Tag: tabi

Some new komono

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Nothing terribly exciting for today, I’m afraid. I’ve just been trying to focus on buying things I need, instead of things I just want. And right now, I need more accessories. Luckily, I’ve found some great deals on really cute things lately.

Purple and red obiage

Kansai_gal snagged these for me, and I’m very grateful. Admittedly, I thought the purple one would be blue, but I didn’t have a casual purple one yet so it’s not the end of the world. However, I still need a blue obiage. XD

Embroidered stretch tabi

With feet my size, it’s always exciting to find interesting tabi that fit and aren’t the knit sport type. These may be subtle, but they’re adorable nonetheless.

Purple tachibana haneri

I love purple, and I love tachibana. What else do I need to say here? XD

Gold saganishiki obijime

A nice, simple, dressy obijime. It’ll be good for kurotomesode kitsuke, I think.

Gold saganishiki obijime with red accents

Similar to the above, but with hits of red. Nice thing about these is that they’re all good for obidome.

Reversible gold and green obijime

I love the pop of acid green on the back of this, it contrasts so nicely with the fairly traditional gold and red on the front side.

Black and white check flat obijime

I love love love this obijime. So much. Like, I can’t even express it. It was part of a bundle, including all the subsequent ones in this entry, and I bid totally just to get this one. I love the adorable country charm of it, and it also works with obidome! I also love the weird chartreuse colour on the reverse side.

Pink, blue, and brown obijime

This one was a bit of a surprise. I thought it was simply cream, blue, and brown, but when it arrived I saw that the solid half of it is actually a really soft, charming pink.

Blue and sparkly obijime

This was another pleasant surprise – the blue side is very cute, accented with little bumps of darker blue, but the reverse is actually white with tiny metallic blue flecks!

Putrid yellow-green round obijime

This is… how can I put this delicately? This is definitely not my favourite one. It was part of the bundle and I’m sure I’ll find a use for it eventually, but it’s such an awkward, bilious colour. I might end up dyeing it, I don’t know. I can’t even imagine selling it alone, honestly.

Sock it to me!

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As with everything else when it comes to kimono, “normal” accessories just aren’t good enough. 😉 Due to the thong-like nature of traditional zori shoes, a sock with a separated toe area is necessary. These socks are referred to as tabi, and are very much like conventional toe-socks but with the smaller toes all connected. Another apt comparison would be mittens for your feet.

Typical standard tabi are solid white. For formal events white tabi are a necessity, and there isn’t much room for experimentation. However, when it comes to more modern or casual ensembles, a pair of fun coloured tabi can make all the difference, much like coloured haneri. I have several pairs of white tabi in varying levels of formality, from stretch cotton to solid thick ones with the hooks up the back (known as kohaze), but really – white socks are white socks, right? It’s the fun ones that are worth sharing!

Formal black tabi with daschunds
Daschund tabi
Yet again, my friend Kansai_gal’s loss was my gain. She got these but they turned out to be too big for her so she sent them to me. They are perfectly at home on my freakishly large feet. They’re also a bit of an oddity in that they’re clearly goofy casual tabi, but they’re seamed hard cotton with four kohaze up the ankle, which is typical construction of formal white tabi.

Stretch tabi with multiple florals
Patterned stretch tabi
These are some adorable stretchy tabi with tons of flowers (fuji, kiku, tachibana). These are also nice and versatile, since the colours are so neutral.

Stretch tabi in solid colours with insert panels
Stretch tabi with inserts
These are some of my favourite tabi. I have a green pair *somewhere* but I have no idea where they are currently. I may just cave in and buy a new pair XD They go with almost everything, and I love how subtle they are. They work really well with very busy kimono, since they coordinate but don’t compete. I also apologize for the high volume of cat hair in this photo – these have a slightly brushed texture that attracts lint and hair like a magnet!

Pink lace stretch tabi
Pink lace tabi
These are sheer lace and they go great with my navy ro kimono with the pink flowers, but they’re also very useful for layering over top of the solid tabi posted above, for adding an extra soft girly touch. I did this when I wore my furisode recently.

I know I said earlier that I was going to focus more on special, rare items but I think I may have to splurge on some more tabi in the near future 😉