Kimono Challenge #1-2

The "Kimono Challenge" has been around for quite a while now, and honestly, I was trying to avoid doing it. It's hard for me to come up with cool sounding answers. But now in my boredom, I'll take a stab at it. So here's #1.

1. How did you discover and get into kimono?
2. Your dearest kimono item(s).
3. Your most used kimono item(s), not including dressing items or undergarments.
4. Your least used kimono item(s).
5. Your favorite coordinations?
6. What you like and don’t like about kimono.
7. Kimono confessions…Did you know that…
8. Your dream kitsuke items.
9. Your biggest kimono fears.
10. Your biggest kimono inspiration?
11. Your kimono collection.
12. The evolution of your kitsuke.
13. Your special kimono memory.

#1
I really hate to say it, but the honest truth of how I got into kimono was watching Memoirs of a Geisha. I already had an interest in Japanese culture, but very little understanding. After seeing that movie about 10,000 times, I wanted to buy a kimono. I remember looking at those cheap polyester kimono with the "what-the-hell-is-that" obi and thinking it was pretty because I had no idea. I suspended the idea for the time being, and starting doing research on geisha - which led me further into research on kimono. The Immortal Geisha forums were my undoing, because from then on, I was hooked.

#2
This was a hard question to answer. A lot of people answer that their dearest item was their first kimono. I no longer own mine (a shame, really), so that's not an option. I wanted to answer my pale blue hikizuri, but it's a new item (and my first hikizuri), and it's easy to really fall in love with new things. Once I really thought about it, my dearest kimono is my rose komon.



I have had it for almost 2 years, and it's rather on the small side for me. Even though I went through a "cleansing" of my kimono goods recently to weed out pieces that were too small, I couldn't bear to let this one go. The feel of the fabric, the color, and the design just captured me when I first held it. It was a steal eBay buy for only 1 cent, but it's priceless to me.