Category: Mannequin Coordinations

Perfectly Harmonious Pairing

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I’m back! Sort of! Still not feeling 100% better, but definitely improving. I’ve got a few low-stress things in the works for the next week or two.

For today, a coordination I’ve been itching to put together since I bought this obi. About a month ago I went to a rummage sale at the Montreal JCCC and while I had no real intention of buying anything, I found this amazing cream-coloured obi with Arabic script on it and knew it had to come live with my mosque kimono. I honestly can’t tell if the writing on the obi actually says anything or is just sort of an artistic interpretation, so if anyone can tell me what it says, I’d very much appreciate it!

I cannot get over how perfectly these pieces pair together. The background colour of the obi echoes the yellow-gold clouds on the kimono and the green script and design elements bring out the palm trees around the hem of the kimono. I also used that colour as inspiration for the accessories, a gorgeous olive-green obiage and obijime that also weren’t a set but happen to match almost perfectly. I chose a very simple haneri with just some white and gold sakura. I wanted all the focus to be on the beautiful pairing of the kimono and obi.

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Undersea Adventure

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Today is Gofuku no Hi (着物着ます, Wear Kimono Day), and even though I finally have some kimono that fit me well, I just wasn’t up to getting dressed myself. I’m still under the weather from allergy season and a few days ago I stepped on a very large chunk of glass and my foot hurts enormously. But I couldn’t let the day pass by without at least dressing the mannequin!

I’d been feeling sort of uninspired lately, trying to come up with interesting new coordinations with pieces I own and love but nothing was coming to mind. Suddenly, yesterday, it hit me. My beloved geisha hikizuri and octopus obi from 3Magpies Studio would come together perfectly to form an elegant. monochrome undersea outfit.

Dressing the hikizuri like a regular kimono was more of a challenge than I’d anticipated. There’s a ton of fabric folded up under the obi but I think I did a very good job of keeping it neat and tidy. I really love how the theme and colours came together, and this gorgeous octopus obidome with pearls and red synthetic coral pieces from PintoPonyProductions was the perfect crowning touch.

Back when I did the Disney Princess Project a lot of folks suggested I do villains. While it wasn’t my intention, between the purple tones and aquatic motifs this outfit has a definite Ursula vibe to it. Maybe I will do the villains after all!

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Taisho Turquoise, Take Two

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How’s that for some terrible alliteration? I know the last coordination I posted was with this kimono, but I just love it so much I couldn’t bear to take it off the mannequin yet. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I also had plans for a more subtle coordination with it, and since I’m feeling a little under the weather (this allergy season has been horrendous) simply changing up the accessories rather than re-dressing her from the ground up seemed like a good idea for today.

While the first outfit I did focused on bright contrast, this one is much more soft and harmonious. The white and silver obi echoes the white parts on the hem of the kimono, and I got to use the pink and turquoise obijime that matches so perfectly. Isn’t it interesting how changing up the obi and accessories can give such a drastically different mood to the same kimono?

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Vibrant Vintage

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For someone who keeps telling herself she doesn’t need more kimono, I sure do keep ending up with more kimono. But when I saw this gorgeous vibrant turquoise Taisho irotomesode on Ichiroya recently, I knew it had to come live with me. This piece is not in great shape, admittedly. It’s got sun damage that leads me to believe it was folded and then stored badly at some point in its life. But I was just so in love with the colour that I couldn’t pass it up, and it became my tax refund gift to myself. It’s also incredibly small, bordering on too small for the mannequin even, so I have no delusions of ever being able to wear it even if I lose weight. Alas. 🙁

I knew immediately that I wanted to pair it up with this bold orange nagoya obi that really pulls out all the gorgeous warm tones in the hem design of tachibana and kaioke. My initial instinct was to go for more muted accessories, including an obijime that has nearly the same shade of turquoise, but then I remembered I have this bold haneri with tachibana in the same colours as the obi and just ran with it. I love the emphasis the rich purple tones bring to the whole coordination. I will definitely be revisiting this kimono soon with a more gentle and subtle coordination, but I really do love how bold and vibrant this turned out.

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こどもの日 – Kodomo no Hi 2019

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It’s become a tradition for me to use my koinobori obi on Children’s Day (こどもの日, Kodomo no Hi), because the motif is so unusual and so perfect. This year I chose to pair it up with this bamboo houmongi, which is vaguely representative of chimaki, a sort of traditional steamed mochi dumpling that is often wrapped in bamboo leaves. Admittedly mostly I just chose it because I liked how they looked together.

The obi has very faint hits of pale, icy blue so I used an obiage that coordinated there, and then some warm reddish accessories that match the kimono well. Thankfully the whole outfit came together quickly and easily, because I was fighting off the early stages of a migraine when I started. But I was determined to get the outfit up today, and I’m glad I did.

I may have no children of my own, but today is a day for me to appreciate all the kids in my life. My niece and nephew, my friends’ kids, the kids who hang out in the store where I work. They all bring me joy and humour in different ways, and I hope this year brings them all the best 💖

Items used in this coordination