At Cherry Blossom Festival a few weeks ago , Genji had a large number of sale racks with kimono for $20. Arian pulled out this awesome black and white swirly kimono and we instantly went “oooh!!!”…..until we both saw the roses and went “arrgh!”
I still felt the kimono had potential though - the black swirls were just too irresistible, regardless of the fugly roses. I decided on the spot it would be my challenge kimono and I was going to conquer it!

Tonight, our workmate’s brother-in-law was celebrating his 1 year anniversary of his sake lounge and Arian and I were invited. I decided it was the perfect opportunity to break out the FUGLY.

I felt the kimono had a rather contemporary feel to it, so I decided to wear boots, dangly earrings and adjust my collar to be a bit more risqué . The sake lounge, after all, was a contemporary setting, rather than traditional. I also wore my hot pink and yellow juban. The yellow actually went well with the gold of the FUG, er, I mean roses - so I figured it was win-win.

I completely and utterly fought against using turquoise accessories with this outfit as I wanted to try something different (you know me - turquoise or pink…boring!). I know turquoise would have looked great and would have been a natural choice based on the colours in the obi - but I wanted to try to tie the purple in the roses…so I chose lavender accessories instead.

And in the end - I tied the entire outfit together with a mofuku purse! HA! Take that, conventions!

Behold! The Fug!

Here’s a close up of one of the glorious roses adorning the outfit. Thank goodness there’s only two of them:

Last year I went nice and subdued for Cherry Blossom Festival.

Well, this year I didn’t! I decided to re-vamp my Taisho ensemble with some new pieces. Namely the gorgeous tsuzumi obi, red accessories and zori. My batteries were unknowingly flat in my camera, so I’ve had to rely on other people’s photos: It was very windy and cold outside!

This was taken after having been dressed in kimono for 14 hours straight! (I wore it for a personal record of 17 hours - I was helping with the SF Taiko Dojo concert).

I’m sure there are full length photos of me in my haori floating about…hopefully they’ll surface…the haori is just below knee length.

This outfit received a HUGE amount of attention from everyone. I constantly had people coming up asking to take my photo, or to have their photo taken with me. I also received a very large number of compliments in regards to my kitsuke from those in the know.

The main highlights of my day however:

1. A Japanese artist instantly picking up my outfit as being Taisho, and telling me I reminded him of a famous shin-hanga artist - that I looked like I stepped out of one of his paintings. I had a great conversation with him about how Edo and Taisho inspire my outfits - in particular Junichi Nakahara and the state of modern day kitsuke.

2. Being praised very highly by a Japanese lady who lived in Kyoto for quite some time for how nicely pulled back my collar was at the nape. She told me I wore my kimono like stylish ladies who live in Kyoto. She also praised me for my colour choices - that while my outfit was bright - it was obvious it was well planned. We also ended up having a great talk about kimono as fashion vs. ceremonial wear.

Being self taught in kitsuke makes me feel nervous that I’m making mistakes or wearing crazy outfits - moreso when I wear it to events where I know people will scrutinize me…but Saturday helped make me feel good. I know I have a long way to go still - but, I think I’m in the right direction!

I’ve been watching a lot of Zatoichi lately, and I have to say the outfits of the various females have left me quite stunned. Ah…Edo kitsuke looks so comfortable and relaxed. I had to give it a go myself.

Not particularly the best kitsuke…but it was fun and boy, did it feel extremely comfortable to wear the kimono and obi like that.  Also - no tabi ’cause I’m iki!  (harhar)
In the sun:

In the shade:

I made up the musubi as I went along - but based it on some I’ve seen before.

Front details:

Trying to pose like a Junichi Nakahara print!

Last weekend I received an absolutely lovely gift from the performing group girls at taiko as a thank-you for helping them out with some sewing backstage last year. It was quite unexpected and really sweet of them…especially considering I just did what any other dojo member should have done, had they known how to sew.

Ultimately, I plan on wearing the obi with my purple hanabishi kimono, but today I wanted to try something I haven’t done for a while - go bright.

