti were expected to be a part of the bridal trousseau of which one saree made of black silk with Kasuti embroidery called Chandrakali saree was of premier importance.

Kasuti work involves embroidering intricate patterns like gopura, palanquin and conch shells. Locally available materials are used for Kasuti; the pattern to be embroidered is first marked with charcoal or pencil and proper needles and thread are selected. The work involves counting of each thread on the cloth; the patterns are stitched without using knots to ensure. Different varieties of stitches are employed to obtain the desired pattern; some of the stitches employed are Ganti, Murgi and Menthe. Ganti is a double running stitch used for marking vertical and diagonal lines, Murgi is a zig-zag stitch, Neyge is a running stitch and Menthe is a cross stitch resembling fenugreek seeds. Kasuti work has grown beyond its traditional boundaries to be used in other dress materials like the Mysore silk saree. A Kasuti centre was set up in Hubli, Karnataka by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Karnataka to encourage the Kasuti culture and provide a single roof for the rural women to showcase their craft.

However Kasuti work is suffering from poor patronage with not many people willing to take the craft seriously. Bidriware Channapatna toys Ilkal saree Molakalmuru Sari Navalgund Durries Kamat's Potpourri - The History and Diversity of India