Belated Post - Birthday Kitsuke

I did this coordination about a month ago, but forgot to post it here. I decided to do a coordination for my birthday, and I chose to use several new items. The beige kimono (one of my "bucket list" kimono!) is a cotton-linen blend and is so comfortable! The obi has big peonies that remind me of a Georgia O'Keeffe painting. I chose turquoise accessories for this particular coordination, but I think it would be a match for other colors as well. The obi is tied in tsunodashi musubi, and since the obi has no core, it's a little more curved than I would like, but oh well. 

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Several new purchases and mannequin kitsuke with new obi

I decided to do some kitsuke on my sewing mannequin the other day so I could practice with the new obi that my husband bought for me. The first one is a reversible cotton hanhaba. I love the simplicity of the dots and stripes in black and white! 

And here is the kitsuke I did with it. This musubi was kind of made up as I went along, but based on many I have seen in the past.

Kimono de Jack Memphis: An Attempt at Revival

After some discussion with fellow kimono enthusiasts around the world, I want to try again to get Kimono de Jack going regularly in the Memphis area. It's a great opportunity to wear kimono with fellow enthusiasts. Sometimes we go to Japanese-themed events; other times we have done things like going to the zoo. Suggestions for events are always welcome as well. If you like kimono, please consider joining! 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kdjmemphis
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Memphis_jack001
Webpage: http://kdjmemphis.webs.com.

Valentine's Day 2016

My husband and I never do much for Valentine's Day (hectic and too commercial), but I did want to wear kimono today. Today's outfit is a cotton kimono with grey ichimatsu pattern, pink chirimen obi with ume design, red chirimen haneri, red chirimen obiage with sparkly hearts, purple and white lace sanbuhimo, purple rose obidome, and purple tabi. The obiage is done in a style more like what one would wear with furisode, but I really wanted to show off the hearts!

No pictures of my face or hair because it all looked terrible, haha!

First Tea Ceremony Presentation of 2016

Even though our tea ceremony group is much more casual than others in the USA, we still try to have hatsugama every year. Due to our sensei's schedule, we were unable to hold the event this year unfortunately. (For those who don't know, our sensei moved to the east coast a few years ago and has been flying back about once per month to teach us.) However, we were asked to do a presentation for the Oishii Japan food event. Sensei had originally planned to fly in and lead the presentation, but with the blizzard last week, his flight was cancelled. I was asked to lead in his place.

I have done several of these kinds of presentations in the past, so I wasn't too nervous from a stage-fright standpoint. But since I had surgery back in December, I have not been able to practice very much. I felt rusty, and that's what actually made me nervous. Despite my fears, the presentation went very well. My husband provided narration (since this group was unfamiliar with tea ceremony) and one of our other members was my main guest. Two other members assisted some in the background.

And now on to the pictures! I was really excited to wear this iromuji. I bought it last year, but I was waiting for the perfect time to wear it. This event fit the bill in my opinion. The colors in my own crappy iPhone pictures are very washed out, but the two of the actual presentation taken by Frank Chin are very true-to-life.

First Post-Surgery Kitsuke!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to wear kimono for the first time since my surgery back in December. Because I was working in the dealer's room at our local anime convention, I wanted to wear something comfortable. I chose the red denim kimono with the cream kitty hanhaba obi. I tied the obi in a simple kai no kuchi, secured with a black obijime with little red threads. The haneri is a plain black chirimen, and the obi kazari is my little purple kokeshi charm. The purple tabi are ones that I recently dyed, and I'm happy to report that there were no color bleeding or fading issues! The zori have a black vinyl bottom with blue and brown plaid hanao. It's only barely visible at the back of the sleeves, but you might spy my black nagajuban - one of my favorites for its unique color.

While I feel like I did fairly well with my kitsuke despite the long hiatus and new kimono, the issue I did have to deal with (fairly unsuccessfully) was my surgical site. You probably can't see it in the pictures (I can only just see it myself), but it's on the front right side of my neck (about 3 inches long). The skin there is still very sensitive and fragile, so placing the collars was a major challenge. In the end, I had to show less haneri in order to get it in a fairly comfortable spot. I still had issues with it rubbing, but it was fine most of the day. I have a tea ceremony presentation to assist with this coming weekend, so I'll have to try again and hope it all looks ok!

"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!