I decided to pull out my pink swirly komon that my dear friend, Mojuko, gave to me. It’s been about 1.5 years since I last wore it.

You can see the back of the obi here.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go with a black han-eri, black eri sewn to the kimono or a black date-eri. I decided to go with the date-eri. I’m not sure if I’m 100% happy with the outfit. If I saw it on someone else, I’d probably be thrilled…but I think for myself it’s been quite some time since I’ve worn so much light pink and such a modern kimono (I want longer sleeves!) that I actually felt a little strange! Quite unusual for me.

A week ago I won a rather interesting kimono lot off eBay. Here are the original auction photos:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; and 9. While some pieces are in serious need of some tender loving care (namely, the dounuki), everything was absolutely gorgeous. I wanted to (carefully) dress in the kimono set as it came before I set about doing some major repairs and cleaning. I posted yesterday about the rather intriguing tsuke obi.
Please excuse the messy kitsuke, I just dressed in this quickly today for photos. Please also excuse the fact I’m in dire need of a haircut and dye!

The kimono is in excellent condition - with only a few areas that need to be mended - namely one small spot along the hem and the seams around the armhole. The dounuki, however, is very worn. While the heavier light purple silk is in excellent condition aside from some stains - the fabric used for the body part has ripped along hard creases. Also, the lining and fabric has ripped clean through around the back of the collar. Another peculiar thing is the dounuki is considerably shorter than the outer layer. I think at some point this may have been shortened. I plan on completely replacing the body fabric with some red shibori juban fabric I have, and extending the length so it is the same length as the outer layer.

Dressing in both layers was interesting, however I don’t think I can really talk/describe about it in depth yet because of the length difference. Once I fix the lengths, I’ll dress again and write about the kitsuke aspect of the two layers.

The obi went on so easy and stayed put with just the obijime tied - however with constant moving around, the obijime probably wouldn’t be enough to keep it together for long. I suspect it used to have some additional hidden ties attached to keep it in place so I’m going to investigate and add the ties once I figure it out. I may also remove the obijime, now that I’ve taken photos, so I can use others.

The haneri is original from the set, also. It has some “wearing” stains on it that I’m going to try and remove - however I think with clever positioning/sewing I managed to hide the worst of it.

Unfortunately, the zori were WAY too small for my feet =( I’m going to keep my eye out for some in similar colour, though.

I hope you like the outfit and if you’re interested, here are close up details of the set:

The lower lining of both the kimono and dounuki.
Detail of one of the spools with pine and wisteria.
Detail of one of the spools with maple leaves.
Detail of one of the spools with sakura.
Detail of one of the spools.
Detail of one of the spools with small flowers - not sure of the flower…
Detail of one of the crest.
Dounuki laid flat.
Detail of one of the left panel design.
Detail of one of the right panel design.
Detail of one of the fabric I’m considering using to replace the body.

A week ago I won a rather interesting kimono lot off eBay. In addition to the kasane set, haori and misc komono was an obi. I couldn’t see the photos very clearly in the auctions - but it looked interesting. The auction photos: photo one & photo two

I received the lot last Thursday, and wow! Everything was gorgeous - the photos did absolutely no justice. However, this post today is about just the obi.

The obi did turn out to be a tsuke obi - but it is a tsuke obi in the easiest way possible! I thought it was really quite ingenious. I also estimate the date to be in the later half of the Greater Taisho Era - as judging by vintage photos this “flat and triangular” version of otaiko musubi seemed popular then. Also the art style reminds me of my obiage.

I very carefully pressed the obi this morning and took photographs to share with you ladies in case anyone wants to try this style. I think it would be an interesting method to try if you were limited on the amount of fabric you had to work with.

For kitsuke history buffs, I thought you might find it just plain ol’ interesting! If you want to see photos of it being worn - : Click Here
The obi full spread:

The back of the obi:

Notice how angled the bottom of the taiko and tare is? They were both stitched very carefully to achieve this look. Here are a few photos showing more detail:

photo of the obi against a turquoise towel to see the angles better.

