Purple Ro Iromuji and Fukusa

Josh and I had our first official tea ceremony lesson over the weekend (Sorry, no pictures. We forgot.) It was a great experience, so we're going to try to take more lessons. In anticipation of that, I picked up a few things tonight. First, a purple ro iromuji. All of the ro and sha kimono I own are komon, and Memphis summers are H-O-T, so open weaves are a must!

I also got a great deal on a set of used fukusa (one for me and one for Josh). Since new ones are often very expensive, I jumped at this auction on eBay and won unopposed at 99¢! These are just for practice, so I'm happy.

Ichigo Yukata

I cannot wait until warmer weather is upon us again. As a result, my mind has wandered to summer kitsuke. I traded my kingyo yukata due to the damage it had (and the wearability as a result), so I replaced it with this one: an ichigo yukata!

I am happy to say it's not a yukata that's so "super cute" that I can't wear it in a couple of years. I look forward to receiving it!

Obiage and Obijime Overload!

As I have stated upon several occasions, I needed to obtain more obiage and obijime (instead of more kimono, lol). Over the past few weeks, this is what I have come up with. The orange ones I am receiving through a trade, and the others I purchased from Shinei and econecojapan. So here are the spoils!

Tea Ceremony and Dance Lessons

This past Friday, my boyfriend Josh's Japanese class got together to do a tea ceremony demonstration. One of the more experienced students from the local group was the host. We came purely as on-lookers, but since we were the only guests in kimono, the instuctors asked if we would join in the demonstration. I have only been in one other tea ceremony before (and it's been a few years...), so we muddled through it, but I think most people were none the wiser. The "main guest" was one of the instructors, and she gave hints here and there as to what we were to do. Starting Saturday, Josh and I are going to try to attend the bimonthly tea ceremony lessons offered locally. Below is a photo of the group that attended (Patty-senpai is in the front in the black haori; Josh and I are on the right side).

Also, starting Wednesday, I am going to take Japanese dance lessons! They needed more people to perform for the local celebration this year, so I asked if I could help. It's going to only be a month until the 1st performance, so I will have to work really hard, but I look forward to it!

Jiuta Shamisen - Lessons Soon!

Some people may remember that I used to own a pretty beat up nagauta shamisen. After it sat in the corner for almost a year (due to the fact that I was busy with my senior year of college, and I had no money or instructor for lessons), I sold it. Now that I have time again, I have found an instructor who can teach me through Skype, and I purchased a nice used jiuta shamisen (on recommendation from the instructor). It has brand new synthetic skins, and while I know they won't sound as good as cat or dog skins, it won't suffer in the Memphis humidity.

It has all the basic items except for a bachi, so I ordered one of those as well. I am very excited that this time I will be able to actually learn versus just muddle around! The instructor is away until the 26th of this month, so that will give me time to have the items shipped. I hope to report back good things!

Kimono Dreams

I've been having a ton of kimono and geisha related dreams lately! The day before last, I dreamt that I found all these wonderful vintage pieces, the most memorable being a turquoise juban with white and purple swirl designs (pretty enough to be a kimono!). When I awoke, I was sad that it didn't exist lol. Then yesterday, I dreamt I was preparing to learn to be a bar hostess and "geisha" (more like kimono-san), except it was at my dad's work (a church - how silly!), and the kimono I brought kept getting things dropped on it, like cigarette ashes (oh, the agony!). I'm hoping today will be filled with better dreams! XD

Experimenting With Showing More Collar

After some feedback from last kitsuke attempt, the consensus was that I don't show enough collar for my age (almost 23). So I tried the opposite extreme. I'm thinking that a little less would be better?

Also, this is the first time I got to wear this kimono, and I'd like to wear it to a shamisen concert coming up. Any thoughts as to whether or not it would be ok? And yes, I know the obi has a motifs that won't match the time of the concert (March), but it's unlikely anyone there will know. This is Memphis after all... ;P

Reversible White and Sakura Pink Fukuro Obi

I won a pretty simple fukuro obi tonight from Ryu. It's a woven cloud and grass design on both sides. One side is white (just what I need for the Botan cosplay!) and the other is a pretty sakura pink.

With simple pastels like these, they will hopefully be easy to match with kimono (especially louder ones). =)

Matsuba Kimono and First Katsura!

I really need to go on a buying hiatus now that I've put out so much money lately. It's a wonder I still have money for bills this month! But since my birthday is at the end of the month, I decided to buy myself a present: my first katsura!

At $90 plus domestic shipping, this was a steal. It will however need some TLC to restore it... It is a wedding katsura, but I will remake it as close as I can to a geiko katsura for a future geiko-hime. I am very excited about it!

I also got another kimono for only $1.04 from Ryu.

It's 173 cm tall! The pictures make it look navy blue, but it's listed as purple, so I'm interested to see what color it really is when it arrives. Also, I'm unsure if this counts as houmongi or irotomesode. Since it only has one crest, I'm guessing houmongi, but can anyone confirm that?

Hanabishi Hitoe

I keep saying no more kimono, but yeah... couldn't resist! XD

I'm just trying to decide if the little blue pattern is maple leaves or snowflakes?

Tsumugi Furisode

I won this plain pink tsumugi furisode on eBay tonight. I am so excited about it! I've honestly never seen a plain color furi, nor a tsumugi one for that matter.

Initially, I'm going to let my sister (or maybe myself) use it for a cosplay of Botan (from Yu Yu Hakusho). We'll need to get a white obi as well as red obiage, blue (or maybe purple? I can't really tell...) obijime, and red zori, but those shouldn't be too hard to acquire. Truly, this was the hardest part; cheap pink iromuji are readily available, but furisode... not so much.

The biggest trouble I'll have now is getting the correct obi. From what few pictures I have of the musubi, it looks like a cho cho musubi, but the obi appears to be hanhaba, not the typical fukuro. So I will have to see if I can find more pictures to decide what would be the best course.

After the cosplay is through, I may decide to cut the sleeves to make it an iromuji, but I'm not sure I'll have the heart to, considering the difficulty of acquiring this piece!