First Fudangi Friday

Here is my first Fudangi Friday! I paired this purple momiji komon with a brown owl obi.

New Bag and Ombré Hanhaba Obi

I keep adding more things to my summer collection! I blame The New Kimono for this; if you haven't read it, skim the section on summer accessories and you'll know why I have issues... Anyway, I finally found a hemp ombré obi that I like. Too many of them have multiple colors, which is fine except that it makes it much harder to coordinate, and they're often quite costly. On top of that, I really wanted a one in green as my other is kind of a pain in the butt... 

I am honestly quite happy that there's a yellow tone to this obi because it contrasts with the colors of my summer kimono and yukata better than blue tones. 

I also had a lucky find! Kururi had a new woven bag up this year that I completely adore but it was a little pricey for me at almost 20,000 yen. At the same shop where I found the ombré obi, I saw this bag and didn't hesitate to purchase it! 

It's almost exactly the same as the Kururi one, and it was only one-fourth of the cost! It was the last they had in this style, so I'm assuming the price was dropped for that reason since no damage was noted (they had an original list price closer to the Kururi bag). 

Several weeks ago, I also purchased a new ro juban. This one is semi-custom sized, so I will finally have a summer juban that isn't too small. I hope it will arrive in time for my first summer kitsuke opportunity!

Vintage Buys - Diamond Kimono and Crane Juban

As much as I love new and modern pieces, I've been itching to get some more vintage ones. Since I got permission to start our own Kimono de Jack here in  Memphis (Twitter -- Facebook -- Blog), I figured it would be a good time to do some kimono hime with some vintage kimono. Truly, the only vintage kimono I own are these two. Pretty (well, and one is crazy...) but both are BLUE. And I found so many kimono with blue as the predominant color in this search. But the one I ended up purchasing caught my eye because it was 1. NOT blue, and 2. the diamonds make it look kind of like a big playing card.

I also grabbed this juban since I own none with longer sleeves.

Now I have to figure out how to coordinate the kimono... =)

Chanoyu Juban and Brown Obiage

Sorry it's been so long since the last post! I had to move fairly suddenly, and I GOT ENGAGED!! So, real-life things had to take precedence for a little while.

Anyway, I saw this men's juban the other night and decided it would be a mistake to let it go. It's large for a vintage piece, and it has chanoyu (tea ceremony) implements on it as well as some nice shibori. I hope it will fit Josh nicely.

Since I knew I'd be paying the shipping anyway, I slipped an obiage in on this order. This nice warm metallic brown color should fit nicely with the fall ensembles coming up.

Beige Sha Komon, Red Mandarin Duck Ro Obi, and 2 New Juban

I am definitely anticipating summer (as seen in past posts), and here's another summer purchase! The first item is a beige sha komon with hana design from Shinei.

The second is a red(-ish) ro nagoya obi with Mandarin duck design from Ichiroya. This was one of those items that I saw and immediately knew I had to have it!

I am glad I found both of these items today because nearly all of the summer kimono and obi I own are shades of blue or white/cream. While those tones feel cool in the sweltering summer heat, I really wanted some variety. =)

Last, I ordered 2 juban off Rakuten. The first is just a simple white ro juban. I have a ro juban, but it's too small for most of my summer kimono.



The second juban is a washable one, but the selling point was the color and design: black (which I've never seen on a whole juban) and cherry blossoms.

Mamechiyo is my muse! ;D

So like I said in the last post, I have been looking to Mamechiyo for inspiration. Their "Puzzle" line has been quite interesting, as I have been into simple geometrics lately. I think I have come up with an idea for a late spring/early summer ensemble this year. I want to make a juban with lavender polka dots and a kimono with wide buttery-yellow stripes. The picture on their juban page is my muse for this. I want to make it all hitoe for the warmer season. I am not ready to try to make a ro kimono as that type of fabric can be tricky to deal with, so I may not have anything to wear for July through August except yukata, but I'm not going to be doing anything fancy anyway. I think I will make a han eri of the a complementing color to the juban and obi. The reason I chose the yellow/purple combo is because they are my favorite colors. And, I don't own a yellow kimono. Also, I want to make instead of buy for several reasons: 1) I can't afford Mamechiyo, 2) I don't want to wait forever to find something like this on eBay or another site (which might also turn out to be too expensive), 3) I am tall and hard to fit in most kimono, 4) I want something modern, 5) I need hitoe, 6) I might make more to sell if it turns out well, 7) I want longer sleeves (but not furisode) because I love that retro feel. Retro-modern. I like it! :) So anyway, the pictures below represent my ideas for the patterns:


Of course, they will not be exactly like this. The obi/juban/haneri could be darker with light spots, for example. I just hope it still looks nice. :)

New Beauties!

I won a few new items yesterday on eBay. I really needed all of the items, and I got everything for a steal! The first and most important thing I won was a pair of white size L zori. These are vinyl and will match for almost any occasion!


Next, I got a white, pink, and light blue juban with 22 inch (56 cm) sodetake, because the orange tsukesage I own has longer sode, therefore not fitting my other juban with shorter sode.







Then, I got a pink obiage with sakura blossoms embroidered on it. I needed a color that would coordinate with many different outfits, so I figured that a light pink would be just the thing. Now I need a pink obijime to match. I'm on the hunt right now! XD



Last, a package of gold mizuhiki for my kanzashi creations.







Probably the best buy of the whole thing was the obiage. I only paid $1.80 for it! I am really surprised that I didn't get outbid on it, especially since my max bid was only $5, but hey, I'm not complaining! The shoes were also a shock, because everyone wants plain white zori. I only paid $8 for those. Another surprise because they are a size L which is harder to find. This same seller had them for $30 on his website, so I saved a lot by winning the bid. I just can't wait until all my things arrive, but since they are coming SAL, I expect it to take a while. :(