Close up of the angled corner.

Close up showing some of the stitching.

Close up of the back of the obi showing how the corner was stitched.

The front of the obi:

Notice it is layered in the criss-cross style! This is a style I see very often Greater Taisho Era photographs (and done with much larger exaggeration in Edo and Meiji). We normally associate it with geisha these days, but regular women used to wear their obi like this, also.

Close up of the layers

The underbelly of the obi:

This is where all the trickery is hidden!

The “backside” of the front part of the obi:

The double front layers are faked! There are two long strips about an inch wide - one sewing on th top, and one on the bottom - this gives the illusion of two layers.

Close up showing the stripe sewn on an angle.

Close up showing both the front and reverse side of the overlay.

The obi clip:

It looks tortoise shell - but it is plastic. As you can see - it is stitched very firmly to the obi. Has anyone ever seen one of these before? I’ve tried, but I cannot locate any information or approximate dates for when this would have been manufactured.

You can see it has a clip of sorts which is hinged. I’d imagine you would slide this down in between your date-jime and kimono.

Inside the “drum” part of the obi - you can see the stitching that attaches the tool to the obi.

Close up of under the clip: “Patented Naniwa Obi”.

The top folds of the obi:

You can see the folds made and stitched in place to make the shape.

The obi makura:

The obi makura is actually stitched permanently inside this area. The makura is the same shape as the ones on this page. It sits very flat on the back and the overall feel of the obi is one that clings to the body rather than pillowing out.

Newspaper stiffener inside the Te:

I was really quite surprised to see newspaper inside the te as a stiffener.

Obijime attached to obi

The obijime was actually cut, and sewn to the obi on the te, but hidden by the taiko layer.

Taiko Layers

The taiko looks double layered, right?

WRONG! Fake layers, again!

FAKE Taiko Layers!

I hope you enjoyed looking at the photos and find them useful. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

I posted a little while ago about how I purchased a tansu.

The tansu arrived about a week before my birthday, however I had been both sick and busy with work over the last couple of weeks that I hadn’t had a chance to actually store my kimono gear in it properly until today. I promised a few people I’d take photos of it in action - so here we go!

Open:

Read the rest of this entry »

The following colour tables have been referenced from:
Japanese Design: Modern Approaches to Traditional Elements
Gingko Press
ISBN: 1-58423-081-9

I won an auction for a book a few months ago, “Women of Japan” by Keiichi Takasawa, published in 1955.

While the book borders on being sexist to a degree based on modern day beliefs, it had some very enlightening articles about various aspects of kimono. The one I chose to share with you all is about “Iki”, as it is a topic that often comes up frequently on the Immortal Geisha forums and is hard to describe or realize fully. It also discusses the term “Shibui/Shibusa”. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Below are links to some of my favourite Japanese kimono blogs. The links are in no particular order…just pulled from my bookmarks.

http://momi.f-d.cc
http://kimonomagic.269g.net
http://blog.arecole.com
http://blog.kinako.biz
http://blog.livedoor.jp/sakurasan
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kimononoki
http://blog.livedoor.jp/kimono_color_kimono
http://cafemaniax.blogtribe.org
http://www.kimono.co.jp
http://nanairo.raindrop.jp
http://www.wasstyle.com
http://www3.to/kotoho
http://www25.tok2.com
http://yaplog.jp/hyoutanya
http://blog.kimono-jin.com
http://blog.livedoor.jp/chokonyan
http://sakurasan.jugem.cc
http://www.furukawa-s.com
http://www.cafeblo.com/fudan
http://kimono.fc2web.com
http://lulihakimono.blog109.fc2.com
http://happy.ap.teacup.com/hayasaku

These are the people I personally buy from on a frequent basis:

Ichiroya
- Online Store
- Ebay Auctions

Antique Trading Ryu Japan
- Online Store
- Ebay Auctions

I also shop frequently on the following online auctions:
eBay.com
Yahoo Japan Auctions

