2017 Year in Kimono

Here is my year in kimono! My outfits were few this year due to being a new mom, and there were several only done on the mannequin since I couldn’t wear them in the first months after my son was born. The first one I wore this year is the only one I wore in later pregnancy (the brown and black ume komon). I also made and altered several kimono and obi this year. Next year, I hope to do a little more, and maybe there will be more children’s kimono soon!

Memphis Japan Festival 2018

After a few years hiatus, the Memphis Japan Festival returned! I had two coordinations for the festival as I did dance as well as tea ceremony. I wore a lilac summer iromuji for my sadō presentation, which was first in the morning, and then I switched to my handmade yukata for bon odori. 

I don't have the pictures here, but the baby got to wear his "yukata" one last time before he outgrew it. I guess I'll need bigger sizes for him soon!

Yukata Coordination App for iPhone Review - 浴衣合わせ

App Name: 浴衣合わせ (Yukata Coordination)

Creator: Sanyo Co, Ltd.

Screenshots

Coordination page

Options
1. Completed coordination
2. Purchase items (sample items may be available for sale)
3. Delete images (only those you've added)

Completed look

The yukata coordination app is basically a lite version of the kimono coordination app, so most of the pros and cons are the same. There aren't as many pages or options, so if all you want is to see how an obi/kimono combination will look, this might be the better app regardless of whether or not you are trying to coordinate yukata or more formal items.

Pros

• Able to see items in kimono silhouette
• Can save completed looks to phone
• Free
• Mostly self-explanatory and some English so little to no Japanese language is required for coordination functions

Cons

• Slow to load
• High res pictures needed for the best final images
• Shading on completed looks can distort colors
• Can't delete sample coordination items (can actually buy some of these from the app)
• Can be too easy to accidentally delete your items
• Can't coordinate accessories

Getting caught up...

I forgot to post a few things here that happened in the last month or so. First, after I finished this handmade kimono, I tried to make a few more; this time from tanmono. The first is a poly ro komon, and the second is a cotton yukata. I wanted to style the yukata before posting pictures of it in its finished form, so this is just a shot of the okumi seam so you can see the progress. (I hope you'll forgive any sewing issues, especially on the poly komon, as the fabric was difficult to work with, and I'm definitely not a professional!)

I'm having a really difficult time trying to figure out what obi to use with the yukata. I guess it's just so neutral that almost anything would work, so I guess it just depends on what kind of look I'm going for, but I'm still lost...

On anther note, my son also got to experience his first tea ceremony class. And by "experience", I mean that he largely slept through it! 💤 

And you know I just had to have him wear something appropriate, so I got this little yukata-like onesie with crabs on it. 😆

Yukata for Belated Gofuku no Hi 2017

I missed Gofuku no Hi since I was out of town and sick (still sick though), so here's my super late contribution! This townscape yukata arrived today so I paired it with a reversible red and black kingyo hanhaba obi. This musubi required an obijime, so I used a green and white checkerboard sanbuhimo with a silver dragonfly obidome.

Hydrangea Yukata and Too Small Heko Obi

Today's kitsuke was a lesson in problem solving! I ordered a heko obi for this yukata, and the dimensions were listed incorrectly. Instead of the adult size that was listed, I received a child's size... It was a good buy so I figured it was not worth returning. At first I thought I might just use it as a puchi-heko obi or even for fabric, but then I decided to see if I could find a way to tie it. One of my favorite books (ファブリック帯の本) has many ways to tie heko obi, including using long scarves, so I modeled it after those musubi. I also used a hanhaba obi tying tool (kind of like biyosugata but for hanhaba) to help provide support. I hope you like it!

End of Summer Review

With today being the first day of autumn, I thought I'd look back and talk about my two favorite purchases this past summer.

In the early half of the summer, I finally found a shibori yukata that was large enough for me. It was even better that it was purple! I often find that I only wear an item once per season - if at all - but I wore this three times (which is saying something when you don't wear kimono every day)! The color is just fabulous, and the comfort level is incomparable. Though I spent more than I probably should have on a single piece, it will probably pay for itself just by the number of times I will wear it.

Image and product from Ichiroya

My other favorite purchase is probably a little unlikely. While I found many beautiful things over the summer, this is not one of them! In fact, you wouldn't see it at all when worn. 

