Category: Mannequin Coordinations

Soft blushing pink

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By now you’ve likely heard the viral, catchy, colour-mixing song from Dokodemo Jamboree and either you love it or you hate it. But either way, it’s probably stuck in your head! It was certainly stuck in mine while I was trying to come up with a cute coordination, so I decided to go in a monochrome direction and have a bit of fun making a video to go with this post. I am trying to be a bit more active on short-form reel platforms, but I am old and tired and prefer being behind the camera nowadays. Interacting with my TikTok or Youtube accounts will help me find the motivation to keep up with them.

I have plenty of items in multiple colours I could have “combined” to do this, but soft pink is always a really safe and comforting fallback, and I suspected these two pieces, with their warm blush backgrounds and bright pops of colour, would work really well together. While it’s not really “proper” to have a kimono and obi be the exact same like this, you know I love bending the rules. I just made sure the rest of my kitsuke was as perfect as I was capable of assembling considering how out of practice I am.

Toss in a few more accessories in a deeper shade of the same salmon pink and voila! It might not be vibrant or “PINKU!”, but it makes me happy and nowadays isn’t that the important part? I have to find joy wherever I can. You should too! Whether that be unconventional combinations, making meme videos, putting a kimono on the fake Labubu you found in a parking lot, or anything else people might deem frivolous or silly. If it brings a smile to your face in these dark times and doesn’t hurt others, do it unapologetically.

Also, I’m trying out a new setup for photos that allows me to work in my bedroom instead of taking over my parents’ living room. I might even be able to bring it with me to California because it all collapses down, but I definitely can’t bring the mannequin. Let me know what you think!

 

Birthstone Ensembles – January – Garnet

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It’s July, which means… time for January’s birthstone?

Don’t worry, July’s ruby ensemble will be coming soon, but I mistakenly grabbed the wrong things while getting ready and decided I may as well get January (and February eventually) done, since I started this series last March and am still a little behind.

January’s stone is garnet, a beautiful wine-red gem. I knew these pieces would be absolutely perfect, even though I used this obiage in the last coord. Thematically, the kiku motif works decently for January, since it’s a winter flower, as are the ume on the haneri. The obi, however… does anyone know what season shrimp are? Honestly, if it were up to me weird sea creature motifs would always be appropriate. Oh, wait, this is my blog so it is up to me! I mean come on, look at the goofy little things!

I forgot how long this kimono is — I had to adjust the mannequin and the proportions still seem a little off, but it’s such a pleasure to work with. I need to bring it out more often. It’s so simple, but so elegant. Also… shrimp. Can you tell I really love this obi?

Items used in this coordination

Poppies and Promises

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Those of you who’ve been around for a while know I make a point of keeping an eye out for items with a poppy motif, since my mother’s name is Poppy. They’re doubly special to me now since orange poppies are also the state flower of California, my new home. I got this kimono from Sasa and I’ve had it for quite a while and I knew I wanted to coordinate it before I headed back to California in a few weeks. My kitsuke skills are a little rusty, since it’s been over a year but once I got into it muscle memory took over and I think I did alright, all things considered.

In person this houmongi a gorgeous pale minty colour that’s basically impossible to capture digitally. My mobile phone actually did a better job so that’s where these photos are from, but it’s still not quite accurate. It really makes the red, orange, and yellow poppies… well… pop. I used my beloved orange hakata chuya obi since it’s such a perfect match to the flowers, and the green obijime is almost the exact same bright mint as the kimono so that was a no-brainer.

I had to take these photos in a different spot in our living room due to things still being upside-down from the fire I mentioned a while back, but I think it works for now. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do another mannequin coordination since I head back to California in a few weeks, but I’ve got lots of fun DIY projects, reviews, and little field trips in the works so hopefully those will tide us all over for a bit 🙂

Items used in this coordination

Life, the Universe and Everything

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This is one of those coordinations I’ve wanted to do from the very moment I got this kimono, and have just been putting off for one reason or another for years. It was high time I fixed that! This past Thursday was my 42nd birthday, and this coordinate has auspicious motifs of hayama and kagami (arrows and mirrors) and my favourite colour (teal) so I decided it was finally time to do it.

This kimono is definitely interesting – it’s brighter and more bold than most kurotomesode of the era, and it’s definitely very long for its age. The hem has a slight roll to it, so it’s a bit heavier than the rest of the fabric. This, along with the length, lead me to suspect it was a hikizuri, meant to be worn trailing. I’d like to think it may have been a geisha’s piece, worn at the new year, but this is just a suspicion of mine and I have no way to verify it. Whatever it is, I absolutely love it and should coordinate it more often.

The cool afternoon lighting in my living room makes the teal look bluer in these photos, but it definitely sits right between green and blue in person. I decided to use reds and blues in the accessories to emphasize how bold and punchy this piece is, and to sort of reinforce the geisha-adjacent feel of it. I also decided to let it drape, hikizuri style, to show off the beautiful flow of it, and tied the obi wider than normal to match. The collars are a bit wonky, but sometimes I just cannot get them to cooperate due to the shape of the mannequin. Alas.

This birthday has been a good one and I have very upbeat feelings about this coming loop around the sun. I hope I can share lots of new content and great news with you all soon!

Items used in this coordination

Classy and Creepy

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Happy Halloween! An appropriate day to raise myself from the dead, I think. I’ve just been incredibly busy, travelling and working and whatnot, but I do have some stuff in the works for the next little while.

I knew I had to get this one up today, though. The “obi” is too perfect for a classy and creepy outfit. Funny thing is, it’s not an obi at all. It’s two table runners from Target! One wrapped twice around the body, and one for the musubi. I wanted to keep the rest of the outfit subtle but still halloween-y so my bat menuki obidome and spiderweb haneri, and then remembered I had this lovely piece of soft spiderweb mesh I found in a remnant bin at the fabric store. It makes the perfect shawl, doesn’t it?

I love how this outfit feels seasonal and creepy but totally wearable, and I also love how the two star pieces are both found items that have nothing to do with kimono. The orange accessories were the finishing touch, and they add just the right amount of pop.

Items used in this coordination