Oishii Japan 2018

I wore kimono for tea ceremony presentation at a local event today. I chose a purple iromuji, cream taiko gara fukuro obi with karabana design, pink obijime, dark purple and blue obiage, and pink zori. (I've been playing with a new selfie stick/tripod/bluetooth remote, so the posing isn't quite on point yet.)

More photos of the event were captured by Frank Chin, a talented local photographer. There's a few of us performing tea ceremony during the event. Please click here to see them!

My Portrait!

This lovely portrait of me was made by the talented Merrie Go Art - Melanie Georgiou! I'm just awestruck! 🤩

image copyright Melanie Georgiou

🤩

NYE Tea Ceremony

I got invited to a last-minute New Year's Eve tea ceremony at a dear friend's house. It was a casual affair, and since a few of us have babies, they were invited as well. :) They both behaved surprisingly well for the most part (although they both got a little fussy during usucha). It was such a lovely time, and I hope I get more opportunities like this in the future.

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!

Simplification of kimono?

I'm not going to lie, as I have become a busy mom, I have tried to find ways to make kitsuke quicker and easier. I have always disliked two-piece kimono because they rarely ever look as neat as a regular kimono, but this one seems better than the others. I'm thinking of making my own prototype similar to this to see how it works on myself and maybe just to have that quick "go-to" outfit when I'm in a time crunch, and it's not a formal situation. I actually already own the t-shirt juban she wears (and it works surprisingly well!) and I've strongly debated converting some of my more damaged obi to the type she wears here.

 How do you feel about this kind of kimono? Would you wear it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g9vs4I0qHg

First Fudangi Friday

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

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!