"12 Days of Kimono" - Day 12

It's finally day 12 of the "12 Days of Kimono"! The obi and kimono for this Christmas day ensemble were chosen by Jo Marta Żukowska! Thank you helping to choose this coordination! I wanted this ensemble to be "shiny and bright" but also classic enough to be worn to more ceremonious events. The green crested iromuji is paired with a black and grey nagoya obi. Though the lighter parts are indeed grey, they give the appearance of silver. The obiage is a bright poinsettia red with a cute glittery heart pattern. In keeping with traditional Christmas symbols, the obidome resembles a poinsettia. The obijime is all silver thread. The haneri is a silver and black ichimatsu pattern. The small clutch is one I have had for years. While not originally meant for kimono, its small size and glittery red fabric are suitable for more formal occasions. The red patent zori are the finishing touch on this ensemble.

Thank you for keeping up with all 12 days! With having surgery and recovery during most of this time, it has been a real challenge to create these ensembles. Many thanks go out to those who have assisted, especially my dear husband who helped move all of the heavy things since I am on a weight lifting restriction during my recovery.

I hope you all have a happy holiday and a wonderful new year!

"12 Days of Kimono" - Days 7 through 11

I was out for surgery and recovery from December 17th, and I realized that I did not schedule posts for the days 7 though 11 ensembles. I did schedule them on Facebook, however, so I will post the links below. Sorry about that!

Day 7 - https://www.facebook.com/AsagiriKimono/posts/997960026940256
Day 8 - https://www.facebook.com/AsagiriKimono/posts/997962823606643
Day 9 - https://www.facebook.com/AsagiriKimono/posts/997965450273047
Day 10 - https://www.facebook.com/AsagiriKimono/posts/997968613606064
Day 11 - https://www.facebook.com/AsagiriKimono/posts/997970023605923

"12 Days of Kimono" - Day 6

Day 6 of the "12 Days of Kimono"! I jokingly named this very casual ensemble "flannel pajamas" because it's very woodsy and cozy looking to me. To be honest, I was tempted to pair it with fuzzy slippers! With this coordination, I focused on two opposite colors - orange and blue.The brown lattice patterned komon is paired with a deep orange heko obi tied in a cute bow, with a blue beaded obikazari made by me. The haneri is navy with a pattern of sakura, momiji, sensu, and yukiwa - fit for most of the year. Since the ensemble is so casual, I chose wooden geta with blue polka dot hanao for the footwear.

"12 Days of Kimono" - Day 5

Day 5 of the "12 Days of Kimono"! This ensemble is a very formal one with a red furisode featuring waves, carts, lucky motifs, and LOTS of flowers. The obi is a heavy black rokutsuu fukuro with a karabana design. For the obiage, I chose a deep blue-purple shibori one with gold flecks (it shows up more blue in the pictures). The round obijime is half gold and half silver. It personally reminds me of the garland on a Christmas tree. The zori follow suit in gold with red bottoms. For the final touches of formality, a black glittery date-eri and cream embroidered haneri were chosen.

"12 Days of Kimono" - Day 4

Day 4 of the "12 Days of Kimono"! Often with the cold weather, I like to choose darker tones for a feeling of warmth. This ensemble is the complete opposite! All of these pastel colors remind me of candy! A yukiwa covered lavender komon is paired with a green gingham nagoya obi. The obiage and sanbuhimo are a sweet baby pink. To replicate the pattern of the kimono, the obidome has faux pearls in the shape of a snowflake. Hanao with multicolor leaves have fluffy snow covers to keep the toes warm outside. For one more element of sweetness, I also included a pink handkerchief with a maneki neko and ume design.

"12 Days of Kimono" - Day 3

Day 3 of the "12 Days of Kimono"! The kimono and obi were selected by Sekita Schack Rubeksen - thank you for your lovely choices! This is a striped tsumugi kimono and a cream obi with multicolor geometric design. The simple kimono and obi promoted me to choose bright colored accessories to keep it from looking too plain. The obiage is a turquoise blue with an ichimatsu pattern. The obijime is a raspberry color. The zori are a deep purple, and to match this (and for fun!), I chose a purple kokeshi doll obikazari.