Your First Kimono

When I do presentations, people often ask me about what they should be looking for when they are looking into buying their first kimono. Now after doing the last reflective post, I'd like to offer my advice on purchasing your first kimono. Please note that this is only my opinion on these matters, and there are many schools of thought here. Whatever you decide to do, my biggest piece of advice is to do your research on everything possible before you buy. Most experienced kimono enthusiasts will tell you that they have an early purchase that they regret! Hopefully, this advice will help you feel more comfortable in making your first purchase.


1. What type should I buy?
I know that people are often drawn to kimono because of the bright, bold patterns they see, but what I find most frequently is that they are looking at furisode (the long-sleeved young woman's kimono). Furisode are easily one of the most complicated kimono to tie, and I strongly recommend that you do not make it your first purchase. There also seems to be a pattern of people wanting kurotomesode (ceremonial black kimono with pattern below hem only) for a first kimono (I actually wanted one for my first as well!). This type of kimono is ultra-formal for married women. While lovely, it's hard to tie and also difficult to find appropriate occasions for. I strongly recommend familiarizing yourself with the types of kimono out there before you buy.

Truly, I think the best kimono to start with is the yukata. It's one layer, usually cotton, and often washable. They also won't break the bank (usually) and come in a variety of patterns that will suit almost anyone's taste. The obi types used with the yukata are more simple to tie than those that will be used with other types of kimono. It is also needs fewer accessories (see question #4).

First Yukata Kitsuke of 2015

My new yukata arrived yesterday, so I did a quick coordination with it. I used a black hanhaba obi with a shibori tatewaku pattern on it. It's rather short so the musubi is kind of small. I added a little dragonfly obi kazari and posed with my new woven bag. (Please ignore my hair and makeup, because it's just what I had on from work that day.)

 I'm so glad that warm weather is finally here, and I can do more kitsuke such as this!

Kimono Buys Over the Last Several Months

I've been bad about not sharing my new acquisitions over the last several months. Here's a quick summary of some of the ones I forgot to post!

 Grey colored line pattern hitoe komon

Navy and white yukata

 

Pink sakura pattern furisode

Brown lattice pattern komon

Black zakuro pattern ro komon

Grey striped ro men's hakama

 

Burgundy ro men's kimono

Bingata tsumugi nagoya obi

Chain pattern odori obi

Geometric pattern hitoe komon

Yabane and Kikyo Yukata

I said no new yukata this year... I failed myself... (^-^*)

Most of the designs from my favorite sellers this year have been too bold for me, but this one struck a chord with my sensibilities. Oh, and there's kikyo on it...

I think I may pair it with my kingyo hanhaba obi. This yukata is nearly monochromatic and doesn't pack much of a punch, but that obi sure does! Without seeing them side by side in the same light, it's hard to tell just yet if the colors will be ok together, but since they play off orange tones, they may be a decent match.

May and June Kitsuke Dump

I haven't posted any kitsuke pictures for a while, but I have been taking them! (Note: some of these pictures are sideways. While I righted the images before I uploaded them, Blogger keeps putting them the wrong direction. Go figure...)

At the very end of May, I wore this ensemble: a grey hitoe komon with water design and raspberry susuki and dewdrop design nagoya obi. I chose blue accessories to play on the water theme:

In the middle of June, we did one of our monthly "basic" tea ceremony classes. (We do demonstrations of tea ceremony for beginners, and if time allows, we do extra practice to hone our skills for our next class with our sensei.) I wore a green sha komon with ivy leaves and a cream fukuro obi with kikyo design. I used pink accessories in this kitsuke.

 My husband took some pictures of me while I was performing (these are from later in the ceremony):

Picking up the second chawan (tea bowl)

Cleaning the chawan

Adding matcha to the chawan

Putting extra water back in the kama (kettle)

Whisking the matcha

At the end of June, I was a guest at Anime Blues Con with my group Tsuki no Ie Okiya. We had a VIP meet and greet to attend, so we all wore yukata. I chose my favorite one, black with kingyo design, and a cream sha hanhaba obi with silver lamé.

It's not in the pictures, but I also wore a tonbo obikazari. In the musubi picture, you can also see the uchiwa I carried.

I will try to upload more kitsuke pictures from this summer!