Category: Mannequin Coordinations

Gothic Elegance

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Monochrome outfits that focus on texture and light have always caught my attention, but pieces like that don’t tend to show up on the secondary market very often. I decided I would just go ahead and work with what I’ve got, and I’m very glad I did! It was a bear to take photos of, and they don’t show the depth and richness of all these blacks and textures combined, but hopefully the close-ups help a bit.

I started with my juban with the black ruffle trim, which pretty much determined the colour of my outfit. I have to admit, it made my inner goth very happy. The mofuku kimono is smooth and solid, but it’s such a rich silk that it has an almost reflective quality which brings in another layer of tones and textures. I also added a black lace collar underneath everything, which adds to that gothic Victorian vibe and works so well. I really love the look of a lace collar under kimono and I’m glad I’ve invested in a black one now.

I bought a roll of eyelet lace and temporarily affixed it to a mofuku obi for another layer of lacy texture, and I could not love how it turned out more. I want to do it to a bunch of other obi now where it’s more visible. Black obiage and obijime finish off the outfit.

I’m not thrilled with how poofy the ohashori is here, because there’s so much excess fabric from the hiked-up hem of the kimono, but aside from that everything turned out exactly how I’d pictured it in my mind!

Items used in this coordination

The Seventies called; they want their outfit back

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I haven’t used this gorgeous showa-fabulous houmongi Sophie got me for my birthday a while back anywhere near frequently enough. I decided to have some fun with it today, and realised this obi (which I nearly sold! what was I thinking?) is the absolute perfect seventies-style match for it.

As timeless as the shape of a kimono may be, the patterns and colours are just as susceptible to trends as western clothing is. This particular shade of orange, especially paired with gold, and the big warm-toned and almost pop-art flowers, are very emblematic of the middle of the second half of the Showa era, from the late 60s to the early 80s. I could just as easily see this general colour and pattern scheme on a polyester pantsuit as I could on this particular coordination.

I decided to keep things relatively quiet with the accessories, since the kimono and obi are so flashy already. This soft leafy green picks up the green accents in the design so it seemed like the best choice, but the obijime did get a bit lost against the obi. Then I remembered this padded, decorative little cord I picked up at the Daiso last time I was in California. It’s a bit too thin and delicate to be a functional obijime by itself but it’s absolutely perfect wrapped around as an accent. The black and bold colours just call back to the kimono so well and I’m so happy I remembered I had it!

Items used in this coordination

Cozy quilting and cute kanzashi

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Now that I’m back in Montreal and settled in, it’s time to get back in the groove. What better way to start than with pieces I acquired while I was in California? Ohio Kimono shared these on facebook and I just fell hard. I’m not generally drawn to casual pieces like this lately, but they’re both so unique that I couldn’t resist. The kimono may look like patchwork but it’s actually woven wool like this. The obi is utterly charming with lots of little kanzashi on it. I thought the warm muted tones suited each other really well so I decided to put them together. The outfit did feel a bit heavy though, so I introduced some yellow accessories to brighten things up a little. I think it worked out well, the yellow was just the right finishing touch.

I’d forgotten how much I love wool kimono for their ease of dressing, especially on a mannequin. Silk and polyester are so slippery and want to fight you every step of the way. Wool is grippy and textured and stays exactly where you put it. I wish it wasn’t such a casual-only fabric! Maybe I should make more of a point of coordinating the wool pieces I have in the near future.

Ohio Kimono was kind enough to gift these pieces to me. You should absolutely check their shop out if you haven’t already, they have new gorgeous stock directly from Japan all the time.

I haven’t had the chance to catalogue these pieces yet so no little items thumbnails today, sorry!

 I received this item from the retailer or manufacturer for honest review purposes.If you have a topically appropriate craft, product, or service you would like me to review, please contact me. 

2023, New Year’s Revelations

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Happy new year! This year I’m not going to make any resolutions, because I’ve learned that life always gets in the way. Instead, within the next few weeks I will be sharing a road map for the future of this blog. Don’t worry, it’s not going anywhere and it’s not going to stop being about kimono. It’s all good news, I promise. I just need some time to formulate my thoughts.

In the meantime, starting the year off with a new coordination seemed like a good way to open things up. My initial plan was going to use my usagi shifuku tsukesage but I couldn’t find it. This relates back to my aforementioned plan and roadmap. My collection is that much of a mess.

I decided instead to use this kurotomesode with the tagasode motif, which seemed like a good kimono-related omen to start the year off with. I paired it with a gold obi with a celebratory tabane-noshi motif and white accessories, for a more traditional coordination than I usually do. I feel like these combine for an outfit that invites good luck and celebration of kimono for 2023, which I need right now!

I apologise for the lighting in these photos, up here in the wilds of Montreal it gets dark very early in the winter, so I don’t have much light to work with. I still think they convey the essence of the coordination so I’m happy enough.

This will be my only coordination for a few months, as I’m flying out to California again on the 7th. I’ll still be updating though! See you soon!

Items used in this coordination

Autumn Fairy Tale

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Both this kimono and this obi are nearly impossible to coordinate. I’ve used the kimono before, but despite having had this obi in my possession for nearly a year now, I’d never found a good way to use it. Last night it came to me while I was soaking in the bath, as many great ideas do.

They both have a sort of fantastical, storybook, decidedly un-Japanese vibe to them. The kimono has always reminded me of The Moomins and other Scandinavian childrens’ books, and the obi has a vaguely Middle-Eastern fantasy feel to it that wouldn’t be out of place in One Thousand and One Nights. I also thought the green and brown would complement each other very well, and the gold accents would echo each other nicely too.

Was I right, or was I right? I’m over the moon with how these pieces look together. I decided go with pink accessories to make the pink trees in the kimono stand out a bit more, since they can get a bit lost against the white hill. They also help to add a touch of light and contrast between the kimono and obi, which are both quite dark. It worked very well, I think. From a distance they almost read as white, just like the trees do, but when you get close you get this lovely surprise. There are also tiny pink and gold botan on the haneri, which are decidedly out of season but the colours worked so well I had to run with it. Next time I might add a gold date-eri to break things up a little further, but I think it works fine without it too. It also just occurred to me that my pink lace haori would look amazing with this too, so I will have to try that sometime.

Another neat thing about this outfit is that all the items aside from the obijime are significantly larger than average, which means I might be able to wear it if I ever have the energy to dress myself again. Something to look forward to, maybe?

Items used in this coordination