"12 Days of Kimono" - Day 2

Day 2 of the "12 Days of Kimono"! This ensemble is fit for the coldest winter days - particularly in January and February with this komon's ume pattern. The nagoya obi is cream and green hakata, with a red round obijime, and a grey-tan obiage. Brown zori have fuzzy snow covers to keep the toes warm. A deep orange scarf helps to also hold in the warmth. The obikazari was a small gift from my husband - a cute little turtle!

"12 Days of Kimono" - Day 1

The first coordination is fairly simple, but it leaves a lot of room for accessorizing - especially with Western accessories like boots, hats, and scarves! The kimono is red denim with a cute polka dot interior. The navy hanhaba obi has a design of sparkly bells that feel festive, even though this ensemble is quite casual. The sanbuhimo is purple ribbon and white lace with a clear oval gem obidome. The zori have a black base with blue and brown gingham hanao.

12 Days of Kimono Christmas Challenge

With Christmas coming, I'd like to do a "12 Days of Kimono" - but I want you to help me choose the ensembles! They can be anything you choose as long as the obi and kimono are both of the same season. Please check my Flickr albums and then post your choices. You can also suggest accessories! I can't wait to see what you choose!

Kimono:https://flickr.com/phot…/24213967@N05/sets/72157626797320268

Obi: https://flickr.com/phot…/24213967@N05/sets/72157626672600689

Kimono Challenge #6

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.

I absolutely love kimono (of course), so it will be easier to answer what I like about kimono versus what I don't like. I love that even though all kimono are the same basic shape, the wide variety of colors and patterns make it so that you have limitless options in coordination. Add formality and sleeve length changes and that's even more options. It's so much fun to me to sit down and try to coordinate outfits for different occasions. Also, adding new and different types of kimono to my collection is part of the draw of kimono. I love how when I go out in public (even to Japanese events), it's eye-catchingly different. I always love how even the Japanese ladies that I do tea ceremony with always marvel over the fact that 1. I can dress myself, and 2. I'm a Westerner dressing myself. I love how kimono make anyone look sophisticated, and it brings an air of gentility to even the most casual of situations. It often feels like you're going back in time while wearing kimono. They make me feel elegant when I'm wearing them, when normally I'm a clumsy fool. Last, I love how so many things in Japanese culture revolve around the kimono, whether we recognize it or not. For example, in tea ceremony, many of the movements are done so that a kimono's sleeve will be out of the way or as not the sully a clean kimono. Without wearing a kimono while practicing, the subtle nuance of those movements is lost.

Now for what I don't like... I don't like that most kimono are far too small for me, especially vintage pieces. I either have to get very lucky, buy TL sizes from dealers on Rakuten, or have things custom-made. The costs increase quickly due to the increased amount of fabric needed. I also don't like that it's not an easy hobby for many people to get into (due to cost and practice time) and most people will not have the willpower to learn to do kitsuke properly. It's also hard to do many daily tasks while wearing kimono. Sadly, the kimono is not a functional garment for today's society.

Kimono Challenge #4 & #5

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.

#4
My least used kimono items... Well, that would be pretty much all of my formal kimono. I rarely have an occassion to use them, unless I break formality rules. I find I use the formal ones mostly for practicing kitsuke and occassionally at conventions when I feel I can bend the rules and no one will notice.

#5
The first ensemble I thought of when I saw this question was my cat komon and teal gingham obi with the pumpkin colored obiage as an accent. I mostly copied the model that I saw this kimono on, but I added my own touches with the rose obidome, green sakura haneri, and the black sakura juban. It's a fun, modern touch to see something as different as a black juban peeking from the back of the sleeves!

Another favorite ensemble is this winter hime piece from a couple of years ago. The dark colors are sophisticated, and the western accesories make it look oh so warm in the chilly weather.

Kimono Challenge #3

On to Kimono Challenge #3!

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.

#3
I laughed when I was trying to answer this question. Without a doubt, some of my obiage and obijime get used more than any other kimono item, but doesn't obiage count as underwear? And obijime as a dressing item (since it is essential in many musubi to hold it together)? I'm going to just say that dressing items and undergarments includes juban, koshi himo, datejime, etc., and not obiage and obijime, for simplicity's sake. My most used obiage are likely my macha green one and pink one with sakura.

  

Though more recently I've come to favor other colors, those are my go-to pieces since they match well with several of my ensembles when nothing else will. My most used obijime is hands-down my white sanbuhimo. It matches nearly everything and allows me to use any obidome I have.

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.