2015 Hanami Coordination

Yesterday was the annual hanami at our local botanic garden. I performed tea ceremony in one of the outdoor pavilions, so sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the lovely cherry trees! My husband did snap a couple photos of my outfit before we left the house. This coordination consists of a striped tsumugi, cream geometric nagoya obi, pale blue lace haneri, raspberry obiage, pink sanbuhimo, rose obidome, and rhinestone flower kanzashi used as an obi kazari.

I was afraid that this kimono could very easily end up making me look like an old lady, so I tried to make the outfit more youthful by adding the girly details and a few brighter pops of color.

Blue and blue!

We had a casual tea ceremony practice last weekend, so I opted for a fairly casual ensemble. I usually am not a big fan of monochromatic ensembles, but I liked this combination of the light blue striped edo komon with the darker blue nagoya obi with karabana motif. It's not totally monochromatic due to the pale pink obijime, white chirimen obiage, and zori with brown hanao, but you get the idea. 

My husband is getting better and better at doing these photos, and he decided that I should do a dance pose for one of them, so here's a "bonus":

It's from a dance I've been learning called "Nozaki Kouta". I'm still very much a beginner, so my apologies if my pose is not great! 

Lastly, I've got several conventions coming up, so please be looking for some more kimono and geisha henshin photos soon!

Ichigo Kyoyaki Chawan

As many of you know, I have been practicing chado (tea ceremony) for several years now. Like my kimono collection, my collection of chadogu (tea implements) is ever-growing. I tend to favor more earthy designs for my chawan and rarely delve into the realm of Kyoyaki, since I feel many of the designs are outlandish and gaudy. That being said, I absolutely fell head-over-heels in love with this ichigo design chawan:

It's such a unique motif! And of course, very modern. It was made by potter Tozan of Kyoto.

Being a modern motif, I'm not 100% sure when it would be best to use it. My thinking is that because strawberries are one of the first fruits to ripen in late spring and early summer, it would probably be best to use it slightly before that time.

Versatile Obi

When it comes to more casual obi, most of the pieces in my collection are fairly seasonal due to their motifs. Even if the motif isn't seasonal, sometimes it's color of the obi that makes its use limited. That is why I am very excited about this new obi I purchased a few days ago.

Its base color of cream is quite neutral and with small, colorful squares, it lends itself to nearly any kimono color. The darker cream threads are not gold, but they do give the impression of gold. This obi would work well with casual outfits, and with the right accessories, it might even pass for semi-formal.

It's currently being tailored, but when it arrives, I have so many things to coordinate with it!

Kodo Taiko Performance Coordination

Last week was my birthday, and to celebrate, we got tickets to see a performance by Kodo Taiko. The show was absolutely amazing, and if they are ever in your area, I highly recommend you go see them! My exposure to taiko in the past has been all festival style, but they took it to a whole new level! I was honestly surprised by the comedic skits they included; even with language barriers, the whole audience understood exactly what was going on, and the whole room was full of laughter.

As per usual, I used this as an opportunity to wear kimono out. Since this was a nice performance in a concert hall, I wanted to dress semi-formal. After some help from the lovely IG Facebook page, I ended up choosing this coordination:

A peachy-orange crested iromuji with a silver saga-tsuzdure fukuro obi, accessorized with a light green shibori obiage, a pink and silver sanbuhimo, and a rainbow-colored rhinestone obidome. The juban I wore underneath is a red one from the Taisho Roman era, which proved to be rather fidgety, hence the reason my haneri shows so little. I finished everything off with pale pink zori that have a little silver on the hanao to echo the sanbuhimo. 

I hope you enjoyed my coordination! It was a wonderful birthday ^_^