In addition, I have also purchased a few boxes of assorted kimono for both wearing and sewing from YokoDana:
- Yoko Trading

Other Online Kimono Stores:

I personally haven’t purchased kimono to wear from the following stores, but I know many people on my forums do:
- Kyoto Kimono
- Yamatoku Classic
- Chuu

Immortal Geisha Forums

My Message Board is a wonderful source of Kimono and Kitsuke knowledge compiled together by many of the members - a combination of links found online, book reviews, personal experiences, etc. It is normally a good idea to browse through the Knowledge Bank first - as a lot of frequently asked questions have been condensed into one large mega-thread containing all pertinent information in one place.

Below is a highlight of some threads from the Knowledge Bank that people may find useful:

How to Put Kimono On

Obi Musubi - Various Instructions

Occations for Kimono

How to Fold and Store Kimono & Wafuku

Kimono Size Chart

Guide of Toma-san’s Website

Making Kimono

Types of Kimono

Correct Obi to be Worn with Each Kimono

Wearability of Mofuku (All Black Kimono/Obi

Well, um….

I wasn’t meant to get a new furisode any time soon - especially so soon after finding my dream furisode. However, after brief comment to Arian about how cute and refreshing this yellow furisode was, he went behind my back and got it for me as a birthday gift.  It just needs some tender love and stitching to the bottom of the left sleeve.
I’m not the biggest fan of yellow, well, at least, on me. However this type of yellow seems to really appeal to me. I also love the stylized ume and momiji outlined in red. The overall colour is subtle, but quite striking at the same time.

I have to admit, I’m not sure what obi to wear with this. Yellow normally doesn’t look great direct against my skin, so I’m likely to wear a dark han-eri - possibly even black. Perhaps a black obi with blue accents would work? There’s only one way to find out!

A very unexpected purchase…

I had always hoped one day I might get a furisode, but I wasn’t holding my breath. Personally, I find most of the modern furisode to be far to garish for my tastes - mainly due to the colour combinations on them not being harmonious to “traditional” Japanese colour sensibilities. Also - the patterns on most modern ones don’t appear to me at all. Of course, the furisode I would wear from Taisho era are either far outside of my price range, or much, much to short for me to even attempt to wear. So really, I had resigned myself to never owning a furisode.

Then I came across this beauty! Immediately, the colours took my fancy - the gorgeous browns, tans and purples and I particularly liked that the bulk of the pattern is leaves and grasses, leaving the blossoms and butterflies as being small accents, rather than the main pattern..

While she is quite new, the muted colours and pattern lend an air of a bygone time and maturity. This in particular captivated me, but then when I looked at the lining, my breath was literally taken away by the deep red and the wonderful gold pattern detail on the lining of the left okumi panel! I think that okumi lining may just be my favourite part of the entire furisode.
If I only ever own one furisode in my lifetime, that’s okay. I think it will be hard to find anything more perfect than this one.

Here are some more photos:

Read the rest of this entry »

This beautiful juban will compliment my purple taisho hanabishi kimono perfectly!

This Christmas I’ve been laid up in bed with the flu so I’ve been browsing around various kitsuke blogs to amuse myself.

This morning, I stumbled upon this - and while my current to-do sewing list is a mile and a half long, I absolutely HAD to scoot this to the top of the list and try it myself:

http://kimono-jin.com/blog/archives/2006/12/14123858.html

A hadajuban using tenugui as the sleeves and collar.

I dragged myself out of bed, found my favourite tenugui and grabbed my existing white hadajuban. I worked out for the tenugui I needed to cut about a two inch piece off the full length of the tenugui for the collar, and the left over fabric, cut in half, made the sleeves. As for the body of the hadajuban - I went with rough measurements taken from my existing one and used some white cotton I had laying around.

Oh - I can’t stress the importance of washing the tenugui before you do this. It IS going to shrink - and the colours may run - so you want to get all that dealt with before sewing it to white fabric! (Don’t forget to pre-wash your cotton, also!)

