Category: Mannequin Coordinations

Birthstone Ensembles – March – Aquamarine

, , , , , , 0

Welcome to the first/third installment of a year-long project. I’m determined to make a coordination every month that features the primary colour of one of that month’s commonly accepted birthstones. I say one of because many months have more than one accepted stone.

Should I have started this in January? Probably, yes. But I only got the idea a week or so ago, and here we are. I will be doing January and February’s shortly and backdating them. I will also have to do a few in advance, when I know I’ll be in California, but at least this way I’m guaranteed to get back to my roots and post at least one kimono ensemble per month, barring some unforeseen disaster like the Great Legsplosion of ’23 or some other such nonsense.

For March, we have the beautiful aquamarine. Not quite blue, not quite turquoise, but that ephemeral middle-ground. I knew I had to use this Taisho-era irotome, and the vintage mirror motif obi was a spot-on pairing. I love how it adds some sparkle and shimmer, very appropriate for a gemstone theme! I decided for a few hints of pink in the accessories because they’re already present in the kimono and read almost as neutral here. It also gave me an opportunity to use the amazing rainbow obiage I got from Chayatsuji Kimono recently. I am happy with how this all came together, and it gives me hope and encouragement for the rest of the project.

What’s your birthstone? Or, if you have several, which one do you prefer?

Items used in this coordination

Art Gallery – Mystery “Geisha” Doll

, , , , , , , , 0

I have mentioned it before (and I’ll likely mention it again), but I am a sucker for any sort of gacha/mystery/blind-box situation, so you know darn well when I found this listing on Etsy for a 3D-printed “mystery geisha doll” from NoirVibe Studio I had to snatch one up. I figured it was high time to share some beautiful original art that wasn’t my own silly fanart, so here she is!

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first – this lovely lady is more of a kitsune miko than a geisha. However, I don’t blame them for the name, this one is much more likely to attract attention and for the average Etsy shopper.

How these work is you purchase the listing, and you can request specific parts for the shop to mix-and-match, or you can be surprised. I told Nikolett I liked the black okobo and red hakama, but wanted a surprise for the face and hair. I’m very happy with the one I got! There only seems to be one option for the kitsune, but I absolutely love how it’s detachable and functions as a fun little fidget toy!

The quality is lovely, she’s very solid and well-assembled, and the 3D-printed parts all fit perfectly together. There are, of course, some print lines — but this is to be expected and doesn’t detract from the figure at all. The quality is good enough that they’re only visible if you’re very close, and I actually find it adds an interesting texture to things like her hair and the large red mon-like dot on the back of the kimono.

Overall I am very happy with this purchase, and am considering buying another though, in a black and white outfit and the skull face.

 

Dearest Gentle Readers…

, , , , , , , , , , , , , 0

Tonight, the ton gathers to celebrate that most esteemed of events, the second half of season four of Bridgerton. Yes, I fully admit it — I am addicted to that fluffy, frivolous, historically-inaccurate fantasy. Waiting for Benedict to get his head out of his perky little posterior has been driving me batty!

I decided to mark this most auspicious of television evenings by doing a coordination inspired by Lady Violet Bridgerton and her delicate, tasteful pastel colour palette. Ideally I would have had some blue in there but nothing in my extant collection quite fit the bill. I think mint and lavender do quite nicely though. I also think that the very textured, nearly sculptural feel of the kimono and the shimmering silver in the obi are very reminiscent of a lot of the brocades and lush fabrics used by the show’s costume department. All together, this does feel like something she would wear in a different imagining of the series, does it not?

Wisteria is a motif I’ve always wanted but I don’t currently have anything that really features it front and centre. It would have been the perfect choice, due to the huge boughs covering the front of Bridgerton House, alas. I did debate this multi-floral obi, but the colours were too bold and the wisteria isn’t exactly the star of the show, so I decided to stick to my original pastel vision. I did, however, tie the obijime in a fuji musubi to at least call back to it. With the outfit being as simple as it is, I made sure my kitsuke was as impeccable as possible, to let the elegance and subtlety shine, but I feel like that was the one slightly more “fun” touch that finished things off nicely.

How about you, gentle reader? Are you a fan of Bridgerton?

Items used in this coordination

Kabuki Glamour

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0

For today’s outfit I was inspired by the lush decadence and pure kabuki glamour of the costuming in Kokuho, which I reviewed earlier this week. This astonishingly big and heavy stage hikizuri was the perfect base, and for once I’m actually in season with it. I waffled between my black and white hakata tsuke-obi and this green short han-darari style, but in the end the bling and the drama of the darari won out. I also really like how it picks up the green in the ume branches of the kimono. They feel very theatrical together, don’t they?

Colour-wise, there was already more than enough going on so I figured white accessories with a lot of rich texture would be the best accent, and I’m glad I didn’t add in anything else. I went with my tried-and-true textured kiku haneri, the white and silver maruguke obijime from one  of my bridal sets, and my white obiage with red shibori clouds. I think they make an excellent combo!

This kimono is so big, and the obi so easy to put on, that I am seriously debating wearing this entire outfit myself and going to take photos in the snow before it melts. We’ll see if I end up finding the time and energy. (ed note: Don’t get your hopes up, the writer is tired)

Also one fun note about this kimono, there are still trace of oshiroi smudged onto the red inner layer. I should have taken a close up, now that I think about it.

 

Modern Valentine

, , , , , , , , , , , 0

Pink, orange, and black may not be the most expected Valentine’s Day combination, but this is what happens when I’m thousands of miles away from my husband on a day to celebrate love, I guess. No, I kid! I was actually inspired by the incredible modern styling of aedam_furisode on Instagram to pull out a ruffled juban and a big loud furisode. Since the only ruffled juban I own is black, the rest of the outfit had to be built around that. I brought out this bright salmon-pink gosho-guruma (royal cart) furisode, since I knew it had some stark black outlines on it, and then grabbed my trusty orange hakata chuuya obi because it matches the peonies on this kimono so well. If I’m being honest, any excuse to use this obi is a good one.

To break up the tonal similarities of the salmon kimono and orange obi, as well as reinforce the non-traditional vibe and aedam style, I used black cotton lace as a sort of obiage and shigoki-obi, as well as running it through the obi-musubi. It also makes the black ruffles feel more cohesive I think, and brings more attention to the stark black outline of the gosho-guruma motif on the kimono. Without the lace I think this would have just felt confusing and the exposed juban more like an afterthought or an accident, but with the punches of black accessories it pulls everything together. A black obijime tied in a modified kokoro-musubi was the final touch. It’s too short to do a normal one, but if you’re looking for instructions I made a tutorial years ago which you can find here.

Are you doing anything special for valentine’s day? Since I’m so far from Keith, I’m going out for bbq chicken with my folks later tonight. Ahhh, middle age. So romantic. But hey, at least I don’t have to buy him honmei-choco this year!