Par For the Course

As you may have noticed, it’s become a bit of a thing for me to dress house-guests in kimono. Several months ago, my dear friend Dino of Alternative Vegan came to stay with me. Our friend Frances came by as well, and I had the pleasure of subjecting them both to the blissful discomfort of kitsuke 😉

I had fun playing with gender conventions here. Dino has a very fabulous and flamboyant personal style, so I put him in a woman’s kimono and obi but dressed in a manly style, similar to my own experiments in otoko-poi style years ago. You’ll notice that he’s wearing the same Victorian Gothic London houmongi that Elise wore when she visited. This tends to be a popular one with guests; I suppose the motif is both quirky and familiar, which makes it accessible to people who aren’t really used to kimono yet.

Frances is wearing a woman’s kimono and obi, but with a very neutral, muted palette and no accessories. They are also much tinier than I am, and even my smallest kimono ended up being big and a little awkward to work with, especially since I have been out of practice so long. Alas! At least they both had fun 😀

Dino’s laughter is infectious, by the way. I don’t think our house has been consistently so full of random crack-ups as it was when he was visiting.

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