While it is not as good as the example (I think some of the proportions are wrong) - I think the end result looks kinda cute. I’m sorry for the bad photographs - lighting is horrible at night here:

The tenugui in question and Charlie:

The finished hadajuban:

Close up of the sleeve:

Front view:

Back view:

The fabric is so soft and buttery, you almost feel it will melt in your hands!

It was the work Christmas party tonight. I wore my version of a “cocktail dress”.

While not as all-round polished as my last outfit - this was still a fun outfit to put together.

I was happy with how my collars sat - I’m not sure if the colour combination worked as well as I had hoped? Originally, I was thinking plain black haneri…but then I thought perhaps it would be too black for this outfit - so I used it as an accent colour - and used my embroidered purple tsuzumi haneri as the main one. I think also, while I feel the back of the obi works - the front of the obi looks a bit strange, as the image is obscured. I should have dressed using the obi in reverse so the front was plain black.

You’ll notice I’m not wearing ohashori again. This kimono is 143.5cm / 56.5 inches long (I’m roughly 164cm / 5′ 4″). I actually felt really comfortable without ohashori. Ideally, I’d prefer one - but because I love Taisho era kimono…many kimono I want are too short for ohashori.

I’m sorry the photos are not that great….we took them when we got home from the party, so I’m all winkled and tired and the lighting is really bad. Also, my cats wanted in on the photoshoot!

Smiley

Frowny

Back View

This is Charlie, obviously demanding to be in on the photoshoot tonight. I couldn’t tell if he was just happy to see me home, or wanted a treat *sigh*.

This is Spot. He looks like he is horrified of having his photo taken, but really, he was mooching to me. Spot also had time out in Kitty Jail this morning because he discovered my obijime, not once, but twice - after being scolded the first time round. Tsk tsk.

Ever since I started taking kitsuke seriously, I’ve had a secret desire to own a proper kimono tansu. My dream has finally (almost) come true!

After discussing with Arian about whether:

a) Can we fit a tansu in our studio apartment; and

b) Can I actually afford an antique tansu?

We came to the conclusion of “YES!”. So, I started my tansu shopping.

I looked at quite a few in person, but none of them really grabbed me - they were either perfect in proportion (i.e - half trays and half drawers) but too small for my liking (as in, I’d have to fold my kimono in three, rather than two) - or just the right size, but of a colour I didn’t find attractive.

So I started looking around online. I discovered the price-range of those online were not much different to in-store prices, and I also discovered quite a few gorgeous tansu then BAMMO! THE ONE.

I found the tansu I just absolutely had to have.

- The outside measurements sounded very promising, and I asked for inside drawer/tray measurements….which turned out to be perfect for my tatoshi.

- It was the perfect balance between trays and drawers - three good depth drawers, four large trays, two smaller half trays and 3 small komono drawers.

- While I normally like darker wood, this tansu was made solely of kiri and the lighter colour was surprisingly quite appealing to me.

- The beautiful metalwork detail around the handle and the tassels.

- Oh, yeah, did I mention it is Taisho Era?

The triple bonus on top of this was that it was on sale, it has free shipping AND they do 4 months layaway plans (interest free with the ability to pay it off at any time during the four months)!

I slept on the thought for a few days, and I eventually ordered it. I have to admit, I felt a little weak at the knees at first…I’ve never invested in owning an antique piece of furniture before. If I tighten my belt a bit, I should hopefully have my tansu home long before the 4 months and in time for my birthday on the 1st of Feb!

I’m so excited. I even have dreams about putting all my kimono in it. hehehehe.  I can’t wait!

I’m a huge fan of Taisho Romance (大正ロマン) style when it comes to kimono and the bulk of my collection dates from the Greater Taisho Era. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to dress purely for fun - so I experimented with a Taisho Romance style outfit I’ve been mulling for some time. While I was disappointed with my collars being sloppy, I was really quite pleased with the overall outcome.

Read the rest of this entry »