Month: July 2019

Showa Fabulous Christmas in July

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It’s still hotter than the surface of the sun here in Montreal, but I was determined to see if I could turn my han-darari tsuke obi into a passable fukura suzume bow in preparation for the Otakuthon fashion show. I figured while I had the mannequin and obi out, I may as well go all-in and change her outfit. This isn’t going to be a full outfit in the show but it’s good practice and visualisation for something that’s in the works.

The obi has such a gorgeously shiny showa fabulous feel to it that it felt like the perfect time to bust out my precious post-war kiku houmongi. I went with gold, red, and green accessories, and while I worried initially that the outfit would feel Christmassy, it actually worked out really well. Besides, Christmas in July might help me feel a little bit cooler!

As for the obi experiment, it definitely worked in theory. I just need a few more himo to make things a little tidier, but I’ll definitely be able to pull it off properly for the show on a real model, and I’m thrilled.

Items used in this coordination

Say Hello to Akane!

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Everyone, please say hello to Akane!

I found this little lady on a shelf at my favourite vintage shop. She’s not particularly old; she’s made of a sort of soft vinyl instead of ceramic and gofun, and seems relatively mass-produced. Nonetheless I was utterly charmed by her and knew I had to bring her home. I was drawn immediately by her bright red kimono, which inspired me to name her Akane (茜), which means deep red and is a traditional girls’ name.

Unfortunately that kimono was pretty much all she had! There was a piece of cardboard wrapped in pink satin tied around her waist like a sort of obi, and a scraggly little piece of twine in her hair, but she had no real accessories or anything, so I decided to make her some custom pieces as well as give her a bit of a glow-up. I did take photos of the whole process, but since it was done more to relax and unwind I took the photos on my phone, wherever I happened to be working so I apologise for the quality and messy background of some of these.

Her face shape is adorable, but it felt very flat due to a lack of shading. She did have some pink blush on her cheeks but aside from that, she honestly looked like a cute potato. She also had lower eyelashes but no upper ones, and nearly invisible eyebrows. Using a combination of actual cosmetics and chalk pastels I gave her some shadows and contouring, deepened the flush on her cheeks, and gave her eyelashes and more defined eyebrows. It’s a subtle change, but she’s gone from a potato to a peach. You can also see the false eri I sewed for her to give the impression of a proper under-layer.

Next up was fixing her hair. Her bangs were quite uneven, but much worse was her hair in the back. I’m not sure if someone tried to trim her hair at some point or if she was made this way, but her hair was very lopsided in the back! I straightened it out and snipped away any broken or kinked hairs I could find. Then I tucked these cute little plum blossoms Kansai_gal sent me. They’re actually from packaging or something but I like that I’ve given them a second life. Since her head is vinyl I was able to just push a straight pin through them and they’re very solidly anchored in there.

With the cosmetic aspects taken care of, I got to work giving her a proper obi. I used some scrap kimono fabric and sewed a cute little tsuke-obi, and used some of the same textured white fabric from the eri to make an obiage. The whole thing attaches with a magnet and then a length of gold cord works as an obijime. Her socks are a bit of a cheat – they’re simply two fingers off a pair of white cotton polishing gloves! They fit her more perfectly than anything I could have sewn.

I’ve never named a doll I’ve fixed up before, but none of them have captivated me nearly as much as this little girl has. All the others reside in a display cabinet but she lives on my bedside table. Maybe I should sew a little zabuton for her to sit on. XD

Serene Celadon Ikebana

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Today’s arrangement is a very simple, clean, and summery trio of clematis in serene celadon vases. The vases are all different shapes, but the colours are very close and I think that really helps the whole thing stay balanced. It doesn’t just look like I grabbed three random containers; it feels thoughtful and intentional. I love the repeated triangular shapes formed by the flowers and vases so much I chose to display it on a mirror, to echo that repetition even further. It also adds a watery feel that encourages the cool fresh summer vibe I was hoping to achieve. Overall, I’m very pleased with this one.

That wasn’t initially the case though! Just as a reminder that sometimes, things don’t work out and your best course of action is to come back later. Here was the original arrangement and photo I took yesterday, where the flowers were too crowded by foliage and you couldn’t even see the tall vase. I debated about posting it as-is, but I was unhappy with it and I’m glad I tried again. Also, if you’re like me and you’ve got trypophobia just be warned that photo has a particularly pock-marked side of the really earthy vase exposed. That might be part of why it displeased me so much!

Masculine & Feminine

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Yet another lull in content lately, and I do apologise. There’s a couple of reasons for it. The weather continues to be swampy misery, and it’s often too hot to do anything productive. More excitingly though, I’m happy to share that I’ll be styling some modern kimono street fashion outfits at the Otakuthon Harajuku Fashion Show this year! Unfortunately, what this means is that the bulk of my free time for the next few weeks, as well as most of my kimono-related motivation, will be focusing on getting ready for that. However, I didn’t want to just let the poor mannequin languish and not bring you guys new content for six weeks, so I was determined to do something fun today.

I’ve had this obi for years, it was tossed into my share of the huge obi bundle way back when. It’s such an odd little piece; very masculine feeling, and quite slippery in texture. I genuinely think it was a men’s juban that someone converted into an obi. I chose to pair it with this pussywillow komon because it feels graphic and elegant but still very feminine due to the pastel colours on the fuzzy flower buds. More pink and blue get pulled out by the accessories, which feels nice and cohesive to me. It’s a very subtle and quiet outfit, but a very effective one, I think.

Items used in this coordination